Introductions

Thanks guys. Its great to have a forum to thrash these things out in. I'm keeping the chin up and know that, given the improvement (albeit imperfect) I have seen so far, then well controlled bgs are not too far away....

Hi Anne Marie. The Second Irish registered DAFNE user who is now on this site. The one thing I find amazing is the lack of support this site gets from the Health people in the various teaching hospitals in Ireland.You would think that in order for things to grow you need to participate after you finish the last day of the course and walk out into a different way of thinking. I know everybody has a honeymoon period where for a few weeks or months every test is recorded along with each CP but once the pattern gets set, old habits set back in. Keep the faith.
Phll

Hi everyone,
I have just joined DAFNE online after having been told about it at a DAFNE follow up session I did on Friday, so I thought I should introduce myself.
I was diagnosed Type 1 in April 1986 and attended the DAFNE course in October 2007. Although I managed reasonable control for the first 21 years I did suffer badly from severe hypos during the night and also with the dawn effect. Since attending DAFNE the night time hypos have stopped and although I still suffer from the dawn effect I find I am able to manage it better. I really think that DAFNE is the best tool available for the ongoing management of diabetes and things for me have been so much easier as a result. I hope that sites like this and the DAFNE user group help to increase awareness of DAFNE because I strongly believe in it and if I had any criticism it would be that I don't think it has yet had the publicity or the push it deserves (I'll get off my soap box now).
I have quite a bit of experience of managing diabetes and hope that if required I can share this with others hopefully to help them. I also look forward to learning from other folks experience.
I am 56, married with two daughters and two grandchildren.I have been retired for 4 years, I play golf regularly enjoy gardening and watch rugby union (Scotland fan). I visit Italy alot and have recently bought a small house there which after lots of issues is now being refurbished
and I am looking forward to spending more time out there.
Hope this gives a reasaonable overview.
Look forward to talking in the future and feel free to make contact.
Cheers
John

welcome john, there will be a lot more about the DAFNE User Group soon. I attended the 'introductory/training' meeting this friday and saturday and the group is now up and running. However obviously we are at a very early stage and it will take time to acheive our objectives. I will be posting more about this in the user group forum once I receive some write-ups from the meeting. I also recently posted a report on the DAFNE collarobative in that forum that has a paragraph on the dawn effect, sadly its not a solution just more of a realisation of its effect. hopefully more research in the area will produce a means of 'treating' it effectively.
Be careful what you volunteer for :-) , one of our terms of reference in the user group is to allow us to co-opt others to help in certain areas. Although obviously at this stage we have no idea what for. In the meantime I'm sure you you can help others by being active in the forums posting replies to questions.

Hi,

My name is Jenni, age 30, living with my partner and son in Aberdeen and getting married next year! (woohoo!)

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in August 2006 and attended the DAFNE course in March 2007. I found it great, it helped me come to terms with my diagnosis as I didn't really know much about how to manage my blood glucose levels. My BG levels were perfect that week but unfortunately not been so great since! I did meet some fab people who shared their experiences as I also don't know many people with diabetes my age.

Generally my BG levels are ok but I am having problems when my BG level has shot up by morning making my HbA1c quite high, seeking advice! I did go through a period of being quite lazy with testing etc...but after having my knuckles rapped at clinic I am getting better!

Hello,

Finally getting round to introducing myself. I'm Paul, age 31, and live in Aberdeenshire with my wife and 2 year old daughter.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a few weeks before Christmas in 1996 and attended the very first DAFNE course in Aberdeen and it has made the biggest change to the way I manage my diabetes. My BG was all over the place before DAFNE, but on the week of the course they were all spot on. Since the course my BG's weren't so good and my HbA1C went a bit high, but it's now on the way down again.

Really like this site, and all the features it offers and am looking forward to getting to know you all.

Hi All, I'm sorry I am only just getting around to introducing myself even though I have already posted a couple of times!

My name is Claire, I'm 29, I live in Cheshire and I was diagnosed Type 1 in 1995, a few weeks before my 15th Birthday. I was given lots of help and support at the time by the hospital and the lovely DSN there, but I don't think my head was in the right place to take it all in at the time. I got by for the first 8 years or so by doing my insulin twice a day (often not at the right time, but a few hours later when I got around to it) and burying my head in the sand. I had a few hypos where I ended up in hospital and one case of DKA whilst on holiday in Spain, but knowing what I do know I think I was lucky to have got away with such few consequences of not really managing my Diabetes. When I did show up for my hospital appointments my Hba1c was usually between 9-11 but I didn't really understand what this meant to be honest! I was totally in denial and just wanted to live a 'normal' life.

Aged 23 I went for an eye check up and for the first time they found little spots on the back of my eye and I finally had the wake up call I needed. I got myself to the hospital and talked to the nurses and doctor (getting a little emotional at times) and asked them for help. The doctor put me on the waiting list for a DAFNE course and the nurses changed me onto Novorapid and Levemir, 4 injections a day and 8mm needles, rather than my mixtard pens and 12mm needles (ow - that shows how out of date I was - I am now on 5mm!!). As a result I lost over a stone in weight and my sugar levels improved, but I still wasn't doing my injections on time or many blood tests. It was only the DAFNE course that really got me doing it all properly and that was because it was the first time since I was 14 that everything was explained to me and I was in the right frame of mind to listen. It obviously took me all those years to come to terms with the fact I am diabetic!

After the course my HbA1c came down to 7.5, the best it has ever been. I now test my sugar levels before every meal, have the confidence and knowledge to correct my sugar levels and manage sick days. I now inject (subtley) in public, always carry fresh orange with me in case of hypo (I never used to carry anything with me - how awful!) and use a new needle for each injection (again something I wasn't doing before!!). The course has empowered me and I now take a much greater interest in my results and HbA1c and in Diabetes as a whole. I slipped back into a few bad habits recently and my HbA1c went back up to 8, purely due to laziness on my own part, but now I am more motivated than ever and am on track for my first ever HbA1c below 7 at my next check up, fingers crossed!

I love this site, it is fantastic, especially because I can access it from my phone and no longer have to carry around diaries and Carb books. It is really helping me to manage my diabetes so thanks very much to the guys that set it up.

Hello,

I'm Sheila, I live on my own and have two grown up sons who have now left home and I love Dafne.
I have been a Type 1 diabetic since 1982 after the birth of my second son, and like some of you other diabetics I have seen a few changes, but at last with Dafne this insulin/carb ratio makes sense.

I have always tried to follow a sensible diet and attitude towards diabetes, but have not always felt supported by my diabetic consultant. I always felt as is I came away with a pat on the head and a tick in the book. In fact the only real advice I recieved when going through a very stressful divorce was, "Come back in three months."

Over the last couple of years I have been seen by the diabetic nurse at my local surgery where the care has been much more supportive.
Last month I did a Dafne course and now after 27 years I can understand the "How" of putting it all together. Yahoo.

I am still getting to grips with experimenting with the ratios but the experimenting is helping me to be adverturous.
I was pleased to read that others are playing with splitting the BI lantus dose. Since Dafne I now inject at 6pm and have very high readings by 5:30pm so think my lantus is running out, I will try the split.

Does anyone else do shift work? I am a care worker looking after people with learning disabilities. How does it effect your readings? I have had terrible problems which I hope the new Dafne training will help me sort out. I get extremely tired after the long shifts, 8hrs then a sleep in at work, and then another 7hrs. I find my BG goes very high and is often effected the next day.

Thank you Mark for your help getting onto Dafneonline, computers are not my first love, and I often struggle my way around them. I have enjoyed looking at the different comments others have left. I look forward to reading more.

Jennifer, if your BG is high by morning i would think that you may need to increase your background overnight? I would talk to your diabetes nurse/consultant about this or try it and observe the results? I suppose it depends when you are taking your background. i inject 20 units of lantus just before bed. When my BG was high i realised it was because my background was too low at 16 so i gradually increased it until it is now 20 units and i usually wake up with a reading between 4 and 7 and not over 10. Just my thoughts. Good luck. Paul

Jennifer / Widster,
Careful!
A high BG in the morning could be the result of a "rebound" from an early morning hypo whilst asleep. Rather than go ahead and start adjusting your before bedtime BI, it may be worthwhile setting your alarm for 3am and testing your BG to allow you to take this reading into consideration with other factors which may be leading to a high waking BG level.

Personally - and this is my view - I don't think that we should be offering advice to anyone on this forum regarding insulin doses and the like - best to describe personal experiences and let others draw upon those.

Widster - agree that this needs discussion with a HCP though!

Alan