Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Aug 13, 2014

Phil Maskell 194 posts

Not sure why you would suddenly become more sensitive? Has anything changed? Maybe someone else can shed some light on this?

I have become a lot more sensitive to insulin since I have taken up cycling in a big way, the increase in exercise means I need a lot less insulin anyway, but ratios have also halved.

Phil

Aug 13, 2014

Trish Skidmore 18 posts

Topic: General Discussion / sensitivity

Can anyone tell me what insulin sensitivity is, for the past month I have had hypos nearly everyday even just walking the dog and it goes low, I have just started to halve my doses so hope this works, I've been told I may be sensitive to insulin, don't understand it after 20 years, has anyone else experienced this problem.

Aug 13, 2014

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus Split & Overnight Basal Testing

Yes. Lantus is largely peak-less, (depends on the individual). All you are doing when you splitting is ensuring that it doesn't run out before the next dose.

Aug 13, 2014

Rafa 99 posts

Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase

I find this as well myself so even if i am not that hungry i eat something small like 2cps and inject and i am fine then for the rest of the morning/day.

Aug 13, 2014

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus Split & Overnight Basal Testing

Can overnight basal testing still be done if your Lantus is a split dose?

Aug 12, 2014

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Yes, and yes. You have it exactly right.

Aug 12, 2014

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase

Whether you should increase your Levemir or not depends on what happens later in the day. If you continue having to take correctional doses of QA in the afternoon, then that would indicate that your Levemir dose in the morning is too low. If it stays stable through the afternoon, then your Levemir dose is probably fine.

If this happens every time that you miss breakfast, then it could be worth having a small amount (1-2 units) of QA with the Levemir in the morning on days that you miss breakfast. There are lots of reasons that your BGs could rise even without food unfortunately. Stress, dawn phenomenon, excitement, climate temperature, illness, menstrual cycle, level of hydration...

Aug 12, 2014

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Oh, and when you split, what you do is drop a unit at night, and add a unit in the morning each day until you get your 50/50 split. Don't just drop half your evening basal at night and add it in the morning or you will have wicked highs. If you are on 18 units, then it will take 9 days to get to the split, and a couple of more days after than before things stabilise so don't panic too much if you find your BGs are a little out of control over that period.

So to clarify I'm on 18u at the moment then
1st night take 17u & just 1u the following morning
2nd night take 16u & 2u the following morning
3rd night take 15u & 3u the following morning
4th night 14u & 4u........
5th night 13u & 5u.......
6th night 12u & 6u......
7th night 11u & 7u........
8th night 10u & 8u.......
9th night 9u & 9u ?

Now could the same be done like this if you were going back onto a single dose?

Aug 11, 2014

Marje 3 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content

Hi Alan. The full carb contact us always how I have calculated and ignored the sugar content. It was just that someone said you have to take the sugar content into account that made me doubt my calculations. It I would be interesting to know why they put the sugar content as well as it only confuses you. Thanks so much for your response. Regards Marje

Aug 11, 2014

Dyonisus 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase

This May help. I did once a 36 hour fasting to find out if blood sugar went up in absence of food in the stomach or glucose in the liver.
I found out that when the body can not get glucose it takes it from muscles.
I was told that could not fast at night without risking a hypo.
The truth is that my sugar rises at night without any food.
I use to take 15 units of Lantus before bed time.
Now, I inject 10 units at 6am and 10 at 6pm., my readings have dropped below 10 and keep stable thru out the day. As long as I eat with moderation, and that is reduce the amount of starchy carbs.
Good luck
Dyonisus

Aug 11, 2014

Dyonisus 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles

Good for you!
Let's hope the hard of hearing in this part of the Country listen to common sense and this Island will soon be a much cleaner land.
I read on the paper no long ago, that Essex was the County worst managed when it came to diabetes.
As well as you know, We may have "The SUN" alas, little else!

D.

Aug 11, 2014

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content

As I understand it, the Nutritional Values on most packaged food will contain the sugar content and the Total Carbohydrate value (including the sugars). I always use this value to calculate the CPs of a meal, regardless of the Glycaemic Index, which is normally not shown.

Aug 11, 2014

alturn 78 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles

I live in NE Scotland and local pharmacy now supplies sharps bins and disposes of used bins, so no need for prescription. This change occurred within about last 2 years. Suspect different regions on NHS have different policies. However I use it for lancets and strips as I clip my needles and dispose of the clipper in the sharps bin.

Aug 11, 2014

Dyonisus 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles

Tell that to the newvy GP fresh out of UNi, who goes by the book. Is not about saving money or pestering my GP for a freebie on prescription, is about creating unnecessary waste.
Is cheaper to burn a paper bag than a plastic container.
Anyway, for the price given at the surgery, I can get a bin with 3 times the capacity for a fraction in Amazon( free delivery).
Another question springs to mind: how many litres of waste a surgery or Council cope with?
I can carry 5 to 10 litres to my local surgery, will they accept it?
If they can not be bothered to collect, neither can I.
Out of sight, out of mind!

Kind Regards

D.

Aug 11, 2014

Marje 3 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content

Hi there. Many thanks. That's what I thought but something was niggling in the back of my mind that you have to take sugar content into account on certain foods. Smile

Aug 11, 2014

Laramango 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase

my sugars were 8.8 when i woke this morning and as usual I did my levemir, but didn't feel like eating so no novorapid...then a few hours later my sugars were 12.0, why does this happen?sometimes its way worse, for example can jump into 20s! does this mean i should increase my levemir?

Aug 11, 2014

geordiesgirl 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content

You go by the carbohydrate on the label. However, baked beans you go by the sugar content and recently i was advised not to count sweetcorn because of the GI. have a chat with your diabetes dietition.

Aug 11, 2014

geordiesgirl 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles

You can get plastic sharp containers on prescription. Once full return it to the surgery and they will dispose of it. Some areas if you phone the council they will collect your full containers from your home and replace it with an empty one.

Aug 11, 2014

Dyonisus 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles

Once upon a time, a man finished a Dafne course. He was told he could get a box at his local surgery to incinerate the sharps on prescription. Unfortunately, his GP was away on holiday. She was replaced by a fellow colleague.
The letter from the Dafne educators, requesting it just arrived in time, at the surgery, when this man was speaking to the GP.
He was told he box was not available under prescription and would have to pay for it.
The man decided not to pay Â£ 7.00 and search the internet for cheaper alternatives.
He found different sizes and prices to match, but could not make he's mind up.
On a trip to his local hospital, he asked if He could dispose the content of sharps in the paper bag.
He was told by a nurse that she could not handle in the bag because she could get injured.
The man replied how could this be, as He was grabbing the bag.
To what the nurse replied: yes, but is just you.
The man walked away and decided to chuck the paper bag and it's content in the nearest rubbish bin.
As He done so, He thought is conscience was clear. He could not believe that inside the hospital no one would accept that bag unless it was in Â£ 7.00 box.
The moral of the story here is, in order to dispose rubbish you have to create more rubbish.

Good night and good luck!

Dyonisus

Aug 11, 2014

Marje 3 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content

Would be interested to know on how you calculate the number of QA units of insulin when a label states both the Carbohydrate and sugar content.

Aug 11, 2014

Muna A H 34 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Hi,

I switched from Lantus to Levemir few years ago, but as far as I remember my Lantus was one dose a day before bed as it worked for 24 hours. I have am/ pm doses of Levemir now.

Cheers

Aug 10, 2014

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

Oh, and when you split, what you do is drop a unit at night, and add a unit in the morning each day until you get your 50/50 split. Don't just drop half your evening basal at night and add it in the morning or you will have wicked highs. If you are on 18 units, then it will take 9 days to get to the split, and a couple of more days after than before things stabilise so don't panic too much if you find your BGs are a little out of control over that period.

You may also find after you have split that 18 per day is not enough (because I assume that you are running out of basal now), so you will need to up your basal a little, probably to 10 units in the morning and 10 units in the evening.

All the best with it.

Warwick.

Aug 10, 2014

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting

I split my Lantus early last year after consistently getting higher BGs between dinner and bed time. I tried to up my QA at dinner, but that just gave me hypos. Splitting gave me stable BGs all day. I split 50/50 and it worked well.

Aug 13, 2014 Phil Maskell 194 posts	Topic: General Discussion / sensitivity Not sure why you would suddenly become more sensitive? Has anything changed? Maybe someone else can shed some light on this? I have become a lot more sensitive to insulin since I have taken up cycling in a big way, the increase in exercise means I need a lot less insulin anyway, but ratios have also halved. Phil

Aug 13, 2014 Trish Skidmore 18 posts	Topic: General Discussion / sensitivity Can anyone tell me what insulin sensitivity is, for the past month I have had hypos nearly everyday even just walking the dog and it goes low, I have just started to halve my doses so hope this works, I've been told I may be sensitive to insulin, don't understand it after 20 years, has anyone else experienced this problem.

Aug 13, 2014 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus Split & Overnight Basal Testing Yes. Lantus is largely peak-less, (depends on the individual). All you are doing when you splitting is ensuring that it doesn't run out before the next dose.

Aug 13, 2014 Rafa 99 posts	Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase I find this as well myself so even if i am not that hungry i eat something small like 2cps and inject and i am fine then for the rest of the morning/day.

Aug 13, 2014 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus Split & Overnight Basal Testing Can overnight basal testing still be done if your Lantus is a split dose?

Aug 12, 2014 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting Yes, and yes. You have it exactly right.

Aug 12, 2014 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase Whether you should increase your Levemir or not depends on what happens later in the day. If you continue having to take correctional doses of QA in the afternoon, then that would indicate that your Levemir dose in the morning is too low. If it stays stable through the afternoon, then your Levemir dose is probably fine. If this happens every time that you miss breakfast, then it could be worth having a small amount (1-2 units) of QA with the Levemir in the morning on days that you miss breakfast. There are lots of reasons that your BGs could rise even without food unfortunately. Stress, dawn phenomenon, excitement, climate temperature, illness, menstrual cycle, level of hydration...

Aug 12, 2014 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting Oh, and when you split, what you do is drop a unit at night, and add a unit in the morning each day until you get your 50/50 split. Don't just drop half your evening basal at night and add it in the morning or you will have wicked highs. If you are on 18 units, then it will take 9 days to get to the split, and a couple of more days after than before things stabilise so don't panic too much if you find your BGs are a little out of control over that period. So to clarify I'm on 18u at the moment then 1st night take 17u & just 1u the following morning 2nd night take 16u & 2u the following morning 3rd night take 15u & 3u the following morning 4th night 14u & 4u........ 5th night 13u & 5u....... 6th night 12u & 6u...... 7th night 11u & 7u........ 8th night 10u & 8u....... 9th night 9u & 9u ? Now could the same be done like this if you were going back onto a single dose?

Aug 11, 2014 Marje 3 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content Hi Alan. The full carb contact us always how I have calculated and ignored the sugar content. It was just that someone said you have to take the sugar content into account that made me doubt my calculations. It I would be interesting to know why they put the sugar content as well as it only confuses you. Thanks so much for your response. Regards Marje

Aug 11, 2014 Dyonisus 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase This May help. I did once a 36 hour fasting to find out if blood sugar went up in absence of food in the stomach or glucose in the liver. I found out that when the body can not get glucose it takes it from muscles. I was told that could not fast at night without risking a hypo. The truth is that my sugar rises at night without any food. I use to take 15 units of Lantus before bed time. Now, I inject 10 units at 6am and 10 at 6pm., my readings have dropped below 10 and keep stable thru out the day. As long as I eat with moderation, and that is reduce the amount of starchy carbs. Good luck Dyonisus

Aug 11, 2014 Dyonisus 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles Good for you! Let's hope the hard of hearing in this part of the Country listen to common sense and this Island will soon be a much cleaner land. I read on the paper no long ago, that Essex was the County worst managed when it came to diabetes. As well as you know, We may have "The SUN" alas, little else! D.

Aug 11, 2014 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content As I understand it, the Nutritional Values on most packaged food will contain the sugar content and the Total Carbohydrate value (including the sugars). I always use this value to calculate the CPs of a meal, regardless of the Glycaemic Index, which is normally not shown.

Aug 11, 2014 alturn 78 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles I live in NE Scotland and local pharmacy now supplies sharps bins and disposes of used bins, so no need for prescription. This change occurred within about last 2 years. Suspect different regions on NHS have different policies. However I use it for lancets and strips as I clip my needles and dispose of the clipper in the sharps bin.

Aug 11, 2014 Dyonisus 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles Tell that to the newvy GP fresh out of UNi, who goes by the book. Is not about saving money or pestering my GP for a freebie on prescription, is about creating unnecessary waste. Is cheaper to burn a paper bag than a plastic container. Anyway, for the price given at the surgery, I can get a bin with 3 times the capacity for a fraction in Amazon( free delivery). Another question springs to mind: how many litres of waste a surgery or Council cope with? I can carry 5 to 10 litres to my local surgery, will they accept it? If they can not be bothered to collect, neither can I. Out of sight, out of mind! Kind Regards D.

Aug 11, 2014 Marje 3 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content Hi there. Many thanks. That's what I thought but something was niggling in the back of my mind that you have to take sugar content into account on certain foods.

Aug 11, 2014 Laramango 1 post	Topic: General Discussion / no food but blood sugar still increase my sugars were 8.8 when i woke this morning and as usual I did my levemir, but didn't feel like eating so no novorapid...then a few hours later my sugars were 12.0, why does this happen?sometimes its way worse, for example can jump into 20s! does this mean i should increase my levemir?

Aug 11, 2014 geordiesgirl 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content You go by the carbohydrate on the label. However, baked beans you go by the sugar content and recently i was advised not to count sweetcorn because of the GI. have a chat with your diabetes dietition.

Aug 11, 2014 geordiesgirl 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles You can get plastic sharp containers on prescription. Once full return it to the surgery and they will dispose of it. Some areas if you phone the council they will collect your full containers from your home and replace it with an empty one.

Aug 11, 2014 Dyonisus 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Disposing needles Once upon a time, a man finished a Dafne course. He was told he could get a box at his local surgery to incinerate the sharps on prescription. Unfortunately, his GP was away on holiday. She was replaced by a fellow colleague. The letter from the Dafne educators, requesting it just arrived in time, at the surgery, when this man was speaking to the GP. He was told he box was not available under prescription and would have to pay for it. The man decided not to pay Â£ 7.00 and search the internet for cheaper alternatives. He found different sizes and prices to match, but could not make he's mind up. On a trip to his local hospital, he asked if He could dispose the content of sharps in the paper bag. He was told by a nurse that she could not handle in the bag because she could get injured. The man replied how could this be, as He was grabbing the bag. To what the nurse replied: yes, but is just you. The man walked away and decided to chuck the paper bag and it's content in the nearest rubbish bin. As He done so, He thought is conscience was clear. He could not believe that inside the hospital no one would accept that bag unless it was in Â£ 7.00 box. The moral of the story here is, in order to dispose rubbish you have to create more rubbish. Good night and good luck! Dyonisus

Aug 11, 2014 Marje 3 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Calculating QA with Carb/Sugar Content Would be interested to know on how you calculate the number of QA units of insulin when a label states both the Carbohydrate and sugar content.

Aug 11, 2014 Muna A H 34 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting Hi, I switched from Lantus to Levemir few years ago, but as far as I remember my Lantus was one dose a day before bed as it worked for 24 hours. I have am/ pm doses of Levemir now. Cheers

Aug 10, 2014 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting Oh, and when you split, what you do is drop a unit at night, and add a unit in the morning each day until you get your 50/50 split. Don't just drop half your evening basal at night and add it in the morning or you will have wicked highs. If you are on 18 units, then it will take 9 days to get to the split, and a couple of more days after than before things stabilise so don't panic too much if you find your BGs are a little out of control over that period. You may also find after you have split that 18 per day is not enough (because I assume that you are running out of basal now), so you will need to up your basal a little, probably to 10 units in the morning and 10 units in the evening. All the best with it. Warwick.

Aug 10, 2014 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - Splitting I split my Lantus early last year after consistently getting higher BGs between dinner and bed time. I tried to up my QA at dinner, but that just gave me hypos. Splitting gave me stable BGs all day. I split 50/50 and it worked well.