[karens]

Hi there, well, I'm Karen aged 34 and have had diabetes type 1 for 12 years now. I also found out in the past year that I have an auto-immune disorder that has me suffering from Chronic Immune Demyalating Polyneuropathy. I have also had complications with my eyes resulting in extensive laser treatments and injections. In the past I admit that I have not looked after my diabetes, but over the past year I have been very strict and my sugar levels have been erratic. Can't seem to overcome this. I currently take around 10 units of Apidra at meal times and 16 units in the morning and bedtime of Levimer daily. I can eat the same meals, take the same amount of insulin and have a high sugar reading one time and a low reading another time. A real dilemma, don't know what to do!
Anyway, glad to have joined the forum, good to communicate to others with a common problem.

 

[Richard157]

Hello Karen, welcome to Diabetes Forum! I am sorry to hear about your chronic neuropathy. Many diabetics have experienced some reversal with their neuropathy by getting very good control and not running so much high blood sugar. I had some neuropathy and retinopathy several years ago but now that I rarely see any blood sugar tests that are high all my complications are gone.

Have you had bad control like this all 12 years that you have been type 1? I highly recommend that you learn about carb counting. If you know the number of carbs in each meal and snack that you eat then you can determine the insulin dosages by knowing the number of carbs. Some people take one unit of fast acting insulin (Apidra in your case) for every 15 carbs they eat. Other people need 1 unit for every 10, or 5....carbs. It is different for each diabetic. Trial and error would determine the right dosages for you. I hope you will ask your doctor about this. It has helped me very much. I also limit my carb intake to 130g per day and exercise every day.

I have been Type 1 for 64 years and I am healthy. I hope you will get help and have better control soon. With good control you can have a long, healthy life. Do whatever you can to get that control.

Richard

 

[MikeDavis]

Hi there, well, I'm Karen aged 34 and have had diabetes type 1 for 12 years now. I also found out in the past year that I have an auto-immune disorder that has me suffering from Chronic Immune Demyalating Polyneuropathy. I have also had complications with my eyes resulting in extensive laser treatments and injections. In the past I admit that I have not looked after my diabetes, but over the past year I have been very strict and my sugar levels have been erratic. Can't seem to overcome this. I currently take around 10 units of Apidra at meal times and 16 units in the morning and bedtime of Levimer daily. I can eat the same meals, take the same amount of insulin and have a high sugar reading one time and a low reading another time. A real dilemma, don't know what to do!
Anyway, glad to have joined the forum, good to communicate to others with a common problem.

Hi Karen,sorry to hear about your problems.My name is Mike and i have been a type 1 diabetic for 37 years since i was 5,i have had a lot of health probs but luckily have always seemed to bounce back,your condition will improve as soon as you get your control back however its not an exact science and i have suffered myself,mainly when i am in work as i dont have so many variables at home.Anyway good luck with things,nice to speak to you.

 

[Shanny]

Welcome Karen! So happy to meet you - I hope you'll stay with us & we can get better acquainted.

 

[karens]

hanks

Thanks for your replies, never guessed this ste would be that popular.
Richard, thanks for the catb counting, will really look into that. Would you clasify a 20 minute walk each day as excercise or would it be like an hours gym workout?
Mike thanks for the encouragement.
Till later, hope you all have an amazing new year.

 

[Richard157]

Karen, you should do whatever amount of exercise you are capable of doing, without pushing too hard and hurting yourself. That means 20 minutes for some people but for others it can be a 10 mile run or a 20 mile bike ride. I am 70 now and I walk for 1 hour each day on roads with some steep hills. On bad weather days I use my treadmill indoors. That is about my limit. You will have to be your own judge on deciding what you can do. You could gradually increase your exercise every few days and build up the muscles necessary to enable you to do a little bit more.

 

[MikeDavis]

Thanks for your replies, never guessed this ste would be that popular.
Richard, thanks for the catb counting, will really look into that. Would you clasify a 20 minute walk each day as excercise or would it be like an hours gym workout?
Mike thanks for the encouragement.
Till later, hope you all have an amazing new year.

No problem Karen,generally any exercise is better than none though in my case i tend to go a bit over the top and end up a little hypo.If it leaves you slightly breathless then its a good sign,build slowly but try to take a meter and some glucose tabs just in case.Good luck.