3 Months After the Diagnosis

It has been about 12 weeks since the day I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and since that day I’ve learned so much about both myself and the disease. There have been some very difficult and frustrating days, but there have also been days where I hardly notice that I have diabetes. At this post, I thought I would share what I have learned so far, about what my new daily routine is like, and how it has all been working out so far. It has of course been a huge bummer that my body decided to let me down by destroying its own insulin-producing cells, but I am learning that it is possible to work on improving your blood sugar levels to maintain a healthy level and reduce the possibility of complications in the future.

The Types of Diabetes

As most people may know, there are two different types of diabetes. Actually, there are a few variations, but the most common are known as Type 1 and Type 2 — cleverly named. I was diagnosed with Type 1. So, what’s the difference?

In the U.S., Type 1 diabetes affects roughly 1.5 million while Type 2 affects nearly 29 million people, with that number growing more and more each year. For those of us with Type 1, an autoimmune disease our body’s own immune system destroys “beta” cells, cells which are responsible for measuring our blood glucose levels and producing insulin. Insulin’s job is to encourage the movement of key nutrients, including glucose, out of the bloodstream and into the body’s cells where they can be used for energy. In short, insulin lowers the body’s blood sugar level. Our immune system would normally only attack foreign things that are not a part of our body, but this being an autoimmune disease means that the immune system has failed to recognize the cells as part of the body and works to destroy them. We are left with high, unstable blood sugar levels and have to continuously work to keep them in check by taking, usually by injection, insulin.

I was admitted to the hospital with an extremely high blood glucose level of 537 mg/dL, close to 5x higher than the level of a healthy individual. This was because my body was suffering from not having the right amount of insulin to bring my sugar levels down after each meal prior.

Now that we’re more comfortable with what Type 1 diabetes is and how it is caused, what about Type 2? Type 2 is extremely different from Type 1 in the fact that is not an autoimmune disease and the body doesn’t cease producing insulin. Instead, the body actually begins to not use its own insulin properly anymore, leading to fluctuating glucose levels which can be extremely dangerous if left untreated. What can cause the onset of Type 2? Genetics can play a strong role, as well as obesity and other various conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The Daily Routine

As far as each day goes, things have been different. Learning how to manage diabetes well comes down to understanding exactly what you’re eating and more specifically, how many carbs are in what you’re eating. When someone learns that I have diabetes, the first question that I’m often asked is “can you not eat sugar anymore?”. The answer is no, I can eat a lot of sugar still! In fact, when my glucose goes low, I need sugar more than ever to get it back up to a normal level. It’s purely a matter of understanding what your body needs and when.

Each morning begins by waking up and doing a quick finger prick so that I can know my morning glucose reading. Once that’s done, it’s time for a quick insulin shot and then breakfast time. I usually have scrambled eggs, or waffles occasionally, as well as toast, fruit and a granola bar to help me feel full. When lunchtime comes around, the process is very similar. Finger prick, insulin shot and then it’s time to eat, and of course, a similar dinner routine.

Though it doesn’t happen often anymore, I thought it would be important to share what it feels like when I go high or low throughout the day. In the early days, as I was continuing to better understand my body and how foods were affecting my glucose levels, I was experiencing lots of highs and lows throughout the day. A low was usually caused by giving myself too much insulin before a meal and a high was caused by not giving myself enough insulin. It truly is a balancing act. Experiencing a low can happen in just a matter of minutes I had found. I could be having a conversation with someone and then all of the sudden, boom. It would hit me. My face would go pale, I would begin to sweat and feel confused. My body would send me a signal that I needed some sort of sugar as soon as possible and it always feels like a race to get it. Once consumed, the low usually corrects itself within a matter of minutes, but let me tell you, they’re not fun to have. A high on the other hand is a bit different. I have found that it’s harder for me to detect when I am high versus when I am low, and the feeling is even harder to describe. When high, I feel very flushed and the world around me almost seems like I am watching a moving rather than watching a 3D space. Everything just feels flat. See what I mean? Hard to describe. Once I know whether or not I am high or low, correcting is usually pretty easy.

Not a Perfect Science

While Type 1 diabetes can be a confusing and frustrating disease, I am very thankful and fortunate that for the most part, it is a disease that I have control over. There have certainly been days, and there will always be days, where I’m not sure why my body is responding in a particular way, but remembering that managing it isn’t a perfect science and that highs and lows happen to everyone with Type 1, allows me to step back, take a deep breath and try again tomorrow.

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