Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

May 28, 2013

Anele46 109 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Optium Xceed meter renewal

Hi everyone,
Just to say I called Abbot a while ago to get a replacement battery for my Optium Xceed and as I could no longer read the serial number on the back they issued me with a new one (Optium Freestyle). They advised this was a design fault and the Freestyle meters have a new serial number and bar code sticker that will not fade through time.
I also mentioned I had a spare Xceed meter in my car which I don't need to use very often and thankfully I told them about it as it also needed replacing as would not have the update for no longer needing to be coded.
So I ended up getting two new meters and also two new finger prickers (Blue in colour) which are much better than the black and white one that comes as standard with the meter as I find it is less painful.

Just a thought for anyonme out there that my have an old Xceed meter (older than 2 years or so).

Hope this helps Very Happy

Cheers,
Anele.

May 28, 2013

Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Abbot renamed the meter as a rebranding exercise a while ago. Think they call it the same throughout the world now.
Regards
Garry

May 28, 2013

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / high and lows

There is an awful lot of correction going on during the morning. That tends to indicate that BI is too low, however you then tend to go low in the afternoons around 4 hours after taking QA so unless you are on a non-standard QA, that indicates the BI is too high. Confused yet? Laughing

Can you please answer the following?

1) Can you tell us a bit about what BI and QA insulin you are on?

2) In the afternoons, do you exercise, or do an activity that requires lots of blood sugar such as concentrating? If so, when you do this activity, can you please note it in the diary?

There are a few variables to work out here.

First is the correct BI dosage because if that isn't correct, then everything else becomes too hard to calculate. It gets a little tricky because of your split dose, but I'm not against split doses - I do it myself - but may need a little work to identify the correct BIs.

Second will be to work out your QA ratios which probably aren't too far off what you are already using, but a bit hard to tell with all of the corrections.

Third will be to work out what your correction doses are - how far do you drop when you have the correct BI and you take 1 unit of QA.

Post your results in a couple of days and let's see if the BI increase has helped things. Once we get the BI right, we can work on the others.

May 27, 2013

john m 15 posts

Topic: General Discussion / high and lows

ok i will try that thanks for all your help i will post the results in a few days time Smile

May 27, 2013

Vickyp 137 posts

Topic: General Discussion / high and lows

It may be worthwhile doing a test at 230/3am to see what's going on, as nighttime hypos can cause the morning highs! Would be best to do this for a few days before increasing bi, to check for pattern first.

May 27, 2013

john m 15 posts

Topic: General Discussion / high and lows

if i dont take insulin when i wake up my bg will be 20+ iam taking insulin to try and keep it n range my bg is still high at b/fast even after a large adjustment the diabectic nurse on the dafne course deduced my night time bl from 10 -8 because of a hypo during the night im going to put it back up to see what happens

May 27, 2013

Vickyp 137 posts

Topic: General Discussion / high and lows

Is there a reason you are taking QA if no carbs and you're within target..eg. Today, there is no need to correct, which can then lead to hypo! Also some of your corrections appear very high!

May 27, 2013

john m 15 posts

Topic: General Discussion / high and lows

hi there my problem is that when i wake up 4 work at 5am i check my bg make an adjustment but do not have any carbs yet when i check my bg before brekfast between 8-930 ti is rising can anyone help

May 27, 2013

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Subscribing to a Topic

Hi,

When you subscribe to a certain topic how/where can you find a list of the ones you're subscribed to?

May 27, 2013

Vickyp 137 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

As far as am aware the optium screed is same as freestyle optium. Glucose strips are in blue foil (box of 50) and ketone in purple foil (box of 10). Would defo follow up with GP! I get 200 glucose strips at a time but only 10 ketone strips. Haven't really needed to use them so don't order a lot.

May 27, 2013

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Thanks for all your suggestions - I will definitely follow this up.

I am slightly confused about a couple of things: The meter I was given is an Optium Xceed (manufactured by Abbott) - everybody seems to be referring to 'Freestyle' meters - are they different? The other thing is that I was referring to Ketone test-strips not glucose test-strips, which might be cheaper.

May 27, 2013

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / ACCURATE BG READINGS

Hey Nettie,

Feel free to post your diary to the forum and we can then make some suggestions to help you out. Also, let us know what insulins you are on and whether you are on a single daily BI dose or more.

Cheers,
Warwick.

May 26, 2013

Vickyp 137 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / insulin pump

I get my pump training next Friday...am getting the omnipod Smile

May 26, 2013

Nettie 7 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / ACCURATE BG READINGS

I have just finished a DAFNE course. I really enjoyed it but my levels have been high. I increased
my BI but I have put it up again because it is mostly in the morning. I am not going to snack and see how I go on. Confused

May 26, 2013

Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Sorry I was talking about Ketone strips before. They are about Â£32 for 10.
I do not have any problem with my surgery, who now give me 250 strips of normal BG type per prescription.
I sat with the doctor to ensure he matched up my whole prescription to save me time.
As marke mentioned 50 strips were around Â£32 before, but in this competitive world they have probably reduced the price now.
Regards
Garry

May 26, 2013

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / My BG (Trending) Diary - All Comments Welcomed

Wed 22/05 - Fri 24/05

Can anybody see if there are any trends in this block I am missing?

Also am I entering the carbs correctly:
Fri 24/05 at 11.45 I had 35g cho and as you can see I've entered this as 3.5
at 15.09 I had 48g cho and as you can see I've entered this as 4.8

I feel as though I'm stuck in a rut at the moment ie even though I'm testing when I should ie fasting, before meals and before bed also watching BG levels I'm not making any adjustments.

May 26, 2013

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / My BG (Trending) Diary - All Comments Welcomed

Sun 19/05 - Tue 21/05

Can anybody see if there are any trends in this block I am missing?

May 25, 2013

marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Alan, the freestyle optium strips are about Â£15 for 50. Now I'm not a mathematician but even I can work out that's not Â£2 per strip, I'm surprised you are getting this attitude from you GP I suspect its not CCG policy. I am working with the CCG's in East Kent and its definitely NOT the policy there. There is still a PALS in your area their email is [email protected]. Contact them, tell them what your GP told you and ask if its policy, they should be able to resolve the issue.

May 24, 2013

Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Alan...Need to explain to her that urine test strips give an indication of what was happening 6 to 8 hours ago....not now. My consultant 35 years ago agreed that at the time...the same physical rules applied as long ago, when he used to issue them then...as then - there were no other home sampling methods available.
Times have changed. It is 2013. Yes they are Â£2 a pot because nobody uses them. They are useless to put your current situation right.
Current sample strip at Â£2 a sample...well that's fine seeing as I have used about 4 boxes of 10 strips in the last 4 years...and one of those boxes of 10 ran out of date!

We all need have the attitude to face out our GP over this kind of tosh.
Say that until you sort out my needs....I'm not moving out of your surgery.
We must be prepared to challenge a GP and say that GPs must give back some of the additional fees that they get from the Department of Health, for you as a diabetic, in the prescription needs that you have personally.
Regards
Garry

May 24, 2013

Vickyp 137 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

I was given the freestyle optium on my DAFNE course in February, and the only issue I had was for the first 4 weeks GP gave me one box of glucose strips at a time so was at surgery every week...it's now changed and get 4 boxes at a time and was originally given 2boxes of ketone strips...which I haven't needed to use but they are on my repeat! Can't believe your GP refusing them Alan!

May 24, 2013

Nettie 7 posts

Topic: General Discussion / New Graduate in DAFNE

nitaparmar said:
Hi all,

I attended DAFNE last month. It was nice to be around other people who are in the same situation as me.

I was diagnosed three years ago so this is all new to me...

Just wanted to say hey

I have just finished a course. What a revelation!!

May 24, 2013

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

I was given an Optium Xceed meter for blood-testing ketones on my DAFNE course. When I asked my GP to add the test-strips to my prescription request form, she said that the strips were Â£2 each and were too expensive. She would only give me the urine test strips - which she said were Â£2 per pot.

May 24, 2013

Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Very sensible your DAFNE team as the Freestyle Optium has ability to do Ketones, by prescription available, ketone specific test strips.
Regards
Garry

May 23, 2013

Angela C 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected?

Hi i was stripped of my one touch meter about 2 years ago and given a care sens one , ive since been on the dafne course and now been changed to the freestyle optium , as they said the care sens is only suitable for type 2 diabetics. Not sure my local surgery is going to like this but we shall see.

May 23, 2013

JayBee 587 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Carbs - Rounding Up/Down & BG levels

Yup. I bare my BGs in mind everytime, since 0.5QA can drop me by 3BG. I aim for 6BG since it sits nicely in the middle of the 4-8 ideal range.

May 28, 2013 Anele46 109 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Optium Xceed meter renewal Hi everyone, Just to say I called Abbot a while ago to get a replacement battery for my Optium Xceed and as I could no longer read the serial number on the back they issued me with a new one (Optium Freestyle). They advised this was a design fault and the Freestyle meters have a new serial number and bar code sticker that will not fade through time. I also mentioned I had a spare Xceed meter in my car which I don't need to use very often and thankfully I told them about it as it also needed replacing as would not have the update for no longer needing to be coded. So I ended up getting two new meters and also two new finger prickers (Blue in colour) which are much better than the black and white one that comes as standard with the meter as I find it is less painful. Just a thought for anyonme out there that my have an old Xceed meter (older than 2 years or so). Hope this helps Cheers, Anele.

May 28, 2013 Garry 328 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Abbot renamed the meter as a rebranding exercise a while ago. Think they call it the same throughout the world now. Regards Garry

May 28, 2013 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / high and lows There is an awful lot of correction going on during the morning. That tends to indicate that BI is too low, however you then tend to go low in the afternoons around 4 hours after taking QA so unless you are on a non-standard QA, that indicates the BI is too high. Confused yet? Can you please answer the following? 1) Can you tell us a bit about what BI and QA insulin you are on? 2) In the afternoons, do you exercise, or do an activity that requires lots of blood sugar such as concentrating? If so, when you do this activity, can you please note it in the diary? There are a few variables to work out here. First is the correct BI dosage because if that isn't correct, then everything else becomes too hard to calculate. It gets a little tricky because of your split dose, but I'm not against split doses - I do it myself - but may need a little work to identify the correct BIs. Second will be to work out your QA ratios which probably aren't too far off what you are already using, but a bit hard to tell with all of the corrections. Third will be to work out what your correction doses are - how far do you drop when you have the correct BI and you take 1 unit of QA. Post your results in a couple of days and let's see if the BI increase has helped things. Once we get the BI right, we can work on the others.

May 27, 2013 john m 15 posts	Topic: General Discussion / high and lows ok i will try that thanks for all your help i will post the results in a few days time

May 27, 2013 Vickyp 137 posts	Topic: General Discussion / high and lows It may be worthwhile doing a test at 230/3am to see what's going on, as nighttime hypos can cause the morning highs! Would be best to do this for a few days before increasing bi, to check for pattern first.

May 27, 2013 john m 15 posts	Topic: General Discussion / high and lows if i dont take insulin when i wake up my bg will be 20+ iam taking insulin to try and keep it n range my bg is still high at b/fast even after a large adjustment the diabectic nurse on the dafne course deduced my night time bl from 10 -8 because of a hypo during the night im going to put it back up to see what happens

May 27, 2013 Vickyp 137 posts	Topic: General Discussion / high and lows Is there a reason you are taking QA if no carbs and you're within target..eg. Today, there is no need to correct, which can then lead to hypo! Also some of your corrections appear very high!

May 27, 2013 john m 15 posts	Topic: General Discussion / high and lows hi there my problem is that when i wake up 4 work at 5am i check my bg make an adjustment but do not have any carbs yet when i check my bg before brekfast between 8-930 ti is rising can anyone help

May 27, 2013 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Subscribing to a Topic Hi, When you subscribe to a certain topic how/where can you find a list of the ones you're subscribed to?

May 27, 2013 Vickyp 137 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? As far as am aware the optium screed is same as freestyle optium. Glucose strips are in blue foil (box of 50) and ketone in purple foil (box of 10). Would defo follow up with GP! I get 200 glucose strips at a time but only 10 ketone strips. Haven't really needed to use them so don't order a lot.

May 27, 2013 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Thanks for all your suggestions - I will definitely follow this up. I am slightly confused about a couple of things: The meter I was given is an Optium Xceed (manufactured by Abbott) - everybody seems to be referring to 'Freestyle' meters - are they different? The other thing is that I was referring to Ketone test-strips not glucose test-strips, which might be cheaper.

May 27, 2013 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / ACCURATE BG READINGS Hey Nettie, Feel free to post your diary to the forum and we can then make some suggestions to help you out. Also, let us know what insulins you are on and whether you are on a single daily BI dose or more. Cheers, Warwick.

May 26, 2013 Vickyp 137 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / insulin pump I get my pump training next Friday...am getting the omnipod

May 26, 2013 Nettie 7 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / ACCURATE BG READINGS I have just finished a DAFNE course. I really enjoyed it but my levels have been high. I increased my BI but I have put it up again because it is mostly in the morning. I am not going to snack and see how I go on.

May 26, 2013 Garry 328 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Sorry I was talking about Ketone strips before. They are about Â£32 for 10. I do not have any problem with my surgery, who now give me 250 strips of normal BG type per prescription. I sat with the doctor to ensure he matched up my whole prescription to save me time. As marke mentioned 50 strips were around Â£32 before, but in this competitive world they have probably reduced the price now. Regards Garry

May 26, 2013 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / My BG (Trending) Diary - All Comments Welcomed Wed 22/05 - Fri 24/05 Can anybody see if there are any trends in this block I am missing? Also am I entering the carbs correctly: Fri 24/05 at 11.45 I had 35g cho and as you can see I've entered this as 3.5 at 15.09 I had 48g cho and as you can see I've entered this as 4.8 I feel as though I'm stuck in a rut at the moment ie even though I'm testing when I should ie fasting, before meals and before bed also watching BG levels I'm not making any adjustments.

May 26, 2013 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / My BG (Trending) Diary - All Comments Welcomed Sun 19/05 - Tue 21/05 Can anybody see if there are any trends in this block I am missing?

May 25, 2013 marke 686 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Alan, the freestyle optium strips are about Â£15 for 50. Now I'm not a mathematician but even I can work out that's not Â£2 per strip, I'm surprised you are getting this attitude from you GP I suspect its not CCG policy. I am working with the CCG's in East Kent and its definitely NOT the policy there. There is still a PALS in your area their email is [email protected]. Contact them, tell them what your GP told you and ask if its policy, they should be able to resolve the issue.

May 24, 2013 Garry 328 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Alan...Need to explain to her that urine test strips give an indication of what was happening 6 to 8 hours ago....not now. My consultant 35 years ago agreed that at the time...the same physical rules applied as long ago, when he used to issue them then...as then - there were no other home sampling methods available. Times have changed. It is 2013. Yes they are Â£2 a pot because nobody uses them. They are useless to put your current situation right. Current sample strip at Â£2 a sample...well that's fine seeing as I have used about 4 boxes of 10 strips in the last 4 years...and one of those boxes of 10 ran out of date! We all need have the attitude to face out our GP over this kind of tosh. Say that until you sort out my needs....I'm not moving out of your surgery. We must be prepared to challenge a GP and say that GPs must give back some of the additional fees that they get from the Department of Health, for you as a diabetic, in the prescription needs that you have personally. Regards Garry

May 24, 2013 Vickyp 137 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? I was given the freestyle optium on my DAFNE course in February, and the only issue I had was for the first 4 weeks GP gave me one box of glucose strips at a time so was at surgery every week...it's now changed and get 4 boxes at a time and was originally given 2boxes of ketone strips...which I haven't needed to use but they are on my repeat! Can't believe your GP refusing them Alan!

May 24, 2013 Nettie 7 posts	Topic: General Discussion / New Graduate in DAFNE nitaparmar said: Hi all, I attended DAFNE last month. It was nice to be around other people who are in the same situation as me. I was diagnosed three years ago so this is all new to me... Just wanted to say hey I have just finished a course. What a revelation!!

May 24, 2013 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? I was given an Optium Xceed meter for blood-testing ketones on my DAFNE course. When I asked my GP to add the test-strips to my prescription request form, she said that the strips were Â£2 each and were too expensive. She would only give me the urine test strips - which she said were Â£2 per pot.

May 24, 2013 Garry 328 posts	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Very sensible your DAFNE team as the Freestyle Optium has ability to do Ketones, by prescription available, ketone specific test strips. Regards Garry

May 23, 2013 Angela C 1 post	Topic: General Discussion / NHS Medication Changes: Are you affected? Hi i was stripped of my one touch meter about 2 years ago and given a care sens one , ive since been on the dafne course and now been changed to the freestyle optium , as they said the care sens is only suitable for type 2 diabetics. Not sure my local surgery is going to like this but we shall see.

May 23, 2013 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Carbs - Rounding Up/Down & BG levels Yup. I bare my BGs in mind everytime, since 0.5QA can drop me by 3BG. I aim for 6BG since it sits nicely in the middle of the 4-8 ideal range.