Newby

Community Share Your Stories
1

Hello Everyone,

My name is Maria, im 16 years old and a type 1 diabetic.
I am new to this website, so i do not know much about it or how to use it very well.

I was diagnosed in February of 2010. It was a horrible expirience at first. I was in the 7th grade and became very ill. I began to have excessive thirst, frequent urination and i lost alot of weight. I was very petite and skinny, averaging between 95-98 Lbs, i now weighed 80 Lbs. I began to become very pale, and had a huge loss of energy. My parents did not know what was wrong. My dad would buy me Icee's from 7 Eleven to make me feel better but i would just vomit. Which made my mom think i was making my self vomit and that i was anorexic, which i was not. I had already missed 2 weeks of school. It was a Monday morning and my dad had told me i had to go to school, i cried and layed on the floor begging him to not make me go. He than picked me up and drove me to school. Unfortunetly there was no school that Monday, but the school councelor was there so she met with my dad and I. She started to tell me i must just have anxiety and that it was okay, but i knew it was not anxiety. I attended school the next day and had no energy what so ever to walk to each of my classes, it was horrible.

That same night when my mom got home from work i was laying on the floor in the fetal position, crying because my stomach hurt so bad. She then decided to take me to urgent care, where i was admitted, and got taken by ambulance to Emanuel Childrens Hospital. I was told my sugar had been 1,700, something close to that number. I was in the hospital for 4 days. An IV in one arm and having blood drawn every hour, from my other arm.

When i was released from the hospital i took really good care of my diabetes. My sugars were right on track and when i had my A1C checked it was 7.

2 years later and i have gotten quit careless about checking my sugars 4 times a day and taking my shot when i am supposed too. I know all the long and short term affects of not taking care of myself, but it just doesnt seem to make a difference. I have gone to 2 appointments for my diabetes, just regular check up appointments and both times my A1C has been 14. Which is like a newly diagnosed diabetic. I had an appointment yesterday the 19th and my A1C has since then gone down to 12.5, still pretty high but better than 14!

I use syringes to take my shots, taking 4 shots a day. I take Humalog and Lantus. I would normally take my shot in my stomach, but because of the weight gain it makes me not want to take my shots. I am now looking in to getting a pump, in the hopes that it helps me keep my sugars on check and helps me take my medicine when supposed too.

Well thats all for now(:
I look forward to hearing from you all.

xo Mariaa

2

Mariaa, I was diagnosed as an adult and I cannot imagine what you went through. My heavens a BG of 1700! Keep working on that A1c girl. Do it a step at a time. trying to eat diabetes all at once is a huge undertaking. So pick on thing to change and just work on that until you have it down (part of your routine) then move on to the next thing. Above all remember one thing...YOU CAN DO IT!

Just keeping asking questions and writing on here. It helps.

3

Thank you so much, i try to get motivated to work on one thing at a time but i just get so overwhelmed. Thanks for your support(:

4

HAVE YOU TRIED THE PEN FORM OF INSULIN. I TAKE THE SAME INSULIN AS YOU DO AND THE PEN IS GOOD. I use the longer type needles. You must be diligent every day no skipping. Be careful of eating things white..watch the carbs..they turn quickly to sugar. Read the labels for calories sugar carbs. Do not get discouraged. You can do it. I am 85 years old hate punching myself watching what you eat but we have to do it. Take good care of yourself. Please try to get that A1C down. A BIG HUG. Reed,the Seagator

5

Hey Maria!!!! I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was 7 and half years old! I am 15 years old now, and I had one point of my diabetes journey where my A1C was 13 because my first doctors told me wrong on how I take care of my diabetes, it was a mess! I got things figured out, was on shots for about 5 years, and then got a pump in August of 2010. I love the pump, I think you totally get it! It really helped me be more open about my diabetes, and it really makes diabetes a lot easier! Hope you found this post helpful and come to the chat to chat with a few of us sometime! :-)

6

@ SEAGATOR yes i have tried the pen form of insulin, but because i mix my lantus and humalog at night the pen doesnt work out, for now though i am using syringes and am working towards an insulin pump right now. How long have you had diabetes for? My granpa is in his 50's or 60's and has had had type 1 since he was 11, he is what keeps me motivated, if he can do anyone can!(:

@ car3n_ I cant imagine getting diagnosed at such a young age, i was diagnosed at age 13 and being a teenager its so hard to controll what you eat, you just want to pig out a eat junk food with your friends. I am sorry to hear about your bad expierience with your doctor telling you worng. I have been interested in the insulin pump for awhile but have been kinda ify about it because i dont like how it shows and i dont like the tube either, but today i did a little research about it and found i could just hide it in my bra.(: lol how do you like the insulin pump? and where do you put yours? im so curious about it! and i am more interested in the pump in hopes it can help me keep track of my sugars more and as well as taking my shots when i am supposed too(:

7

hello Maria

i was Dx's when I was 17 and in Disney World. Yeah, trust me I remember. I do want to offer two observations. First you are overcoming being a newbie. After 2 years you are an old so y9ou are in the position of tell us old hands and newbies alike how to do things, we all have much to learn. Second, i do want to caution against skipping doses. basically not much good comes of doing that, but you know that.

Now after that, please keep in touch you can lower you A1C and do it comfortably. Yes a pump helps, but unless it is used wisely it really wont help a great deal. Which is not to say that a pump is bad. The do harness BS make you feel better and ultimately are the better solution. Trust me i used syringes for 27 years. But that is if the pump is used wisely. You may ask you mom and dad about visiting an Endocrinologist and doing regular, ever 3-4 month visits. I know I hate them as well, but a good endo is worth their weight in gold so that may be something they would like to think of.

I would wish you good luck but you do not need luck, you have skill girl.

LOL

Rick

8

Hey Maria!

I was diagnosed in 2005 when I was 14. It's rough, but you already know that. By the time I was actually taken to the hospital, my sugars were about as high as yours.

I have a pump, and I love mine. It does make things a lot easier for me, since I tend to run around like a maniac, but it's not a cure-all. I don't think its very uncommon for young people to become tired of the diabetic schedule and slack off a little; I know I did about a year or so after diagnosis. The most important thing is that you get back on track.

I'm a track coach, so I have to throw in a corny nugget that I tell my kids: There's no shame in falling down, as long as you pick yourself up again.

There are a lot of good people on this site who will be here to walk you through any difficulties you may have. Already, there is a good advice on this thread.

9

Nice to meet you! I was dx'ed when I was 16 (1984!!) and it has been quite an adventure. If you want to get more understanding of diabetes, I'd suggest getting a copy of "Think Like A Pancreas" by Gary Scheiner and reading it. I am not a big fan of books about diseases (except for history books, e.g. "The Black Death", etc...) but TLAP is like an "owner's manual". I was close to figuring it out on my own for a few years but after reading about TLAP online, I figured "hmmm, maybe I should give it a try..." and it helped me get a lot of things to fall in place. It has a lot of "fine tuning" tips to help you figure things out yourself.

10

I will definetly check out that book(: thanks!

11

Maria!! Hello!! I was 14 when I was told the news...very similar story as yours, sick for so long, and not knowing what was happening...I went through highschool pretending I didn't have diabetes...I was a regular in the hospital..like clockwork every summer I would spend a few days in there...I am 36 now and realising that I want to live a long life...so I am making changes for the better...I wear a pump for 3 years now and the differences in my health are amazing...I'm not going to lie...your right about it being a pain to wear and all the tubing...but to tell you the truth I now LOVE it when I notice people looking at my pump...I love educating people on it I am proud to show it off...keep us posted Maria!! Cheers to you!

12

Notice how Car3n mentioned wrong information from doctors. That is why I am very surprised that you said you were mixing Lantus and Humalog because the LANTUS instructions clearly state in very fine print that is BOLD that it is never to be mixed with other insulins=see column 2, 6th under warnings.
I did start using Lantus in 2005 and was specifically warned about that because the older insulins I was switching from had allowed the mixing.
So I suspect whatever CDE professional you are using is not up to date and has not read the instructions. So that counts as being misdirection by a professional.

13

Please look at column 2 6th item under warnings in the Lantus instruction sheet that comes with a vial, as that is what I am currently using.
.....it says in BOLD
"LANTUS must not be mixed with any other insulin or diluted with any other solution because it might not work as intended"

Notice that car3n said misdirection from a professional can happen, so I suspect your CDE has to be told by a superior not to give instructions contrary to the manufacturers based on OLD procedures that did work for older insulins like Ultralente which is totally off the market now. I've used both so I was aware from 2005 onward that the LANTUS must not be mixed. The CDE might become defensive and disagree, so better to first find out from the manufacturers as they would not be still currently printing that warning if it were not true.
That CDE needs correcting before the person misdirects others. It is based on an old way of doing things with previous types of insulin no longer available.

14

Janina, she did not say she was mixing them, just that she was using both.

15

Did she clarify that with you or are you guessing? Many people use pens, one for each and a different colour pen to distinguish them to avoid a dreaded mistake. I have two different coloured pens for when I use cartridges. Therefore it would be a separate injection of each, and that's fine. So why would she say she had to go back to syringes. That's fine too as slong as the two insulin injections are separate and are not drawn up into the same syringe and mixed just before injection. I hope she will give the clarification. She did use the word MIX.

16

I stand corrected; she did say "mix". I didn't notice that there are two pages of comments; I was just looking at page 2. Must have been low, or something . . .

:)