First week concerns

I have been the same and since doing Dafne last SEP. could not get Bgs down and thought that it was not for me but things are starting to get better now and untill this week was not to bad for a week but I hve a chest infection now and things have gone to pot agen. B ut I am going to keep at it as even though things are not right yet I do feel better than I did.
vic demain I get 2 cassettes in 1 box and thats 100 tests and thats every 2 weeks I have just asked for more as I test about 10 - 14 times a day as i DRIVE and need to test with that as well as with the food carb counting. T hey have just agreed to increase what I get and with no argument or anything said about it.

I seem to be allowed to order as many strips as I need, they've never queried so hope this continues now!
I was highish again before tea as I've been all day. Had the same dinner as last night and increased my QA so hope to be green before bed!!

Michelle,

Based on what you've posted on page 1, I would first recommend you stop correcting so soon after hypos.

Your insulin sensitivity is increased due to a hypo (section in DAFNE book: Hypo -> Increased sensitivity to insulin) and this means when you correct afterwards (even with a meal), it will usually result in another hypo. Correcting soon after often causes that annoying problem called "BG boomeranging" which can leave you feeling tired and run down if left to continue.

Leave it for 24 hours so your body gets a chance to recover after a hypo and then see what patterns arise after (this just means - no corrections - just take usual BI and only inject required QA for CPs for the next 24 hours after a hypo).
Try not be afraid to go high after a hypo - it is normal and your BI will bring it down for you.
If you stick to the hypo rules, you will have a controlled rise after a hypo as well.

To help put things into perspective, I have witnessed 1QA bring my BG down by 9BG points (I think it was from 20 BG down to 11 BG - this was just the QA on it's own, no food QA at all).
On another occasion when I decided to test what happened if I ate as well as corrected - I just shot down straight down into another hypo. This was with food!

Yes, I am a "hard way learner". I used to be very bad for correcting when I shouldn't have been - it was a hard habit to break when all I wanted was to never be high! It's not worth the hassle that comes from being impatient with your body.

The unexpected highs may be a result of your body releasing glucose to cope with the extra insulin you're injecting.

Best of luck! Keep your chin up - and I completely understand your frustration!

--------

I've only had trouble once where the doctors thought I was a Type 2 Diabetic and therefore shouldn't be testing as much as I was... soon got that cleared up! XD

--------

I'm not sure if I've had an all green day... My evening meals often are a few hours from my evening BI jab and test (my QA's working time seems to be 5 hours), so I'm almost always still processing meal QA when I get around to doing my before bed BI which often is around 11BG ... so red most evenings.

I don't think I will ever have a "all green day" because of this, not that it matters really. As long as my results go back to green when the insulin is done, then I'm happy as a bunny.

Hi
Thanks for your thoughts on my diary and I reluctantly agree I need to stop correcting after hypos. I knew at the time but have't quite got my head around it (I am new to this method!!)
I'm the same with my bedtime BGs as I often don't eat til 7.30/8pm then go to bed at 10 so it's not really an accurate reading.
I've still not achieved a green since breakfast on Monday which is a bit depressing. I nearly shed a tear at my18.1 last night as I don't know why it happened but then I thought of all the advice I've got on here and thought I just need to give it time and don't give up.
I am tempted to up my BI to 18 but had night hypos when I was previously on this and they are my BIG fear so I'm still thinking about it, any thoughts?
Michelle

Have a search on the web for your QA insulin type michellem and when there search site for the insulin absorption graph.
This will give you a good indication about action time for your QA.
As you say you will probably find that 2 hours is too short a time for trimming off of the post meal peak.
Regards
Garry

Hi
Well things got worse yesterday and I cracked and upped my BI to 18, I was 20.4 at bed time(I've had the smae dinner for 3 nights and had more insulin for it eah night but then had higher BG's each night), 17.3 at 2.30am and 13.1 at breakfast. Going to put by BI back to 16 tonight and be more sensible. Think the constant highs just got to me. Going to see my DAFNE educator this afternoon so I can talk it through with her. Been advised to get my injection sites checked and also been given 5mm needles to try (I have a DSN friend!)
On the positive side I've had a green just now before lunch and mid morning was 4.1 (I don't consider that lo but I know DAFNE does)
Michelle

My current diary

I think your BI may be a bit too high, but overnight you didn't drop that much and some would expect a + or - 2 mmol/l with their background being correct.

Your lows today may have been due to the extra activity walking to the station, as the effects can last hours, even days, depending on intensity, so on that note I wouldn't draw the conclusions that your BI is too high as the previous day you were OK, or not low anyway.

I suspect your BI is running out, to be honest I only know of a few people that are successful with a single dose. Between 4 and 7 on the Wednesday afternoon/night you actually climb suggesting your BI dose is not lasting 24 hours, more like 18-20 hours.

I think splitting your BI dose is the way to go, so you can supply full day coverage for your liver dump and be able to give more at night and less during the day, or vice versa.

What do you think...?

I reluctantly think you may be right but not keen on the extra injection. I ended up not walking from the station this morning, that was added before and I ended up getting the bus so still think my BI is too high. Need to think more about the BI and whether I can cope with another injection. Still I've only been doing things the DAFNE way 1.5 weeks so maybe need to calm down!!

I agree that a reduction is on the cards, however, the less you take the shorter its action time, which will almost definitely mean climbing numbers in the evening............

The majority of people spit out glucose at different rates between the night and day, which makes sense as you are winding down at night and ultimately sleeping, so the liver releases less. Thats why a split would almost certainty give better results and flexibility. Obviously it is an extra injection but on a Multiple Daily Injection regime there are bound to be more, that's just the way of it.

I personally take my two doses of background with my breakfast and then with my dinner, so the impact of the extra injection is somewhat dampened as its just routine now.

I would drop the BI, until you see the holding over night, if on Lantus, wait for a few days as a change of dose doesn't give instant results. Then you can tackle your daytime needs, you might be able to compensate with higher QA doses, but I think in the end the hours running up to you BI dose will be a struggle I think as your now lower dose is running out.....

Good luck with the DAFNE team, they will help you figure it out.............