Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

May 15, 2011

JayBee 582 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Information on menstrual cycle

Thanks for posting AK. Smile

I would like to try the non-hormonal coil so I appreciate your feedback about your experience! I'm guessing you went back to the pill afterwards?

Okay, to touch in again on my progress. I have started having consistent higher body temps for the past couple of days and after a spell of good days, my BGs have been higher than expected.... what do we think? Time for me to consider putting my BI up perhaps? Smile

Based on what we see, I think that if I do, it'll only be up by 1BI in the evening. Smile

Will be seeing what happens in the next couple of days - for my body's confirmation as well (especially considering I really should be doing some after evening meal checks as well - whoops).

May 14, 2011

WullieIrvine 26 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do?

Fraid I don't do anything exciting. I am a registered nurse currently seeking work as I made the mistake of leaving the NHS 10 years ago and now can't get back in. I do wish that I had done DAFNE 10 years ago as t breaks very much depended on the business of the ward and what staff were on shift.
In saying that I learned very quickly to say "If I don't get something to eat now you'll be picking me up off the floor!"
They learned quickly to make sure I got my breaks lol

Wullie

May 14, 2011

linda-d 3 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / android apps

Hi folks, I have recently got my first smartphone and have downloaded a couple of diabetic tracking apps to test.

I was wondering if any of you have a personal preference if you have used these before. I am trying out the free ones rather than paying for things while I get used to how the phone works.

Thanks for any input.

Linda

May 14, 2011

JayBee 582 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

I am wary when I see it usually.... especially for certain feet treatment. It's only been at routine checkups that I've asked about this sort of thing and, well, when it came to my feet, the nurse recommended that I just let the problem solve itself than relying on any products. The problem (a Verruca) did just go on it's own on that note - took it's sweet time though lol.

I do think that once there is a lot more clarification about differences between the types, stuff like this will become clearer to understand. As novorapidboi26 suggested too, a lot of the time they mostly put it to cover themselves.

May 14, 2011

JayBee 582 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do?

I work as a Receptionist / Cashier at my local authority. My work load can be very demanding and unpredictable considering the customer demand is often very high. Sad

I have been investigating the effects of mental stimulation on my BGs for a good few years now and I do find that my BGs can drop when I'm say, on the cashier post which can be non-stop for most of the day, but I do just sit and just take payments or answer payment queries which does suggest that it's not physical exercise alone that makes BGs drop.

I'm so glad you've not had any diabetic issues with your previous reception work - it gets rather annoying some days for me! Used to never have the trouble I do now when one of the receptions I worked on was a lot quieter and I only worked for two departments... hardly had to worry at all!

May 14, 2011

JayBee 582 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / rice and pasta

I personally stick to the before cooking weight because Ive found it to be a lot more reliable. Once its cooked, if you need to split it, make sure you split the after cooking weight evenly because then you know how much to divide the before cooked CPs (I regularly have to split it by 2 so only have to half the before cooking CP total). So glad its only the weight that shifts due to water being absorbed or this would be madness lol.

May 14, 2011

AK 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

I noticed Mountain Dew says its unsuitable for pregnant women, which is scary enough to put me off!

May 13, 2011

meltow 78 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

Red Bull?

May 13, 2011

Aneirin 15 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Chicken soup

I have tried popping up my ratio, but if I do I wind up having a hypo before I go to sleep (ratio is 1:1 at the mo, tried going to 1:5, and went hypo in a couple of hours)

But yeah, chicken soup seemed to mess me up. Maybe it's the make of soup (Heinz cream of chicken soup)? I usually wind up fine without it. Results are on paper (not on hand at the moment) as 18. Usually eaten 3 hours before I go to bed (9 p.m.) with two fish finger sandwiches (10 units CP's without the soup included)

May 13, 2011

HelenP 218 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do?

Hi Guys,,, When I was a classroom teacher I found it ideal Your life runs to a bell! I then became a consultant and was on the road a lot...much more interesting and challenging but I was also able to run my own timetable. It required me to be much better organized. Only one incident...I was addressing a group of 20 odd parents (usual speil) then in the middle i just sat down. A teacher aide (also a diabetic) bought me a sticky bun,,,I had enough sense to eat it and then I just stood up and continued. The two doctors in the audience had no idea what had happened! Helen

May 13, 2011

AK 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

Hi, thanks for the welcomes and your replies! I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I was just curious to know how other people handled these little queries that you don't really go to your doctor about. Smile

May 13, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,816 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / rice and pasta

2 scenarios:

1. Your have a sachet of Uncle Bens rice.............as you personally will be consuming all of this rice alone, the uncooked carbohydrate amount can be used, as cooked or uncooked, its all going in your mouth.

2. You and 3 other family members are having sweet and sour chicken with rice, you are cooking with a 600g bag of rice. As you wont be having the whole bag of rice, you will need to weigh out your portion, this time the cooked value will need to be used as now your portion of rice has transformed into a much heavier item on the scales.

I hope I got the point across................in the event you are eating an unknown portion size of rice which will be cooked and served from one large family size portion, then you use the cooked value. [unless you weigh yours out and cook separately]

So in your case of 100g of uncooked rice being 8.5 CPs, the 100g when cooked would then go up to roughly 300g in weight.

As rice is quite starchy and somewhat slower to digest than other carbs, this may be the cause of your mental BGs, sometimes there is a delay in the release of the glucose from starchier foods, so some folk split their dose before and after the meal in order to provide a second insulin action peak to deal with the delayed peak from the starchy item......

May 13, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,816 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

Hi and welcome to the forum........

I wouldn't say I ignore any warnings, but I dont take them too seriously either, a lot of these warning are just there in order that the company can cover themselves in the event someone does come to them claiming their product caused harm......

For things like cough syrup if it says sugar free I would trust it completely.......

I recently found out that taking ibuprofen was ill advised due to liver and kidneys or something........ Question

, but I then discovered that this is catered more towards type 2 diabetes and it effecting the effectiveness of their oral medication, so sometimes it can be not very clear........

Common sense prevails I believe......

Was there anything in particular you were referring to.....?

May 13, 2011

novorapidboi26 1,816 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do?

I for the most part inspect bridges and culverts for my local authority, mainly office based, but 2 days of the week I am out and about inspecting.......sometimes when i return i find i need a few carbs to bring my numbers up, but I always make sure I have some jelly babies with me..........

Prior to doing DAFNE and this job I was a site based engineer which was quite physical, especially on the bigger jobs, however my control was crap, on 2 jags a day and was in a mess really, tired all the time, skinny, riddled with thrush for over a year......so couldn't really complain of hypos as there was no chance of that happening........

Thank the lord for DANFE.......

May 12, 2011

Simon 574 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

First of all, welcome to the forums AK, hope you find them useful. Second of all a little disclaimer - my opinions are my own, I'm not a doctor and not a representative of DAFNE.

That said, I usually google for 'diabetes + whatever the active ingredient/product is', to learn a little more about it. This usually tells me that it's only really dangerous for people who have complications such as neuropathy. As I don't have any complications (touch wood) then I ignore the warnings and give it a go, and so far there haven't been any adverse effects of my using hard skin softner on my feet, and sudafed, both of which have 'not for diabetics' on the packaging.

May 12, 2011

Lyane 1 post

Topic: Questions for HCPs / rice and pasta

Hi was wondering if you may be able to help as I am getting very confused, and it really doesnt take much to confuse me!! I am a very new graduate of DAFNE and am finding it really tricky to calculate how much insulin (QA) to do for rice... so 100g uncooked rice is 8.5 CPS and 100g cooked rice is 3CPS I understand the CPS would be less for cooked rice as water would dilute the carbohydrate portion but which cp number should I use to inject with? As obviously there is a big varient, and I find my blood sugars just go mad with either uncooked or cooked.

Hope someone can help thanks Confused

May 12, 2011

AK 16 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Information on menstrual cycle

Firstly just to say this is an amazing thread, and I can't wait to try out the suggestions. I think I had been thinking about this issue too simplistically ie just insulin requirements during the actual menstruation.

To respond to an earlier comment, I also used to be on the pill (or 'on the pull' as I just typed by mistake Embarassed

) and moved to the non-hormonal coil. This didn't seem to change how insulin affects me during TOTM so although you may be different, my advice is not to push yourself into a contraceptive method you don't like as you may find it wasn't worth it.

May 12, 2011

AK 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do?

Being new to the forums, I would be interested to know generally what other people's jobs are. I've had a few jobs, office-based and customer-service based which have never really been too challenging diabetes-wise.

However, I am hoping to become a barrister, and would really like to know how existing barristers cope in the formal courtroom environment.

Anyway, it's a long shot that there will be anyone on here who is or knows a barrister and so I just wanted to know what you do and how you manage your diabetes at work?

May 12, 2011

AK 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'?

Hi everyone,

I'm new on the forum and although I've been diabetic for around 21 years I've never really met other diabetics except on the Dafne course (which was around 4 years ago now).

So I just thought I'd ask whether you all routinely ignore or adhere to warnings on everyday consumer goods for diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? These are found on everything from hair removal cream to cough medicine.

For myself, as it takes about 2 weeks to get a GP appointment, I usually do what I think is best. For example, I avoid products like foot scrubs that might not be suitable for diabetics so as to avoid damaging nerves (even though I imagine the chances of that are pretty remote). With cough medicine, if I can't find a sugar free one I usually imagine that it's less than 1 CP in a dose so probably can be taken without QA or too much fuss. With 'herbal' supplements I sometimes ignore.

How about you?

May 12, 2011

AK 16 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Old habits die hard...

I can understand your situations completely. I have a similar background to JWo, having been diabetic since I was 2 and now 23 years old. I have good HBA1cs and therefore my boomeranging doesn't seem to concern anyone (except myself). But when unsure about dosage I always opt for the higher choice due to a phobia of hypers and it rather wrecks your quality of life! Rolling Eyes

I have found that one solution is to ask my boyfriend what he thinks because he's level-headed but that only works when he's at home. I'd really like to know if anyone else has found something that works for them. Counselling perhaps? However, fear of complications etc is quite rational, I don't really know what they could advise you?

May 15, 2011 JayBee 582 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / Information on menstrual cycle Thanks for posting AK. I would like to try the non-hormonal coil so I appreciate your feedback about your experience! I'm guessing you went back to the pill afterwards? Okay, to touch in again on my progress. I have started having consistent higher body temps for the past couple of days and after a spell of good days, my BGs have been higher than expected.... what do we think? Time for me to consider putting my BI up perhaps? Based on what we see, I think that if I do, it'll only be up by 1BI in the evening. Will be seeing what happens in the next couple of days - for my body's confirmation as well (especially considering I really should be doing some after evening meal checks as well - whoops).

May 14, 2011 WullieIrvine 26 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do? Fraid I don't do anything exciting. I am a registered nurse currently seeking work as I made the mistake of leaving the NHS 10 years ago and now can't get back in. I do wish that I had done DAFNE 10 years ago as t breaks very much depended on the business of the ward and what staff were on shift. In saying that I learned very quickly to say "If I don't get something to eat now you'll be picking me up off the floor!" They learned quickly to make sure I got my breaks lol Wullie

May 14, 2011 linda-d 3 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / android apps Hi folks, I have recently got my first smartphone and have downloaded a couple of diabetic tracking apps to test. I was wondering if any of you have a personal preference if you have used these before. I am trying out the free ones rather than paying for things while I get used to how the phone works. Thanks for any input. Linda

May 14, 2011 JayBee 582 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? I am wary when I see it usually.... especially for certain feet treatment. It's only been at routine checkups that I've asked about this sort of thing and, well, when it came to my feet, the nurse recommended that I just let the problem solve itself than relying on any products. The problem (a Verruca) did just go on it's own on that note - took it's sweet time though lol. I do think that once there is a lot more clarification about differences between the types, stuff like this will become clearer to understand. As novorapidboi26 suggested too, a lot of the time they mostly put it to cover themselves.

May 14, 2011 JayBee 582 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do? I work as a Receptionist / Cashier at my local authority. My work load can be very demanding and unpredictable considering the customer demand is often very high. I have been investigating the effects of mental stimulation on my BGs for a good few years now and I do find that my BGs can drop when I'm say, on the cashier post which can be non-stop for most of the day, but I do just sit and just take payments or answer payment queries which does suggest that it's not physical exercise alone that makes BGs drop. I'm so glad you've not had any diabetic issues with your previous reception work - it gets rather annoying some days for me! Used to never have the trouble I do now when one of the receptions I worked on was a lot quieter and I only worked for two departments... hardly had to worry at all!

May 14, 2011 JayBee 582 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / rice and pasta I personally stick to the before cooking weight because Ive found it to be a lot more reliable. Once its cooked, if you need to split it, make sure you split the after cooking weight evenly because then you know how much to divide the before cooked CPs (I regularly have to split it by 2 so only have to half the before cooking CP total). So glad its only the weight that shifts due to water being absorbed or this would be madness lol.

May 14, 2011 AK 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? I noticed Mountain Dew says its unsuitable for pregnant women, which is scary enough to put me off!

May 13, 2011 meltow 78 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? Red Bull?

May 13, 2011 Aneirin 15 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Chicken soup I have tried popping up my ratio, but if I do I wind up having a hypo before I go to sleep (ratio is 1:1 at the mo, tried going to 1:5, and went hypo in a couple of hours) But yeah, chicken soup seemed to mess me up. Maybe it's the make of soup (Heinz cream of chicken soup)? I usually wind up fine without it. Results are on paper (not on hand at the moment) as 18. Usually eaten 3 hours before I go to bed (9 p.m.) with two fish finger sandwiches (10 units CP's without the soup included)

May 13, 2011 HelenP 218 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do? Hi Guys,,, When I was a classroom teacher I found it ideal Your life runs to a bell! I then became a consultant and was on the road a lot...much more interesting and challenging but I was also able to run my own timetable. It required me to be much better organized. Only one incident...I was addressing a group of 20 odd parents (usual speil) then in the middle i just sat down. A teacher aide (also a diabetic) bought me a sticky bun,,,I had enough sense to eat it and then I just stood up and continued. The two doctors in the audience had no idea what had happened! Helen

May 13, 2011 AK 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? Hi, thanks for the welcomes and your replies! I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I was just curious to know how other people handled these little queries that you don't really go to your doctor about.

May 13, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,816 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / rice and pasta 2 scenarios: 1. Your have a sachet of Uncle Bens rice.............as you personally will be consuming all of this rice alone, the uncooked carbohydrate amount can be used, as cooked or uncooked, its all going in your mouth. 2. You and 3 other family members are having sweet and sour chicken with rice, you are cooking with a 600g bag of rice. As you wont be having the whole bag of rice, you will need to weigh out your portion, this time the cooked value will need to be used as now your portion of rice has transformed into a much heavier item on the scales. I hope I got the point across................in the event you are eating an unknown portion size of rice which will be cooked and served from one large family size portion, then you use the cooked value. [unless you weigh yours out and cook separately] So in your case of 100g of uncooked rice being 8.5 CPs, the 100g when cooked would then go up to roughly 300g in weight. As rice is quite starchy and somewhat slower to digest than other carbs, this may be the cause of your mental BGs, sometimes there is a delay in the release of the glucose from starchier foods, so some folk split their dose before and after the meal in order to provide a second insulin action peak to deal with the delayed peak from the starchy item......

May 13, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,816 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? Hi and welcome to the forum........ I wouldn't say I ignore any warnings, but I dont take them too seriously either, a lot of these warning are just there in order that the company can cover themselves in the event someone does come to them claiming their product caused harm...... For things like cough syrup if it says sugar free I would trust it completely....... I recently found out that taking ibuprofen was ill advised due to liver and kidneys or something........ , but I then discovered that this is catered more towards type 2 diabetes and it effecting the effectiveness of their oral medication, so sometimes it can be not very clear........ Common sense prevails I believe...... Was there anything in particular you were referring to.....?

May 13, 2011 novorapidboi26 1,816 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do? I for the most part inspect bridges and culverts for my local authority, mainly office based, but 2 days of the week I am out and about inspecting.......sometimes when i return i find i need a few carbs to bring my numbers up, but I always make sure I have some jelly babies with me.......... Prior to doing DAFNE and this job I was a site based engineer which was quite physical, especially on the bigger jobs, however my control was crap, on 2 jags a day and was in a mess really, tired all the time, skinny, riddled with thrush for over a year......so couldn't really complain of hypos as there was no chance of that happening........ Thank the lord for DANFE.......

May 12, 2011 Simon 574 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? First of all, welcome to the forums AK, hope you find them useful. Second of all a little disclaimer - my opinions are my own, I'm not a doctor and not a representative of DAFNE. That said, I usually google for 'diabetes + whatever the active ingredient/product is', to learn a little more about it. This usually tells me that it's only really dangerous for people who have complications such as neuropathy. As I don't have any complications (touch wood) then I ignore the warnings and give it a go, and so far there haven't been any adverse effects of my using hard skin softner on my feet, and sudafed, both of which have 'not for diabetics' on the packaging.

May 12, 2011 Lyane 1 post	Topic: Questions for HCPs / rice and pasta Hi was wondering if you may be able to help as I am getting very confused, and it really doesnt take much to confuse me!! I am a very new graduate of DAFNE and am finding it really tricky to calculate how much insulin (QA) to do for rice... so 100g uncooked rice is 8.5 CPS and 100g cooked rice is 3CPS I understand the CPS would be less for cooked rice as water would dilute the carbohydrate portion but which cp number should I use to inject with? As obviously there is a big varient, and I find my blood sugars just go mad with either uncooked or cooked. Hope someone can help thanks

May 12, 2011 AK 16 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / Information on menstrual cycle Firstly just to say this is an amazing thread, and I can't wait to try out the suggestions. I think I had been thinking about this issue too simplistically ie just insulin requirements during the actual menstruation. To respond to an earlier comment, I also used to be on the pill (or 'on the pull' as I just typed by mistake ) and moved to the non-hormonal coil. This didn't seem to change how insulin affects me during TOTM so although you may be different, my advice is not to push yourself into a contraceptive method you don't like as you may find it wasn't worth it.

May 12, 2011 AK 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / So what do you do? Being new to the forums, I would be interested to know generally what other people's jobs are. I've had a few jobs, office-based and customer-service based which have never really been too challenging diabetes-wise. However, I am hoping to become a barrister, and would really like to know how existing barristers cope in the formal courtroom environment. Anyway, it's a long shot that there will be anyone on here who is or knows a barrister and so I just wanted to know what you do and how you manage your diabetes at work?

May 12, 2011 AK 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Do you usually ignore warnings to diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? Hi everyone, I'm new on the forum and although I've been diabetic for around 21 years I've never really met other diabetics except on the Dafne course (which was around 4 years ago now). So I just thought I'd ask whether you all routinely ignore or adhere to warnings on everyday consumer goods for diabetics to 'consult your GP before use'? These are found on everything from hair removal cream to cough medicine. For myself, as it takes about 2 weeks to get a GP appointment, I usually do what I think is best. For example, I avoid products like foot scrubs that might not be suitable for diabetics so as to avoid damaging nerves (even though I imagine the chances of that are pretty remote). With cough medicine, if I can't find a sugar free one I usually imagine that it's less than 1 CP in a dose so probably can be taken without QA or too much fuss. With 'herbal' supplements I sometimes ignore. How about you?

May 12, 2011 AK 16 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Old habits die hard... I can understand your situations completely. I have a similar background to JWo, having been diabetic since I was 2 and now 23 years old. I have good HBA1cs and therefore my boomeranging doesn't seem to concern anyone (except myself). But when unsure about dosage I always opt for the higher choice due to a phobia of hypers and it rather wrecks your quality of life! I have found that one solution is to ask my boyfriend what he thinks because he's level-headed but that only works when he's at home. I'd really like to know if anyone else has found something that works for them. Counselling perhaps? However, fear of complications etc is quite rational, I don't really know what they could advise you?