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Well done in getting through the night unscathed........

Jun 28, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Travelling with insulin

I can just imagine you sitting with your fancy meal and cutlery, you must of felt like a King..........
Laughing

To me there is no such thing as Diabetic meals...............being on the DAFNE forum, no one should be thinking like this.......we can all eat anything we like, at whatever time we chose to do so, that's the beauty of it.........

I suppose these airline companies and others who supply food need to cater for as many circumstances as possible......

Jun 27, 2011

HelenP 218 posts

As I said I did it ONCE and it does scare you but you do have a lot of knowledge and experience which you bring to bear (and you obviously brought to bear) when coping with situations like this. It also tends to make you more alert regarding the fast acting stuff! Well done. Helen

Jun 27, 2011

Linda S123 8 posts

Im fime, made it thru the night waking every 2 hours with the alarm to do test and as I had calculated the amount of extra units taken, I ate 6 cp's before bed and tested at 1 / 3/ /5/ /7 then got up ! I was high to start as I'd eaten a huge snack before bed but it was interesting to see how much it was dropping through the night. By 5am I was low and had to eat then. By the time I got up I was climbing again as I hadnt taken the levemir. was too scared ! Thanks for your support Razz

Jun 27, 2011

AllanR 15 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Travelling with insulin

Actually on the discussion about "diabetic meals" on planes, sheesh. DO NOT GO THERE! My boss was sending me to the US for a few weeks and decided to help out by putting me down for a diabetic meal. I got a lettuce leaf and some carrots. As you might expect quickly followed by a hypo on the plane. Was very fortunate to have a great attendant who's hubby it turned out was diabetic (and as I found out later in a nice chat with her had recently had an islet transplant off his US insurance company...lucky guy) and she noticed and actually got me a first class meal out of it complete with proper metal knives, forks and glass bowls (the loathing off other luggage class punters was great). But this was years before my DAFNE training so doubt it would occur now even with it. But either way, keep away from diabetic meals.

General travel wise, always good to have the GP letter (have forgotten it a few times to no problems yet). And your dog tag up to date. I tend to also tell the usual muppet at check-in also when they ask if you have anything sharp (they don't expect someone to say yes so worth giving them a minute to wonder what to do). But yeah, always carry all my kit in hand luggage. After notifying check-in staff I tend to find a member of the customs bag search section look out for you, but haven't been anywhere yet which hasn't understood what all my kit was. Although did have once who ask me to demonstrate and use it...Blood test sufficed but they can be daft at times. Always wanted to take food with me, but the don't carry food/liquid on flight ban thing was a big no no to all that. But did always find enough goodies available in the airport itself to hold with me.

Have a good trip Smile

sounds a nice outing. Has made me think though, these Frio pack things sound interesting, but was curious as to what folks would consider on a 6 month ramble/camping trip for insulin? it's early stage planning at the moment but was considering a monthly drop off somewhere to various FedEx or UPS station somewhere? any thoughts?

Jun 27, 2011

Carolin 83 posts

Topic: General Discussion / ratio for snacks

JWo said:
For clarification Carolin, when snacking for unplanned exercise, is it best to go on what you expect your BGs to be after the insulin has run out, which is determined by what you did at your last meal, rather than what you are at the time of expecting to do the exercise?

I ask because this is what I currently do on the odd ocassion that I do have to look at this sort of thing (I'm usually not a snacker so it's not often). It seems to be a logical way to think about it but confirmation would be great.

Is it safe to also assume that the same applies even if you take on the extra CPs after the exercise?
Does the type of carbohydrate matter in the late CPs?
Should I consider taking fast CPs mainly in those situations if so?

Thanks in advance!

OK, snacking for exercise is another matter Smile

I'd refer you back to your course handbook for this, but generally we recommend if you're doing exercise you need to start with a BG above 7mmol/l, therefore if you're below 7 you need to take on extra CPs. How much you need will depend on the intensity & duration of the exercise, so if it were something gentle/short-term, just 2 CPs should be enough; something more strenuous you might need 3 CPs. You'd be best to choose a fairly rapid carbohydrate as you'll need the fuel quickly for the exercise.

It's worth considering what insulin you have around too of course, i.e. your last dose of QA or your BI in case either of these is likely to still be having an effect on your BG, or indeed if not, whether you need as many CPs prior to the exercise and/or a small dose of QA to help your body to use the glucose.

Hope this hasn't confused you more JWo?

Jun 27, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

I didn't even know this and I use the Diary on a daily basis, thank you both.................. Very Happy

Jun 27, 2011

Anele46 109 posts

Doh!!
Sorry, didn't realise that....thank you very much Very Happy

Cheers.

Jun 27, 2011

chrisinbrum 41 posts

Anele46 said:
Hi there,
Just a thought, would there be any chance of being able to delete/add a comment on the BG diary as in the past I have been recording my stats from my diary and forgotten to add a comment and only way to do this is to delete the entry and re-submit with the comment.
Sorry, I know I'm being lazy but it would be handy to be able to add/delete commented without having to delete and re-enter the whole entry of data?

Cheers

Hi,

If you click on the time that is displayed for the reading you want to add a comment to, it will open up the details and you can add the comment there, without having to delete and then re-input the whole record.

Smile

Jun 27, 2011

Anele46 109 posts

Hi there,
Just a thought, would there be any chance of being able to delete/add a comment on the BG diary as in the past I have been recording my stats from my diary and forgotten to add a comment and only way to do this is to delete the entry and re-submit with the comment.
Sorry, I know I'm being lazy but it would be handy to be able to add/delete commented without having to delete and re-enter the whole entry of data?

Cheers Smile

Jun 27, 2011

marke 681 posts

Ron and Carol, if you want to share Ron's diary it may be better if Ron explicitly shares it with you. there are instructions for doing this in 'My Blood glucose Diary->DAFNE Diary Help' ( its near the end of the help). Posting to the general forum will and should stimulate discussion and input from a number of people thats what the forums are for. If you are happy that this is the case then fine, but can I suggest that you don't direct the post at one person in particular, thanks Smile

Jun 27, 2011

mcmasca902 1 post

Ron
I would consider reducing BI at night to 4 to correct low readings overnight/drops in BG from night to morning as first measure. Don,t think changing administration of morning QA needed at moment
Carol

Jun 27, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Hey, until Carol arrives I would like to throw in my tuppence worth, if you dont mind............

Welcome to the Forum.......

You are asking if you should split your morning QA, I assume as you are getting post breakfast spikes but still landing near or on target for lunch!!

From what I see you only seem to be rising 2-3 mmol/l after breakfast, so this is normal, getting the pre breakfast reading on target would take priority in my opinion. And it seems that your BI dose of 5 does in fact drop you over night. Getting some early hour readings would help, 3, 4, 5 am......

So as your dropping one may assume that this dose is too much...........testing your dose of 5 is needed, with no carbs or QA before bed.........

Once you sort the dose out and are getting on target pre breakfast, assuming there is no dawn phenomenon, then it will be much easier to tackle any post breakfast spikes you are getting.

The best way to deal with spikes in my experience is to play about with dose timing, for example, to avoid post lunch spikes I take my dose 30 minutes before eating, this then matches more closely, the insulin action with my lunch digestion.........

Always consult with your DSN though if your not 100% sure..........

I hope I contributed positively.................. Smile

Jun 27, 2011

RonM 1 post

What do you think, should I split the morning QA?

Jun 27, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

That is a pain.................

I personally would match that insulin with carbs, so the higher ratio your on eg 3:1, the less CPs you will need........

Think of it as a midnight snack.......lol..............you will need to get carbs in at some point, so for me I would want to do that straight away, then go to bed...........and I would still take my Levemir also........

God luck.......... Very Happy

Jun 27, 2011

HelenP 218 posts

Linda,
Are you OK?
Helen

Jun 27, 2011

HelenP 218 posts

I did a similar thing ONCE! The fear will help keep you awake and test and eat and test and eat. Ring someone to check on you in the morning. Good luck, Helen

Jun 26, 2011

Linda S123 8 posts