[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

tbh

robinph wrote: »

Difficult to answer survey question to fill in this morning, was to do with sports research. Can't quite remember the exact wording...but anyway:

"Do you have any disabilities that effect you doing stuff?
No
Yes a little
Yes a lot

If yes what type of disability?
a)physical
b)something
c)illness such as asthma, diabetes, etc, etc
d)something"

It did actually let me select both the "No" option as well as the type of disability option. I expect they will think I'm an idiot and cannot fill in forms correctly though in their anaysis of the results.

I can't sensibly fill in something claiming that I have a disability though, I don't count the mere fact of needing drugs to stay alive as disabling me from doing anything.

recent online job application for a...certain company...let's just say their standards are sky-high asked: Do you have a disability? (select): diabetes top of the list. Didn't complete the job app out of principle.

Alanstrainor

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Well my insulin pump broke yesterday morning! And to make matters worse its out of warranty. Minimed are sending me a temporary pump to do me over for 3 months, bit after that I don't know what's going to happen. I've been on to my diabetic consultant so I'll just have to see what happens really.
This is my second pump that went belly up. I'm actually using my old one that's a bit dodgey at the minute. Here's hoping it holds up!

Should have my new pump in a 2 weeks or so. At long last!

Only got it by going directly to the HSE myself. After 8 months of nothing from Vincents private. I insisted they give me a number for someone in the HSE who deals with it. Got talking to the Appliance officer. Explained the situation, he said sorry and that i'd have a new pump in 2 weeks...no joke, no word of a lie. All it took was a 2 minute phone call to the right person.

calfmuscle

tbh wrote: »

recent online job application for a...certain company...let's just say their standards are sky-high asked: Do you have a disability? (select): diabetes top of the list. Didn't complete the job app out of principle.

Hi guys, Im a type one for 16 years now and this surprised me! I would have thought asking about disability's on application forms was illegal???

Although to be fair, I think diabetes is a disability obviously it wont stop us from living normal lives but we do have special needs and its a bonus when employers appreciate this.

robinph

Was running a half marathon today. I caught up with some guy relatively near the end and passed the time of day* for the little while we were running next to each other, he was starting to struggle a bit so I then pulled away from him on the next incline. As I was pulling away he shouted at me asking "Is that an insulin pump!?!?!" as he'd spotted it on my waist band. My confirmation resulted in an explanation something along the lines of "@%@ing hell, great running".

I think he must work in the a medical profession, or is related to a diabetic. It was an unusual shout of encouragement, but it certainly helped me today.



* It's mostly just grunts and unintelligible words at that stage of a race.

Griffin87

Hi Guys

Im just looking for abit of help clarifying what i am entitled to as Type 1 diabetic with a LTI book.

In the last budget it was announced that long term illness sufferers where to be given free GP visits.

How exactly do i apply for this ?

I have HSE MC1 Medical Card form here but i dont see anywhere where i can state that i have LTI. Also will i have to fill out my incomes and expenses.

Thanks

Meauldsegosha

Griffin87 wrote: »

Hi Guys

Im just looking for abit of help clarifying what i am entitled to as Type 1 diabetic with a LTI book.

In the last budget it was announced that long term illness sufferers where to be given free GP visits.

How exactly do i apply for this ?

I have HSE MC1 Medical Card form here but i dont see anywhere where i can state that i have LTI. Also will i have to fill out my incomes and expenses.

Thanks

It was announced in the budget but there has been nothing further on it since. Legislation would be required to expand the scheme and AFAIK it is not on the legislation calendar yet. It seems the Minister wil face opposition from the IMO also http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=20535

tbh

Griffin87 wrote: »

Hi Guys

Im just looking for abit of help clarifying what i am entitled to as Type 1 diabetic with a LTI book.

In the last budget it was announced that long term illness sufferers where to be given free GP visits.

How exactly do i apply for this ?

I have HSE MC1 Medical Card form here but i dont see anywhere where i can state that i have LTI. Also will i have to fill out my incomes and expenses.

Thanks

it hasn't been rolled out yet, probably not until next year.

Griffin87

ok thank you for clearing that up

BlackEdelweiss

5 o clock in the morning, lying in bed, wide awake just after eating a ham sandwich, 3 weetabix, 2 cereal bars and a good mouthfull of lucozade. 2nd night time hypo in 2 weeks, they are crap and for some reason I always go mental on food when I have one. My bloods will be sky high tomorrow after all that crap and I'm just waiting for the headache to start now.

tbh

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

a ham sandwich, 3 weetabix, 2 cereal bars and a good mouthfull of lucozade.

yup..sounds about right I might occasionally throw in the odd tea-spoon of sugar, or a glug of honey straight from the jar.

Hope the headache wasn't too bad

BlackEdelweiss

tbh wrote: »

Hope the headache wasn't too bad

The headache wasent too bad actually, I must have gone to sleep before it hit and my blood was not too bad this morning either, 9.8, not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I've had worse than that in the morning after having salad with wheaten bread for my tea and a healthy apple for my night time snack. I'll never understand diabetes.
Does anybody else have semi regular hypos at night? They are becoming more frequent with me since I had to increase my night time lantus by 2 units because my morning readings were so bad. I dont like them at all, mainly because I am so cosy in bed and it is a pain having to go downstairs in the cold to sort it out but it is also hard to recognise the signs you are having one compared to during the day when you are more alert. It takes a minute or two to realise you are feeling weird and that you have to get up and do something about it.
Hypos have been such a feature of my diabetes since I was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago. I have had literally hundreds of them in that time, it has been quite a battle at times, especially when they happen at work. I am a chef in a fairly busy diner and like clockwork when it got really busy my blood would begin to drop but most of the time I had nobody to cover me so I just had to work through them, throwing coke and chocolate into me until I could function again. I would have loads of dockets in front of me and people calling for orders and I would be standing there, unable to read the dockets or at least able to process what was written on them. I often feel like I am having an out of body experience, floating above myself watching it all happening with distorted sound effects. Then when the hypo was over I couldent even go for a sit down I just had to keep going, it is a nightmare and it made me hate my job. Being a chef is not a good occupation for a diabetic anyway, being surrounded all day by the thing that is killing you is not easy, it would be like superman working in a kryptonite factory.
I am in the final weeks of my engineering degree so hopefully I can get out of my chefing career.If anybody out there has a job for a fire safety engineer you could help save my life!

tbh

sounds like your lantus isn't the problem, you're maybe not taking enough fast acting with your dinner in the evening. Also - just a note, chocolate is no good for a hypo - doesn't work fast enough.

BlackEdelweiss

tbh wrote: »

sounds like your lantus isn't the problem, you're maybe not taking enough fast acting with your dinner in the evening. Also - just a note, chocolate is no good for a hypo - doesn't work fast enough.

The chocolate was more because there is not much else there to grab, I would usually take it if I felt the first effects of a hypo coming on and have a coke if it really came on.
I take 8 units of Novorapid for my evening dose, if I took more I would have to eat more to stop having a hypo, if I dont eat enough carbs with it I get very low.

CramCycle

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

The chocolate was more because there is not much else there to grab, I would usually take it if I felt the first effects of a hypo coming on and have a coke if it really came on.
I take 8 units of Novorapid for my evening dose, if I took more I would have to eat more to stop having a hypo, if I dont eat enough carbs with it I get very low.

I think maybe tbh meant you should reduce your novorapid possibly? as that would explain the hypos in the middle of the night or that you should have increased your novo instead of increasing the Lantus?

Considering the timing of the hypos, I would definitely cut back on the Novo immediately.

tbh

CramCycle wrote: »

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

The chocolate was more because there is not much else there to grab, I would usually take it if I felt the first effects of a hypo coming on and have a coke if it really came on.
I take 8 units of Novorapid for my evening dose, if I took more I would have to eat more to stop having a hypo, if I dont eat enough carbs with it I get very low.

I think maybe tbh meant you should reduce your novorapid possibly? as that would explain the hypos in the middle of the night or that you should have increased your novo instead of increasing the Lantus?

Considering the timing of the hypos, I would definitely cut back on the Novo immediately.

Sorry yeah, meant to say you're probably taking too much n/r, not too little.

BlackEdelweiss

I'm up in the clinic on the 10th anyway so I will see about it then. It is a new consultant though so he doesn't know my history. This will be my 3rd consultant in 2 years, they keep leaving for some reason.

Eurovisionmad

I'm just wondering should I get myself checked out, have been going to the toilet constantly and drinking water constantly for the last few months (only really put 2 and 2 together today) and I can't put on weight no matter how much I eat or how little I exercise! (which is a bit of a blessing in disguise but you know!)

calfmuscle

Obviously we cant give you medical advise and if you are concerned then you should see our gp!

The thirst I had was so severe I would literally attack someone for a glass of water. I was desperate to get a drink, but no matter how much I drank it was never enough. Its not just drinking a lot, if you are worried please see your gp asap!

BlackEdelweiss

When I am explaining my thirst to people I tell them I would have drank water out of a puddle on the ground I was so thirsty and when I did drink it was like throwing a glass of water down a well, it wouldent even hit the sides. It was only over a 2 week period though, I couldent have done it for months, going to the toilet is just a natural reaction to drinking the water but thirst can have many causes, as can loosing weight.
Get yourself checked out and if you get a positive test for diabetes, its not the end of the wold. I call it the best thing that happened to me, its a pain in the ass at times and you will never eat anything again without thinking about it but there are worse things out there.
You are better finding out though.

gerrybbadd

Ya the thirst is the worst. I would drink 2 litres plus of water during the night in bed. I'd keep waking up, gasping with the thirst - then to pee! It took me 12 months to go and get diagnosed, guess I was in denial, and in hindsight, very stupid for letting it go on as long as I did.

Plus, I'd always be hungry, I'd just have eaten a massive feed, and be starving a half hour later.

robinph

In the case of pre-diagnosed diabetes the thirst is actually the result of peeing so much, not the other way round. Your body is desperately trying to get rid of the ketones from your system and the only way of doing that is urination so you become dehydrated and therefore need to drink more.

Was getting through litres of water during the night as well myself. Unfortunately my GP at the time was an idiot so it took far too long for it to be figured out what was wrong with me.

Eurovisionmad

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to be tested tomorrow so we'll see after that.

gerrybbadd

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to be tested tomorrow so we'll see after that.

Good luck, hopefully all goes well:o

calfmuscle

Ha I mean this is the nicest way possible - I hope you have no reason to post in here again!! (although do let us know how you get on!)

Eurovisionmad

the results are in and I'm 31.8 so I'm definitely a diabetic so I'll make an appointment with a GP ASAP!

robinph

Who did the test?

Just wondering why you are talking about waiting to see a GP? You should be getting treated immediately to bring that BG level down.

Meauldsegosha

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

the results are in and I'm 31.8 so I'm definitely a diabetic so I'll make an appointment with a GP ASAP!

I wouldn't wait to see my GP, I would go straight to A&E. That BG needs to be brought down asap.

Good luck with it. If it is diabetes it's not the worst thing in the world.

Eurovisionmad

I would probably put it down the fact that I horsed into an Easter egg earlier, but SouthDoc are writing me a letter for A&E as I speak.



Also it was a relative who has diabetes herself so she obliged me in testing me with her monitor.

robinph

Steer clear of the chocolate and other high carb/ sugary stuff for the moment until they get you sorted. Drink plenty of water.

And don't worry...but do please get yourself seen ASAP.

BlackEdelweiss

Ask your relative to do a keytones test if you cant get to a gp. They will do one in a&e but no harm having the info early. I rushed into a&e the night I was diagnosed and sat there for 6 hours waiting to be seen. Luckily my keytones were low but they dident know that.