Recent Posts

Search the DAFNE Online Forums

15,864 posts found

Oct 8, 2014
wigworld 19 posts

Topic: General Discussion / New Glucose testing system

Decided to post here rather than on the new thread:
I was unable to squeeze any cost information out of Abbott when I phoned them, but they did say that the sensors could be bought individually, or that it would be possible to buy a subscription, so that they came automatically every month or every 3 months. Do you have any info on that?
Thanks,
David
 
Oct 8, 2014
marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / New Glucose testing system

All I have started a new thread to record all the details of my Abbott Libre experiment. You can find it here

 
Oct 8, 2014
marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Cyborg Times (new BG meter)

greetings humans Wink I am now a Diabetic Cyborg having been fitted with my Abbott FreeStyle Libre sensor today. I intend to use this thread to keep you up to date with my experiences with the device. Hoepfully it will help you to decide if the device is for you ! Currently the NHS is adamant they won't pay for the sensors which cost £48 and last 14 days. We won't get into the logic and justifications for this at the moment. Lets concentrate on the device itself.

Ok the 'reader' as they are calling it is a BG meter with a touch screen. It can take Freestyle Optium test strips and ketone strips so you can do 'normal' blood tests on it. Part of the reason for this is they make it clear that the sensor measures interstitial fluid and NOT blood, this is the stuff under your skin in the 'flesh'/'fat'. It can lag the BG readings of blood by upto 15 mins, so if you think you are having a hypo they recomend you do a BG test to compare. This is not unreasonable since it is doing 'continuous' testing and looking at trends.

The 'sensor' is a disk about 3cm in diameter with what looks like a pin in the middle. You have to fit it to your upper arm as that is the only location they have fully tested readings from. They recommend that it is slightly at the back of the arm so it doesn't get caught on things. So far I have had no problems with this. If you do accidentally remove the sensor you have to fit a new one you can't re-attach it.
Its supposed to be water proof ( to be verified) and is worn constantly for 14 days. The applicator is a bit like a big lancet device, you open the senser pack put it in the applicator and pushdown on the location you want to fit it. Despite nervousness you don't feel it attach at all !
Once attached you scan it with the reader which logs it and then waits 60 mins before it will start taking readings. This is apparently so
the sensor acclimatises to your body. After 60 mins you just hold the reader over the sensor and it automatically gets all the readings. You can do this through clothes, I did it through a t-shirt AND sweatshirt and it read no problem. It emits a tone to indicate it has made the reading. You can then look at all the readings on the meter.

I will go into the use of the meter reports and the PC upload tomorrow once I have built-up an amount of readings.
 
Oct 8, 2014
Rafa 99 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Sweetcorn

Just found this thread. Have to say from experience i found for myself not to count sweetcorn. I had some yesterday for the first time in a long time and i was 13.2 three hours after but was back in range two hours later.
 
Oct 8, 2014
mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary help please (mum2westiesGill diary)

A few more days of my diary.

Can anyone see any trends?

Any help in identifying trends and/or advice on how to improve my control would be greatly appreciated

Thank you
 
Oct 8, 2014
MBC 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / sugar in urine

wigworld said:
Have you done a DAFNE course? How come you are testing urine rather than blood testing? Do you have type 1 or type 2 Diabetes?

HI IM TYPE 1, HAVE DONE THE DAFNE COURSE AND TEST MY BLOOD EVERY TIME DAFNE RECOMMENDS, THE URINE TEST IS DONE BY MY DOCTOR AND ITS A TEST THATS DONE BY THE C1 LICENCE CENTRE, THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN PROVIDE Confused
 
Oct 7, 2014
wigworld 19 posts

Topic: General Discussion / sugar in urine

Have you done a DAFNE course? How come you are testing urine rather than blood testing? Do you have type 1 or type 2 Diabetes?
 
Oct 7, 2014
MBC 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / sugar in urine

hi, everyone im planning to go for my c1 licence but i still have sugar 3+++ in my urine, can anyone tell me how to reduce this as it may hinder my application, im sticking to my dafne routine and have lost weight and im kinda still insulin resisted, i dont eat junk food or drink none diet drinks, what am i doing wrong!!!! THANKYOU TO EVERYONE THAT CAN HELP ME Confused Confused
 
Oct 7, 2014
MelDent35 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Diabetes education for non Diabetics

I really think that people without Diabetes need to be educated about the condition. When I was little people were still under the misapprehension that the slightest amount of sugar was fatal to people with Diabetes.

Even correcting the assumption that people with severe hypoglycaemia are actually drunk. In these binge drinking culture days I have found it extremely offensive to be asked by a paramedic if I have been drinking at 10 am. People NEED to be taught that not everyone who appears drunk actually is. If you're drunk you will be sober in the morning, if you were hypoglycaemic you could be dead in the morning.

What do you all think about this? Have you suffered because of someone's poor knowledge of Diabetes? Question
 
Oct 5, 2014
Peter 109 posts

Topic: DAFNE Graduate Group (DGG) / Formation of DAFNE Graduate Group (DGG)

Hi davidcragg and JayBee, Rather belatedly I'll try and address your questions. For a number of years dafneonline and the DAFNE User Group (DUG) were run a separate organisations, with separate memberships although in many ways they were trying to contact the same people - DAFNE Graduates. Earlier this year we decided that it would make more sense to have a single membership (hosted by dafenonline) through which DGG members could be contacted elctronically (whereas with DUG only postal contact details were held). However, we are acutely aware that the last thing many dafneonline users would want would be to start receiving unrequested communication by e-mail. Hence the request to opt in to receive communication from the DAFNE User Action Group (DUAG), of which I am the chairman.

You are correct that for existing members of dafneonline there is not a significant difference in the benefits of the combined membership, but for members of DUG significant change has been introduced both in terms of the information available, and the means of accessing it.

Unfortunately for JayBee this doesn't mean any change to the existing Android app which doesn't have anyone committed to keeping it updated in the same way that Simon does for the iOS version. I also use it, so know where you're coming from.

Finally yes we are doing what we can to get patients and Health Care Professionals (HCPs) talking. There was a presentation given at the last DAFNE Collaborative meeting on dafneonline to try and overcome some the difficulties faced by some HCPs. However, the biggest challenge is that some hospitals instruct their staff not to communicate with patients on-line as there are worries that insurance won't cover such discussions. It therefore seems to be up to the individual HCP professional to decide whether they will become involved, and to what level. It also has to be remembered that most contribution is being made outside working hours so that limits the likely involvement. Failing all else, you can always post a message on the Questions to HCPs forum where there are several HCPs who do respond.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Oct 5, 2014
Peter 109 posts

Topic: General Discussion / New Glucose testing system

Will certainly look forward to your feedback Mark. Closest I've managed to get to one so far is in meeting someone who had just had it fitted. His reaction after a couple of days was positive. I'm seriously considering getting one when they are finally on sale in the UK. It's very interesting that Abbott are focusing all their advertising at patients rather than professionals presumably in the belief that the user demand will drive volumes up more quickly than waiting for approval from NICE. Hopefully that will cause prices to fall and we'll quickly reach the point where the price difference with strips becomes minimal. I suspect that this will mainly be driven by the next manufacturer to produce a similar system charging less than Abbott. Could we see the end of test strips in a few years? Hopefully.
 
Oct 5, 2014
wigworld 19 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Just finished my course today. ..

Welcome Chiara! The key thing is making sure your background insulin is correct. Once you've cracked that, everything else should fall into place.
 
Oct 5, 2014
chiara 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / Just finished my course today. ..

Hi everyone! Just finished the course. feeling a bit scared by the precision required in the use of Dafne. But I'm full of good will in the hope that, as you all seems to think, this will change my unstable relationship with diabetes.
Still early for results on my HbA1c....still working out Ratios. Rolling Eyes
I'll keep reading your posts for help and advice! Chiara
 
Oct 5, 2014
mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary help please (mum2westiesGill diary)

A few more days of my diary.

Can anyone see any trends?

Any help in identifying trends and/or advice on how to improve my control would be greatly appreciated

Thank you
 
Oct 4, 2014
Muna A H 34 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Thanks all for your helpful advices Very Happy

 
Oct 4, 2014
MelDent35 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Warwick said:
I think you received bad advice there. My endo had no issue with me splitting Lantus, and it worked fairly well for me. The reason I switched to Levemir was that I do long-distance endurance events and I had to mke changes to Lantus about three days prior to my events to avoid hypos during the events. Levemir seems to be better at responding to changes.



Thanks Warwick. I don't do long distance endurance events unless you count the fact I walk pretty much everywhere since I don;t drive and am probably the only able bodied person in UK, if not the world, who can't ride a bike. I'm finding Levemir suits me much better as I was getting high around tea time which is when Lantus would have run out. It's early days but I'm keeping an eye on post Levemir results and changing dose if I see a pattern. I know from dafne that you need to wait 2 - 3 days before changing to see if a pattern emerges. This morning I took 12 units instead of 10 so waiting to see what pre lunch BG is.
 
Oct 4, 2014
wigworld 19 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Just finished my course today. ..

In our area, they require you to do the DAFNE course before they'll allow you to have a pump. After doing the course, one of the guys on our course decided he wasn't interested in the pump any more.

Like everyone else here, my mind was blown by how much I learned on the DAFNE course. I've been diabetic for 40 years, and I'm a pharmacist, so I was sceptical that I would get any benefit from it. How wrong I was!

At least part of it for me was unlearning some of the garbage I've been told over the years (glycaemic index, anyone?)! And how come no-one has ever told me until now that 4mm needles are plenty long enough, when I've been using 8mm needles for around 20 years!?!

Anyway, enough of my ranting. DAFNE is superb, the best thing I've ever done. Smile
 
Oct 4, 2014
wigworld 19 posts

Topic: General Discussion / New Glucose testing system

Thanks, Marke, I look forward to hearing your feedback. I'm seriously considering getting one, even if I have to pay for the sensors myself.
 
Oct 4, 2014
wigworld 19 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Switching from Lantus once daily to twice daily isn't quite the same as switching from Humulin I or Levemir, because Lantus does last for 24 hours, whereas the others don't (12 hours for Humulin I and 18 hours for Levemir, if I remember correctly).
Having said that, I understand that evidence does show improved BG control with a split dose of Lantus, but making the switch isn't quite as straight forward as it would be with Levemir or Humulin I.
 
Oct 4, 2014
Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

In the book "Think Like a Pancreas" by Gary Scheiner, he details how when switching from any other basal insulin to Levemir, you'll often find that you need to increase your BI dose, sometimes by up to 25%. So if you are switching back from Levemir to Lantus, then you may actually find that you need less BI than you have been taking up until now.

You may well have high levels during the first few days while your body gets used to the Lantus again, but your GP is probably erring on the side of caution (quite rightly) in ensuring that you don't enter the land of endless hypos. Monitor for a few days, and you will quickly get an idea of whether 17 is right for you, or if you need more or less these days. A few days of highs won't hurt, but do monitor more frequently than usual, and use QA where you need to to drop any seriously high readings. A couple of 3 am readings will give you an idea of whether you have got it right or not.

All the best with it.

Warwick.
 
Oct 4, 2014
Muna A H 34 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Hi there,
Few weeks ago I went to my GP for some infection I had. We together reviewed the history of my HAB1c. Surprisingly my HAB1c were much better than when I started using the Levemir, I have been using the Levemir for two or three years now. I talked to my GP about switching to Lantus. Back then I use to have between 17 to 22 unit of Lantus at night and she suggested to start with 17 and keep monitoring my BG levels and adjust accordingly. At the moment I take 12 units of Levemir in the morning and 15 unit at night. I got the lantus today from the chemist and was very excited to start using it but now I am a bit worried and don't know where to start from. I am worried that the 17 unit to start with will put my levels high during the day and I am not sure when it is the best time to inject, specially after reading the posts about the Lantus. Any advice please?

Muna
 
Oct 4, 2014
Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

I think you received bad advice there. My endo had no issue with me splitting Lantus, and it worked fairly well for me. The reason I switched to Levemir was that I do long-distance endurance events and I had to mke changes to Lantus about three days prior to my events to avoid hypos during the events. Levemir seems to be better at responding to changes.
 
Oct 3, 2014
marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / New Glucose testing system

All, I hope to be able to give you all details of this device next week. My consultant has set me up with a trial and I'm meeting someone to have it fitted. I too asked about the sensors on the NHS and was told no but we shall see !! If nothing else it will hopefully give me a more detailed BG trend. Since normal BG readings are only an approximation anyway I am not too worried that it doesn't measure blood directly.

I will let you know how it goes !!