Step daughter just diagnosed with type 1 & struggling to inject herself

[Al183]

My 10yr old step-daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Monday. Understandably she is really struggling to inject herself with the insulin pen. We know she will get the hang of it at some point but I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions of how they encouraged their children to use it for the first time?
Thanks in advance

Can you contact your diabetes nurse at the hospital? There is a normally a team of them that work alongside the doctors. You can see them in clinic or some do home visits

Aww sorry to hear that, bless her. I am T1 but I was diagnosed as an adult, I know there are quite a few parents on here though so hopefully, they'll be along soon.
What is she struggling with? Is it the fear of pain. Or more getting to grips with technique? I think the finger pricking is more painful....... for this definitely use the side of the finger pad as there are fever nerves. For the insulin, injecting into the fattest bit of the tummy she has or away from muscle when injecting into the leg helps.
Has she been offered a Libre? (This is for monitoring blood glucose so no need to finger prick as often)
She might get an insulin pump in time which means no injections but she'd have to insert a cannula (or an adult can) every 3 days or so.
A lot to take in!
Have a look on the forum pages of diabetes uk, there's a section for parents.
Stay away from diabetes FB groups in the main but twitter has a great community under the hashtag #GBDOC

Here you go, here's a link to the forum.

www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/children-teens.46/

Hiya, so sorry to hear this. My daughter was diagnosed at 5 and is 13 now. My advice would be to encourage her gently to try, but don't force her. There will come a time when she is ready but let her (and you!) adjust to the condition as a whole first. Baby steps. There are lots of aids to help them inject themselves when they feel ready, like needle shields, and my daughter had a pen where you pressed a button and it inserted the needle for her, rather than her putting the needle directly in the skin. She's now on an insulin pump which made a huge difference.

The school is also legally required to support her fully, so if she's unable to inject herself they should train someone up to be able to inject her.

Monday is only a couple of days ago, give it time, it's a marathon not a sprint. Loads to take in and adjust to

Thanks both for the replies and advice. She’s only just leaving the hospital today so has had the nurses supporting her.
She is fine when others inject her & not worried about the pain, she just can’t mentally bring herself to physically put the needle in ☹️ Once she gets the first one done I’m sure she’ll be fine. I’m assuming this is a common issue with children so wondered if anyone had any suggestions on how they persuaded their children to do it for the first time.
We have been told about the alternatives (pump/libre) have said this would only be an option further down the line.
Will have a look on the diabetes uk forum as suggested.
Thanks again!

Thanks ladyrivers1. The hospital had initially said she couldn’t go home until she was able to inject herself so there was pressure put on her to do it. They have now allowed her home despite her not doing it so hopefully she can take things at her own pace now.
Such a lot to take on board & a huge life change for her. But you’re right, baby steps & take each day as it comes...

If you’re in England, she should be offered support from a psychologist which can be helpful in addressing needle phobia.
There are safety needles available where the needle is covered and not visible.
Ask her diabetes nurse if she could try an iPort-it’s a device made by Medtronic to inject into which doesn’t require piercing the skin with each injection. They can stay on for 3 days. Unfortunately they aren’t NHS funded so can be difficult to access as a long term solution but the nurses can usually get hold of samples to trial.

Hi, when I was first diagnosed I got a cove for my pen and it hid the needle. After a few months I felt comfortable enough to do it myself.. good luck to her

Sorry - cover for the pen 🤦‍♀️

Ask for some Autoshield DUO needles to try. DS has them for school, they're like 'safety needles'.

To inject you push down and the plastic retracts for the needle. Because you wait for the click before you push down on the button it helps DS massively as a distraction.