Recent Posts

Search the DAFNE Online Forums

15,866 posts found

Feb 16, 2011
Jo Penn 24 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Whats happening?

Hi there

Heres my BG Diaries for the past couple of days - my DSN is on holiday again :-( and getting frustrated with it all...

Thanks NRBoi - will try that with the no carb meal - lunch is easier in the week; but will try at weekend as its easier to have a fry up lol
 
Feb 16, 2011
Garry 328 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

Please remember that your (hard) badminton session may cause an 'adrenalin rush' leading to liver glucagon release and cause BG rise as a consequence. Think insulin resistance is increased by most hormone changes. Alan Constable shared information with us in a thread called exercise within General Discussion back in November 2010 which could be of interest to you. Sounds like you are getting back on track. Well done.

Regards Garry
 
Feb 16, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

those readings sound much better, well done, just keep that up for a few days, spot some patterns and you will be laughing............

Are you on any ratios that are below 1:1.......?
 
Feb 16, 2011
chrisg9 7 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

Yesterday's approach seemed to bring BGs under control - BG7 at lunch.
Supper (6.30pm) - BG8, 8CP/4QA. Mars bar+banana prior to Badminton (8-9pm) - standard regime worked previously.
11pm BG18. Will probably up supper ratio to 1:1 next time. Took your advice and made no corrections and tested at 3am (BG1Cool and same again at 7:30 this morning. So, conclude bedtime BI22 is correct.
Interestingly, I corrected with 15QA and had 2CP for breakfast - but by 10am, BG at 3. I am concluding that the exercise has a longish delay with me before kicking in; compare with yesterday with essentially similar BG levels at previous bedtime and in the morning, and a bigger corrective QA at b/fast with no CPs but bringing BG levels down to "only" 7 by lunchtime.

Regards
Chris
 
Feb 16, 2011
bill allen 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / accu-check

on my first try i had to wait 24 hours to get them since then my local neumark pharmacy stocks them so no trouble since then. sounds like iv'e been lucky
 
Feb 15, 2011
Caroline 29 posts

Topic: General Discussion / TYPE 1 PREGNANCY

I have been diabetic from 16 years and now having my third baby. I think as long as you look after yourself, continue to monitor your blood glucose and eat sensible Im sure you will be able to have a healthy pregnancy and baby. My first weighed 9.4lbs but that was long ago and my education on Diabetes was pretty poor. She did spend a few weeks in special care. I was only diagnosed as diabetic 3 weeks before I fell with her so I guess I was lucky to have her. My second was born 4 years ago now. I wasnt doing Dafne then but was strict on myself. He weighed 7.9lbs and was extremely healthy. Now 16 weeks pregnant with the third... its going well... im following the Dafne way. My last HBA1C was 7.6... which isnt good accordinging to the specialists but I think differently as 4 months ago it was 8.3. Its heading in the right direction and I know my control is better. Take any advice the hospital/antenatal give you but bear in mind you know your body better than anyone. Good luck if you decide to try for another baby.
 
Feb 15, 2011
meltow 78 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What are you reading?

Topaz by Leon Uris

Only 2 reviews on Amazon, so it must be an author who has "fallen out of fashion". Based around Russian defectors, KGB, Cuba and the spy world; a typical novel of the 60's era. I'm enjoying it...
 
Feb 15, 2011
JayBee 587 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What are you reading?

Land of the Headless has been a touch slow going but it's still interesting. Plan to start on a book called "Relentless" (by Simon Kernick) after Land of the Headless because I fancy a good thrilling read next. Smile

If any one is interested, I signed up to a website called Goodreads the other day, my username is lilbuta on it... has been a great site to build up a good idea on how many books I've read overall! Smile
 
Feb 15, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

The badminton will defo help with the blood sugars and help your insulin resistance.....

Once you have settled in to your regime you can start to think about dropping backgrounds when hard periods of exercise are on the horizon, then you can avoid lows immediately after and many hours after the activity......

 
Feb 15, 2011
chrisg9 7 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

This is really useful advice and thanks very much....i'll report back, although i remembered I do 1 hour (hard) badminton Tuesday evenings - although this is the one time the levels stay OK (combination of luck+design).
Chris
 
Feb 15, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

OK, so it seems your closer to a solution than I thought, if it looks like your evening BI dose is OK then you can go straight to the day time dose, you may need much more than you are on now, which may hopefully bring down your ratios.........

I am on a 3:1 in the morning and 1.5:1 the rest of the time so don't worry too much.....

If your BI is ok at night you should not be afraid to correct to get on target, its just sometimes the amount of correction doesn't always work. Through trial and error I have found the following:

<10mmol/l - 1 unit drops 2.5mmol/l
10-13mmol/l - 1 unit drops 2mmol/l
13-17mmol/l - 1 unit drops 1.5mmol/l
>17mmol/l - 1 unit drops 1mmol/l

By no means is this right for everyone but it gives you an idea of the amounts you may need when correcting......

It does mention this very subtly and briefly in the course handbook, I believe it should be highlighted as a main topic to learn.....

Let me know how you get on Chris.........
 
Feb 15, 2011
chrisg9 7 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

Thank you very much for the helpful comments. Results show the BI is set OK as levels hold or close to...some adjustment may be made, but it will be minor. The issue has been in my not wanting to leave >14 unattended at bed. However, if it occurs tonight, I will follow your advice to confirm BI. I agree with your comment on taking QA6 corrective for the morning 14.6 and which I guess means not limiting correctives to QA4 which is what the course advised. Again, much appreciate the advice and support.
Chris
 
Feb 15, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

WOW, seems to be a lot of stress, which is normal once you leave the comfort of the class room, I know, it was the same for me..............

Once you get back to normal routine your activity levels change and therefore your body will respond by letting the liver know what it needs, this means you need to look at your background again most likely........go to bed with no insulin or carbs on board and see what results you get in the morning, if all is well, you will hold and the dose is correct.....

What are your morning readings like..........? If high do you suspect dawn phenomenon.....?

From your results its hard to tell whats going on as its only one day, with DAFNE you need patterns.... one point I would make is that with correction, the higher your reading, the more units you need, this varies with everyone and takes trial and error to narrow down the margins, for a 14.6 I would of taken 6, 5 at least units to correct, something to think about.....they extra units may have got you on target at lunch as you were not far off.....Smile

Try and get some 3 am tests done, you may have went low that night as you took a lot insulin for a small amount of carbs, with insulin still on board, all be it not much......

Whenever you think your losing focus, just make sure your BI doses are right, they are were it all begins..................to conclude I would recommend as a fellow DAFNE grad, re check your overnight BI dose, so no food or insulin before bed or after evening meal if you can, that will let you see whats happening overnight, take a 3am also to rule out dawn phenomenon..........

If you can get that right, you can move on to your daytime dose and adjust it for your now normal routine of work...........then its back to ratios again, 3 day patterns, you know the rest.....

Any questions just ask away....................have a look at the online diary in the dafne tools box on the right
 
Feb 15, 2011
chrisg9 7 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Cant stop BG Levels going up

I dont know what is going wrong, but clearly something is. i completed the course 2 weeks ago. last week, 50% of bg levels were >10, this week 50% are >14.... and i cant explain it. It's as if the QA is having >50% less effect. I did get the feeling that the 1:1 ratio I was put on during the course would ultimately need adjusting possibly to 2:1 and so reflect more (but still less than) the insulin levels I was taking previously. But then how to explain the relatively good readings during the DAFNE week? Yes, i am back at a stressful office but my levels were never this consistently high. I have followed the rules for monitoring, not injecting during meals, corrections and adjustments. I'm not overweight or unwell. I know to look for patterns - but the pattern I have is "up" across the board. The best example i can give is yesterday (readings are pre-eating, injections).

14.6 (b/fast), carb-free, QA4 correction. BI20 (up from 18 last week)
9.8 (lunch), 4CP, QA1.5:1, QA1 correction
14 (5.00pm)
11 (supper - 7pm), 8CP QA1.5:1, QA3 correction
16 (10:30pm). 2CP+8QA - simply to try to get the bg down. BI22 (up from 20 last week)

This morning, I'm 18.6 plus ketones.

I didnt wake with a hypo and you can argue that I had one and the figure is a rebound. But I always sensed hypos before. I was changed from Humulin to Levemir during the course - does it tend to mask hypos? I didnt do a 3am test...but I have on other occasions and the bg level was always >12 in the same circumstances so I dont think its hypo, more like hyper.

I followed sick-day rules and at 9;30am it was down to 10 and now at 11:30am its at 7.7. Nothing to eat this morning.

My biggest confusion in all of this is the following: if my bg levels are >14 at bedtime, and I take a QA correction (but no or only up to 2CPs), does the body (a) not release glycogen but simply lets the QA reduce the bg levels, (b) release glycogen to match the QA injected...then why take it, as it will simply keeps levels unchanged?, (c) release more glycogen than is needed - which seems to be what's been happening to me. The other point is whether a reduced carb in-take in the evening causes glycogen to be released. If so, I would have thought that before it is released, you would have hypo symptoms. I'm not doing anything in the evening that requires increased carbs/lower insulin levels - which takes me back to the start of this and thinking that since the course, the QA just isnt responding as well.

Anyone else going through this. Very grateful if anyone has some guidance.
Chris
 
Feb 15, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Whats happening?

The 3am test only confirms your overnight dose which you take in the second half of the day is holding you steady, once your happy your evening dose is holding you steady overnight, you can then move on to your daytime dose, to check this is correct you have to have a carb free meal, that could be breakfast or lunch.


One day you could have a scrambled egg or something so that you don't have any carbs or QA inside you, by next meal time you should be the same as you were before the previous meal...give or take a few mmol...you can try this out a few days just to confirm but if your not holding steady then you need to up or down your BI dose for during the day.......

As soon as this is established you can relax a little and concentrate on your QA doses, and less stress equals better BGs.........and then you can eat as many carbs as you want.......

If you can try and get some diary entries up, its a really good facility......Smile
 
Feb 15, 2011
Jo Penn 24 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Whats happening?

Garry - I feel tired but there is no sign of infection -- my readings have been like this for months..

NRBoi - I have been on the Levemir for a month now.. and started on 23 -23 then 25 - 23 now 25:25
Will do some 3am checks... what other BI checks could I do??

Been on the metformin for 6 months now - cannot tolerate higher doses..

Thanks..
 
Feb 15, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Whats happening?

Hey there, its not nice when we lose track of whats going on, its happened to me a few times......

Just go back to basics, you have made a significant change recently, that being your split background dose. I can almost say with complete certainty that your current 50:50 split wont be correct as its very common for people to have different BI needs during the day than they have at night.

If you could fill out the online diary with as much information we could all give our opinions much easier......I think you should do some BI testing...

I wouldn't worry about the high ratios, I am also on high ratios, hopefully the metformin will be worth it.............maybe try going out for walks, that should help drop your BGs and have an after effect the next couple of hours, this may make you feel better and more motivated to get to the bottom of this.......

 
Feb 15, 2011
novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Drinking

You should never give corrections when going to bed after drinking, with beer you should inject before you have the beer or when having the beer, then snack uncovered..........
 
Feb 15, 2011
jcarney 1 post

Topic: Site Development / DAFNE Online iPhone application - help with content/design needed

Hello,

A thousand thanks for the app. I am in australia too though did DAFNE in ireland. In both places carbohydrates / 100 grams was the measure. CP's are just carbohydrates/grams divided by 10 arent they?

Can you adjust the value by having a multiplier which corresponds to the unit you wish to use? Ie per grams per 100g or g/mL or in CP's (or pounds if you wanted)? This would allow international flexibility.

Expanding the carbohydrate list would be brilliant. Storage volume of databases is minimal and there is lots in the iphone, so my suggestion is a very long and comprehensive list.

Also having a few (30?) entries which you could manually list the name and carbohydrate content would be great. That way for example I can put the sandwiches at work in, the usual pasta that I use, recipes at home... ect. Being a person that eats a good deal of "non standard" food this option would be better than trying to enter it into a central database which from what I understand would need a DAFNE stamp of approval to be associated with the app.

Having said that a wiki style food carbohydrate database philosphically and practically makes the most sense. If that wiki list would have carbohydrate value that could be used by the app and kept in the iphone or updated when needed... that would be perfect.

kind regards,

john

 
Feb 14, 2011
Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Whats happening?

The DAFNE Online diary is so easy to keep. Why not try it?
Without any CP values it's hard to offer any advice. Note your ratios given, but have to admit that I change ratios up and down after establishing a repeating pattern over 2 or 3 days.
How do you feel? Have you any signs of infection?
Like you I am on high ratios but generally manage to keep things under control - except two days before getting a minor infection such as a cold when my insulin resistance seems to change gear!
Following a routine visit last week to my Db clinic, have just started Metformin to try help reduce ratios but no change yet after 6 days. I'll just take it steady and see what happens.
Stick with it and hopefully someone will be able to offer some good advice.

Regards Garry
 
Feb 14, 2011
Mark2 23 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Drinking

Yes I had a similar situation on Saturday night Sunday morning 20th Feb. Nearly didn't make it through actually. Had a lot of beer, followed by a high sugar. Which meant in my pissed state I injected slightly too much insulin. Combined affects of the alcohol, meant I woke up, or nearly didn't, with a sugar of 1.8. Retaining some sense of responsibility when you have had a lot of alcohol is a tough one.

 
Feb 14, 2011
Jo Penn 24 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Whats happening?

Hi there - an update for you all... am now on Levemir 25u am & pm...
Ratios 3:1 Breakfast; Lunch 3:1; Dinner 2.5:1
Corrections are higher than DAFNE rules as insulin resistant.

And its not working - I am stable throughout the day but start at 11.2-14.8 mmols most mornings so stay above 10 most of the day...

My DSN seems to take ages to get back to me; then suggests basal as the problem... I am now on more than pre-DAFNE and gaining weight...

I cannot cope with a low carb diet - and am trying so hard... :-(

Blood Sugar Diary
Time 800 1200 1700 2100
Date CP
01/02/2011 BG 13.6 11.2 8.2 11.2
QA 18+4 12+2 8 4+2
BI 25 25
Time
Date CP
02/02/2011 BG 13.4 12.8 8.4 12.4
QA 18+4 12+2 12 5+2
BI 25 25
Time
Date CP
03/02/2011 BG 12.7 13.6 11.3 5.1
QA 18+4 12+4 12+2 6
BI 25 25
Time
Date CP
04/04/2011 BG 11.5 13.8 18.6 7.4
QA 18+2 9+4 6+10 8
BI 25 25
Time
Date CP
05/02/2011 BG 11.2 10.2 9.9 10.2
QA 18+2 9+2 8.5 +2 5+2
BI 25 25
Time
Date CP
06/02/2011 BG 14.6 12.8 11.1 10.8
QA 9+6 15+2 6+2 2+2
BI 25 25

Sorry its not on DAFNE sheet x

Thanks
 
Feb 14, 2011
Athena 52 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Information on menstrual cycle

hi All,

Good luck with you Jo and trying to get things sorted. I am not on the pill and think that this is probably worse.
However, have you tried taking thepill continuously? Might be dangersous, don't know but that might stop the change in BI's. Might be worth thinking about.
Also, is everyone finding that there are lots of BI's not just 2? I have only got mine sorted for the week of my period and after that it is all hopeless. eventually end up about 10 units more about week 3, but going straing to this dose causes hypos and the step wise approach has me repeating the same wrong doses iover and over again which is really frustrating as you know it won't work.

Just curious if anyone else is finding something similar, or are you all going for one dose at the start of the month and another one fro thenext 3 weeks?
 
Feb 14, 2011
Johnnyw 3 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Drinking

thanks for the help and advice

johnnyw
 
Feb 14, 2011
Simon 578 posts

Topic: DAFNE Online Mobile / Rationale - Please read

Hi inmotion,

The latest release of the app (1.4 - out in the next few weeks) will two way sync in it, as well as the Oz DAFNE Carbs list as an option.

The adding of foods to the carb counter is on the to-do list for future releases - and will add the option of viewing carbs as grams.

Thanks,

Simon