Did your endo or diabetes educator train you on how to give yourself injections? If you haven’t ask them to show you when you see them, they could also have different tips for you.
Have you been rotating your injection sites? When I was on injections (and even now on a pump) some sites are more painful than others and I’ve learned to avoid those areas.
This health line article has a few tips that you may find helpful: Insulin Injection Sites: Where and How to Inject
I found the injections to be more inconvenient than painful. Good luck! Glad to hear you were properly diagnosed.
@spdif great ideas… been working on a list of questions ever since i started doubting my original diagnosis - will add these and research the insurance more… our employer provides a service called “included health” which helps navigate the hassle of dealing with medical admin among other things - that is how i was able to get a remote second opinion among other things…
As @6yGodsGr suggested, its more the inconvenience of the pens - i have a field job, so remembering to take the pen and needles with me, making sure i store them appropriately are all adding to the challenge of carb counting and dosing appropriately… I am rotating sites, but don’t have a diabetes educator yet - so will make sure to ask for a referral at the endo appointment and find out how wrongly I’m poking myself … Attended a jdrf picnic yesterday and met some pros there- they all had good things to say about the new endo practice i’m going to and their educators…
Check the packaging of your pens but I believe once you start using one it should be good at room temperature for 30 days (keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to start). Fanny packs and running belts are good places to store your stuff while you’re out and about.
I may have missed this but are you using a CGM? It beats having to do finger sticks frequently during the day, and less stuff to carry.
@pady87 Welcome! I’d recommend getting a Frio that will store pens (and a couple spare needles) in a controlled temp environment so your insulin doesn’t spoil. Spoiled insulin can take a few days of frustration to diagnose.
Believe the tests for antibodies are the ZNT8, GAD65, IA2&INS. My Dr. ran all 4 tests on me and found no antibodies. They still have no clue why my pancreas stopped working or why I get continued heat spells since I was in hospital with DKA. I had something like 25 different doctors at Stanford hospital looking over my chart. They said I was a unicorn case given I was never pre-diabetic, no antibodies, fit, active, no diabetes in my family (including my 68 first cousins), and I went through all the symptoms (constant muscle cramps, dry mouth, blurry vision, lost 16% of my weight, and two days of non-stop vomiting) all in a span of two weeks. Eight months and tons of lab work later… they still have no clue why or how I became a diabetic.
@wadawabbit - ok, not refrigerating after opening is a game changer… Thanks!! Yes, I’m on a CGM - the libre2… @gmershon - Thanks, will get the frio!! !! I am so sorry - but glad you have a lot of ppl looking into it and hopefully the symptoms are getting treated while you fight…
Trialnet told me there is one more - the ICA - they don’t test for it in home kits, because it requires more blood, but can be done in lab - my new pcp added that to my next blood work… when i signed up for the home test kit thru the trialnet website, someone from the closest research facility contacted me and was a great resource to talk to - i didnt qualify for their current study since i was already on type 2 meds, but they still did my antibody test and explained so much… for example, my first endo and pcp insisted i was type 2 because my c peptide was 1.8 and the lab work said it was within range, but trialnet person asked me if it was b4 or after meal and said that is low for post prandial…
Also, i found tcoyd.org a great resource in case you haven’t checked it out yet…
@gmershon, as you and the two dozen doctors who reviewed your charts must know, is that applying a “type” or cause to any form of diabetes is a process of “converging probabilities”. Autoimmune diabetes, these days now referred to as TypeOne, falls into classification I and the term Type 2 is an umbrella name for the half-dozen other forms/causes of diabetes that fall into Class II, Class III, Class IV. Two of my brothers, although having different “types” of diabetes, were were Classification III - one diagnosed in his 40s and the other late 70s. The good news for you is that you are now being advised by more knowledgeable doctors and that my brothers and I all manage diabetes in a very similar manner - Insulin Therapy. You may suggest that your doctor refer to the American Diabetes Association Chapter 2 of the “Standards of Care in Diabetes” for professionals.
… Attended a jdrf picnic yesterday and met some pros there- they all had good things to say about the new endo practice i’m going to and their educators…