If you’re new to the community, please introduce yourself!

Hi. I’m Helen and I’ve been a Type I for 34 years, a Minimed pump user for 20 of them.

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Hola! Welcome to our community.

Hi! My name is Florentino Rosa. I was diagnosed as a T1D after a total pancreatectomy last year. I am in way better health now and happy to be using an insulin pump in managing my diabetes. I am looking forward to developing new friends and to expand my support group while gicing support to others going through the daily challenges of being diabetic. Thank you for the opportunity!

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Hi. I’ve had diabetes for 47 years which means pre BG monitoring systems, pre-pump, etc. I took part in the study to get human insulin on the market when I was receiving care at UC Med SFCA back in the 90’s. I’ve seen a lot of advances in diabetes care for which I am so grateful. My new endocrinologist directed me to this site so I am checking it out.

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Welcome @Teresa_Donovan & @Papo_Rosa!

Let us know if you need any help or have questions! :sunglasses:

Hi Venus, Sounds like insulin resistance has a strong hold on you. Metformin helps with IR without it your insulin needs will most likely will be higher. Have you adjusted your insulin ratios to compensate, if you are uncomfortable making your own insulin adjustment it might be a good idea to discuss this with your doctor.

Wow thats amazing, from 14 to 5.8. A triple bypass would be a rude awakening and it sounds like you have gotten the message loud and clear. I find you turn around to be inspirational.

Type 2 is an ever changing and progressing disease. What works today does not always work tomorrow. There are plenty here that understand, including me.

Hello,
I made am appointment with my endo but it isn’t until August. I’m working on increasing g my basal and short acting. It just takes so much more insulin than it did before. It seems a little crazy. I’m hoping my increase in exercise start paying off by reusing the insulin resistance.

Hello! I am Michelle from Boston, MA. I was diagnosed with Type 2 back in 2004 and was managing fairly well with Diet, and Exercise, and Oral meds. Buy slowly over the last 5 years my numbers started to increase. My doctor and I made the decision recently to add some long acting insulin which seems to be helping a good deal. Carb counting helps too. The first few weeks my numbers were up and down and up and down, but now they seem to have leveled a bit.

I started on a CGM about 2 weeks ago and it has really helped me see patterns. My blood sugars peak is between 3:00-6:00 PM and my lows are always between 3:00 AM - 6:30 AM. Working on that balance and learning as I go.

Just had some blood work done to determine if I may be LADA vs Type 2, results were a bit conflicting; I posted about that in a separate thread. I am SO glad to have this community!

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Hello,
My name is Ronnie and I have been a type 1 diabetic for 54 years. I am currently using a omni pod pump system and a dexcom g5 cgm system. Both work great but I was interested in how some folks are getting 2 to 3 weeks out of their g5 sensors? Please advise if you can.

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Hi…I’m mom to a 15 yo boy diagnosed in March, 2017. We live in Souther California…life and T1D are quite expensive and stressful! Doing our best to roll with it, and along that line I “Uber for Insulin” to help pay for the costs of his life sustaining supplies. I would love ANY tips people have for saving money. His insurance expires at the end of August, and I would also love to hear any recommendations on private insurance plans that cover T1D expenses somewhat fairly.

Looking forward to learning from everyone and helping in any way that I can!

Cheers,
Karen

Hello @Karen_the_mom,

I’m also mom to a T1 teen; my son was diagnosed 12 years ago he is 15 now. Here some suggestions:

Test Strips - MySugr or OneDrop- you pay a monthly fee for unlimited strips and other services.

Also please check HERE for more information on patient assistance.

Hello, my name is Ronnie and I have been a type 1 diabetic for 56 years. I am using the omnipod system and the dexcom system for 3 years now, and it has really helped my a1c numbers. Last a1c was a 6.8. However the dexcom system is very expensive so I am looking for any advice to cut back on the expense of the device. I look forward to learning more about other type 1 patients and the different aspects of their treatments, successes and failures.

Hi all, i’m a type 1 since 1979. I’m still on needles, lantus plus sliding scale with humalog. Dexcom cgm has helped me so much! I’m not the best at control, my a1cs are almost always at 8. My last one was 6.8 though, this was a huge achievement for me! I’ve struggled a little to understand why my body responds so differently to novolog vs humalog. I need about 2x more humalog than novalog, the onset is delayed for me and the duration is longer than anticipated. I’ve always been slim. But have learned there are times when i am insulin resistant at night and early am. Nothing new, just differences in diurnal insulin action. Looking forward to others experiences though! My blood sugar is crazy today, i’m trying to knock myself down from 275. Usually this takes about 6u humalog for me on compensation. But 6u did not work for me this am. I don’t know if i should shoot again or wait. Hate being this high, like it’s a liver dump or something! Wish me luck!

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In the midnight hour beta cells screamed, “WE WILL MAKE NO MO-O-O-RE”

Hi.

I’m new here as well as being a dia-baby. I’m a little over two months into a LADA diagnosis. My journey to get to that diagnosis was horrible and looked like this:

March 30 - sneezing 16 times in a row, ruptured my xiphoid process, severe abdominal pain

March 31 go see PCP. She orders blood work and x-rays but its Saturday so there’s no one to do those labs.

April 2 Still in severe pain, can’t wait to do labs go to ER - diagnosis: non-diabetic hyperglycemia - discharged

April 3 PCP declares Type 2 Diabetes insists I go to another ER to be admitted for DKA treatment

April 3 ER dx “Not that diabetic. Look too good to be very sick.” Given Metformin & Glyburide (no meter) told to take both with meals and sent home.

April 4 Wake up in severe hypoglycemia. Back to PCP. Taken off Glyburide. Antibody BW sent out. PCP referral to Endocrinologist. Get appt for their CDE on April 30, earliest appt with Endo MAY 31!

April 5 Taken off Metformin given a meter told to monitor and call if numbers are over 250 x2

April 6 My 43rd birthday - no cake for me =(

April 10 PCP dx Type 1 Diabetes (GAD positive)- still just monitoring. Eating absolutely no carbs because a mere 6 - 7g of carbs makes me feel awful.

April 24 Email to PCP, diet unsustainable, need insulin, lost 20 pounds (not sure why I wasn’t given insulin the second I came back GAD positive)

April 26 See CDE (PCP Office) suggests 5u Basaglar once a day (finally insulin)

April 30 See CDE (Endo’s office) She takes pity on me and starts personally calling doctors to get someone to see me and give me mealtime insulin!

April 30 - See Endo, official LADA dx get mealtime insulin, a range, a treatment plan, a meal plan - YAY!

May 1 - begin life as a LADA person

But now I feel like I’m floundering on my own again. I requested to start the process of a CGM and got that 10 days ago (tonight is my first sensor change) so now I’m getting all of this data but I have really no clue what to do with it. I don’t see my endo again until Oct. I’ve requested to start the process for a pump because I’m still making quite a bit of my own insulin (my c-peptide was very low normal) and because of that sometimes I need less than a full unit for correction. I sadly found out the hard way that 1 unit can drop me from the 160s to the low 40s. My endo seems to be trying to talk me out of a pump and I’m not sure why that would be. I almost feel like I’m being punished for not being diabetic enough, or long enough.

LADA has proven to be a very lonely diagnosis. I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere. Trying to explain “Type 1.5” to people is exhausting because most folks think there are just the two types (IF they’re even that educated)

I was diagnosed for all of 6 hours when I was confronted with my first “Hey mushroom tea can reverse diabetes” person. I was a day into insulin therapy when I was confronted by my first “Are you allowed to eat that?” person.

(It almost got ugly as I was having a birthday do-over and having a cupcake. Don’t try to take a cupcake from me - I WILL eat your face and I wont have to inject insulin to do it)

I’m also seeking info on any research into a correlation between Lyme disease (I was diagnosed two years ago) and LADA. Because I was a perfectly healthy individual before the Lyme. No pre-diabetes and diabetes doesn’t run in my family.

Other than the diabetes I’m 43 years old, I live in a van with 4 cats (which wasn’t an easy lifestyle to start with) and we travel mainly the Eastern - Central US working at various renaissance festivals around the country.

Anyhow - hi. I’d say I’m happy to be here but I’m not - at all - happy about this.

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Continuing the discussion from If you’re new to the community, please introduce yourself!:

Holy Moses Cherry, that’s brutal. My name is John T1 for 20+ years and I can empathize. There aren’t enough endocrinologists or well trained PCPs to meet the demand. There are too many of us!!

Being new to this site: I’m active, in my 40s and determined to die with my vision and my toes in my 90s. A1C 6.5ish.

Cherry I understand wanting a pump, but first you need to get the disease stabilized and see what your body really needs and how Cherry can best handle it.

Now, I have a question for the audience, I just got the 670G and can’t figure out how to pair the transmitter with the pump. The pump user guide says read the transmitter guide and vice versatility WHA? Didn’t anyone proof these?!!

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Hello, everyone! My name is Kent, and I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Feb 11, 1979 - my brother’s 6th birthday (he still hasn’t forgiven me for wrecking his party!). I’ve been a research volunteer with the DCCT and EDIC since 1984. I am a pharmacist and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) living in the Memphis, TN area. I am blessed with a wonderful wife and 3 terrific kids, and no diabetes complications to date. I’m eager to connect with others on this journey and help whomever I can along the way.

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Thanks John. I’m requesting to start the process of getting a pump because there is a 5 week class attached to that process that will involve helping me better correct, manage carb counting ect. Even if I don’t get a pump I will benefit from the class because I have been given no direction from my Endo. I currently don’t have goals, and now my CDE says the range I’ve been using is wrong. Both of them keep comparing my levels to “other people”. “Other people’s levels are much higher.” “Other people’s insulin usage is much greater.” I feel like I hear a whole lot about other people and not nearly enough about Cherry’s care.

I’m not other people. My body is different. I’m sick of “generalized” care. The docs and CDE don’t seem like they particularly care. “Here’s some insulin, go away” is how I feel I’m being treated. Yes, I still make a lot of my own insulin, does that mean I deserve less attention and care to my treatment?

Sadly, I’m on Medicaid so I’m extremely limited as far as doctor choice/ when I can see a doctor/ when I can pick up prescriptions. I’m fairly burned out on this whole darned thing already.

Hi community. I’m in Alabama. Diagnosed with Type 2 in 2007. Had a period of really good control with just diet an exercise, got pregnant, still great control. ~5.4 A1cs. Had a baby, and dropped everything to handle the stress of new motherhood as a working mom.

Four and a half years later, I’ve recovered enough motivation to work on it again. Struggled only on metformin with lots of skipped meals trying to drop my BG enough to be under 100 before meals. Miserable for months with disappointing fasting glucose numbers around 200.

Primary doc prescribes Victoza to help with eating. Instant normal BG after first dose. No need to skip meals to bring down sugar. Something didn’t feel quite right. Asked for GAD lab test against medical advice and in the face of an annoyed nurse.

This morning saw my positive GAD results indicating LADA Type 1. The past couple of weeks Victoza showed me a taste of how much easier it may be when I’m treating the right issue. I’m hypothesizing the increased insulin out of my pancreas was the key. Wishing I could get back those years of guilt, self-disgust, and healthy beta cells. sigh

Living with any type of diabetes is too challenging even with the right diagnosis. Wishing you all the best on your health journeys.