Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Sep 5, 2014

novorapidboi26 1,818 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So many things to watch our for.....

If its over night then the basal is the first to look at.......

I would always suspect that basal needs adjusting as I would rather adjust it than change my ratios, but theoretically if you have tested your basal recently and you are getting a high reading before the same meal consistently, then the QA is a good bet...

Sep 5, 2014

novorapidboi26 1,818 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Artificial Pancreas

very interesting...........

I only recently discovered that our [diabetics] glucagon production actually may become hindered, at least for long term diabetics.......possibly due to the lack of communication between the aplha and beta cells over the years......

so this article should ask the question: what happens when our own alpha cells come into action and provide us with a glucose top up? will the glucagon pump still deliver? if the CGM reads a hypo, it may deliver glucagon on top of your own aplha cells glucagon, so too much glucagon leading to highs........which will be countered with insulin of course, but a waste of glucagon and insulin, no?

also CGMs take a glucose reading from the interstitial fluid, which is slightly delayed from the real time blood sugar level......will this be catered for?

Sep 5, 2014

Neville COL 23 posts

Topic: General Discussion / metformin

I ve been on metformin for about 4 years now, and it does make a difference and noticeable when I don t take it! On 500mg 3 times a day (with meals) which reduces the digestive issues! Awaiting results of first post DAFNE blood test to see if the new set up is working, as even with metformin my control was at best erratic!

Sep 5, 2014

Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / metformin

My consultant prescribed it for me some 3 years ago in an effort to reduce my insulin resistance. He told me to take anything between 500 to 3000 mg per day determined by experimentation. He told me that Metformin is probably the most widely used drug of its type with some 40 years of use by the NHS and only well known side effects.
No problems for me with it...once my bowels! and body got used to it.
Has generally reduced my QA ratios by 0.5 across the board resulting in an average TDD of QA down by 8u.
Regards
Garry

Sep 4, 2014

Trish Skidmore 18 posts

Topic: General Discussion / metformin

Thank you stephen

Sep 4, 2014

Craigw 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Blood Sugars Going Nuts

Hi there,

Sleep aint the best as my daughter aint well atm, and my hypo checks are before I drive home at night from work to ensure im safe to drive! Other entries are to check readings to ensure my blood is going in the right direction not specifically hypo checks!!

Sep 4, 2014

stephenbrowne 37 posts

Topic: General Discussion / metformin

Hi Trish,
I have not personally taken metformin but before my retirement I worked in the NHS and used to work in a diabetes clinic where I encountered patients with type 1 diabetes who were treated with metformin in addition to insulin. Metformin is not always easy to take on account of side effects such as feeling sick, reduced appetite or loose bowels and abdominal discomfort . However once one gets used to it side effects seem less prominent. It definitely seems to improve blood sugars. It tends to increase one's sensitivity to insulin and lower morning fasting blood sugars by reducing the amount of glucose released from the liver in the early hours. It can help to avoid the vicious cycle of increasing insulin dosage leading to increased weight gain leading to increased blood sugars etc etc. I do hope you will find it a help.

Sep 4, 2014

Warwick 434 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Blood Sugars Going Nuts

How is your sleep? I'm guessing it's less than usual? I find that lack of sleep does affect the ability of my BGs. And kids in general give me some pretty bad hypos. You have a lot of hypo checks recorded without hypos recorded before them. Is the diary missing some entries? E.g. 1727 on 02/09, 1548 and 1730 on 03/09, 1020 on 04/09...

Sep 4, 2014

Craigw 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Blood Sugars Going Nuts

The past 5 weeks since I have had a new arrival in the family my bloods have been going nuts recently with no changes to my habits with eating and injecting and correcting high readings, not sure if stress attributes to high readings as well. Attached is a 3 day period of readings, looking for any advice as my bloods have been great up until the past 5 weeks as I said.

Thanks

Craig

Sep 4, 2014

alturn 78 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Anti-histamine and BG

I've been taking Piriton (which I believe is an anti-histamine) as got bitten by insect unknown on legs, body & arms. One of these swelled up to about 1" diameter. There was no sign of infection when checked by nurse. This also occurred in 2013, first summer since moving to current house. I used to get bitten, mainly around the ankles but no swelling.

My BG levels sometimes seem to rise (up to 12-14 range) for a while when taking Piriton and treating the bites with a cream.

I was wondering if any others have similar issues with Piriton or similar medications?

Sep 3, 2014

Trish Skidmore 18 posts

Topic: General Discussion / metformin

Hi, as anyone been prescribed metformin to take as well as insulin, I'm type 1 and been diabetic for 20 yrs and my sugars have been running high so I have been prescribed metformin to take with my insulin.

Sep 2, 2014

Phil Maskell 194 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So many things to watch our for.....

If you're having problems I would make sure basal is correct first, zero or v. low carb day of testing (plus the dreaded overnight/3am tests), BG should hold steady, once this is dialled in you can play with QA and ratios, without that you could be going up or down due to basal and not know.

Sep 2, 2014

Warwick 434 posts

Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here

I just tend to add corrections at the end of each day while I remember why I was making corrections :-)

Sep 1, 2014

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So many things to watch our for.....

re diabetes. You can only make one change at a time but what do others usually look out for first ie basal or qa & look at re making changes
1. difference between bedtime & fasting levels
2. keeping an eye on all levels during the day ie from meal to meal

Sep 1, 2014

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here

Yes. I agree about the rise between dinner and bed. I think it is worth trying to split your dose and seeing if that stops the rise. Once you have fully split, you may find that you need to increase your basal insulin a bit to cover the extra required to keep you stable between dinner and bed.

- Yes I might try a split & see what happens

I think that the Abbot Insulinx records carbs along with the insulin dose it recommends, and any over-rides/corrections you have made to it in the form "Dose for carbs" + "Dose for correction". However, like you, I use an Accu-Chek (in my case the Expert) which records QA taken, but not split out into what QA was for ingested carbs, and what QA was taken for correcting. In terms of inputting into the diary, it just makes it easier when reviewing to identify whether ratios are good or need tweaking.

- I also use the Accu-chek Aviva Expert meter. Do you have any suggestions for how I could input QA & corrections into the diary separately?

Sep 1, 2014

Warwick 434 posts

Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here

Yes. I agree about the rise between dinner and bed. I think it is worth trying to split your dose and seeing if that stops the rise. Once you have fully split, you may find that you need to increase your basal insulin a bit to cover the extra required to keep you stable between dinner and bed.

I think that the Abbot Insulinx records carbs along with the insulin dose it recommends, and any over-rides/corrections you have made to it in the form "Dose for carbs" + "Dose for correction". However, like you, I use an Accu-Chek (in my case the Expert) which records QA taken, but not split out into what QA was for ingested carbs, and what QA was taken for correcting. In terms of inputting into the diary, it just makes it easier when reviewing to identify whether ratios are good or need tweaking.

Sep 1, 2014

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here

Another 3 more days of mg BGs. Hmm what to do. 1. There's a rise usually between dinner & bedtime. 2. BGs are dropping a lot between bedtime and fasting. And advice will be considered. Thank you in advance.

Aug 31, 2014

HelenP 218 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Drinking water

Drinking water...being well hydrated (not over hydrated) ought to have an effect on the concentration of 'sugar' in your blood. Whether or not it is significant is the question. I have always been advised to have a large drink of water before I have a fasting blood test...I always thought it was to help with the viscosity/thickness. Helen

Aug 31, 2014

Alan 49 280 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Artificial Pancreas

This is an interesting article on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28810813

Aug 31, 2014

Muna A H 34 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Drinking water

Hi,

During family gathering, we were talking about the effect of drinking water on our body. We talked about if drinking water can lower the sugar levels. It was explained through an example of dissolving one tea spoon of sugar in 250ml compared to dissolving one tea spoon of sugar in 500ml. I personally donâ€™t think drinking water or more water lower the BG levels but I know the fact that drinking water is great for kidney function which is important for all of us. What do other people think?

Thanks

Aug 31, 2014

Stew B 123 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Pizza, chinese, indian....

Splitting is simply taking your calculated insulin dose in two or more separate injections over a period of time, rather than all at once in a single injection.

Aug 30, 2014

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Diary Entries - no carbs but insulin & carbs but no insulin

Thank you Warwick Smile


Sep 5, 2014 novorapidboi26 1,818 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So many things to watch our for..... If its over night then the basal is the first to look at....... I would always suspect that basal needs adjusting as I would rather adjust it than change my ratios, but theoretically if you have tested your basal recently and you are getting a high reading before the same meal consistently, then the QA is a good bet...

Sep 5, 2014 novorapidboi26 1,818 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Artificial Pancreas very interesting........... I only recently discovered that our [diabetics] glucagon production actually may become hindered, at least for long term diabetics.......possibly due to the lack of communication between the aplha and beta cells over the years...... so this article should ask the question: what happens when our own alpha cells come into action and provide us with a glucose top up? will the glucagon pump still deliver? if the CGM reads a hypo, it may deliver glucagon on top of your own aplha cells glucagon, so too much glucagon leading to highs........which will be countered with insulin of course, but a waste of glucagon and insulin, no? also CGMs take a glucose reading from the interstitial fluid, which is slightly delayed from the real time blood sugar level......will this be catered for?

Sep 5, 2014 Neville COL 23 posts	Topic: General Discussion / metformin I ve been on metformin for about 4 years now, and it does make a difference and noticeable when I don t take it! On 500mg 3 times a day (with meals) which reduces the digestive issues! Awaiting results of first post DAFNE blood test to see if the new set up is working, as even with metformin my control was at best erratic!

Sep 5, 2014 Garry 328 posts	Topic: General Discussion / metformin My consultant prescribed it for me some 3 years ago in an effort to reduce my insulin resistance. He told me to take anything between 500 to 3000 mg per day determined by experimentation. He told me that Metformin is probably the most widely used drug of its type with some 40 years of use by the NHS and only well known side effects. No problems for me with it...once my bowels! and body got used to it. Has generally reduced my QA ratios by 0.5 across the board resulting in an average TDD of QA down by 8u. Regards Garry

Sep 4, 2014 Trish Skidmore 18 posts	Topic: General Discussion / metformin Thank you stephen

Sep 4, 2014 Craigw 2 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Blood Sugars Going Nuts Hi there, Sleep aint the best as my daughter aint well atm, and my hypo checks are before I drive home at night from work to ensure im safe to drive! Other entries are to check readings to ensure my blood is going in the right direction not specifically hypo checks!!

Sep 4, 2014 stephenbrowne 37 posts	Topic: General Discussion / metformin Hi Trish, I have not personally taken metformin but before my retirement I worked in the NHS and used to work in a diabetes clinic where I encountered patients with type 1 diabetes who were treated with metformin in addition to insulin. Metformin is not always easy to take on account of side effects such as feeling sick, reduced appetite or loose bowels and abdominal discomfort . However once one gets used to it side effects seem less prominent. It definitely seems to improve blood sugars. It tends to increase one's sensitivity to insulin and lower morning fasting blood sugars by reducing the amount of glucose released from the liver in the early hours. It can help to avoid the vicious cycle of increasing insulin dosage leading to increased weight gain leading to increased blood sugars etc etc. I do hope you will find it a help.

Sep 4, 2014 Warwick 434 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Blood Sugars Going Nuts How is your sleep? I'm guessing it's less than usual? I find that lack of sleep does affect the ability of my BGs. And kids in general give me some pretty bad hypos. You have a lot of hypo checks recorded without hypos recorded before them. Is the diary missing some entries? E.g. 1727 on 02/09, 1548 and 1730 on 03/09, 1020 on 04/09...

Sep 4, 2014 Craigw 2 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Blood Sugars Going Nuts The past 5 weeks since I have had a new arrival in the family my bloods have been going nuts recently with no changes to my habits with eating and injecting and correcting high readings, not sure if stress attributes to high readings as well. Attached is a 3 day period of readings, looking for any advice as my bloods have been great up until the past 5 weeks as I said. Thanks Craig

Sep 4, 2014 alturn 78 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Anti-histamine and BG I've been taking Piriton (which I believe is an anti-histamine) as got bitten by insect unknown on legs, body & arms. One of these swelled up to about 1" diameter. There was no sign of infection when checked by nurse. This also occurred in 2013, first summer since moving to current house. I used to get bitten, mainly around the ankles but no swelling. My BG levels sometimes seem to rise (up to 12-14 range) for a while when taking Piriton and treating the bites with a cream. I was wondering if any others have similar issues with Piriton or similar medications?

Sep 3, 2014 Trish Skidmore 18 posts	Topic: General Discussion / metformin Hi, as anyone been prescribed metformin to take as well as insulin, I'm type 1 and been diabetic for 20 yrs and my sugars have been running high so I have been prescribed metformin to take with my insulin.

Sep 2, 2014 Phil Maskell 194 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So many things to watch our for..... If you're having problems I would make sure basal is correct first, zero or v. low carb day of testing (plus the dreaded overnight/3am tests), BG should hold steady, once this is dialled in you can play with QA and ratios, without that you could be going up or down due to basal and not know.

Sep 2, 2014 Warwick 434 posts	Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here I just tend to add corrections at the end of each day while I remember why I was making corrections :-)

Sep 1, 2014 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So many things to watch our for..... re diabetes. You can only make one change at a time but what do others usually look out for first ie basal or qa & look at re making changes 1. difference between bedtime & fasting levels 2. keeping an eye on all levels during the day ie from meal to meal

Sep 1, 2014 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here Yes. I agree about the rise between dinner and bed. I think it is worth trying to split your dose and seeing if that stops the rise. Once you have fully split, you may find that you need to increase your basal insulin a bit to cover the extra required to keep you stable between dinner and bed. - Yes I might try a split & see what happens I think that the Abbot Insulinx records carbs along with the insulin dose it recommends, and any over-rides/corrections you have made to it in the form "Dose for carbs" + "Dose for correction". However, like you, I use an Accu-Chek (in my case the Expert) which records QA taken, but not split out into what QA was for ingested carbs, and what QA was taken for correcting. In terms of inputting into the diary, it just makes it easier when reviewing to identify whether ratios are good or need tweaking. - I also use the Accu-chek Aviva Expert meter. Do you have any suggestions for how I could input QA & corrections into the diary separately?

Sep 1, 2014 Warwick 434 posts	Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here Yes. I agree about the rise between dinner and bed. I think it is worth trying to split your dose and seeing if that stops the rise. Once you have fully split, you may find that you need to increase your basal insulin a bit to cover the extra required to keep you stable between dinner and bed. I think that the Abbot Insulinx records carbs along with the insulin dose it recommends, and any over-rides/corrections you have made to it in the form "Dose for carbs" + "Dose for correction". However, like you, I use an Accu-Chek (in my case the Expert) which records QA taken, but not split out into what QA was for ingested carbs, and what QA was taken for correcting. In terms of inputting into the diary, it just makes it easier when reviewing to identify whether ratios are good or need tweaking.

Sep 1, 2014 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / My BGs - lots of drops here Another 3 more days of mg BGs. Hmm what to do. 1. There's a rise usually between dinner & bedtime. 2. BGs are dropping a lot between bedtime and fasting. And advice will be considered. Thank you in advance.

Aug 31, 2014 HelenP 218 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Drinking water Drinking water...being well hydrated (not over hydrated) ought to have an effect on the concentration of 'sugar' in your blood. Whether or not it is significant is the question. I have always been advised to have a large drink of water before I have a fasting blood test...I always thought it was to help with the viscosity/thickness. Helen

Aug 31, 2014 Alan 49 280 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Artificial Pancreas This is an interesting article on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28810813

Aug 31, 2014 Muna A H 34 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Drinking water Hi, During family gathering, we were talking about the effect of drinking water on our body. We talked about if drinking water can lower the sugar levels. It was explained through an example of dissolving one tea spoon of sugar in 250ml compared to dissolving one tea spoon of sugar in 500ml. I personally donâ€™t think drinking water or more water lower the BG levels but I know the fact that drinking water is great for kidney function which is important for all of us. What do other people think? Thanks

Aug 31, 2014 Stew B 123 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Pizza, chinese, indian.... Splitting is simply taking your calculated insulin dose in two or more separate injections over a period of time, rather than all at once in a single injection.

Aug 30, 2014 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Diary Entries - no carbs but insulin & carbs but no insulin Thank you Warwick