Christmas & Birthdays

Christmas can be a hard time for any diabetic and the temptations of the trifle, chocolate's and drink can sometimes cause problems, same as birthdays. The doctors tell you though that because its a special occasion, that only happens once a year, you can push the boat out a bit and have some serious fun.

But in doing that you still have to make sure that you aren't going to end up in hospital with Ketoacidosis. When I am at Christmas parties or birthday parties, and if I start getting drunk someone is always there to make sure that nothing seriously bad is going to happen to me.

Alcohol and Diabetes

Being diabetic can be hard in all respects, but when you are a 17 year old it is even more harder. You can't really go out and do all the other things that your friends do, if you do you have to be extremely careful that you don't end up in hospital. What I find the hardest is drinking, if and when I drink I have to make sure I check my B.M's, eat while drinking and don't drink too much which is the hardest part.

The last time I got properly drunk I ended up in hospital. I wasn't living with my mum at the time and I had stopped taking my insulin for a bit, I was staying with a friend and we weren't going to school so all we done was sit and get drunk. We were drinkin for about four days straight and I was eating very little, it got to the point where I was lying on her couch thinking I was speaking to people who weren't even there, being sick every 5 seconds and not being able to keep anything down. My mum kept on phoning me to see how I was and when she eventually got me on the phone she heard how I sounded and sent a taxi up, the taxi driver had to come into the house as I wasn't able to walk myself and he had to help me into the taxi. When I eventually got home I collapsed outside the taxi and was then rushed to hospital.

When the doctor seen me I got a drip for fluids that I had lost and was getting my bloods taken, he then said that if I had stayed up at my mates I would have most probably died as I was in a severe case of Ketoacidosis. In that month I had been in hospital about 4 times due to severe drinking, and even though I have nearly died a couple of times I will still go out and get drunl, but not to the extent where I'll end up in hospital, it's to hard to stop when all you'r friends are drinking around you and you'r not allowed to.

Ketoacidosis

The symptoms and signs of Ketoacidosis can develop in less than 24 hours, and one of the symptoms can be a dramatic rise in the blood sugars and high levels of ketones, other signs are:

• Deep, slow breathing
• Excessive thirst or urination
• Weakness and fatigue
• Nausea, vomiting and stomach pain
• Decreased appetite and weight loss
• Fruity-scented breath (caused by high ketone levels)

People with diabetic ketoacidosis often become dehydrated because they produce large amounts of urine. Signs of dehydration include a rapid heartbeat and low blood pressure. Untreated diabetic ketoacidosis results in coma and eventual death.

Blood Monitoring

Blood Monitoring is when you check your blood to see how much sugar is in it. You do this with a small needle that you prick your finger with, so you can get enough blood for the machine. You then insert a strip into the machine and place your finger with the tiny amount of blood onto the strip, the blood then absorbs into the strip and the machine works out how much sugar there is. This is useful as you can see if your B.M's are high or low, and also if you are feeling unwell you can keep an eye on your B.M.

The type of machine I have to check my B.M's is the tiniest machine the Freestyle Papillon Mini , it only needs a tiny bit of blood and takes about 5 seconds to read the B.M.

The proper way to check your B.M. is;

• 
  Wash your hands and dry them well before doing the test.
  



• Use an alcohol pad to clean the area that you're going to prick. With many glucose meters, you get a drop of blood from your fingertip. However, with some meters, you can also use your forearm, thigh or the fleshy part of your hand. Ask your doctor what area you should use with your meter.
  



• Prick yourself with a sterile lancet to get a drop of blood. (If you prick your fingertip, it may be easier and less painful to prick it on one side, not on the pad.)
  



• Place the drop of blood on the test strip.
  



• Follow the instructions for inserting the test strip into the glucose meter.
  



• The meter will give you a number for your blood sugar level.

Hypoglycaemia

Hypoglycaemia (Hypo) is when your blood sugars (B.M.) goes below 4. When this happens your body normally starts showing signs that let you know your B.M. is low, such signs can be:

• Your hands start to shake slightly.
• Your tongue and lips go numb.
• Your speech can sometimes go funny.
• You lose all energy.
• Your vision can very rarely go blurry.

Hypo's can occur for a number of reasons like if you have been doing a lot of strenuous work or exercise, if you have been out drinking or if you have taken your insulin and didn't have anything to eat with it. This can be very life threatening as if you leave it you can reach complecations which could result in you being put on a drip in the hospital and possibly fighting for your life.

I have only ever experienced a Hypo once, my B.M. dropped down to 1.8 and I was slurring my speech, so my mum got me some coke and put a spoon of sugar in it to take out the fizz. After I had drunk that she kept a close eye on my B.M's every two hours until they were stable.

The diabetic doctors say that an ideal B.M. would be between 7 & 10, but it can be very hard keeping it between those numbers.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. Type 1 diabetes usually strikes in childhood, although it can also affect adults. It lasts a lifetime and requires multiple daily injections of insulin and finger-prick blood glucose monitoring. A person with type 1 diabetes must constantly try to balance insulin and food intake to avoid hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), both of which can be life threatening.

Daily Routine

Morning

Every morning when i get up, i need to check my B.M. this is to make sure that my B.M. is not below 4 (Hypo) and above 5. After i have checked my B.M. I take 10 unit s of Novorapid Insulin , this is fast acting insulin which means i have to have something to eat when i take it.



In between morning and lunch i have to check my B.M. again and have a small snack like crisps os something.



Lunch

At lunch i don't have to check my B.M. but i do take 14 units of novorapid insulin and get something to eat.



Dinner

Then at dinner I have to take 20 units of insulin before having my tea.



Supper

At supper I take 40 units of Lantus insulin, Lantus Insulin is a slower acting insulin which is ideal for when i go to bed as it lowers my sugar levels very slowly meaning that when i wake up my B.M. wont be sky high or extremely low.

First finding out...

When I first found out I was diabetic I was 14 years old. I have now been diabetic for three years and am still struggling to come to terms with it. At the beginning it was very hard for me and all of my family, the upside to it was that we found out why i was having terrible mood swings.

The signs that my mum started worrying about was that; I was going to the toilet a hell of a lot, this would be stupid times like 4 in the morning then 6 in the morning and it would carry on like that every day. The second sign was that I was very drained and had no energy at all, I was finding it hard just to do basic things like helping round the house, at first my mum thought I had thrush as my tongue was completely white and I was drinking and going to the toilet a lot.

When I went to the doctors he took blood samples and sent them off for tests, that was on the Thursday. On the Friday the doctor personally came round to my house as he couldn't get hold of us, and told my mum that I could either get transported down to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by ambulance or find someone who could take me, so my mum done the mad rush of getting my step dad to take me down.

When we got down we found out that I was in a severe state of Ketoacidosis , that my B.M. was nearly hitting the 40's and that I was a Type 1 Diabetic. I was put on a drip and put under a close eye of all the nurses. I was down in Raigmore for about a week, and while I was there I met the Diabetic doctors and nurses who specialise in these type of things. My diabetic doctor is now Dr. Ball and my diabetic nurse is Pamela Campbell, I see Pam on a monthly basis and Dr. Ball every three months or so. It was very boring down there as I was stuck in the hospital all day every day and was only allowed out for an hour for one day! While down there the nurses gave me my insulin there self as I was new to it all, but the showed me by giving me an orange and a syringe that I was using at the time. The basic idea of taking Insulin, is that you pinch the skin so that it doesn't go to the muscle and inject the amount needed. You have to make sure that you don't inject in the same places as this can lead to you getting small white lumps on the inside on your skin, which show through and can be very sore.
The sites you can inject are:

• Top part of your arm.
• Your stomach.
• Your thighs
• And your bum.

I also have a Chiropodist, Hamish Stuart, as with being diabetic you have to make sure everything is OK with your feet and legs and that you wont have any problems in the future or things that now seem to be fine to you or me, but to them spell disaster and possibly meaning your feet getting amputated in the future. Also as me being a diabetic it means that i have a very poor circulation, so i have to make sure I'm warm when it's very cold.