Okay so there was a gap

Back onto it I suppose.

Been trying hard over the past few days.

I have upped my lantus insulin to 28 units, but am trying to control my carbs by limiting my insulin intake to 50 units per day in total (bolus and basal). So far my sugars seem in better control. Morning blood sugars equal nighttime, and therefore I'm happier. I do keep having hypos in the afternoon. I.e. I have dinner at approx 12pm, sugars are back to normal following insulin by about 2pm, and then usually dip around 3-4pm.

Is this a case of me simply needing to eat at this point? Or is it actually coming down further because I am taking too much insulin??

How do I determine this?

My Ten Commandments

1. I am to have sugar control between 5 and 9 mmol/l every day, with sugars returning to this range within 1 hour of eating.
2. I will quit smoking.
3. I will exercise 3 times a week for an hour or more.
4. I will consume less than 50 units a day of insulin whilst maintaining proper sugar control.
5. I will not purposely overeat during hypos.
6. I will not lie to friends, family or doctors about the success of my diabetes management.
7. I will learn more and more about diabetes.
8. I will not eat as many processed carbohydrates.
9. I will get my '5 a day'
10. I will get a sixpack by the summer.

Okay, item 10 might be a little ambitious. Sound okay though?

My Health - Skin and Hair

I feel like I look older than I am - I'm 27.

I am losing my hair slightly, although this may not be diabetes, my hair feels greasy all the time and there is a link between insulin levels and hairloss so I am going to add actually lowering insulin levels to a list of commandments I am developing.

My Health - Tiredness and Headaches.

At the moment, my diabetes affects my health in a number of ways.

I get tired and have headaches a lot, particularly in the evenings if my blood sugars have varied rapidly through the day. Let me give you an example from today.

I ate rubbish last night, so despite having my regular 24 units of Lantus, my Blood Sugars this morning were 18.4 mmol/l. I had breakfast at about 8.45 in work (it was an apple, so maybe 15g of Carbohydrate? By Lunchtime (14.00) my sugars were as low as 5.6. I had a chicken sanwich (brown bread, woo hoo!) for which I took 5 units (I guessed) and my blood sugars were back to 10.6 by 18.00. for food I had curry and rice (from a tin, I couldnt be bothered to cook) and a glass of orange juice. My estimate for the Carbs came to 120g, so I had 12 units of insulin. About 30 mins after eating they were 14.4, so not a winner. Anyway, I'm guessing its all the 'ups and downs' that make me feel like this.

That brings me on to a question, how long after eating should sugars return to normal? Well...

Here are what doctors currently believe to be non-diabetic readings:

Fasting blood sugar
under 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L)
One hour after meals
under 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/L)
Two hours after meals
under 120 mg/dl (6.6 mmol/L)

The American College of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends that people with diabetes keep their blood sugars under 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/L) two hours after eating.

So there, just tested (now about 90 minutes since my meal) and they were 11.3. Obviously still too high but we'll see what happens tonight...

Greetings

Hello,

And welcome, and all that. I guess I should tell you why I am writing this, and why this blog is potentially very important to me.

I was diagnosed with Diabetes aged 17, in the middle of my exams at school, and given that was now some 10 years ago I'm a 27 year old man from South Wales in the UK who is a fully blown insulin-dependent diabetic (Type 1 - must remember this, as I seem incapable of doing so). I have lived with this condition for a decade and I suppose to a non-diabetic its relatively simple to deal with. You simply inject insulin to take into account what your eating and what exercise you do. Er, yes. It really is that simple.

Yeah, but its just not is it...

But before I go into that, I should say a little bit about me. As I mentioned I'm in my mid-twenties, I have a good job, a beautiful daughter and a wonderful, gorgeous and supportive girlfriend. I have everything to live for and besides Diabetes (and a little touch of tinnitus) I have no other conditions which affect my life. I would say I am in a pretty fortunate position in life, and have no real worries for anything.

When I became diabetic I had the inevitable honeymoon period which is so often talked about, and that took me through my first 18 months. Since then, largely, its been down hill with a few minor upward slopes. My HbA1c has been ranging from 9-11 over a period of about the last 4 or 5 years. Sometimes, I'm actually suprised its that low, given the things I eat.

Okay, so here's my life choices - let me stand up and have my two minutes of therapy.

• I smoke, probably around 20 per day.
• I eat junk food, and I mean it, yesterday I had the equivalent of about 3 chocolate bars
• I snack after meals in the night and dont take bolus adjustments for it.
• I havent exercised properly in about 3 months.
• I drink rubbish, like diet coke etc - which is terrible for your blood pressure.

Okay, now you can nod, sigh, gasp, applaud or whatever else tickles your fancy.

So herein lies the point of this blog. I want to change this. I have to change this. My girlfriend is currently away in New York, and its given me time to think - to ponder why I am living the way I am. I was scrolling some of the diabetes forums the other night and someone had written something on there that really hit home. It was along the lines of...

'Injecting yourself and managing your blood sugars is hard, but its nowhere near as hard as dialysis would be'

It just got me thinking....I know Doctors will tell you about the complications of uncontrolled diabetes over and over again and I've been there. You get a guilt trip, don't you? A guilt trip that lasts probably for about 15 minutes after the session and then your back to your usual self. I have lied and told consultants that my diabetes is okay, I just forgot my readings book, I've told them I dont smoke and I've told them I eat a balanced diet. I've lied and cheated and ignored my way through 10 years of diabetes. But maybe the other night reading that post was a defining moment, okay lets make it a defining moment - I am diabetic, I am a shit diabetic and I want to sort it out. I want to see my daughter graduate and not be in a wheelchair whilst I watch, I want to be able to have a normal sex life beyond 40, I want to travel the world after I retire. I want to be able to see and touch and move until I'm old enough to be a grandad.

Why am I a bad diabetic? I dont know, I think its a mixture of things. Firstly, ignorance of the condition and the blissful state of apathy to which I approach it. Secondly, thinking about it does depress you. Thirdly, I can eat what I want and remain thin - hey, who the hell wouldnt want that?

So I want to is to begin to deal with this problem, and therefore what I hope to gain from this blog is:

• Support - because I've never really been able to speak to fellow diabetics about my condition.
• Facing up to the facts - I lot of the way I have (not) dealt with diabetes is through ignornace, and I hope to learn a lot more about the condition and what I can do to manage it. You've probably noticed the hyperlinks.
• Helping people - maybe, just maybe a little bit.

Above all this is a way of forcing myself to sort things out, once and for all. I need to make some definitive lifestyle choices. Writing this forces me to think, read and face up to the condition I have, I hope if anyone reads this its not too dull or appears too rambling. Please feel free to contribute.