QA:CP and QA:BG? BI? Help!

3 posts, 3 contributors

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Tans 1 post

Hi! I'm new here so be gentle.. 😊
Yesterday I had a heck of a shock when minor surgery was cancelled because my hba1c was so high they refused to operate on me. Maybe this is the wake up call I needed after neglecting diabetes for so long. I've started testing my BG again (it's been a year) and remember DAFNE as a concept introduced to me during a diabetes management course a couple of years ago.
What I can't figure out is the terminology on the app and website... QA:CP and QA:BG and BI... What do they all stand for? Is there a user guide?
Thanks!
Tanya x

Garry DAFNE Graduate
North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust
328 posts

If you completed the DAFNE course Tans, you should be able to register as a DAFNE graduate. Talk to your trainers and they will be able to give you the details needed to register. If you are able to do that, you can access the current DAFNE Course Handbook which is available through this website. You may have an original copy of the handbook buried in that drawer at home that never gets opened! Smile
QA:CP is the ratio of Quick Acting to Carbohydrate Portion (1 CP is 10 g of Carbohydrate or CHO). If you are lucky, you may be able to use a ratio of 1:1 i.e. 1 unit of QA to 1 CP (10 g CHO). This ratio varies across the day and needs a disciplined approach to get right.
Don't recognise the ratio QA:BG but BG is Blood Glucose.
BI is the Background Insulin that you probably use.
So I use Humalog QA and Lantus BI for instance.
Regards
Garry

Caspar Aremi DAFNE Graduate
University College London Hospitals (UCLH)
6 posts

Hey Tans,
speak to your Diabetes consultant and get on a DAFNE course! It's five days long - either all in one week, or one day a week for 5 weeks. it sounds like a lot - and I really thought there was no way there could be enough content to last so long - but it's invaluable. You do repeat a lot of stuff a couple of times, but it helps drill it in. Like you I used to just run high all the time and just thought there was nothing I could do about it, how my levels ran were a mystery.

QA is quick acting. BI is background insulin. BG is blood glucose levels. CP is carb portions - usually 1 per 10grams of carbs in food. So QA:CP is the ratio of insulin to carbs you take - for most people, it's one unit of QA per 1 carb portion (10g carbs) so it's in your diary as 1:1.

The user guide is really the course, so get yourself on it asap and let us know how it goes. I've found threads on here which clarify almost everything I had trouble getting my head around.