Starting College and Looking for better control

General
1

Hey everyone! Im Drew and im about to be a freshman in college and i have been diagnosed with type one diabetes for 7 years now.

For the most part I felt like i had pretty good control over my numbers but lately things to seem a lot more frusterating and difficult. I havent started collegeyet but i would love to go into a new school with a positive and hopeful attitude about managing myself and my nyumbers in a much more succesful way.

My goals are to get my A1C numbers down, manage my daily blood glucose numbers to maintian my target blood level more, and overall have a more controlled and comfortable feel about my diabetes.

I would to meet new people from here and take suggestions and talk about all this stuff and much more!

 

Please feel free to contact me and reply!

2

Hey, I'm Mallory and I'm going to be a freshman in college this year too! I was diagnosed a little over a year ago.

As far as better control goes, I know that my blood sugars are much better if I have been running consistently. I run about 6 days a week- and lately I've been doing at least 5 miles a day. You obviously don't have to do that much, but regular cardiovascular exercise causes insulin-sensitivity, and better overall numbers (for me, at least) :)

3

You're WAY smarter than I was in college.  I basically ignored my diabetes and had some scary highs and lows.  Despite that I still served on student government, worked different jobs (was an RA in the dorms my soph year), skiied often and was in theatre productions.  Oh yeah, and I did okay in my classes too.  =)  

College is full of all sorts of new experiences and your schedule can get kind of crazy, so try to test as much as you can and make sure you have glucose tablets or sugar with you and in your dorm at all times.  Tell your roommate, RA and friends that you have diabetes.  

Do you use a pump?  If not, you may consider getting one next summer, or whenever you'll be home for long enough to adjust to it before going to school.  Learn how to adjust your insulin if you drink alcohol and make sure you have a good handle for bolusing for pizza and ramen noodles... chances are you will eat them a lot.

For the first few days on campus and anytime before a test, it's good to let your blood sugar run a little higher than usual.  Sometimes the excitement can cause an unexpected low.  

I'd also really recommend getting the Track 3 Diabetes app, if you have a smart phone.  Makes carb counting and logging blood sugars easier.  

Do great in college!  It's normal to be nervous about going, but you will settle in and have a great experience.  

4

Hey! it's always nice to talk to someone going through the same stuff! and as far as exercise goes i guess i'm active but it isnt consistent so it sounds like it's definetley something i shoul try and i love bien goutside anyway so that's no problem. I'm not sure about 5 miles though :p I guess I've been having trouble with numbers going from high to low and up and down all the time and not being able to keep in my target range

5

Yes I do have a pump and I've been looking for a good smart phone app so it's awesome that you mentioned that! Thank  you so much!

6

There's a calorieking app that you can get on smart phones- it has access to the calorieking database, and can track how much you're eating per day, and how much (and what types of food) you should eat depending on your fitness goals, level of activity, age, weight, etc. It's pretty cool :)

7

Mal, how do you usually prevent lows when you run? i mean by now probably you have adjusted your basal rates for it, but initially did anything help?

8

Okay, I'm feeling ridiculously lazy right now, so a lot of this is what I wrote to someone else in another thread about distance running :)

Before a run, your BS should be at least 140, but lower than 250. If you're going to run within 2 hours of eating, then you should only take half of the insulin that you would normally take. (This varies a bit for some people).

If you're running in the mornings, you'll have some insulin resistance (known as the "dawn phenomenon"), so you have to eat and take insulin before working out. Later in the day, you'll have less resistance, and will probably requre less insulin.

This probably varies a bit from person to person as well, but I noticed that by blood sugar would drop during very slow jogging. It would raise a bit during harder runs (150s-160s), but be lower after my workouts. It would raise more during speed workouts (170s-190s) and be lower afterwards. During races, my blood sugar would sky rocket (260s at the end of the race, always), and be a lot lower later. So basically, slow running lowers blood sugar during the workout, but not as much afterwards. High intensity running raises blood sugar during the run, but makes it a lot lower later. You'll also notice that after running consistently, your blood sugars will be lower all day so you should gradually reduce your long-acting insulin (or change your basal rate, if you're on a pump, for days that you are running, for days that you're not running, and for during your runs).

Also, you should always glucose tablets with you when you're running, and a medical bracelet is really great to have in case you pass out and someone finds you. It's also really great to have someone to run with, especially at first when you're testing out different doses and snacks.

I carry my glucose tablets in this: www.amphipod.com/.../airflow-microstretch-belt

It's really small (but stretches to 4x it's size) and you can't see it under most clothes.

9

okay that was super helpful and informative :] thanks a bunch