Usual after a couple of months?

[RJA1974]

I have been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and I am convinced that I am either not diabetic or not managing my injections properly. I was admitted into hospital with 4+ketones on October 28th 2005 where I stayed on an insulin feed for 4 days, now on 4 injections a day but sufferring at least one hypo a day.
For the first 6 weeks I was fine then suffered a very low blood sugar reading and have not been the same since (3 weeks ago)
I have missed some injections out which seems to help and my readings are good, due for a check up soon so will feedback to consultant then but has anyone got any similar experiences or comments?

Also over xmas had a few drinks and after each night it has taken me upto 48hrs to feel normal again.

I also think I suffer from mood swings on a regular basis is this normal?

[JDRF-Team-BL]

Dear RJA,
     i'm not a doctor but a diabetic like you. Now keeping records of your blood sugars will give your doctors a better view of the problem  to be worked on. i swear, after 32 years of diabetes i'm the worlds best record keeper. It is best to avois hypoglycemia as welol as hyperglycemia.
     Your problems with drinking could be the alcohol doing odd things to your blood sugars. Even though the ADA says a diabetic can drink two drinks a day, it is still not always wise.
good luck with your doctor, bret
P.S. My first doctor after becoming diabetic told me  in my record keeping to write down whatever the reading is as they can't fix a problem they don't know about.

[Markie]

Sounds like you are in the Honeymoon stage. The insulin you are taking relieves some of the pressure on your pancreas. And the beta cells increase their production of insulin. Blood sugar  levels come down. And it can seem almost as if the diabetes has gone away.

Unfortunately, this is short lived. The beta cells will die off and you will soon become totally dependent on injected insulin. The challenge is to manage the transition. The fact that, during this honeymoon period, the production of insulin by the beta cells is not consistent makes it difficult.

As you are on 4 shots a day, I assume you are injecting basal insulin onece a day and short-acting insulin before meals. This means that you should be able to make suitable adjustments to your dosages.

My daughter, who was diagnosed a year ago, has just been through this process. What worked for her was to reduce the basal insulin so that she didn't have hypos between meals. She increased the pre-meal shots a bit to compensate. She also tested between meals and would inject extra short-acxting insulin if neccessary.

It worked well for her. It meant that she didn't have unexpected hypos and she maintained reasonable control at the same time. She has now passed through the honeymoon stage and has increased her basal insulin to the level it needs to be.

Cheers,

Mark