Recent Posts
Search the DAFNE Online Forums
15,867 posts found
|
Mar 5, 2012
Simon
578 posts
|
Topic: Site Development / New Format Website Hi Garry,Thanks for your positive comments re the new site design. There was a minor problem with post editing - thanks for flagging it up with us - which has now been fixed. Thanks, Simon |
|
Mar 5, 2012
Garry
328 posts
|
Topic: Site Development / New Format Website Bit of a surprise to find a completely new format and an ideal crossover between the traditional website that we are all familiar with and smartphone based view.Everything works well......and intuitively....not sure how to edit a post though. Thought the link and bouncing ball meant that I would be able to enter text edit directly as before. Thanks to those who put in the work. Congratulations  Regards Garry |
|
Mar 5, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Basal Insulin Testing No, its just 3am is meant to be the time where the least amount of hormones are swimming about and so the best time to take a test of your basal, however if someone was to get up at 4:00am every morning for work, then 3am would not be hormone free, in fact an hour or two before you get up [your body clock expects you to get up] is when the hormonal responses begin...........For you though, getting up at a normal time of 8am, 3am testing is fine............ From you results, you would assume you would need an extra unit or two overnight, lets see what the next few nights show............! |
|
Mar 5, 2012
mum2westiesGill
502 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Basal Insulin Testing
Thanks so much for your reply, it's really helpful. I did an overnight test last night & have my alarm clock set for the next couple of nights.  BEDTIME (2314PM) = 4.2 0255AM = 6.7 0806AM = 7.3 Re the 0300am test, does this have to be spot on 0300am? |
|
Mar 5, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Basal Insulin Testing You can carry out a basal test at any time, you are always best to get an overnight test done first, allowing you to get your morning levels right, then you can do a daytime test, either between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, etc........you could even try a carb free breakfast and dinner if you feel up for it............the problem with Lantus, or a single dose background, is you could find you need more or less Lantus in the daytime than you do overnight, so you could risk waking high, or going low overnight........and you cant really accommodate for it unless you split the dose..... 
|
|
Mar 4, 2012
marke
686 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Accessibility for Blind/ VIP diabetics Hi, no its not true. There is a web version on this site that you could use although sadly its not fully compliant with VIP standards. There is also a PDF version that is not generally available but I'm sure we could get permission to send to you.With regards to doing the course there is no reason that you cannot do it. Generally there is very little reading needed and any that is could be done for/with you by someone else on the course. One of the best parts of the course it's interacting with other diabetics which you will sadly miss out on. Sorry but it sounds like NHS political correctness that they are not letting you do the course with others, which is a great shame. They probably aren't allowed to call you blind either just like diabetes UK want to call us people with diabetes and not diabetics. As you rightly say you are not stupid so why not let you integrate with others that understand your diabetes. Anyway, rant over. If we can do anything to help let us know |
|
Mar 4, 2012
mum2westiesGill
502 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Warrington / Gemini Retail Park Hi,Just wondered does anyone live in the Warrington area? I live 2/3 mins drive and about 15 mins walk from the Gemini Retail park. |
|
Mar 4, 2012
mum2westiesGill
502 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Basal Insulin Testing I take my BI / Basal Lantus at bedtime. Can i do a Daytime test or does it have to be Nightime? |
|
Mar 4, 2012
Faulty Headl...
18 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Accessibility for Blind/ VIP diabetics  I am due to start the DAFNE course tomorrow, WITH MY MUM!! I was tld that the DAFNE course information isn't availible in any other format other than print. I ws told I couldn't do the course as there was printed material to read, then when I told them I could have it converted into a format that my computer could read I was told there was calculations to do too! Shock horror!! a blind person doing maths?? Well I never! I mean DUH! I'm blind not stupid! After a bit of discussion they finally said I could do it but in a one to one course... With my mum! I'm 29 years old and I was wanting to do this course so I could be a wee bit more independant. What I wanna know is why a blind or visually impaired diabetic can't do this course in a group setting like any sighted person would? we have the ways and means, technology has come on a bit over the years. Obviously the printed material was printed from a computer? right? so why couldn't this be sent as a word doc or PDF file to the blind or visually impaired persons computer? easy! I was told it wasn't availible in these formats, is this true? |
|
Mar 3, 2012
Mairead
10 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Low Carb Cookbooks I finished my DAFNE course in early February and have been trying to make changes at home, diet and exercise and so on. I recently bought a couple of low carb cookbooks which I am finding helpful:'The low-Carb Cookbook' by Elaine Gardner (2011) Published by Southwater "Lose wight the smart way with 150 healthy, tasty recipes; 'Recippes for Health: Diabetes (2000) Azmina Govindji and Jill Myers, Published by Thorsons "Low-Fat, Low-Sugar, Carbohydrated counted recipes for the management of diabetes." (bought this one on amazon marketplace as it was pub in 2000); and 'The Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet Cookbook' (2011) by Rose Elliot, Publ Piatkus. "The fast no-hunger weightloss cookbook for vegetarians." My HbA1c has gone from 10.4 to 8.00 since finishing the course and I have lost 2lbs in weight. I still have bad days because of other conditions, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis which can upset diabetic control when they flare up, but am managing better than I had initially thought I would. I am also hoping to lose more weight, I am 10st 10lbs at 5'4" in height, and want to lose the excess 10 lbs. I am hoping this will help not only improve the diabetes further but also to reduce inflammation factors and help my other conditions. I try to exercise by walking more and gentle exercises because my mobility is not great. Any advice or other cookbook/diet recommendations from others who have been through the same and have to manage other conditions alongside diabetes? - thanks |
|
Mar 1, 2012
thebatoutofhull
60 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c Hi, both these estimating systems are only a guide. They just give me an idea where I am. Hypo'thetically you could have 3 months of test results ranging from 5 to 7 and get the same average as someone with test results which are much more wider ranging.You could in theory have more glucose in your blood, but also have a lot of hypos and get the same average BG as someone with better control. |
|
Feb 29, 2012
mum2westiesGill
502 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c Also for some reason my DSN said at my last appointment that my average will probably go up???
|
|
Feb 29, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c I haven't had enough personal experience with it to confidently trust the formula, my average blood sugars just aren't accurate enough........so don't worry too much..... |
|
Feb 29, 2012
mum2westiesGill
502 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c Hi,Just done my Hba1c. It was 7.37% doing it using thebatoutofhull's way & about 7.4% doing it novorapidboi26's way. I got the 3 months results (last 90 days) from the "my blood glucose diary" on here. When i get my result on the accu-chek site it does give me a message of "Keep up the good work—you're very close to target!" Myself i'm, really annoyed now  because my last one in December was 6.8% & i had my DSN phoning me to congratulate me.
|
|
Feb 29, 2012
thebatoutofhull
60 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c Maybe i'll use that formulae instead. Thanks.I never had any problems with my old Dafne team or anyone who was dafne related. |
|
Feb 29, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Ratios and compensating Some people have higher insulin resistance and therefore need a higher insulin/carb ratio....................I have known ratios ad high as 4.5, however if you do find you need these amounts it would be best to confirm your BI dose or doses.............if you are on one dose like Lnatus and needing high ratios a split might also help bring the ratios down........... |
|
Feb 29, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c I use the formula:HbA1c = Average BG + 2.52 / 1.583 its usually within + or - 0.5% Its strange though, I have never feared a bollocking from my team, they have always shown concern if its really high, but asI am DAFNE trained, they know I am doing my best and that I can identify the areas that need attention........... |
|
Feb 29, 2012
memelr1986
1 post
|
hi i have recently finished the dafne course and am getting used to carb counting and ratios was wondering if any one could answer a question for me the guidelines say that a ratio of 1-3:1 ratio for breakfast and 1-2:1 ratio for lunch and dinner i am finding that this ratio does not work for me i need more is it safe to use a higher ratio and how high is ok to go???????? |
|
Feb 29, 2012
thebatoutofhull
60 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Guestimating Hba1c I get my Hba1c test once a year. It used to be more when I had access to a DAFNE team.I now estimate my own just by using an online estimating calculator to give me an idea whether I am going to get chowed at by my GP. With one test a year I miss out on 9 months worth of Hba1c's. (3 tests) I can end up talking to my GP about a result from nearly a year before. http://www.soc-bdr.org/rds/authors/unit_tables_conversions_and_genetic_dictionaries/e5184/index_en.html This is what I do to estimate my hba1c. step 1/ Work out an average BG for your results.( you can add 3 months results up if you like and divide the result by how many results you counted, or look at your 'mean' graph) paste the above link into your address bar. It brings up the website for'SOCIETY FOR BIOMEDICAL DIABETES RESEARCH' step 2/ Use their converter to change your average BG in mmol/l to mg/dl. step 3/ Use the A1c test calculator from the following link. (it does not accept mmol/l readings only mg/dl) www.accu-chek.com/us/glucose-monitoring/a1c-calculator.html# It was not far off last time for me when I compared it too my last actual hba1c. |
|
Feb 28, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / No DAFNE specialist nurse CorrectionsAn extract from the Handbook, not very clear, and in fact, I did not see that either back in 2010, it was just an observation I had made......... |
|
Feb 28, 2012
ChrisS
12 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / No DAFNE specialist nurse Don't apologise, all very helpful. The above 11mmol thing I dont remember from my course so I either forgot or it was added later as I did mine in 2007. Would make sense. I'm one of those people that hates even mild hypos so tends to err on the side of caution.You're right about night testing, haven't done it for a while. Will try and do it sometime this week. |
|
Feb 28, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / No DAFNE specialist nurse In your particular case you should not of corrected at lunch because you already had insulin working away at this time, at its peak near enough................you only correct if you have no QA insulin active, ie...4-5 hours after last injection............Resisting snacks is hard, I know from personal experience............I think the most important point for you would be consistency, if you have this snack every day, you can spot patterns and adjust your insulin for it...... When I mentioned carb free I was purely referring to basal insulin testing, it isn't permanent, just sometimes necessary when testing background insulin, but there are many things you can have that are carb free, meats, cheese, salad......... I would do the same tonight, have your dinner as normal, then nothing till the next morning, set an alarm for 3 am, record your BG at that time.............this will tell you if your going low at night, resulting in the high...........you can repeat this test to confirm..............if all is well overnight you need more BI in the evening........ DAFNE states that 1 unit of insulin drops the blood sugar level by 2-3mmol/l....................but it also states that above 11mmol/l this observation may not apply............this is the case for me.......and in my personal opinion, for everyone else to varying degrees.............so the higher you are the more you need to bring you down.................if I was 18, I would take 13 units to bring me down to 5.5, so 1 unit brings me down 1mmol/l......... below 10 - 1 unit drops 2.5mmol/l 10-13 - 1 unit drops 2mmol/l 13-17 - 1 unit drops 1.5mmol/l above 17 - 1 unit drops 1mmol/l Everyone is different, I worked mine out by assuming 1 unit drops me by 2.5 at all levels, then, provided the carb count is right, recorded how much 1 unit actually dropped me by at certain levels......... It took time, but was worth it.............I would recommend a similar investigation for yourself............ DAFNE does provide flexibility, but a lesson I have learned over the years is that you need to fine tune those principals for yourself, and sometimes the control you want just cant be achieved without dramatic changes to diet, I have been cutting my daily carb load, reluctantly, but its giving me the results I want............sometimes DAFNE cannot provide all the answers........ Sorry if I rambled on a bit there...............  |
|
Feb 28, 2012
ChrisS
12 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / No DAFNE specialist nurse Why shouldn't I correct at lunchtime if still high? Because its too close to the snack? I must admit I struggle to resist the warm bacon rolls when they come around and I've had an early breakfast, this is something I can cut out. However eating carb free is very difficult whan you work in town and rely on Pret/Eat/Subway etc!My main concern is when I'm high getting my BG down seems difficult. This morning I woke up with a BG of 18!! I had gone to bed with a BG of 9. So I may have gone low overnight, but I adjusted for it with a +6. At 1pm my BG was still 10. I feel I've lost control. I know if I went back to fixed meals/times it would be easier, but thats the whole reson I went on DAFNE - to cope with my work/lifestyle. |
|
Feb 28, 2012
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Benefit of after midnight diary settings.
This is how I overcame the problem before discovering it also......... 
|
