Blast from the past: Coming to America

After graduating from high school, my parents sent me to the U.S. to go to Iowa State University. They were so relieved that I could finally be far away from my boyfriend. I found a brand new life in the U.S. My mom was with me for the first month and she helped me settled down. She took me to a doctor in the campus student health center. After a couple visits, my doctor changed my insulin to NovoRapid (generic:aspart) and Lantus (generic: glargine).
NovoRapid acts faster than the short acting insulin in the mixtard so that it can take care of my food consumption more effectively. On the other hand, Lantus acts more slowly for longer time (24 hour) than the intermediate one in the mixtard. Using this combination, I can theoretically have more freedom of when to eat and what to eat. As consequences though, I had to inject more frequently. I gave myself Lantus once a day at the same time (around 10 pm) and gave me a shot of NovoRapid every time I was about to eat any carbohydrates. Now, the amount of Lantus that I injected every night was fixed but for the NovoRapid, it was adjusted to how much carbohydrates I ate. Thus, I had to learn counting the carbohydrates to better manage my diabetes. I had regular appointments for my doctor and dietitian for this. I was told to give 1 unit of NovoRapid for every 15 grams carbohydrates. Also, I had to test my blood sugar prior injections and if it was higher than 150 mg/dL, correction factor was added (1 extra unit for every 50 mg/dL blood sugar). So, for example, if my blood sugar was 250 mg/dL and I wanted to eat 60 grams carbohydrates, I would inject 6 units (2 correction factor+4 for carbs). This way, my blood sugars could get closer to the goal, which was 80-120 mg/dL before meals and 100-180 mg/dL after meals. I was also warned about hypoglycemia (low blood sugars). My doctor told me that if I felt dizzy, sweating or shaky because of hypoglycemia, I should consume either half cup of fruit juices/regular sodas, or 1 tablespoon of honey/sugar then check my blood sugar after 15 minutes. If it was still low, then consume another one. This method would prevent its reverse condition (blood sugar became very high) which had always happened to me before. I was so excited about this; it was true that I had more freedom. BUT life did not get any easier. I started to eat more proteins and fats because I thought that I did not have to get injections for that. I loved eating a lot of breakfast sausages and scrambled eggs back when I was living in the dorm. I started gaining weight and the highest I had was 130 lbs. It was not all, stress made it worse. One day my boyfriend told me not to call him ever again and gosh how I felt to be betrayed. I kept thinking, how could he do this to me? I started to go out of my mind; I remember eating a full giant bag of potato chips without giving myself any drop of insulin. I went to student counseling for help but I did not come back for any follow ups because it was not very helpful. It was a hard time for me but I was so blessed to have friends who were always there for me. Both of them ended up being my wonderful roommates when I moved to apartment.