Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Dec 17, 2012

Sweetpea 4 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Help and advice please

Thanks very much for your reply.
I agree about the basal checks throughout the day. I am getting round to it. I did the breakfast one but I am too hungry at other times of the day ha ha!
That is a great tip about taking the insulin 15 mins before eating, I have been trying to do it but often its difficult because I do not know what portion size I am going to give myself until the last minute or nightmare if eating out. At least if I can try it MOST of the time then it should help things.
I do find it very hard to get the readings down though, the difference when I eat a meal with a tiny portion of carbs to a normal sized dinner is shocking. It just keeps highlighting to me that its me who is making my blood high because of what I am eating but I have been advised not to low carb because of wanting to become pregnant and also I do enjoy my food and don't want to cut out carbs.
Another problem I have is with snacking in between meals because then I can not get an accurate result of what is happening with the pre evening meal dosage. I tend to eat my dinner and then want something about an hour afterwards like crisps or chocolate so feel I can't see accurate patterns of what is happening.
That is also a great idea about looking into pump features, I have never had any extended training so maybe I should look into this myself. I have just moved house and my new hospitals approach is very much "what do you think?", "what do you want from us?" which is really not good for somebody in my position who needs a push and some support because I have got to the stage where I am fed up of being diabetic.
That is interesting about eggs and veg, I think I am going to have to do the same.
I did an overnight basal check and the readings were very erratic. I have increased my basal rates and things are looking better but I suppose I am going to have to do it again to confirm.
That's terrible that you are not on a pump, its unfair that some people can have it and others not. I have just seen that Medtronic have a new machine out that constantly monitors your blood sugar which works along side the pump, I really want it but doubt I will be allowed. I don't think it will be long before they have the artificial pancreas but then none of us will be allowed Smile

Whilst I am having a little rant, since I have been on the pump my readings are a lot lower than pre-pump, I have had my driving licence restricted to 1 year!!! It's crazy, my control is better yet I am penalised for it.
Ok, so I will try today with taking my insulin 15 minutes before eating and see what happens.
Thanks very much for your support, I really do need some help at the minute!

Dec 17, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Xmas pudding

According to Calorie King, about 25g per 50g slice.

Dec 17, 2012

Bryan W 3 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Xmas pudding

What does the pack label say? All values are normally broken down into Carbs per 100g.

Dec 17, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / overnight BGs

From the above, it really appears that you are constantly correcting with QA throughout the day and before bed which indicates to me that your BI doses are just too low. The DAFNE guidelines suggest changing BI by 10% or 1-2 units at a time. I'd suggest increasing both your morning and evening BI doses by 1 unit - so 10 in the morning, and 10 in the evening, waiting for a couple of days to see if that helps your BG levels come down within the desired range, and if you are still having trouble with them always being high, then repeating the increase.

To be honest, I expect that you will find that your BI doses need to be 11 or 12 each time, but changes need to be made slowly, so just increase by 1 unit every 2-3 days for now until you stop needing to correct with QA at every meal. It is important to leave 2-3 days between each increase so your body can adjust to the increases.

All the best with getting this under control.

Warwick.

Dec 16, 2012

DianeW 115 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Xmas pudding

Can anyone tell me CP value? For a serving of say 4 dessert spoonfuls .

Dec 16, 2012

Elvie 6 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / overnight BGs

Can't seem to get me BIs right for overnight control, any suggestions?

Dec 15, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: Site Development / Uploading Data (Re-visited)

It would be fabulous to have this feature. I'm so used to using the DAFNE website for entering my values, but having recently been given an AccuChek Expert meter (it was a tough choice between that and the Insulinx), being able to import readings, insulin intake and carb intake directly from these 'smart' meters would a huge time saving.

At the moment, I import the meter readings into the proprietary software, and then manually enter the info into the DAFNE site, but it takes about 15 minutes per day, and I'd love to knock that down to just a couple of minutes.

Still, given that I live in Melbourne, I am all for improvements on the Oz handbook too :-)

Thanks to everyone on this thread for your hard work. It is much appreciated.

Best regards,
Warwick.

Dec 15, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What would you say about DAFNE :?:

I now have:

A greater understanding of my condition and how basal insulin and QA insulin interact with each other to provide stable blood sugars throughout the day.

Knowledge of how to interpret my BG results, and when and how to make changes to my insulin intake.

Support from other DAFNE graduates.

This great website for analysing my BG results and identifying trends that I wouldn't otherwise be aware of.

Ability to eat largely what I want to eat and when I want to eat it without having to worry about massive spikes in BGs or hypos.

Dec 15, 2012

Nicky 72 4 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What would you say about DAFNE :?:

i have found a new friend her name is DAFNE , i know we will be friends for life. i wish that i had met her years ago .
DAFNE is not my latest female friend but my diabetes managment for life . Very Happy

Dec 13, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: General Discussion / exercise

I find the same - hypos after exercise if I don't reduce my ratio for the meal following. My endo told me that new research shows that exercise can result in hypos for up to 48 hours, and I have found this to be true. I am a health nut though - I did two marathons in October and the length of time that exercise affects BGs is probably dependant on your level of fitness and the intensity and length of the exercise.

I tend to take sports drink during exercise to keep my BGs stable. Everyone is different, but I find I need about 750 ml Gatorade per 10 km when running, or the same for an hour's cycling.

I also reduce basal the night after exercise. Prior to DAFNE, I was having night time hypos at least once or twice per week. I think I have had two in the 6 months since doing DAFNE, and they were more related to my QA dose for dinner then my BI so I am really happy with that. I can have bad days though - I did a lot of exercise last Friday - 2 hours cycling and one hour basketball followed by our work Christmas party which 7 hypos in 48 hours on Friday and Saturday, but since Sunday, no hypos at all (although a couple of low 4s).

All the best with it. Given that a huge number of T1s suffer from depression and the preventative effects that exercise has on depression, I strongly encourage you to keep on exercising.

Warwick.

Dec 13, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly

Hi novorapidboi26 ,

I cycle one hour to work and one hour back, and play basketball on Fridays, but weekends are the killer, looking after my 2 year old daughter :-)

Reducing basal does help. I am also experimenting with legumes such as baked beans for breakfast as they release sugar slowly, and having some success with that.

Cheers,
Warwick.

Dec 13, 2012

marke 681 posts

Topic: General Discussion / ignorance

I have to admit I would not expect my manager to know how to deal with Diabetes or any other condition, You didn't say if you work in a role that requires medical expertise. There are many many administration roles in the NHS that do not involve any medical training.
I would not necessarily call this ignorance more lack of sensitivity, I take an interest in my staff and their issues but doing this is just a personal thing not a requirement of my role. To get the best out of your team you need to understand them however other methods are available and work in different scenarios.
I don't think this is a diabetes issue more of a general issue and personally I always make sure people I am with understand my condition and what it means.
they don't always remember but at least some of it goes in. Maybe you have already tried and this person is a lost cause, some are. I don't think we need legal support to make people understand medical conditions we just need people who WANT to understand.

Dec 13, 2012

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Help and advice please

From what I can see you results are really quite good, so well done.......

I would agree that an overnight basal test should be done, but also maybe some basal tests at other times, as fine tuning the basal throughout the whole day could help lower the mid meal readings.......

Another tool in the fight against high mid meal spikes is to consider dose timing, so giving your bolus before you eat, specifically 15 minutes or more....

I am aware there are different bolus option on a pump like dual wave etc.....I am not completely familiar with them as I am not on a pump YET!!.....

I would have a play around with the timing first, then speak with your pump team in order to come up with some ways of fully using the pump features to help get your mid meal reading down....

I see you made a comment about eggs having carbs, I would say NO, DAFNE would say NO, but I have heard other pumpers saying that they need to count their eggs and some vegetables too......It was theorized that because pumpers dont have an engineered slower acting insulin on board to mop up the very slowly digested foods [proteins, fats] that these items can effect blood sugar, all be it small amounts........it makes sense to me, but as I say I dont know first hand.....

I would assume your basal may need tweaked here.........

Well done again, your BG is looking good, I hope another pregnancy comes soon for you, good luck..... Smile

Dec 13, 2012

Sweetpea 4 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Help and advice please

Hi Everybody
I completed DAFNE over a year ago now and have sort of gone onto autopilot so need a bit of support please.
I am on an insulin pump and planning for pregnancy.
My last HBA 1c was 7.4%/57 as things have gone off track the last 6 months due to having a miscarriage.
My pregnancy blood glucose targets are pre meal 3.5-5.5 and post meal less than 7.5 mmols.
I am finding the post meal targets difficult,
I can see that my morning readings are not in any sort of pattern and I am going to do an overnight basal check this weekend.
I would be really grateful for any advice you can all give me please. I have attached my readings for this week so far for comment.
Any advice or tips welcomed Idea

Many thanks
x

Dec 13, 2012

marke 681 posts

Topic: General Discussion / exercise

One point that neither of you have mentioned is that exercise can affect your BG's for at least 24 hours. Even though you have finnished the exercise your body still needs glucose to feed the muscles that have been used in the exercise. You need to consider this, however we cannot tell you exactly what the effect on you will be nor how long it will last sice we are all different.
You should still exercise however as this will mean your body has less insulin 'resistance' generally and so works more efficiently, even T1's can resist insulin remember the big difference is
we have to 'mainline' the insulin in Very Happy

So keeping up the exercise will help your overall levels AND you will be able to work out the effects it is having on your BG since you will get more
practice at working it out !

Dec 13, 2012

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / exercise

Your absolutely right about exercise causing trouble with the blood sugars, one of the main reasons I am not as active as I should be..... Wink

I do martial arts a few times a week, sometimes this can be a low intensity, sometimes high intensity.........

I would always reduce my BI insulin for that evening by 2, and if it was more intense I would think about reducing it further.........if not I would be woken by a bad hypo in the early hours..........also if it was a more intense session I would consider reducing my AM BI also.......

As you may have guessed I am on a split Levemir dose.......you should really be on this if you intend to exercise regularly....

Have a good XMAS.......... Cool

Dec 13, 2012

Carolin 83 posts

Topic: General Discussion / ignorance

Trish Skidmore said:
I work for NHS and im going through a bad patch with hypos, today I asked my manager if instead of having a sick day, could I work my day off instead and she said cant you go to doctors and get some tablets to stop you having hypos, does she know something we dont.

Trish, please let me know if you'd like any support with this. I do know the Trust is changing some policies which should positively support people attending or following DAFNE,
Carolin

Dec 12, 2012

paulj 36 posts

Topic: General Discussion / contour next usb blood glucose metre

does anyone use the above metre?

if so can anyone help me with using this in connection with the glucofacts software from bayer.

Dec 12, 2012

paulj 36 posts

Topic: General Discussion / exercise

just incase there are loads of health junkies out there i would be interested in your experiences around exercising after meals. i find that depending on what type of exercise i do it makes my BG levels lower at the end of it.that's not the problem.what seems to happen in my case is that if i don't reduce my next meal ratio to half of what it usually is i wind up experiencing hypo's later on during the day.it seems to have more of a effect on me afterwards rather than during the exercise itself i know everyone is different but do you have similar experiences?

i sometimes think that if i didn't exercise that i would have better long term control over BG'S .i know that is a negative way of thinking and it is something that i would not consider but it would make the risk of having to many HYPOS a lot less and i suppose increase my hypo awareness and with being a bus driver and just having recently just got my licence back for 12 months is a priority for me to maintain high hypo awareness

look forward to hearing from you

cheers and merry xmas

Very Happy

Dec 12, 2012

Bryan W 3 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly

Have you thought about changing to Levemir? This is licensed to be injected twice a day. Lantus is not. It has a 24hr (ish) profile so arguably you could end up having more hypos after taking a dose, as you would still have the previous injection in your system (possibly peaking). Any changes with Lantus need to be monitored over 2/3 days before the next change is made.

Looking at your BG readings - Are you definately a 1u:1CP for all meals? You may wish to consider changing your ratios. My experience is that I am more resistant at breakfast (and dawn phenomenon to boot) and I have to take 2u:1CP but at e/meal I can drop that to 1u:1CP.

Are you counting ALL CPs? I thought I was however, when I was testing and getting BGs of 12.3 I decided to start calculating EVERYTHING - sauces, gravy, vegetables..... etc, they all contain a little bit of carb and add up. It helped me.

I hope you manage to sort it out. I know how frustrating it is when you think you have 'nailed' it and then you test Sad

Dec 12, 2012

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly

Warwick,

Dropping your Lantus for the following day theoretically shouldn't have an effect as it takes a few days for the dose change to settle in.....

How intense would the activity be and how has your decrease of dose worked out.....?

Dec 12, 2012

Ariane 14 posts

Topic: General Discussion / ignorance

I can also confirm having worked for the general medical council, several schools and organisations that provide healthcare training for businesses and the NHS, that legal support systems are in place for employers and managers are required to know how to deal with employees with medical conditions. As far as diabetes is concerned there are specifically designed medical and first aid courses designed for employers. Because whilst no one is denying that a diabetics health is their own responsibility , not only do things go wrong sometimes but they can be made worse as a result of a lack of knowledge, understanding or compassion on behalf of senior management. Wink

Dec 12, 2012

Warwick 423 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly

If you are going to split doses, you will want to talk to your DAFNE coordinator as there is a process to do that gradually. I'm thinking of doing the same, but it isn't just a case of doing half and half as that could lead to some unpredictable BG readings.

My regular BI is 24 Lantus, but I often drop it down to 18 if I am going to have a high activity day the following day. I know of other DAFNE grads on less BI, so don't worry too much. Certainly getting the Basal correct is the most important, and it appears that you are getting close to that. You can then review your QA ratios and see if they need increasing.

All the best with it.

Warwick.

Dec 11, 2012

Trish Skidmore 18 posts

Topic: General Discussion / ignorance

I agree with you ariane, it is ignorance and as a manager managing someone with diabetes they should be supportive, and if they dont understand they should get their facts right before saying what she did, after all they get paid for managing and should know there stuff, she dhould have took advice.

Dec 11, 2012

Ariane 14 posts

Topic: General Discussion / ignorance

I agree with the fact that you can't know everything about every condition.
What I am saying is that it is ignorance, there is no running away from the fact that many many people, whether they are working within our healthcare system or not are completely unaware of how having diabetes affects someone.
The fact that people still think stuff like you can take a pill for hypos is shocking because it proves my point education within employment about diabetes is not upto scratch and there are lots of diabetics out there...

Dec 17, 2012 Sweetpea 4 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Help and advice please Thanks very much for your reply. I agree about the basal checks throughout the day. I am getting round to it. I did the breakfast one but I am too hungry at other times of the day ha ha! That is a great tip about taking the insulin 15 mins before eating, I have been trying to do it but often its difficult because I do not know what portion size I am going to give myself until the last minute or nightmare if eating out. At least if I can try it MOST of the time then it should help things. I do find it very hard to get the readings down though, the difference when I eat a meal with a tiny portion of carbs to a normal sized dinner is shocking. It just keeps highlighting to me that its me who is making my blood high because of what I am eating but I have been advised not to low carb because of wanting to become pregnant and also I do enjoy my food and don't want to cut out carbs. Another problem I have is with snacking in between meals because then I can not get an accurate result of what is happening with the pre evening meal dosage. I tend to eat my dinner and then want something about an hour afterwards like crisps or chocolate so feel I can't see accurate patterns of what is happening. That is also a great idea about looking into pump features, I have never had any extended training so maybe I should look into this myself. I have just moved house and my new hospitals approach is very much "what do you think?", "what do you want from us?" which is really not good for somebody in my position who needs a push and some support because I have got to the stage where I am fed up of being diabetic. That is interesting about eggs and veg, I think I am going to have to do the same. I did an overnight basal check and the readings were very erratic. I have increased my basal rates and things are looking better but I suppose I am going to have to do it again to confirm. That's terrible that you are not on a pump, its unfair that some people can have it and others not. I have just seen that Medtronic have a new machine out that constantly monitors your blood sugar which works along side the pump, I really want it but doubt I will be allowed. I don't think it will be long before they have the artificial pancreas but then none of us will be allowed Whilst I am having a little rant, since I have been on the pump my readings are a lot lower than pre-pump, I have had my driving licence restricted to 1 year!!! It's crazy, my control is better yet I am penalised for it. Ok, so I will try today with taking my insulin 15 minutes before eating and see what happens. Thanks very much for your support, I really do need some help at the minute!

Dec 17, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Xmas pudding According to Calorie King, about 25g per 50g slice.

Dec 17, 2012 Bryan W 3 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Xmas pudding What does the pack label say? All values are normally broken down into Carbs per 100g.

Dec 17, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / overnight BGs From the above, it really appears that you are constantly correcting with QA throughout the day and before bed which indicates to me that your BI doses are just too low. The DAFNE guidelines suggest changing BI by 10% or 1-2 units at a time. I'd suggest increasing both your morning and evening BI doses by 1 unit - so 10 in the morning, and 10 in the evening, waiting for a couple of days to see if that helps your BG levels come down within the desired range, and if you are still having trouble with them always being high, then repeating the increase. To be honest, I expect that you will find that your BI doses need to be 11 or 12 each time, but changes need to be made slowly, so just increase by 1 unit every 2-3 days for now until you stop needing to correct with QA at every meal. It is important to leave 2-3 days between each increase so your body can adjust to the increases. All the best with getting this under control. Warwick.

Dec 16, 2012 DianeW 115 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Xmas pudding Can anyone tell me CP value? For a serving of say 4 dessert spoonfuls .

Dec 16, 2012 Elvie 6 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / overnight BGs Can't seem to get me BIs right for overnight control, any suggestions?

Dec 15, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: Site Development / Uploading Data (Re-visited) It would be fabulous to have this feature. I'm so used to using the DAFNE website for entering my values, but having recently been given an AccuChek Expert meter (it was a tough choice between that and the Insulinx), being able to import readings, insulin intake and carb intake directly from these 'smart' meters would a huge time saving. At the moment, I import the meter readings into the proprietary software, and then manually enter the info into the DAFNE site, but it takes about 15 minutes per day, and I'd love to knock that down to just a couple of minutes. Still, given that I live in Melbourne, I am all for improvements on the Oz handbook too :-) Thanks to everyone on this thread for your hard work. It is much appreciated. Best regards, Warwick.

Dec 15, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: General Discussion / What would you say about DAFNE :?: I now have: A greater understanding of my condition and how basal insulin and QA insulin interact with each other to provide stable blood sugars throughout the day. Knowledge of how to interpret my BG results, and when and how to make changes to my insulin intake. Support from other DAFNE graduates. This great website for analysing my BG results and identifying trends that I wouldn't otherwise be aware of. Ability to eat largely what I want to eat and when I want to eat it without having to worry about massive spikes in BGs or hypos.

Dec 15, 2012 Nicky 72 4 posts	Topic: General Discussion / What would you say about DAFNE :?: i have found a new friend her name is DAFNE , i know we will be friends for life. i wish that i had met her years ago . DAFNE is not my latest female friend but my diabetes managment for life .

Dec 13, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: General Discussion / exercise I find the same - hypos after exercise if I don't reduce my ratio for the meal following. My endo told me that new research shows that exercise can result in hypos for up to 48 hours, and I have found this to be true. I am a health nut though - I did two marathons in October and the length of time that exercise affects BGs is probably dependant on your level of fitness and the intensity and length of the exercise. I tend to take sports drink during exercise to keep my BGs stable. Everyone is different, but I find I need about 750 ml Gatorade per 10 km when running, or the same for an hour's cycling. I also reduce basal the night after exercise. Prior to DAFNE, I was having night time hypos at least once or twice per week. I think I have had two in the 6 months since doing DAFNE, and they were more related to my QA dose for dinner then my BI so I am really happy with that. I can have bad days though - I did a lot of exercise last Friday - 2 hours cycling and one hour basketball followed by our work Christmas party which 7 hypos in 48 hours on Friday and Saturday, but since Sunday, no hypos at all (although a couple of low 4s). All the best with it. Given that a huge number of T1s suffer from depression and the preventative effects that exercise has on depression, I strongly encourage you to keep on exercising. Warwick.

Dec 13, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly Hi novorapidboi26 , I cycle one hour to work and one hour back, and play basketball on Fridays, but weekends are the killer, looking after my 2 year old daughter :-) Reducing basal does help. I am also experimenting with legumes such as baked beans for breakfast as they release sugar slowly, and having some success with that. Cheers, Warwick.

Dec 13, 2012 marke 681 posts	Topic: General Discussion / ignorance I have to admit I would not expect my manager to know how to deal with Diabetes or any other condition, You didn't say if you work in a role that requires medical expertise. There are many many administration roles in the NHS that do not involve any medical training. I would not necessarily call this ignorance more lack of sensitivity, I take an interest in my staff and their issues but doing this is just a personal thing not a requirement of my role. To get the best out of your team you need to understand them however other methods are available and work in different scenarios. I don't think this is a diabetes issue more of a general issue and personally I always make sure people I am with understand my condition and what it means. they don't always remember but at least some of it goes in. Maybe you have already tried and this person is a lost cause, some are. I don't think we need legal support to make people understand medical conditions we just need people who WANT to understand.

Dec 13, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Help and advice please From what I can see you results are really quite good, so well done....... I would agree that an overnight basal test should be done, but also maybe some basal tests at other times, as fine tuning the basal throughout the whole day could help lower the mid meal readings....... Another tool in the fight against high mid meal spikes is to consider dose timing, so giving your bolus before you eat, specifically 15 minutes or more.... I am aware there are different bolus option on a pump like dual wave etc.....I am not completely familiar with them as I am not on a pump YET!!..... I would have a play around with the timing first, then speak with your pump team in order to come up with some ways of fully using the pump features to help get your mid meal reading down.... I see you made a comment about eggs having carbs, I would say NO, DAFNE would say NO, but I have heard other pumpers saying that they need to count their eggs and some vegetables too......It was theorized that because pumpers dont have an engineered slower acting insulin on board to mop up the very slowly digested foods [proteins, fats] that these items can effect blood sugar, all be it small amounts........it makes sense to me, but as I say I dont know first hand..... I would assume your basal may need tweaked here......... Well done again, your BG is looking good, I hope another pregnancy comes soon for you, good luck.....

Dec 13, 2012 Sweetpea 4 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Help and advice please Hi Everybody I completed DAFNE over a year ago now and have sort of gone onto autopilot so need a bit of support please. I am on an insulin pump and planning for pregnancy. My last HBA 1c was 7.4%/57 as things have gone off track the last 6 months due to having a miscarriage. My pregnancy blood glucose targets are pre meal 3.5-5.5 and post meal less than 7.5 mmols. I am finding the post meal targets difficult, I can see that my morning readings are not in any sort of pattern and I am going to do an overnight basal check this weekend. I would be really grateful for any advice you can all give me please. I have attached my readings for this week so far for comment. Any advice or tips welcomed Many thanks x

Dec 13, 2012 marke 681 posts	Topic: General Discussion / exercise One point that neither of you have mentioned is that exercise can affect your BG's for at least 24 hours. Even though you have finnished the exercise your body still needs glucose to feed the muscles that have been used in the exercise. You need to consider this, however we cannot tell you exactly what the effect on you will be nor how long it will last sice we are all different. You should still exercise however as this will mean your body has less insulin 'resistance' generally and so works more efficiently, even T1's can resist insulin remember the big difference is we have to 'mainline' the insulin in So keeping up the exercise will help your overall levels AND you will be able to work out the effects it is having on your BG since you will get more practice at working it out !

Dec 13, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / exercise Your absolutely right about exercise causing trouble with the blood sugars, one of the main reasons I am not as active as I should be..... I do martial arts a few times a week, sometimes this can be a low intensity, sometimes high intensity......... I would always reduce my BI insulin for that evening by 2, and if it was more intense I would think about reducing it further.........if not I would be woken by a bad hypo in the early hours..........also if it was a more intense session I would consider reducing my AM BI also....... As you may have guessed I am on a split Levemir dose.......you should really be on this if you intend to exercise regularly.... Have a good XMAS..........

Dec 13, 2012 Carolin 83 posts	Topic: General Discussion / ignorance Trish Skidmore said: I work for NHS and im going through a bad patch with hypos, today I asked my manager if instead of having a sick day, could I work my day off instead and she said cant you go to doctors and get some tablets to stop you having hypos, does she know something we dont. Trish, please let me know if you'd like any support with this. I do know the Trust is changing some policies which should positively support people attending or following DAFNE, Carolin

Dec 12, 2012 paulj 36 posts	Topic: General Discussion / contour next usb blood glucose metre does anyone use the above metre? if so can anyone help me with using this in connection with the glucofacts software from bayer.

Dec 12, 2012 paulj 36 posts	Topic: General Discussion / exercise just incase there are loads of health junkies out there i would be interested in your experiences around exercising after meals. i find that depending on what type of exercise i do it makes my BG levels lower at the end of it.that's not the problem.what seems to happen in my case is that if i don't reduce my next meal ratio to half of what it usually is i wind up experiencing hypo's later on during the day.it seems to have more of a effect on me afterwards rather than during the exercise itself i know everyone is different but do you have similar experiences? i sometimes think that if i didn't exercise that i would have better long term control over BG'S .i know that is a negative way of thinking and it is something that i would not consider but it would make the risk of having to many HYPOS a lot less and i suppose increase my hypo awareness and with being a bus driver and just having recently just got my licence back for 12 months is a priority for me to maintain high hypo awareness look forward to hearing from you cheers and merry xmas

Dec 12, 2012 Bryan W 3 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly Have you thought about changing to Levemir? This is licensed to be injected twice a day. Lantus is not. It has a 24hr (ish) profile so arguably you could end up having more hypos after taking a dose, as you would still have the previous injection in your system (possibly peaking). Any changes with Lantus need to be monitored over 2/3 days before the next change is made. Looking at your BG readings - Are you definately a 1u:1CP for all meals? You may wish to consider changing your ratios. My experience is that I am more resistant at breakfast (and dawn phenomenon to boot) and I have to take 2u:1CP but at e/meal I can drop that to 1u:1CP. Are you counting ALL CPs? I thought I was however, when I was testing and getting BGs of 12.3 I decided to start calculating EVERYTHING - sauces, gravy, vegetables..... etc, they all contain a little bit of carb and add up. It helped me. I hope you manage to sort it out. I know how frustrating it is when you think you have 'nailed' it and then you test

Dec 12, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly Warwick, Dropping your Lantus for the following day theoretically shouldn't have an effect as it takes a few days for the dose change to settle in..... How intense would the activity be and how has your decrease of dose worked out.....?

Dec 12, 2012 Ariane 14 posts	Topic: General Discussion / ignorance I can also confirm having worked for the general medical council, several schools and organisations that provide healthcare training for businesses and the NHS, that legal support systems are in place for employers and managers are required to know how to deal with employees with medical conditions. As far as diabetes is concerned there are specifically designed medical and first aid courses designed for employers. Because whilst no one is denying that a diabetics health is their own responsibility , not only do things go wrong sometimes but they can be made worse as a result of a lack of knowledge, understanding or compassion on behalf of senior management.

Dec 12, 2012 Warwick 423 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Lantus - decreasing rapidly If you are going to split doses, you will want to talk to your DAFNE coordinator as there is a process to do that gradually. I'm thinking of doing the same, but it isn't just a case of doing half and half as that could lead to some unpredictable BG readings. My regular BI is 24 Lantus, but I often drop it down to 18 if I am going to have a high activity day the following day. I know of other DAFNE grads on less BI, so don't worry too much. Certainly getting the Basal correct is the most important, and it appears that you are getting close to that. You can then review your QA ratios and see if they need increasing. All the best with it. Warwick.

Dec 11, 2012 Trish Skidmore 18 posts	Topic: General Discussion / ignorance I agree with you ariane, it is ignorance and as a manager managing someone with diabetes they should be supportive, and if they dont understand they should get their facts right before saying what she did, after all they get paid for managing and should know there stuff, she dhould have took advice.

Dec 11, 2012 Ariane 14 posts	Topic: General Discussion / ignorance I agree with the fact that you can't know everything about every condition. What I am saying is that it is ignorance, there is no running away from the fact that many many people, whether they are working within our healthcare system or not are completely unaware of how having diabetes affects someone. The fact that people still think stuff like you can take a pill for hypos is shocking because it proves my point education within employment about diabetes is not upto scratch and there are lots of diabetics out there...