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Sep 5, 2012 Jayne Blakes 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Hi all Thank you all for your advice with regard to bi and carb free testing - I'm not sure I could manage that! I'm not good with carb free meals I end up eating carbs and injecting but my meals running late then! JWo thanks also for your excercise explanation. I will try the less insulin too. JWo - also when I say suffer - even if my levels test fine I may feel sick, have a headache, feel shakey, tired or completely knackered! Just generally unwell but levels fine! Novorapidboi26 - good luck with the pump clinic Chat soon Jayne

Sep 5, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. novorapidboi26 said: JWo said: Very sound advice and good to see you joining the discussion, Novo! How have you been getting on? Hey, not had much time to visit any of my forums lately, what with work being busy and my 2 little kiddies demanding lots of time.... I am doing OK diabetically....... Got my first appointment at the pump clinic on the 11th, so will find out whats happening then, looking forward to it... I have slowly been increasing my activity levels and so my BI doses have come down a few units on both the AM and PM doses, so that's a good thing in my book..... Great news! Yay! ^_^ I suspect the kiddies want you to play some sporty things with them too with it being summer, which would be a bonus combo for you! I hope all continues to go well and results are good with the pump clinic appointment. Best wishes!

Sep 5, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. JWo said: Very sound advice and good to see you joining the discussion, Novo! How have you been getting on? Hey, not had much time to visit any of my forums lately, what with work being busy and my 2 little kiddies demanding lots of time.... I am doing OK diabetically....... Got my first appointment at the pump clinic on the 11th, so will find out whats happening then, looking forward to it... I have slowly been increasing my activity levels and so my BI doses have come down a few units on both the AM and PM doses, so that's a good thing in my book.....

Sep 5, 2012 Phil Maskell 194 posts	Topic: DAFNE Online Mobile / Andriod App - Diary Upload Hi, This seems strange, in the iPhone app I'm sure it downloads from the web because you can say hold a given number of days say 14, then make it 30 and it downloads the rest. If the Android app doesn't have it and the iPhone does I'm sure its in the pipeline. I know they are different dev streams and done in spare time though so be patient. Phil

Sep 5, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: DAFNE Online Mobile / Andriod App - Diary Upload PDF format may of use to you in this situation! I've just tried it my android and it works lovely! On the Diary page on the main DAFNEOnline website (normal view rather than mobile site), near the top of the screen it says: Printable view of currently displayed results \| Export as: XML \| CSV for Excel \| PDF If you click on the PDF option (viewable in the Android apps Adobe Reader and/or Kindle if you have them), see if that'll download to your phone and see if it views okay. It's not exactly on the DAFNE app (though they may try to add this now thanks to your feedback), but it's an option for you in the meantime so you can keep it all on your phone and view through those other two suggested apps. Best wishes!

Sep 5, 2012 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: DAFNE Online Mobile / Andriod App - Diary Upload I know that in the settings on the app you can have it set to "automatically upload diary enteries" so the enteries on the app automatically go onto the diary on the internet but is there any sort of function which i don't know about so that internet enteries can autamatically go onto the app? Thanks Gill

Sep 5, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. wavles Interesting replies everyone!! Jayne Blakes said: I just had a chance to catch up on the conversation as I've been mega busy at work then tonight had tennis! Which resulted in half a pack of jelly babies again! I read your discussion about the excercise (people, muscles and doors) maybe I'm thick but I reread it again and again and I can't see it! It just doesn't follow with my body! Oh. It is a bit of a strange concept to consider if you're stuck with the understanding that you only need carbs for exercise. I know I was! Needing carbs only isn't 100% true, you need the right amount of insulin as well. The story example was trying to explain about catching the balance of carbs and insulin. If you don't have enough insulin for exercise and you go high (not hypo caused), this would mean you need to consider looking at your insulin requirements for exercise instead. For me, I often try to exercise after a meal and because I went high afterwards usually after taking insulin off my meals, I then thought that I would try not taking off insulin and/or not eating extra carbs. So far, this is working like a charm. If you tend to hypo, this would suggest you perhaps need to look at eating more carbs for exercise or taking off more insulin... however considering other sections of your post (like the carb free snacking problem), I would consider looking at your BI first before anything else (similar to what Novo has suggested).... Have I explained it a bit better? I really do know it is a alien thing to think if you're diabetic. It gets some very surprised/"that's so wrong!" responses I've found when talking about it through the DAFNE Online Twitter feed! XD In always test before excercise if I'm in double figures I tend not to excercise but in single figures i start my excercise. Very quickly my levels drop! Every time without fail I need to boost them. I never excercise before a meal time either. My body cannot cope. With regard to meal times I also left the Dafne course thinking I could eat what I wanted when I wanted but that's not proved the case. I can eat what I want but if I don't eat that to be included in a meal time injection I will definitely suffer for it later with my levels. I never snack to do an injection even at a 1:1 ratio! Not unless it was a major special occasion and even then I don't tend to so I don't have to suffer later. For example my brothers family always invite us to parties / late lunches (their normal time ie 2pm ish) I eat my lunch at 12 ish with my injection then don't eat at their events! Perhaps just a cocktail sausage or one sausage roll or I stress or never more something perhaps less than 1cp, I do have strict meal times I don't snack between my meals just a snack before bed to boost my levels to last the night without a hypo, So I eat what I want ie chocolate but after my meal at a meal time. Don't you find if you snack you suffer too? To be honest, no but I'm not sure what you mean by suffer. Are we talking about a hypo here or a high? If I do snack and take insulin for it, I always keep in mind my insulin working time. http://www.dafneonline.co.uk/hbook_topics/21 This is the link to the DAFNE guidebook about insulin working times. Insulins like Humalog, Novorapid and Apidra are all Quick Acting Insulins that can work from 2 to 5 hours. With some checking (testing around the 4 hour mark, etc), I've got a good idea that my Humalog insulin runs out around 4 hours for me and I use this information to my advantage. I used to wait 5 hours before this to make sure I let my insulin finish. This is why I avoid snacking - to avoid insulin working time extension. Once I have all my doses worked out correctly though, I may consider a snack now and then. Hopefully that day that freedom will come someday. As for carb free snacks I gave them up. Chatting to my chemist I said I sometimes get a headache between meals as I don't snack he recommended dried fruit! A few places sell no added sugar fruits. As I don't mean a lot at a time I wouldn't inject for it at all. Mainly I found a small packet of dried mango lasts me couple of weeks! Some weeks I don't have any though. Just stick to my meals. I drink squash instead! Do you not find you'd get a headache or feel rough if you ate carb free. I can't do that either? Again, no... well, unless I'm going to hypo I think. Have you tried a BI check to make sure your background insulin doses are holding you steady? You need to fast or carb free for that so you know what adjustments to make. novorapidboi26 said: Hi Jayne, A lot of info from your post there, but I picked up two points: You have a snack before bed to prevent a hypo, this would suggest too much background, no? You don't snack in between meals, during the week I am the same, but I can if I want with no issues if I consider on board/active insulin. Have you heard of this? Very sound advice and good to see you joining the discussion, Novo! How have you been getting on? vic demain said: Here we go again, been getting readings of around 14 for the last few mornings, then 2.7 at 5am today. It is this no pattern which I find frustrating, feel like I have no control over my body anymore. Jayne, I always now use Coke to pull me around and it works well. Like Jayne, I also need a small snack before bed. Funny again when I exercise, I may drop a couple of units but never very far. Guess there are no set rules and we all need to understand our own bodies better. I try not to snack between meals unless very busy at work. Headaches only seem to appear for me straight after hypo. What do your BI's do? Do they hold you steady or do you hypo or rise when it's just your background working? Most of the time, my BI seems to behave but I can't vouch for it 100% so I keep doing the carb free checks... I'm sick of doing any during night checks too as much as the next person but I have to do them to find out. Sigh. Most of the important decisions recently are work related but I cannot rule out home stuff because a lot has happened and some things are still ongoing (diabetes naturally a member of the ongoing issues)... no, it would be better to call it "personal stuff" because at least one frightening event I wasn't even at home. deep breath I will elaborate a bit... I was in Japan March 2011 during the time of the earthquake/tsunami event. It was only our second time visiting there (first trip being in 2007, it went very well and the yen exchange was great). Thankfully I wasn't near the disaster site when it occurred - we were in Osaka but planned to travel to Tokyo the next morning - but with all the stuff that was happening from it (places shutting, people tense, aftershocks, distressed messages from loved ones, etc), it's bound to stress anyone out. I had to completely re-plan what little I could salvage of our holiday and it's taken me a year later to watch any television footage of the disaster happening.Such a frightening time. I'm very blessed and my heart goes out to all those poor people who are much less fortunate than me from that event. This event changed me and my partner I think. Made me less able to take things for granted. My heart goes out to you, I cannot begin to understand how you must have felt and also the reaction after such an awful episode in ones life. I guess only time and talking to people can help calm that. As for work issues, try and distance them from your home life, I used to worry about work issues all the time, unfortunately, I have now found there are far more important things in life. Thank you for your advice and kind words. It truly has felt like one problem after another and even now, loved ones are really surprised that I have not completely caved in (yet). I don't understand why either but I'm still fighting and problem solving now so I'll keep going until I do completely lose it(!). I do try to keep in mind that depression is a liar and I try to stop it from completely taking over... but I appreciate that depression is not something you can just snap out of either. Some days I have been incredibly low in myself despite anything good I'm doing but with each day that I make good progress, it helps towards minimising the chances of these days happening. Can I ask at what age people were dignosed? I was about 20, which wasn't too bad, my daughter was 13 which was anightmare. She didnt want it, wasnt going to accept, was not going to change and it took a long time for her to come to terms with it. I was diagnosed in 1990 aged 5 and I'm now 27. I don't think it's too far off the mark to say my diabetes influence is all I've ever known. After diagnosis, I was very life fearing and lack of education was a key problem with this, even for my parents who wanted the best for me despite it (bless them). I cannot remember my feelings of diagnosis exactly (I was really unwell so may or may not have been DKA), but I sure remember balling my eyes out in the waiting room for the bloods department to take my bloods. I swear I have some suppressed memories (oh the trauma! XD), I must do because there's stuff family have told me about the situation that I have no memory of... but I was only 'ickle! Stay well all!

Sep 5, 2012 Jayne Blakes 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Hi all Novorapid Thank you I have never heard of board / active insulin I will have a look. What insulins do you take when? Vic has also suggested to me in the past to alter my lantus in the evenings which I tried but ran high for days after so put it back up one notch, where I've stayed! I may be doing one unit too much but I can't seem to balance the day time without it! Vic I was 24/25 when I was diagnosed. Started me on pills for a few days then to insulin! I think your daughter should do the Dafne Vic she's struggled since I've known you? Can you get her on a course? Chat soon Jayne

Sep 5, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. I was 15, I am now 29...... I never have any memories of the diagnosis being bad for me, my wee brother was diagnosed when he was 2 so diabetes was always around..... The main problem I suppose was the lack of education.....I was on 2 injections a day right up until DAFNE in 2009....

Sep 4, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Hi Jayne, A lot of info from your post there, but I picked up two points: You have a snack before bed to prevent a hypo, this would suggest too much background, no? You don't snack in between meals, during the week I am the same, but I can if I want with no issues if I consider on board/active insulin. Have you heard of this?

Sep 4, 2012 Jayne Blakes 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Hi Vic, JWo and novorapidboi26 I just had a chance to catch up on the conversation as I've been mega busy at work then tonight had tennis! Which resulted in half a pack of jelly babies again! I read your discussion about the excercise (people, muscles and doors) maybe I'm thick but I reread it again and again and I can't see it! It just doesn't follow with my body! In always test before excercise if I'm in double figures I tend not to excercise but in single figures i start my excercise. Very quickly my levels drop! Every time without fail I need to boost them. I never excercise before a meal time either. My body cannot cope. With regard to meal times I also left the Dafne course thinking I could eat what I wanted when I wanted but that's not proved the case. I can eat what I want but if I don't eat that to be included in a meal time injection I will definitely suffer for it later with my levels. I never snack to do an injection even at a 1:1 ratio! Not unless it was a major special occasion and even then I don't tend to so I don't have to suffer later. For example my brothers family always invite us to parties / late lunches (their normal time ie 2pm ish) I eat my lunch at 12 ish with my injection then don't eat at their events! Perhaps just a cocktail sausage or one sausage roll or I stress or never more something perhaps less than 1cp, I do have strict meal times I don't snack between my meals just a snack before bed to boost my levels to last the night without a hypo, So I eat what I want ie chocolate but after my meal at a meal time. Don't you find if you snack you suffer too? As for carb free snacks I gave them up. Chatting to my chemist I said I sometimes get a headache between meals as I don't snack he recommended dried fruit! A few places sell no added sugar fruits. As I don't mean a lot at a time I wouldn't inject for it at all. Mainly I found a small packet of dried mango lasts me couple of weeks! Some weeks I don't have any though. Just stick to my meals. I drink squash instead! Do you not find you'd get a headache or feel rough if you ate carb free. I can't do that either? Chat soon Jayne

Sep 4, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. vic demain said: Now this gets really challenging for a computer idiot, a three way discussion If it helps, use the forum formatting code, bbcode (like I have through use of the quote bbcode tag)... though I've also had to copy and paste after pressing the reply icon on the left because only one quoted post sits in the Post Reply box... http://www.dafneonline.co.uk/main/bbcode - link to examples of bbcode on this forum. JWo said: Funnily enough, yes again! Especially when I've had a particularly worrying day... since taking myself away from a stressful environment, I have found that my levels have been difficult to keep down... especially when an important decision needs to be made. It's almost like my body decides it wants to be ill for a while, but the illness itself is not clear. Bloody hell, how good is that!! Are these decisions work related or home? Sorry to be nosy but the mental side is something which interests me greatly. Most of the important decisions recently are work related but I cannot rule out home stuff because a lot has happened and some things are still ongoing (diabetes naturally a member of the ongoing issues)... no, it would be better to call it "personal stuff" because at least one frightening event I wasn't even at home. deep breath I will elaborate a bit... I was in Japan March 2011 during the time of the earthquake/tsunami event. It was only our second time visiting there (first trip being in 2007, it went very well and the yen exchange was great). Thankfully I wasn't near the disaster site when it occurred - we were in Osaka but planned to travel to Tokyo the next morning - but with all the stuff that was happening from it (places shutting, people tense, aftershocks, distressed messages from loved ones, etc), it's bound to stress anyone out. I had to completely re-plan what little I could salvage of our holiday and it's taken me a year later to watch any television footage of the disaster happening.Such a frightening time. I'm very blessed and my heart goes out to all those poor people who are much less fortunate than me from that event. This event changed me and my partner I think. Made me less able to take things for granted. The graphs can be a good indicator of how control is going and believe me age is of little importance, we can all learn from each other. Let us hope that some of what we are saying is actually taken back to the hospitals, doctors and consultants, in the hope that they can also learn. For 30 years I coped with diabetes without having a clue, never testing my blood glucose from one six month appointment to the next and I know of many others out there who don't even go to the hospital till something drops off them. I used to be anti-bloodtest in my teens because I hated my blood testing machine but I soon started testing again after that phase passed in my late teens (I think it was my denial phase, though I did keep taking my insulin thank goodness)! I'm so glad that I've never ever been hospitalised for diabetic neglect - just illness where I'd been sick more than once (it's my Mom's golden illness rule; sick more than twice, off to hospital! ). phew! I am dead strickt on meal times and this is what has most frustrated me about my daughter who's pattern is all over the place. Breakfast 06:30, lunch 12:45, dinner 18:00, snack 22:00, rarely alter unless going out. It is the one thing I believe we need to do have routine. Probably old fashioned thinking but like you JWo, I am the most stubborn person alive. I wonder how much it matters really. One impression I got from DAFNE was that as long as your BI was correct then you were free to eat when you wanted because you would be safe guarded in the fact that your BI would not let you go hypo (obviously it matters if you've exercised or something though). This is why I haven't been too worried about missing meals when I've got up late in the morning or what have you (though saying that, I see it as a potential BI testing exercise! ;P). Sorry this post is all over the place, wanted to put something before going off to the home of cricket for the day to be wined and dined - so look out BG. Enjoy work everybody Have a smashing day!

Sep 4, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. The routine for a diabetic is probably the most important thing for me personally as a diabetic. All the doses are allowed to do their job and the routine helps with making sure your testing your blood and calculating your dose. I think for someone without DAFNE training, routine like this might be difficult. Certainly for me, it was DAFNE that created the routine........ :-)

Sep 3, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Good grief! Hello all and welcome to the forums Jayne! ^_^ vic demain said: Do you ever get days where you start low and no matter how much you eat, you stay low all day? I can't remember the last time it happened but yes that has happened... Very frustrating. Similarly when high, no matter how much corrections you make, you never get it down? Funnily enough, yes again! Especially when I've had a particularly worrying day... since taking myself away from a stressful environment, I have found that my levels have been difficult to keep down... especially when an important decision needs to be made. It's almost like my body decides it wants to be ill for a while, but the illness itself is not clear. My hypos tend to be in the mornings or at lunch, which I am sure is to do with my workload, there are even days when I have gone without insulin and not gone too high. I tend to adjust my fast acting rather than the Lantus, unless I am constantly going low or high throughout the day. I hate running high though, as some pretty nasty things start to happen. I hit 20s in the afternoons on the bad days easily and they're often completely unpredictable. Using the graphs available on this site with the BG diary, overall pattern shift tends to show up as like a wavy line which fluctuates more when I seem to have the wrong doses... the pattern seems to suggest lowest point is at lunchtime and the highest point is afternoon/evening - though this doesn't always appear in the daily results. When I compare my time of the month with a non-time, some weeks are like a child took a crayon to the graph! Gawd I love hormones! XD My friend from the course has been brilliant, she knows what I am going through, has similar problems and above all understands all of the issues. She also finds that the hospital visits are often frustrating. It certainly helps to have someone you can moan at and bounce ideas off. I have been so supportive od DAFNE and consider it one of the best courses that I have done, I learnt so much about the disease in one week, more than I had in the previous 30 years, yet it has not changed my overall control. I may only have 22 years but I know where you're coming from. It's very valuable information! Bad taste in the mouth can be the result of chemotherapy!! Oh my, let's not talk that up! XD Jayne Blakes said: Hi Vic and JWo I've never been on here - wander if this will work! Vic bet your laughing thinking I'm being mad again. JWo - I met Vic on the Dafne course! Hello! Good to hear from you! Here, grab a seat and the tea trolley is to your right! ;D I have to say I've been reading your conversation. One thing stands out that we all agree on the consultants at the hospitals have not been helpful in the past! I remember one (no names mentioned) telling me that it says in a book .... Bla bla. Really she is supposed to be helping / educating diabetics and she didn't have a clue! One dietician told me one to eat a yogurt and I said really its got a lot of sugar! She looked puzzled and said maybe don't eat it then! I know! Isn't it so frightening?! There are plenty of times where I wonder if they know I'm a type 1 or the differences between the types! ;_; I struggled for years in double figures till a family member told me she did the Dafne course! I went to my gp whose a diabetic and asked to be referred! She asked me what Dafne was?? I told her what I'd been told and she referred me. I copied my manual for her as she's a diabetic herself and now shes very nice to me lol. Aww. XD Before I did the DAFNE course, I was in a situation where my BGs were boomeranging from correcting and hypoing too much. Thing is, my HbA1c was 6% or something and I remembering thinking to myself "if I'm so bloody great, why do I feel so c*p?"... I explained that I felt what I'd done over the years wasn't working for me and it just happened that my hospital was training staff up for this thing called DAFNE and they wanted to give me the opportunity to be in their first groups. I could see I had nothing to lose considering I was working in a guesswork cloud. Anything was better than a guesswork cloud. To think that if I was 12BG I used to add 2QA correction to my meal... or if I was 13BG, I'd add 3QA. I still can't believe I'm still alive! O_O The other point you were discussing I agree you have to learn your own body. Theres no set rules everyone differs. My last blood test was 7 something. Had another test today! I used to be 9 + before Dafne so it's helped educate me. I speak to so many diabetics who are older through work and they all count sugars in foods not carbs still. They are not trained at all! It saddens me so that so many are misinformed and are suffering as a result... be it because of poor control or lack of dietary freedom. I always strived for what I wanted and thankfully I had enough of a good mindset for it to not be too much of an issue... I love my food to be varied. ^_^ What are your favourite carb free snacks just out of curiousity? I always love a crunchy carrot... though I don't object to a cheese stick or a bit of ham! :3 Something's I noticed: If I have a hypo I can only control it well with glucose or jelly babies otherwise I go high after. Once I'm high after a hypo it's a hard battle! I tend to do the DAFNE rules to the word when it comes to hypos. If I go high afterwards, it tends to be around 12-14 if I managed it okay (baring in mind that 1CP can taken me up by 4-5BG), but this could be improved once my problems are resolved. I'm not sure what battles I've had with hypos exactly. For a time I did believe in the "don't correct within 24 hours of a hypo" which I exercised strictly, but that is a proven misunderstood thing so I have stopped it and it is okay to correct after, just be aware that you may hypo again if you correct too keenly. Excercise is a nightmare - so hard to work out. I usually test before during and after! And eat jelly babies / glucose during! Oh golly, I think I've only ever eaten in the middle of exercise once or twice and my BGs shot up afterwards! Just in case you did not see it (I posted it on the forum elsewhere after seeing it on another diabetes forum), I found this explanation of exercise really helpful and funny: DeusXM said:* exercise makes your body use this insulin more efficiently and causes muscles to extract more glucose from the blood via insulin. I suppose one way of looking at it is like blood glucose is people, muscles are a house, and insulin is like a door on a spring. Usually, the people go into the house, the door shuts behind them, so the door has to be reopened every time and slows down how many people (glucose) can get in. More insulin means more doors, meaning more people get in. When you exercise, your muscles do the equivalent of shouting 'free beer and money for everyone!', people rush through the doors and because so many people are trying to get in, the springs gets stretched, the doors don't close as well as they should, so more people can get in, so you either need fewer doors (less insulin) or more people (more glucose) You'll note though that either way, you still need the door. Otherwise you've got muscles shouting about free beer and a load of puzzled people left on the street, getting grumpy and causing damage because they can't get inside. So exercise alone cannot be a treatment for people with T1 - although it can work well for certain types of T2. From here: http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=29574&page=2 Having that idea in mind has helped me a lot with working out my exercise needs. I hope it can help you too. I find different carbs act differently for example pasta is a rubbish carb for my body, may as well assume I'm eating carb free! Potatoes similar but not as bad unless fried likes chips or something! It's funny you mention pasta and potato! So far, I make sure to only measure out pre-cooked weight for pasta because water changes it's weight. Since doing this, I have never hypo'd since. Potatoes on the other hand, if they're already processed (like chips, hash browns, etc) then you're okay to just read the labels. Jacket potatoes however... best to get their pre-cook weight and it doesn't matter how I cook it. Jackets are another thing that is effected by water (as in water loss!). Stress is a nightmare - sends me up or down - no pattern to that! And lack of sleep - I'm not a good sleeper and I find that makes me shakey and I need to eat more and inject more if tired! Just thought I'd confirm - we are all different and I agree with you both! high fives Club Stress, eh! I bet that is upsetting your sleep! So far stress tends to make me miss meals recently due to loss of appetite. I've been oversleeping because not keeping to normal eating habits so my body clock has been messed up a bit. -_-;; I've been working on this stopping this though for the past month... exercising, de-stressing techniques, getting stubborn and eating anyway. Stubbornness comes part of the territory naturally. ;P Oh and lastly (for now) I'm on novarapid and lantus too. I don't alter my lantus very often though prob should look at that as some nights I drop over night. The nova rapid I find keeps working for at least 4 hours and so I have to eat regularly spacing approx 4 hours between meals and struggle to eat later than 6.30pm for my evening meal as I have to wait to test my levels 4-5 hours after eating so I know I'm ok through the night. Do you both keep strict meal times? I wouldn't say strict meal times exactly but I do do the whole "must not eat between insulin working times" thing... mostly out of habit nowadays because I'm still so keen to get my BG numbers right. If I get up late, I feel bad for even considering eating like at 9am because I know I'll end up having a late lunch after 1pm or 2pm (my partner and I are like 80% sure humalog does 4 hours so I do change my mind sometimes). So what do I say to myself? "I know, I'll CARB FREE!" or "Meh... gleaming determination in eyes I can make it to 12noon." (latter often resulting in me having lunch at 11am... ;D Girl's gotta eat and 4pm finish is fine with me!) Hope your both feeling ok anyhow! You too! I've found this thread absolutely delightful because we're so positive against the adversity! I'm so happy I'm not alone and that you guys are happy to bounce ideas with me too. I am grateful! Thank you for posting!

Sep 3, 2012 gills29 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Foot care I used my gym trainers for the 10K - I use them for all the aerobic type exercise that I have been doing, and occasionally when out for walks (not as far as10K though). My normal everyday shoes have a thinner sole, so I figured that I would be better off wearing my trainers. I have padded 'biking' socks that I was going to wear, but decided against it because they are the short ankle/ sport socks, and I was worried that they might bunch up under my foot and cause blisters!!! The padded areas of these socks are exactly where most of the blisters appeared. I guess my real surprise was the blisters on the soles of my heel - I have never had a blister there and I'm concerned that it will be really hard to relieve the pressure long enough to let it heal quickly. I think (once my blisters are healed, I should reward myself for completing the 10K with some decent socks and shoes! Cheers guys

Sep 3, 2012 Jayne Blakes 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Hi Vic and JWo I've never been on here - wander if this will work! Vic bet your laughing thinking I'm being mad again. JWo - I met Vic on the Dafne course! I have to say I've been reading your conversation. One thing stands out that we all agree on the consultants at the hospitals have not been helpful in the past! I remember one (no names mentioned) telling me that it says in a book .... Bla bla. Really she is supposed to be helping / educating diabetics and she didn't have a clue! One dietician told me one to eat a yogurt and I said really its got a lot of sugar! She looked puzzled and said maybe don't eat it then! I struggled for years in double figures till a family member told me she did the Dafne course! I went to my gp whose a diabetic and asked to be referred! She asked me what Dafne was?? I told her what I'd been told and she referred me. I copied my manual for her as she's a diabetic herself and now shes very nice to me lol. The other point you were discussing I agree you have to learn your own body. Theres no set rules everyone differs. My last blood test was 7 something. Had another test today! I used to be 9 + before Dafne so it's helped educate me. I speak to so many diabetics who are older through work and they all count sugars in foods not carbs still. They are not trained at all! Something's I noticed: If I have a hypo I can only control it well with glucose or jelly babies otherwise I go high after. Once I'm high after a hypo it's a hard battle! Excercise is a nightmare - so hard to work out. I usually test before during and after! And eat jelly babies / glucose during! I find different carbs act differently for example pasta is a rubbish carb for my body, may as well assume I'm eating carb free! Potatoes similar but not as bad unless fried likes chips or something! Stress is a nightmare - sends me up or down - no pattern to that! And lack of sleep - I'm not a good sleeper and I find that makes me shakey and I need to eat more and inject more if tired! Just thought I'd confirm - we are all different and I agree with you both! Oh and lastly (for now) I'm on novarapid and lantus too. I don't alter my lantus very often though prob should look at that as some nights I drop over night. The nova rapid I find keeps working for at least 4 hours and so I have to eat regularly spacing approx 4 hours between meals and struggle to eat later than 6.30pm for my evening meal as I have to wait to test my levels 4-5 hours after eating so I know I'm ok through the night. Do you both keep strict meal times? Hope your both feeling ok anyhow! Speak soon Jayne Ps Vic - your scrabble move lol

Sep 3, 2012 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Diabetic jokes There was a young diabetic from Spain Whose injections gave him some pain 'I don't think I'll bother' 'You will!' said his mother 'I'm not going to tell you again'.

Sep 3, 2012 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Dafne Diary - looking for some comments / help More comments / help please on these next diary dates.

Sep 3, 2012 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Foot care I think just taking part in the 10k is what has caused the blisters as opposed to anything diabetic related. Diabetes doesn't make you more prone to blister or something similar, its the being able to feel injuries and heal that's affected...... It might just be a case of choosing the right shoe..... Congratulations on the run.....

Sep 3, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. vic demain said: Guess this really should be a pm, but if it helps others, then all the better. To be frank, this "issue", call it what we will, is something that does need discussing but it does involved getting personal. I'm glad you've spoken up now and that my control madness is not something I have alone. Sorry JWo, for getting the insulins wrong. I am on Novorapid fast acting and Lantus, have been since before Dafne. Must admit my Lantus has been so up and down due to hypos and is currently on the increase again. Oh vic, you make me want to cry. You've pretty much described the same pattern... a period of highs, followed by a period of lows... the cycle was never ending. You've done very well to keep trying as you have. I would be similar to you about 0.6:1 at breakfast and lunch but after work increase to around 1.3:1 however corrections I have always done at 1:1. Again, wow. Do you find your worse time for highs is the evening or even into the night? I've lost count how many times I've tried 2:3 ratio at lunchtimes to try and get that sodding balance right! After so much adjusting of meal ratios, I now stick to 0.5:1 and adjust my BI. This did ease off the hypos but those highs, particularly late afternoon and into the night were still there... when they felt like it of course. Not consistently, eh body? My eldest daughter is also type1 but has not done the course, as for my friend, we met on the course, bought into it, filled in the diaries on this site for a couple of years and have tried to help each other, but we both have difficulties getting results. I like to talk with others who understand the feeling of dealing with diabetes. You are very blessed to have those others in your life. I've primarily had non-diabetics to help me - especially my fiance. He's such a maths whiz, he's such a great help and helps to keep my head in the right place when I go off track. I do share my diary with quite a few people (diabetic and non) but only have discussions with one or two (DSN and my partner). Sure doctors know all the book details but they have never experienced that out of body feeling of having a serious hypo and how scary it is. They tell you to run high, but that has other problems which are not pleasent. How many times has someone said to you "improve your control and you will be better"? I want to drag them over the table and tell them about the daily ongoing battle. Oooooo, I know exactly what you mean. I just want to drop my face in my hands when people use black and white logic with diabetes. I WISH IT WAS A BLACK AND WHITE PROBLEM I feel like screaming! -______-;; I know DAFNE has bought some sense to the madness which I'm VERY thankful for, but it's not the complete answer because our bodies are the ever changing puzzles that they are.... Touching back on the "stress project" I'm doing now... There is a serious lack of research into the benefits of stress prevention and Type 1 diabetes. How is us correcting after each hormonal response a good way of dealing with it if the long term effects are high averages? I find that terrifying that it's something we have to put up with - with DAFNE now, I'm very aware of it... and it does get me down. Knowingly allowing your averages to be high and you have no control over it... Sleep has thankfully never been a problem, I go off like a log. Also never used anti-depressants (yet) so can't make an informed judgement. Considering our situations, I hope this continues to be the case. Maybe someone who has looked into them may reply... Ah the answer about as elusive as the cure for cancer, at least we can live normally with diabetes and that in its self is a huge blessing. That's certainly a truth, even if it leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. ;P

Sep 3, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Foot care If they're typical blisters, then they'll heal and go. You've done very very well from the sounds of things, try not to let the blisters worry you. Have you got foot complications already to make you especially concerned like this? If I'm worried about a pair of shoes rubbing, then I tend to minimise how often I wear them.... are we talking about a pair you wear frequently for running, doing gym or sport? Is this why you're surprised about the blisters appearing? Best wishes.

Sep 3, 2012 gills29 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Foot care I have lost almost 2 stone since completing my DAFNE course (aided by my weight management programme). I have brought my HbA1c down from 9.8% to 7.4%, and I have being going regularly to a gym for the last 12 weeks. On Sunday I did my 1st 10K race (for Diabetes UK of course!), but I have ended up with lots of blisters on my feet. I have dressed them all and have been trying to rest them as much as possible, but I am really upset they occurred in the first place. I have full sensation in my feet, and appart from the odd small blister occurring with new or 'fancy' shoes, I generally don't have a problem with them. Is there anything anyone can suggest to strengthen the skin (or underlying structure) of my feet to prevent this from happening again (as it's really cutting into my gym time!), or have years of being above 9% done the damage to my feet for good?

Sep 2, 2012 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Thanks vic. I suspect that we're both quite active generally then, which could suggest insulin sensitivity in both of us... My BI is Levemir and my QA is Humalog. I was on Lantus before, split dose, but would frequently suffer hypos so my DAFNE team moved me on to Levemir. I was told Levemir is more suitable for an active lifestyle but I'm still not sure how true this is. I've had less of a difficult time reaching some stability from changing to it though. My current "when not ill/stressed" arrangement understanding is 0.5:1 meal ratios (Humalog half unit per 10g) across the day and split Levemir 11/17 taken at 7am/7pm. Is that similar to you? I'm glad to hear that you have diabetic friends to compare to. I'm often alone with my diabetes on that front. I do wonder how well certain suppressives (like anti-depressants for example, or using sleeping tablets to get more sleep to help with coping, stuff like that) would be effective, but what does one do if it's not something usual? I would rather not take anti-depressants to sort my situation out. I'm still too pro-active to take that route in my opinion. Hopefully shall get somewhere soon though. Just got to find the answer..!

Sep 2, 2012 susieq 19 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Fajitas Yes, that worked, only really needed the 3cp's per tortilla, was a little low by tea time. so great result really on a new food group.

Sep 2, 2012 vic demain 87 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Result. Thank you JWo, very interesting and in many ways similar. My work can be very active as I am outside in all weathers and summer is a lot more intense than winter. Stress is never far away again through work but also illness at home. I however can not point the finger at these factors for my rise and fall in blood test results. I am on Lantus rather than Humalog. Interesting what you say about ratios as I have always found myself to require a lot less insulin than my friends, which I always put down to being very active. I am sorry to hear that you have experienced such pain in life and wish you well for the future, also that you find a way to control the anxiety. Think my HbA1c has hovered around 8%-10% always but was told it should drop by 0.5% each 6 months following the course. This has never been the case. Good luck in your fight and don't get depressed. Cheers for being so open.