Menstrual Cycle, BI

Carolin, can't thank you enough for this. It is great to see that people are really caring about our concerns. It will be brilliant if future participants are alerted to this problem . I know not everyone experinces it, but lots of us do and give up thinking they just can't get the hang of DAFNE. I understand that things can't jsut change magically overnight, but changes to the course book in the coming years wou ld be great.

THANK YOU!

Athena said:
Carolin, can't thank you enough for this. It is great to see that people are really caring about our concerns. It will be brilliant if future participants are alerted to this problem . I know not everyone experinces it, but lots of us do and give up thinking they just can't get the hang of DAFNE. I understand that things can't jsut change magically overnight, but changes to the course book in the coming years wou ld be great.

THANK YOU!

Hi Ladies
This is like a breath of fresh air for me to read this. I've been Diabetic 16 years and have mentioned this numerous times to my Diabetic team, consultant ,nurses ect and have just got "yes, it happens to some ladies" but no practical help on how I could possibly help my control with these Blood sugar plunges and peaks.

I find, like some of you that my insulin needs start to go up 10 days before a period arrives .Three days before and my insulin needs are a third more than usual ,both Basal and bolus to when I do actually start my cycle....Then if I am not quick to drop them back I Hypo all day I have experimented with this just to prove it is my cycle and have stuck religiously to the same foods day in day out ,with the same level of exercise for a couple of Months (gosh that was boring), to try and limit variables. But my control is so obviously effected by my Monthly cycle, in fact I would go as far as to say it is ruled by my Monthly Cycle ....So even though the DAFNE course is great. I do still struggle with this issue and it would be good if it was covered for us Ladies who do struggle with this issue.

It was not covered on my course ,even when I mentioned it, it was just sort of acknowledged with a "yes" but not discussed , also in a mixed sex group it might be difficult maybe for open discussion. One lady came up to me afterwards and said on the quiet she was the same and only wanted to speak about it with me as she felt awkward in front of the Men.

Maybe she would have felt more comfortable if it had been part of the official agenda and not just brought up by one of the patients...who knows

The DAFNE is great and it has helped me a lot but I thank you ladies for being open and talking about your period and Diabetic control. I understand it is not that way for a lot of ladies but I do know it is for many of us and we do tend to suffer in silence with it.

swirlygirly said:
Hi Ladies
This is like a breath of fresh air for me to read this. I've been Diabetic 16 years and have mentioned this numerous times to my Diabetic team, consultant ,nurses ect and have just got "yes, it happens to some ladies" but no practical help on how I could possibly help my control with these Blood sugar plunges and peaks.

I find, like some of you that my insulin needs start to go up 10 days before a period arrives .Three days before and my insulin needs are a third more than usual ,both Basal and bolus to when I do actually start my cycle....Then if I am not quick to drop them back I Hypo all day I have experimented with this just to prove it is my cycle and have stuck religiously to the same foods day in day out ,with the same level of exercise for a couple of Months (gosh that was boring), to try and limit variables. But my control is so obviously effected by my Monthly cycle, in fact I would go as far as to say it is ruled by my Monthly Cycle ....So even though the DAFNE course is great. I do still struggle with this issue and it would be good if it was covered for us Ladies who do struggle with this issue.

It was not covered on my course ,even when I mentioned it, it was just sort of acknowledged with a "yes" but not discussed , also in a mixed sex group it might be difficult maybe for open discussion. One lady came up to me afterwards and said on the quiet she was the same and only wanted to speak about it with me as she felt awkward in front of the Men.

Maybe she would have felt more comfortable if it had been part of the official agenda and not just brought up by one of the patients...who knows

The DAFNE is great and it has helped me a lot but I thank you ladies for being open and talking about your period and Diabetic control. I understand it is not that way for a lot of ladies but I do know it is for many of us and we do tend to suffer in silence with it.

Hi Anthea
May I ask which week you have sorted? I find the week during and just after menstruation the easiest. The week running up besides the REALLY bad PMT I find a struggle.
I exercised this morning usually a locked down insulin to food ratio for me and I end my workout with a Glucose of 4.5, well today usual food usual dose but my Glucose went up instead of down and at the point in my routine where I check and would be at around 10 I was at 22.4...so I had an adjustment which I would normally never dare do during exercise if it was not the week before my period and I only gotmthem down to 17.3......It is like I am insulin sensitive for the majority of the time but the week before a period I lose all sensitivity and I would even go as far as saying I have quiet sever insulin resistance.
Do you ,or anyone else for that matter know if this would be due to Estrogen dominance?????? I'm not that up on Cycle hormones.I do wonder if this is the case that progesterone supplemented would help to stabilise things for us????
I do know I need to see my GP about this because I have got to the stage where I feel Quiet poorly and run down the week before and my moods are terrible...then it's like I'm a new person when my period starts . It really is not just effecting my Diabetes it has a negative effect on mu life overall really.
Thanks Anthea for bringing this up and thanks the DAFNE people for taking this on board.
SG xx

Hi Swirlygirly,
Your prementruation BG are a lot like mine. Some months; before Dafne, I would correct every couple of hours and increase my cp.qa ratios from 1:1 to 1:3 and still run at about 16. Then the week during I would require very little of anything. My PMT is also really bad and I too feel life is one big struggle, then I feel like me again. I did see my doctor this week and she has suggested the mini pill which is just progesterone. This is due to migraines, rather than because of your suggested link, but it does seem a logical idea to me. I will let you know if taking it has the desired effect on those pesky BG's and mood swings.
I am now on levemir not lantus and I no longer have night time hypos. This was a bigger problem during the week of my period as I could have up to three a night on really bad weeks. This was probably due to the three day lag effect of lantus and all the increase in dose I had taken to combat high BG. I now take only 3 units of levemir at night, 20 in the morning. I have not as yet had a period since the change in insulin, but the diabetic nurse said I may need to reduce the night time levemir further for that week.
Hope you feel better soon. So good to chat with people going through the smae sort of thing. Can be really lonely.
Pinky

swirlygirly said:
Hi Anthea
May I ask which week you have sorted? I find the week during and just after menstruation the easiest. The week running up besides the REALLY bad PMT I find a struggle.
I exercised this morning usually a locked down insulin to food ratio for me and I end my workout with a Glucose of 4.5, well today usual food usual dose but my Glucose went up instead of down and at the point in my routine where I check and would be at around 10 I was at 22.4...so I had an adjustment which I would normally never dare do during exercise if it was not the week before my period and I only gotmthem down to 17.3......It is like I am insulin sensitive for the majority of the time but the week before a period I lose all sensitivity and I would even go as far as saying I have quiet sever insulin resistance.
Do you ,or anyone else for that matter know if this would be due to Estrogen dominance?????? I'm not that up on Cycle hormones.I do wonder if this is the case that progesterone supplemented would help to stabilise things for us????
I do know I need to see my GP about this because I have got to the stage where I feel Quiet poorly and run down the week before and my moods are terrible...then it's like I'm a new person when my period starts . It really is not just effecting my Diabetes it has a negative effect on mu life overall really.
Thanks Anthea for bringing this up and thanks the DAFNE people for taking this on board.
SG xx

Hi Pinky
Sorry to hear about the migraines that can't be fun along with everything else, I hope you get some joy with the mini pill. I was offered this a while back but really did not want to go down that route at the time but I may have to reconsider as my symptoms Diabetes and otherwise seem to be getting worse as time goes by.
I would be really interested in how you get on and would like to stay in touch , PM me if you would rather ,or on this thread . whichever is fine with me.
I am on Lantus and had to change my injection to mornings a long time ago because of nighttime Hypo's ,it did help a bit but like you when you need to really increase the doses you get that backlog ,build up and I still get them a lot at certain times of the month. It is far more hormone related than dose/insulin related with me...and I bet your self and a good few others.
Thanks for the reply and do stay in touch, and yes you can feel very frustrated and alone with it all, big hug!!

swirlygirly said:
Hi Pinky
Sorry to hear about the migraines that can't be fun along with everything else, I hope you get some joy with the mini pill. I was offered this a while back but really did not want to go down that route at the time but I may have to reconsider as my symptoms Diabetes and otherwise seem to be getting worse as time goes by.
I would be really interested in how you get on and would like to stay in touch , PM me if you would rather ,or on this thread . whichever is fine with me.
I am on Lantus and had to change my injection to mornings a long time ago because of nighttime Hypo's ,it did help a bit but like you when you need to really increase the doses you get that backlog ,build up and I still get them a lot at certain times of the month. It is far more hormone related than dose/insulin related with me...and I bet your self and a good few others.
Thanks for the reply and do stay in touch, and yes you can feel very frustrated and alone with it all, big hug!!

Sorry to hear about your migraines also Pinky. Let us know how you get on with the mini pill. I asked for the pill but was refused so don't now know if it would have helped. The week I have sorte dis that of menstruation. It is the same without fail each month and I just turn my BI dose right downto what I know it will be, totally ignoring the step wise approach which is of course totally un DAFNE, but otherwise it is a week of hypos. I got fed up with it. rest of the month is a mess constantly too high which is totally exhausting. just have to crawl to work then go straight to bed when I get home and stay there.
i think monitoring your own pattern is the key, but unfortunatly it takes months to see it.

good luck girls

Athena said:
Sorry to hear about your migraines also Pinky. Let us know how you get on with the mini pill. I asked for the pill but was refused so don't now know if it would have helped. The week I have sorte dis that of menstruation. It is the same without fail each month and I just turn my BI dose right downto what I know it will be, totally ignoring the step wise approach which is of course totally un DAFNE, but otherwise it is a week of hypos. I got fed up with it. rest of the month is a mess constantly too high which is totally exhausting. just have to crawl to work then go straight to bed when I get home and stay there.
i think monitoring your own pattern is the key, but unfortunatly it takes months to see it.

good luck girls