Hi everyone!
I am Chelsea, I am 22 from Oklahoma City, OK.
I was recently diagnosed with type 1 after going into DKA. I was told about a year ago that I was type 2, but nothing was helping me that typically helps a type 2. After running a c-peptide test my new doctor was able to determine that I was actually type 1, and not type 2. So, although I have had diabetes for a year now, I am completely new to the type 1 scene. I am not one to usually get outside of my comfort zone, but I have felt kind of lost over the last couple of weeks. I don’t personally know anyone with T1, so I feel a little alone in the whole process. However, people can sympathize with me, I really want to talk to and get to know people who have gone through this whole process and have dealt with the same thing I am going through. 
Hey @chelshubbs Chelsea. Welcome to TypeOneNation, the club no one wants to be in! Type 1 can be a monster the first couple years there is a lot to learn.
It all comes down to carbs activity and insulin. These are the big things that move your blood sugar. I hope you have access to a CDE. They will be your best contact at first. I always recommend “Think like a pancreas “ for everything you wanted to know about insulin. Hope to see you around!
Hey @joe! I will definitely be checking out “think like a pancreas”! Thank you for the suggestion. (:
Hi there Chelsea! My name is Ashley, I’m 24 and was just diagnosed in April after being DKA and spending four days in the icu. Sounds like you and I are in similar situations. I live in Washington but I’m from Kansas (Midwest is best!). It’s definitely
Been super overwhelming and extremely stressful having all of this thrown on to me. If you ever need to vent or need someone to bounce some thoughts off of feel free to email me! Ashleyparker121917@gmail.com I can tell you though that you’ve made a good decision by joining this forum. Everyone here has been so helpful to me and it’s been invaluable when I don’t know who to turn to.
Hi Chelsea! You’ve come to the right place. It is great to have a good support system and someone you can just shoot a random question to. Please feel free at any moment to message me with questions. I love sharing my knowledge and what I’ve learned from having diabetes for 20+ years. I’m in my mid-30s and have had huge successes and mega failures as an active, healthy diabetic. But of course I’ve also had my days where I’ve woken up and said, I don’t want to do this anymore. What’s helped me get through those days was having a diabetic friend I could complain to. It’s very therapeutic!!!
Best wishes and I hope to hear from you!
- DailyDiabetic (Jill)
Hi Chelsea. Yes being diagnosed with Type 1 is hard no matter the situation, but at least now there are ways to find support such as this group, When I was diagnosed on April 9, 1956 (Mom’s birthday, no less) there was not only lack of people to ask for help outside the doctor’s office, my parents had to get the doctors to know that Type 1 EXISTED, since it was only recognized as a disease in 1952, just 4 years before.
So be glad things are better now! Anyway, Mom gave me a guideline for my life with diabetes. Sh said “Everybody has a problem, some have constant headaches, some have heart trouble and so on. YOU have diabetes, so you need to deal with it every way you can.”
So I began my journey with diabetes and am still alive in good condition with no major complications 62 years later. Please feel free to ask here and at any other contact that has great diabetic information. Please feel free to contact me separately by email at rim_molder@yahoo.com any time you need to.
Hi ND. I wouldn’t worry about been diagnosed as T1. A lot of people, having been diagnosed as T2 go onto insulin after many years and become very well controlled on insulin injections. My sister in law was diagnosed as T2 almost 5 or six years ago, running high BGs and is now on insulin Injections and very well controlled (BG now between 108.6 and 81.45 ). good eating habits must become habitual, be well disciplined and exercise regularly. Do not allow stress
to become your task master. Find a good Doctor who knows what he is talking about and do as he says. I have been T1 for 70 yeasr and going strong. Good luck
Hi Chelsea,
I’m 22 and was diagnosed with T1D 15 years ago. Being young adult with diabetes can be tough! There is so much happening in this phase of life. Below is link for people who are diagnosed with diabetes as young adults. I hope it helps!
https://collegediabetesnetwork.org/newdx
Hi, Chelsea. Been T1 for 61 years now. Great progress made the past 30 or so years, and coming into an era now where there will likely be cure. So have hope for that. Now, in dealing with it, make sure you see an endocrinologist, the most important doctor you’ll have. Follow his/her regimen religiously. If you don’t understand something, ask questions. Try to see a certified diabetes educator if you can afford one. Learn about carb counting and get a special calculator to help you count them. Don’t exercise on an empty stomach unless you ate in the past few hours. Learn how exercise and food affects your glucose cycles. A Continuous Glucose Meter will be your close friend (the most accurate around by far is the Dexcome G5 or G6), it can track your levels over time. You’ll be able to upload the meter every week or two and download reports to help you figure out your body. Each of us has a different diabetes footprint. And if you have insurance, a pump is a must to make insulin dosage easier and more accurate. The one that works together with the Dexcom G5/G6 CGM is the Tandem T-slim 2, recently released. It will be upgradeable for free to an automatic closed-loop pump, also called an artificial pancreas, in about a year when it is released on the market.
Don’t be afraid to enjoy life. you can live a pretty normal life but you have to use restraint in what and how much you consume, be aware of what your body is doing (are glucose levels rising too high, are they falling into danger territory), how much active insulin you have “on board” in your body. When you have been at this for some time, it will become near second nature to you. Also, be alert to possible screwups like a bad injection site, leaving your pump tube in your body too long in the same place, forgetting to take a dose of insulin, or worse, accidentally dosing twice. I recently did that and my wife had to call the fire department first responders out to help me get out of very low glucose levels. First time I ever did that. Age creeping up on me. You can eat a special meal or a special dessert or snack, but take insulin for it first. One important thing you should learn is how fast protein raises your glucose level and how fast fat raises it, plus how long the effect lasts in your body. A carb is not just any carb. It varies a lot between carbohydrates, protein adn fat, and they each vary with the specific food you consume… Like was said before in a reply to you, get a Certified Diabetes Educator. If you can find one who is also a Type 1 diabetic (T1D), she or he will be worth their weight in gold.