Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Jul 5, 2011

MrGreenYeti 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

Well, I've been going to bed this late for like a year now, so it's not going to change soon, I would think.
It will do when I get a job. Unless I get a night job, then I don't have to change my sleeping pattern much.
I have my Lantus injection at about 12:30am, which is what it's been since I was diagnosed. So, it'll be about 5-6am, just before I go to bed, usually, unless I need to get up earlier then usual.

Jul 5, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

I would increase your lantus dose, but you should still do a 3am test, or in your case a 10 or 11am test to see if your going low........

Is your daily routine likely to stay like this, I would think that if your not forced to stay up this late with a job its unlikely.......and so making any permanent change might be in vain......

What are you doing on the computer, fun games I hope........lol

Jul 5, 2011

MrGreenYeti 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

Nah, I just stay up late at nights on the computer, as I don't have a need to get up in the morning.

So, I would need to get up at like 10am to check to see if the Dawn Phenomenon is having an effect.

I wake up at like 1-2pm everyday. So, what should I do? Split the Lantus, or increase it?

Jul 5, 2011

Lizzie 87 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved

Hallo again

If we ate as much chocolate, pizza etc as my partner would want, I would have some serious problems. I am already fat, there is constant pressure from doctors to lose weight (have even been offered surgery) while my partner pushes the other way to buy unhealthy crap. My blood sugars are all over the place recently and I don't know why or what to do. My doctors have deserted me like they always do, the boxes are ticked why would they care? It would be nice to have someone to support me. I have tried Diabetes UK and they couldn't suggest anyone. My partner dislikes a lot of healthy foods and I can't be bothered making 2 different meals every night.

Jul 5, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

WOW.....................

so you go to bed at 5 in the morning, are you on night shift or something?

Never the less its all relative anyway.........being on once a day in my opinion is not very flexible for any lifestyle but it works for some people.........

I also suffer from Dawn Phenomenon, I get up at 6:30am every day, apart from weekends, so my hormonal response happens at about 4:30-5:00am every morning, and if I dont have any carbs it will continue to rise, even if I have corrected the high reading at 6:30...

What time do you actually wake up at? Is every day the same?

With Lantus you need to wait about 3 days to see the effect any change of dose has had, so twice a week is normal in this case.....

If you increase you dose it doesn't necessarily mean you will go low over night, your BI requirements might have just increased to a much higher amount, for no obvious reason, that's the beauty of diabetes............ Wink

If your QA has run out and your levels are continuing to rise well into the day, then it is your BI for sure..........increasing it doesn't mean you will be low before bed, but it might.........the reality is that your liver releases glucose at different rates throughout the day, so being on a single dose cant really deal with this well, you may need much less BI from waking to sleeping than you do overnight and vice versa.........hence the split, you can also do this with Lantus, but the best thing to do is test your BI with carb free/or no meals to see what is really going on, and also discuss it with your diabetic team.......................

Jul 5, 2011

MrGreenYeti 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

Thanks.

My BI is once a day, at about 12:30am. I'm on Lantus. I have increased the dose, twice in about a week, actually. I usually got to bed at about 5:00am (I know, very late, indeed.) And when I check my BG before bed it's around 7-9.
I have a feeling it's the Dawn Phenomenon in the morning raising it (because I usually get up late), and it stays high throughout the day. But only after my QA is running out. So, it's most likely the BI. But, when I do raise it again, wouldn't it cause me to be to low before bed?

Jul 5, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved

I think it sounds as if you want to watch the calories, which is fine, but in terms of DAFNE you can eat what you like and in quantities you desire...........

So the chocolate, crisps, pizzas are all OK, its just you might find you will be putting on a few pounds if you eat them too much....

So I think your partners lack of knowledge is in a general portion size sense as opposed to thinking, or not in this case, that diabetics are restricted, as a DAFNE graduate, you are not restricted............ Wink

Jul 5, 2011

Lizzie 87 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved

Thanks for replying novorapidboi. I do the cooking, I think if my boyfriend did it we would live on cheese on toast! My BF takes some interest in carb counting but not much and I keep having to remind him or ask him not to get tons of chocolate, crisps, cake etc when we do the food shopping. Last week we were looking at pizzas. We worked out one of them had around 100g carb for half of it and he did not know that this was too high!

Jul 5, 2011

vinod 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / medical leave during DAFNE course

I think it makes sense ringing Diabetes.co.uk and checking with them if this is part of medical leave, which you should take and dont have to sacrifice your holidays as Anil said! Why dont we ask DAFNE to make comment here? They should make this inevitable to all organizations in UK to follow this norm. Offer three or five days medical leave to all those who are going to attend DAFNE course. Why every company should have their own standards to consider this as medical leave or not? In first instance when NHS provided a letter to my employer, I was thinking that letter is enough to prove that I am legally allowed to take five days medical leave and my employer has to respect this letter. However it's more clear now that each company has their own set of standards and NHS/Diabetes UK/DAFNE doesnt force them to accept this as a medical leave! I'll decide what to do after I speak with Diabetes UK team. Thanks for your response guys. I really appreciate that.

With Regards,

Vinod Kavle

Jul 5, 2011

Carolin 83 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Menstrual Cycle, BI

Athena said:

Just to update you that I did not hear back from the DAFNE folk.

Hi Athena,

As Chair of the national DAFNE Educator group I have taken on board you comments and we will address this as suggested.

The course curriculum and workbook have just undergone their 3-yearly update, which is a huge and very expensive task, so it is unlikely that anything formal will be added to the course resources until 2013.

However, I believe in some centres (indeed in my own) menstrual cycle is discussed during the course, perhaps more by experienced Educators. I will keep checking these discussion threads and maybe we can come up with some clear guidance that we can issue as an 'addendum' for Educators and Graduates alike, until such time as we can include it in the curriculum and workbook.

What do you think? Smile

Jul 5, 2011

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / blended fruit

I don't know much about blending, but I would have thought that just churning things up makes no difference to the carb contents of the constituents. If you put a couple of apples (1 CP each) and a banana (2 CPs) in a blender, you're going to get something that has 4 CPs.

Jul 5, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / blended fruit

The carbohydrate values of the fruit and vegetables will still remain the same even if you blend them, what may change in the speed at which that glucose from the carbohydrate is released into the blood stream, in this case they may effect your blood glucose levels quicker..............

So my answer would be yes, you do still count them.....

You do realize they will taste the same, is is the raw, natural form of fruit and veg that bothers you.....?

Jul 5, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

Welcome to the forum.....

If your have no QA insulin left by the time bedtime comes then its a good guess to assume its your BI running out......!!

Is your BI dose once a day or twice...?

If once you may need to increase your dose, if twice then you may also need to increase your daytime dose or look at timings of dose. eg. a 12 hour split would get even coverage, however some people take their evening dose just before bed to assist in dropping morning readings, if this is the case for you, then moving your evening dose to a few hours before bed may help also...........lots of options I know....... Wink

Jul 5, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved

Thats a tricky one..............

My personal situation is my partner does the cooking, so she is involved with the carb counting, however I think I am lucky in that she took a general interest from the start.....

And I think she knows what to do in an emergency, not that there has ever been one, she knows what i need to eat or drink in the event of a hypo at least....

What do you want/need them to know?

Or is it just a general interest you want your partner to take?

Jul 5, 2011

Lizzie 87 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved

How can I get my partner involved? Currently I just check my blood sugar when I need to and take insulin/sugar/whatever on my own. But I think from a safety point of view it would be good for him to know more. It would also be nice to have some support from him.

Jul 4, 2011

MrGreenYeti 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs

Over the past week or so all my readings at each meal and before bed have been high.
I yesterday decided to test my BG about 2 hours after each meal and the readings have been about 9.5mmol/l. But when I test before I eat or before bed it's around 14.5mmol/l. What could be causing this? I've got a feeling it's maybe my BI. As, I usually feel hungry and eat about 6 hours after a meal. So, it can't be the QA still having an effect. Anyone have any other thoughts on what it could be? I don't feel at all ill, and it's been high for a few months now.

Jul 4, 2011

tweety 13 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / blended fruit

Hi every1, i was wondering, as i dont each much fruit n veg i thought i'd start blending them but i'm unsure if i would count them as they should be counted eaten as solids? Hope some1 out there understands what i'm tryin to ask and can help x

Jul 4, 2011

saxman 28 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Corrective Doses of Insulin

also remember diabetes is not an exact science and trying to mimic the bodys production is difficult and a daily struggle but as you have found out there is plenty of help available. good luck Laughing

Jul 4, 2011

xJeanx 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Corrective Doses of Insulin

Thank you! Yes it was the myths and misconceptions thread where I had read about the 4 unit maximum correction.

I understand what you're all saying and I have re-read the sections of the handbook from the links you have provided.

Kind regards. Jean Smile

Jul 4, 2011

Rhollands 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / medical leave during DAFNE course

When I first spoke to my boss about doing the dafne course he said he would pay me for the time off and i wouldnt have to use up any holiday so i thought that was great. I did my course and when i got back to work i noticed that they had taken it off of my yearly holiday. I havnt had a chance to ask the boss about it yet. I think it is unfair to promiose one thing and do another though. I dont know where i would stand if i try to get my holiday time back though.

Jul 4, 2011

chrisinbrum 41 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Diabetic Survey

Jeremy said:
Found many questions to be "leading". I am Diabetic and graduate of DAFNE (by the way, can I change this status in my profile?) but not an "expert". I cannot possibly know how to answer a question like "Becasue of Diabetes I...". Are researchers [email protected] seeking a particular outcome of this suvery such as a definable link to depression? Verty disapointed.

Surveys like this (and there are a lot of different 'quality of life' surveys) use carefully worded questions and although they might appear to be leading they are probably there to address a particular question that the person setting the survey has.

...but I think the problem with surveys like this is that if you don't like the way a question is worded or structured you can't put any comments in with your answers to explain what your answer means, like in the example you partly quote.

Jul 4, 2011

chrisinbrum 41 posts

Topic: General Discussion / medical leave during DAFNE course

vinod said:
Hello There

I have attended DAFNE course in May 2011. I had informed by company that I am attending a DAFNE course, which is for 5 days and requested them to consider this as a medical leave as my thinking was that NHS count this course is necessary for each diabetics in UK. So NHS approves this as a medical leave from work to attend the course and dont consider as a paid holiday! Am I wrong here? Do I've to use my paid holidays to attend this course? My company says they dont this policy of medical leave, so they declined to count those five days as paid leave from work. Please advice me here.

With Regards,

Vinod Kavle

Whatever your company's policy is I don't think it's right that they decided AFTER the course that they wouldn't honour your request for medical leave and make you take it as paid leave. Did you get any agreement from your company before you went on the course?

Jul 4, 2011

Lizzie 87 posts

Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE Myths

Thanks for the supportive replies.

Jul 5, 2011 MrGreenYeti 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs Well, I've been going to bed this late for like a year now, so it's not going to change soon, I would think. It will do when I get a job. Unless I get a night job, then I don't have to change my sleeping pattern much. I have my Lantus injection at about 12:30am, which is what it's been since I was diagnosed. So, it'll be about 5-6am, just before I go to bed, usually, unless I need to get up earlier then usual.

Jul 5, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs I would increase your lantus dose, but you should still do a 3am test, or in your case a 10 or 11am test to see if your going low........ Is your daily routine likely to stay like this, I would think that if your not forced to stay up this late with a job its unlikely.......and so making any permanent change might be in vain...... What are you doing on the computer, fun games I hope........lol

Jul 5, 2011 MrGreenYeti 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs Nah, I just stay up late at nights on the computer, as I don't have a need to get up in the morning. So, I would need to get up at like 10am to check to see if the Dawn Phenomenon is having an effect. I wake up at like 1-2pm everyday. So, what should I do? Split the Lantus, or increase it?

Jul 5, 2011 Lizzie 87 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved Hallo again If we ate as much chocolate, pizza etc as my partner would want, I would have some serious problems. I am already fat, there is constant pressure from doctors to lose weight (have even been offered surgery) while my partner pushes the other way to buy unhealthy crap. My blood sugars are all over the place recently and I don't know why or what to do. My doctors have deserted me like they always do, the boxes are ticked why would they care? It would be nice to have someone to support me. I have tried Diabetes UK and they couldn't suggest anyone. My partner dislikes a lot of healthy foods and I can't be bothered making 2 different meals every night.

Jul 5, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs WOW..................... so you go to bed at 5 in the morning, are you on night shift or something? Never the less its all relative anyway.........being on once a day in my opinion is not very flexible for any lifestyle but it works for some people......... I also suffer from Dawn Phenomenon, I get up at 6:30am every day, apart from weekends, so my hormonal response happens at about 4:30-5:00am every morning, and if I dont have any carbs it will continue to rise, even if I have corrected the high reading at 6:30... What time do you actually wake up at? Is every day the same? With Lantus you need to wait about 3 days to see the effect any change of dose has had, so twice a week is normal in this case..... If you increase you dose it doesn't necessarily mean you will go low over night, your BI requirements might have just increased to a much higher amount, for no obvious reason, that's the beauty of diabetes............ If your QA has run out and your levels are continuing to rise well into the day, then it is your BI for sure..........increasing it doesn't mean you will be low before bed, but it might.........the reality is that your liver releases glucose at different rates throughout the day, so being on a single dose cant really deal with this well, you may need much less BI from waking to sleeping than you do overnight and vice versa.........hence the split, you can also do this with Lantus, but the best thing to do is test your BI with carb free/or no meals to see what is really going on, and also discuss it with your diabetic team.......................

Jul 5, 2011 MrGreenYeti 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs Thanks. My BI is once a day, at about 12:30am. I'm on Lantus. I have increased the dose, twice in about a week, actually. I usually got to bed at about 5:00am (I know, very late, indeed.) And when I check my BG before bed it's around 7-9. I have a feeling it's the Dawn Phenomenon in the morning raising it (because I usually get up late), and it stays high throughout the day. But only after my QA is running out. So, it's most likely the BI. But, when I do raise it again, wouldn't it cause me to be to low before bed?

Jul 5, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved I think it sounds as if you want to watch the calories, which is fine, but in terms of DAFNE you can eat what you like and in quantities you desire........... So the chocolate, crisps, pizzas are all OK, its just you might find you will be putting on a few pounds if you eat them too much.... So I think your partners lack of knowledge is in a general portion size sense as opposed to thinking, or not in this case, that diabetics are restricted, as a DAFNE graduate, you are not restricted............

Jul 5, 2011 Lizzie 87 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved Thanks for replying novorapidboi. I do the cooking, I think if my boyfriend did it we would live on cheese on toast! My BF takes some interest in carb counting but not much and I keep having to remind him or ask him not to get tons of chocolate, crisps, cake etc when we do the food shopping. Last week we were looking at pizzas. We worked out one of them had around 100g carb for half of it and he did not know that this was too high!

Jul 5, 2011 vinod 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / medical leave during DAFNE course I think it makes sense ringing Diabetes.co.uk and checking with them if this is part of medical leave, which you should take and dont have to sacrifice your holidays as Anil said! Why dont we ask DAFNE to make comment here? They should make this inevitable to all organizations in UK to follow this norm. Offer three or five days medical leave to all those who are going to attend DAFNE course. Why every company should have their own standards to consider this as medical leave or not? In first instance when NHS provided a letter to my employer, I was thinking that letter is enough to prove that I am legally allowed to take five days medical leave and my employer has to respect this letter. However it's more clear now that each company has their own set of standards and NHS/Diabetes UK/DAFNE doesnt force them to accept this as a medical leave! I'll decide what to do after I speak with Diabetes UK team. Thanks for your response guys. I really appreciate that. With Regards, Vinod Kavle

Jul 5, 2011 Carolin 83 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / Menstrual Cycle, BI Athena said: Just to update you that I did not hear back from the DAFNE folk. Hi Athena, As Chair of the national DAFNE Educator group I have taken on board you comments and we will address this as suggested. The course curriculum and workbook have just undergone their 3-yearly update, which is a huge and very expensive task, so it is unlikely that anything formal will be added to the course resources until 2013. However, I believe in some centres (indeed in my own) menstrual cycle is discussed during the course, perhaps more by experienced Educators. I will keep checking these discussion threads and maybe we can come up with some clear guidance that we can issue as an 'addendum' for Educators and Graduates alike, until such time as we can include it in the curriculum and workbook. What do you think?

Jul 5, 2011 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / blended fruit I don't know much about blending, but I would have thought that just churning things up makes no difference to the carb contents of the constituents. If you put a couple of apples (1 CP each) and a banana (2 CPs) in a blender, you're going to get something that has 4 CPs.

Jul 5, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / blended fruit The carbohydrate values of the fruit and vegetables will still remain the same even if you blend them, what may change in the speed at which that glucose from the carbohydrate is released into the blood stream, in this case they may effect your blood glucose levels quicker.............. So my answer would be yes, you do still count them..... You do realize they will taste the same, is is the raw, natural form of fruit and veg that bothers you.....?

Jul 5, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs Welcome to the forum..... If your have no QA insulin left by the time bedtime comes then its a good guess to assume its your BI running out......!! Is your BI dose once a day or twice...? If once you may need to increase your dose, if twice then you may also need to increase your daytime dose or look at timings of dose. eg. a 12 hour split would get even coverage, however some people take their evening dose just before bed to assist in dropping morning readings, if this is the case for you, then moving your evening dose to a few hours before bed may help also...........lots of options I know.......

Jul 5, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved Thats a tricky one.............. My personal situation is my partner does the cooking, so she is involved with the carb counting, however I think I am lucky in that she took a general interest from the start..... And I think she knows what to do in an emergency, not that there has ever been one, she knows what i need to eat or drink in the event of a hypo at least.... What do you want/need them to know? Or is it just a general interest you want your partner to take?

Jul 5, 2011 Lizzie 87 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Getting partner involved How can I get my partner involved? Currently I just check my blood sugar when I need to and take insulin/sugar/whatever on my own. But I think from a safety point of view it would be good for him to know more. It would also be nice to have some support from him.

Jul 4, 2011 MrGreenYeti 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Unexplained Highs Over the past week or so all my readings at each meal and before bed have been high. I yesterday decided to test my BG about 2 hours after each meal and the readings have been about 9.5mmol/l. But when I test before I eat or before bed it's around 14.5mmol/l. What could be causing this? I've got a feeling it's maybe my BI. As, I usually feel hungry and eat about 6 hours after a meal. So, it can't be the QA still having an effect. Anyone have any other thoughts on what it could be? I don't feel at all ill, and it's been high for a few months now.

Jul 4, 2011 tweety 13 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / blended fruit Hi every1, i was wondering, as i dont each much fruit n veg i thought i'd start blending them but i'm unsure if i would count them as they should be counted eaten as solids? Hope some1 out there understands what i'm tryin to ask and can help x

Jul 4, 2011 saxman 28 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Corrective Doses of Insulin also remember diabetes is not an exact science and trying to mimic the bodys production is difficult and a daily struggle but as you have found out there is plenty of help available. good luck

Jul 4, 2011 xJeanx 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Corrective Doses of Insulin Thank you! Yes it was the myths and misconceptions thread where I had read about the 4 unit maximum correction. I understand what you're all saying and I have re-read the sections of the handbook from the links you have provided. Kind regards. Jean

Jul 4, 2011 Rhollands 2 posts	Topic: General Discussion / medical leave during DAFNE course When I first spoke to my boss about doing the dafne course he said he would pay me for the time off and i wouldnt have to use up any holiday so i thought that was great. I did my course and when i got back to work i noticed that they had taken it off of my yearly holiday. I havnt had a chance to ask the boss about it yet. I think it is unfair to promiose one thing and do another though. I dont know where i would stand if i try to get my holiday time back though.

Jul 4, 2011 chrisinbrum 41 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Diabetic Survey Jeremy said: Found many questions to be "leading". I am Diabetic and graduate of DAFNE (by the way, can I change this status in my profile?) but not an "expert". I cannot possibly know how to answer a question like "Becasue of Diabetes I...". Are researchers [email protected] seeking a particular outcome of this suvery such as a definable link to depression? Verty disapointed. Surveys like this (and there are a lot of different 'quality of life' surveys) use carefully worded questions and although they might appear to be leading they are probably there to address a particular question that the person setting the survey has. ...but I think the problem with surveys like this is that if you don't like the way a question is worded or structured you can't put any comments in with your answers to explain what your answer means, like in the example you partly quote.

Jul 4, 2011 chrisinbrum 41 posts	Topic: General Discussion / medical leave during DAFNE course vinod said: Hello There I have attended DAFNE course in May 2011. I had informed by company that I am attending a DAFNE course, which is for 5 days and requested them to consider this as a medical leave as my thinking was that NHS count this course is necessary for each diabetics in UK. So NHS approves this as a medical leave from work to attend the course and dont consider as a paid holiday! Am I wrong here? Do I've to use my paid holidays to attend this course? My company says they dont this policy of medical leave, so they declined to count those five days as paid leave from work. Please advice me here. With Regards, Vinod Kavle Whatever your company's policy is I don't think it's right that they decided AFTER the course that they wouldn't honour your request for medical leave and make you take it as paid leave. Did you get any agreement from your company before you went on the course?

Jul 4, 2011 Lizzie 87 posts	Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE Myths Thanks for the supportive replies.