My Journey with Type 1 Diabetes so far…

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes back in 1974 when I was 30 years old. Back then we had reusable glass syringes and tested our urine for glucose.

Throughout my diabetes career, I had regular hypos (episodes of low blood glucose), typically around three times a week. After about twenty years, on two occasions a week apart, I was rushed off to A&E by the ambulance with serious hypos at night. It turned out that part of the cause for my low glucose was that I had been injecting too often in the same spot. The problem has not re-occurred because I now use my thighs before breakfast, my bum at bedtime and my stomach in the daytime, and rotate my injection sites.

I had received almost no diabetes information or education until I did the DAFNE course in 2004. It changed my life.

I am now in charge of my diabetes instead of it being in charge of me! I moved to a basal/bolus insulin regimen (this involves injecting long-acting or background insulin with fast-acting insulin at mealtimes), I learnt to count carbs and I can eat what I choose and inject accordingly, bearing in mind that my insulin/carbs ratio can vary throughout the day.

Now I wear a Freestyle Libre flash glucose monitor, so I am able to know what my blood glucose is 24 hours a day and I can also see whether my blood glucose is rising or falling and how fast.

I now have minor retinopathy in my right eye, (diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the small blood vessels and which can be caused by living with diabetes for many years)

I also have maculopathy in my left eye which is linked to retinopathy and I am beginning to lose sensation in one of my feet which is also a complication of diabetes in the small blood vessels which can result from living with diabetes for many years.

Not so bad after living with type 1 diabetes for 45 years.

I am still learning about diabetes all the time and will never stop doing so.