Is it worth attending a DAFNE course

I'm being urged to attend a DAFNE course to help lower my HB1AC figure which was 89 last time. Trouble is I live in the country and driving to the course is a problem. There was one at Minehead hospital (nearest) last February but I had a bug then so I couldn't have gone even if I had signed up. It was also at half term so awkward with the grandchildren.
Does anyone know if the course is on in Minehead every year? I might be able to get a lift.
Also if I don't do the course I'll just get nagged until I do.
And I'd love to have a blood glucose monitor that just fits over your finger so no jabbing which is painful. A bit like an oxygen monitor. Is there one to buy in the UK?

Hi,
I would say if you can do a DAFNE course then you ought to as it brings you back to first principles. Although I am confused about the 89. What unit is this in? We are using mmol/L (here) and I have some knowledge of mg/dL.

On the grandparent level I have found that the tighter I keep the BGs the better I feel and the more I can do with the kids so I encourage you to do what you can to achieve good HbA1cs. About the finger pricks...I find that if my hands are dry the finger pricks hurt more so I use a non perfumed basic sorbolene hand cream, routinely, as if you do a test immediately after putting on the cream you do not get a clean drop.. I think the massage to rub in the cream also helps.

Good luck. Helen

89 is a mmol/mol reading HelenP.
Regards
Garry

The target hba1c level is somewhere between 48 and 53 depending on lifestyle and circumstances. .. some feel that 48 is too tight.... however at 89 your levels are not in target range... In my opinion you really should attend the dafne course...... it will help you feel better in the short term and will provide long term health benefits. .. Andy

Also do you change the finger pick needle often. . That helps a lot... Andy

OK so 89 is way too high. This may have been caused by my not injecting the Humalog until after my lunch or supper. The nurse was horrified when I told her I did this and said that I must have the injection before I started eating and not after. Trouble is you don't always know what you are going to eat. Her reply was well from now on you have to know and that's that. Perhaps the figure will be lower but I'll have to see.
I always use a fresh lancet for every blood glucose test. I always use a fresh needle for each injection.
I do feel bullied to attend the DAFNE course and it would be easier for me to have a text book about it but so far no text book has turned up. The course lasts for 5 full days and the nearest place is at Minehead hospital but it only happens once a year or so. There are other places but they are a lot further away. I would have to drive there and since I had DKA driving has been a bit more difficult. I don't have anyone to take me for 5 consecutive days all the way to Taunton for instance. This is where the people organising the courses have not realised that a text book miight be better for people who live in the middle of nowhere. Plus how is one expected to remember everything?
I don't eat ready made food so the bit about reading what it says on the box for a ready made meal will be irrelevant. It would have helped to have been told in the first place that you have to inject the Humalog before you eat not afterwards. Maybe I didn't remember that bit since I'd only been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after I got DKA and I couldn't see at all well. There were lots of leaflets but these just vanished because I couldn't read them.
Anyway I suppose I'll have to do the course because otherwise I'll only be nagged until I do. Minehead is 9 miles away and they do this course in February (I think) so not much fun getting there first thing in the morning.
I'm going to see when they are doing it.
Does anyone know about the bg monitor that isn't invasive? Some Israelites are doing one for type 2 diabetics someone said.
Meanwhile thanks for the replies; they were helpful.

Humalog reaches its peak of action between 1 and 1 and a half hours after injection , others such as novorapid peak after about 15mins. The insulin needs to act on the ingested carbohydrate. If injecting too late in the process you are not getting the best efficiency from the insulin which is why you have been asked to inject before your meals and would also result in higher BG levels....

It's great that you don't eat ready meals and in dafne you will learn about carbohydrate content on breads rices pastas potatoes etc that I'm sure must make up part of your meals. You will also find your carb to insulin ratio which may vary from one part of the day to the next.

You should feel positive that you have the opportunity to improve your lot even if the logistics are difficult for you.

I must say that the dafne course is fantastic and well worth attending. ... keep up the good work. Let us know how you get on..... Andy

I have just completed the DAFNE course this afternoon. Monday morning i was quite sceptical about why i needed a week of education but after the first morning i could see why. DAFNE and its principals are great. Yeah its been my first week but i already feel that the control i have on my BG levels are 100 times better than the last year and im using a 3rd of the insulin (scared me at first but the prrof is in my diary).
It is a big ask i know to travel 9 miles there and back each day and take a week out of your time but its so worth it i promise you.
In some ways you could teach yourself out of a text book but the hands on support and attention you get off the nurses for the week is amazing. They learn off of you aswell as everyone is different. Also the other diabetics on the course you meet all have different stories and experiences to share and you learn from them also and vice versa.
So answer to you question is YES the course if worth going on. Happiest and the most confident i have felt with my diabetes in a long time.

Matthew

Hi,

I agree with everything Matthew said. I wish I had been offered the course earlier. I have been almost 24yrs with diabetes and only after this wk (graduated today) do I feel I have an understanding and control of the condition.

In the grand scheme of things, 1week is nothing when living with diabetes day to day. The group environment and experience shared I think would make so much difference than the handbook alone.

Hope that helps

Sherie

Andrew McDermott said:
Humalog reaches its peak of action between 1 and 1 and a half hours after injection , others such as novorapid peak after about 15mins. The insulin needs to act on the ingested carbohydrate. If injecting too late in the process you are not getting the best efficiency from the insulin which is why you have been asked to inject before your meals and would also result in higher BG levels....

It's great that you don't eat ready meals and in dafne you will learn about carbohydrate content on breads rices pastas potatoes etc that I'm sure must make up part of your meals. You will also find your carb to insulin ratio which may vary from one part of the day to the next.

You should feel positive that you have the opportunity to improve your lot even if the logistics are difficult for you.

I must say that the dafne course is fantastic and well worth attending. ... keep up the good work. Let us know how you get on..... Andy