Recent Posts
Search the DAFNE Online Forums
15,849 posts found
|
Nov 18, 2010
linsey ramage
6 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / oz will i be offered a flu jab just emigrated dont no the procedure?how much will it cost? do i really need it? |
|
Nov 18, 2010
linsey ramage
6 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / flu jab hey peeps,just emigrated to oz 5 weeks ago any ideas if i will be offered flu jab here?will i pay for it?whats the cost? do i really need it? |
|
Nov 17, 2010
JayBee
587 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Levemir issues My last HbA1c was 8.5%, or under the new system, IFCC 69mmol/mol. I'm still mainly familiar with HbA1c so the new results system confuses me still - but whatever way I look at it, this was an improvement on my last HbA1c which was above 9%. I went on Levemir towards the end of this result.Try very hard to not over correct - or snack - if you can. Trust me, the results will be worth while in the long run! Once everything is clarified, your freedoms will come back. Don't panic - remember, short term highs won't do you any long term harm. One day of highs can help for more days of good levels. You can do it! ^_^ Also, for a suggestion, how about for each hypo you have, if it's not right before a meal, you only eat 2 fast CPs (tablets, jelly babies, etc) and 2 slow CPs... this is so you don't have to inject more insulin (for example, 13 Nov - you had a hypo over 3 hours before your next meal. To make sure you got what you needed, it would have been better to leave off 2 units off the 5 slow CPs - this is to make sure you recover during the time before your next meal). See the hypos section of the DAFNE booklet (bottom of page 37 to be exact) to see what I'm talking about.  Don't worry if you don't know things - or even forget things about DAFNE - it'll happen (especially when you're having a hypo - logic goes out the window usually for me!) I think if that's the case with the educator, perhaps it's not worth worrying about too much now. If you feel that you weren't being very good with your DAFNE towards the end of using Lantus, how can you be sure that going back is worth it really? I do get you with agreeing with changes very easily though. If only diabetic control was something you could quick fix! ^_^ I'm sure they meant well. It's funny you mention about pumps - I was told that if you're offered a pump at my hospital it's usually because you're not one for controling your sugar levels well. I never want to go on a pump generally and in a way, this statement from my hospital makes me even more determined to get my levels under control! You'll be surprised how much exercise just playing with your little boy will provide! Picking him up for example... that's lifting a weight! That's perfectly fine about trying out the 12 hour markers for the BI doses. I hope it provides some results!  The between meal stuff for things like driving is understandable - I test every time before I drive as well (every diabetic should do). However, its the snacking and insulin taking that's the main problem because you're taking on extra QA. If you start to feel funny, see if you are low rather than just eat something - doing so will help with pattern finding - especially if you find you hypo after lunch or dinner as well (like I did for the 8th November in my first set of copied and pasted results back on page 3 of this thread - I put my morning BI down for this because it affected me during the day). When I was still on Lantus I used to have to snack around 11am but that was because I was taking the incorrect amount of insulin. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that until quite some time after doing DAFNE - the breakfasts I used to eat to compensate were a lot of CPs! I hope something similar is not happening with you... (signs are showing on 14 and 15 Nov results I think). Let's see how we get on... leave it for a few days and post our results together if you like. We can do this, M!
|
|
Nov 17, 2010
andy2209
3 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Abusive posting will not be tolerated Could not agree more |
|
Nov 17, 2010
MelissaF
56 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Levemir issues Hi J,Going to be a fairly quick reply I'm afraid as I'm still at work but thank you so much again for all the info. I'm just going to try and answer a few of your main questions... You're right, I definitely do over-correct. I just panic with the levels too high but I'm really going to try not to. My educator didn't really give me a reason for trying Levemir. She just thought that it "might help". My control was bad at the time but that was because I wasn't being a very good girl with my DAFNE. The harder I try with it, the more results I see obviously. I've been asking her for clearer reasons why she thinks it's the better option but the "flexibility" one is all that I have at the moment. I agreed to the change because you will agree to anything that might make your diabetes more managable don't you? (except maybe a pump!) I mailed her again today actually with more questions based on all this info but I haven't heard back yet. Exercise doesn't really apply to me I'm afraid. My little boy is hard work but it's not really strenous exercise and I don't do anything else (yes, I know I should). I genuinely didn't realise about the 12 hour gap with the Levemir. Novorapidboi told me about it so I've been doing it for the last 2 days. No result yet but we shall see. Sometimes I do blood tests between meals because (a) I'm driving or (b) I feel odd. I understand that it's not going to give me a good picture of my patterns but for something like driving I really have to. I should probably just test before meals and ignore the other results. A few days ago I tested at 16 before I left work and tested again a little while later before eating with a friend and it had dropped to 5.6 in 45 minutes! When you're pregnant you have to test before meals and then within an hour after eating (it should have dropped to below 8 within that hour - hah!). I think, because I've got pregnancy on my mind at the moment I think about that quite a lot as well even though I don't need to be testing like that at the moment. The extras I eat in between meals are sometimes snacks and sometimes just thinks like a latte (2 units!). I guess I should do without them for the sake of the exercise really - you're right. Looking back at your points I think that one of the main points you make is that I'm a bit jumbled with my eating and treatments and not very consistant with anything. I think that you're absolutely right. I think that part of it is panic at feeling like I've got a limited time to get it sorted. I think I just need to take some deep breaths and re-evaluate. What was your HbA1c the last time you had it tested if you don't mind my asking? M |
|
Nov 17, 2010
JayBee
587 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Levemir issues Look! Consistantly around 10! Finally a pattern - and all it took was me doing no corrections and having nothing between meals lol! ^_^Considering the slight raise over night, I will make my first change putting one more unit on my Evening BI and leaving it for two days (unless I hypo). Melissa - do you notice how I'm high between the 10s? My QA insulin is still working during those times. Even when I do my evening blood test, I know my QA from dinner won't run out until at least 11.30pm. I will be doing a test around 3am to see how I get on over night tonight. *giggles* Oh noes! It's Mr Pendantic!  I'm not sure I agree with you Marke about exercise because my DAFNE nurse (JJPAG on here) made a point of it to me when I was trying to determine why I had a high so long after the exercise. She said that the high would not have been a result of the exercise (we're talking 4+ hours here) because it stops effecting your body after about 2 hours. Why would we be told different things? :/ Maybe it's more down to how well your body responds to exercise.. I mean, someone who doesn't exercise as much won't respond to their insulin in the same way as someone who does exercise a lot. Does that make sense? I think we covered this in my last DAFNE group meet back in August too. On another thought - perhaps what kind of exercise you do is also a factor? eg, How strenuous... |
|
Nov 17, 2010
marke
681 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Levemir issues Sorry to be Mr Pendantic, but exercise can affect your BG for upto 24 hours not 2 hours ! If for example you do exercise in the evening it can still affect your insulin needs the following morning. I know this is true because it used to happen to me a lot when I went to the Gym inthe evenings.... I agree with the rest of the post though :-) |
|
Nov 17, 2010
JayBee
587 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Levemir issues Hiya M, ^_^I've had quite an interesting day with my sugar levels today! Once I've replied, I will get them typed up and I'll post you them! Considering it's also taken into consideration as a BI in the DAFNE book, I'm sure Levemir is a well established insulin. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been around for longer than Lantus!I put up for Lantus for years before changing, so I don't exactly share the same view when it comes to something like 5 months being a deadline for a decision. It can be difficult to work out a new insulin's doses, especially when old habits are involved - so it can take a long time to adjust. It will be unpredictable because it's a different insulin - don't forget that. You need to work out the puzzle of Levemir. I'm trying to think of some more suggetions here to help you get back on track.... I know... I'll quote a few things you've said...
These I can understand. It gets complicated when there's an over lap and there is times when I wonder if I should have put up both doses at the same time, but often my DAFNE team remind me that I need to do one change at a time. Once you understand where your over lap is - if you have one - you'll be able to work out what dose you need to adjust. For example - if I was sitting on a high almost every day in the afternoon - it would either be my morning BI or possibly time for me to look at my lunch time ratio. Once you've applied a change, unless you hypo, you should leave it a few days because you need to give your body time to adjust to the new dose. I also need to clarify something (another quote):
What was the exact reason your educator gave you the original suggestion to go to Levemir? Why did you agree with this change at the time? I was put on to Levemir because it an insulin that has been designed to be an split dose and I understand the benefits to a certain extend because (as I mentioned already) I feel it works at a different "strength" to Lantus. This does allow for more flexibility I think, but this is just my opinion based on my experiences with both insulins. I feel Levemir noticably gives me more freedom when it comes to adjusting my doses (yep, despite the annoying highs and lows!) Also - How much strenuous exercise do you get now with your lil' boy? Do you plan for this exercise? If you are running around like a loon with them, take into consideration that my may need to eat extra or if it's planned, look at taking off a unit or two (depending on your blood sugar levels - please see the DAFNE guidebook for what I mean) before you get going. Simply doing this can help stop hypos and keep your body stable. You mention about weight gain - effective exercise planning and taking a few units off at a meal can help you exercise it off because not only do you work your muscles, but you don't have to eat extra CPs for the exercise! I found this hard to understand at first but when you exercise, your insulin is used much better and as a result, if you don't compensate for it, it results in hypos or even highs. So if you eat something, like 2 CPs because your bloods are around 5 or 6, before exercise, don't worry about the insulin - based on the DAFNE exercise rules, you should be a-okay afterwards! Also, don't forget that exercise can affect your body for up to two hours afterwards - this was something else I didn't understand for some time as well - and I love exercise!  I often find that if I shoot up high after some exercise, my body responds quite quickly to insulin so it's best not to inject it until the exercise period is over... if you see karaway's post on this thread it roughly explains what happens and why you can potentially hypo if you inject after exercising! It's a shame I haven't a clue about having children and the affect it has. I understand your concern with getting things on track but remember you're not pregnant yet... I mean, you're not right? Look at one thing at a time... don't stress yourself out with worry with future possibilities, okay? I had similar worries with me learning how to drive currently - everything will be fine, just concentrate on the present for now. You can do this. Okay - Looking at your results that you posted on page 1 of this thread, let's try and break this down... (I'm going to have to base it on my DAFNE stuff okay? Let's see how this looks!) You tend to inject your evening BI between 10pm and 11pm. This is fair enough - an hour is a reasonable time frame in my books - I exercise this myself. (Based on my 16 hours) this may run out around 2pm - 3pm the next day. You inject your morning BI between 7am and 9am - if possible, try to shrink this gap down because consistanty will help you. (Based on my 16 hours) this may run out anywhere between 11pm and 1am. Looking that the BI stuff, as long as Levemir works between 13 - 18 hours, you're pretty much covered! If you are worried that you might be at 12 hours, I would speak to your DAFNE team on how you can go about finding this out. I found out the hard way with Lantus (with it clearly letting me down in the afternoon after 2pm)... I'm still not 100% sure if Levemir does, but I've yet to see any major gaps to have any doubts. Hmmm, I've just realised that you've made two consecutive changes to your BI and not given it a few days to see the full picture. Try not to do this if you make any more changes, mmkay? Right, so meal ratios.... all are 1:1... Hmmmm.... Why do you eat so long after you blood test? (The 11am and then eating with no blood test at 13.45) Your sugar levels can potentially change in that time frame. This is why it's better to test before the meal. I also see that on some of those days, you've been eating extra in the morning between break fast and lunch - how are you feeling when you do this? Feeling spells of hypo potential or just a genuine snack? If it's snack - look at possibly going with out them for a week or two considering it means there is insulin still on board when it comes to your lunchtime - in other words, insulin that is distorting the patterns. I'll leave it at this for now... how are you feeling about this feedback? Keep your chin up, M.
|
|
Nov 17, 2010
JayBee
587 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast We should do a charity morning featuring carb free breakfasts at this rate lol. XD |
|
Nov 17, 2010
Sbee1980
7 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast Yes I agree omlettes are lovely for breakfast, add some mushrooms, ham or spinach & you'll not be hungry for ages!! Also egg and bacon - if you can handle missing out the bread!
|
|
Nov 17, 2010
Adrian_Hill
8 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / McD's I also found out the KFC also print info on the back of tray papers. Found this out when I asked for carb info at the counter. |
|
Nov 17, 2010
MelissaF
56 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Levemir issues Hi J,Thank you so much for all of this. I really appreciate your help and feedback. It's interesting that the Levemir seems to be having similar effects on you. I did a bit more research on other websites yesterday (by Googling Lantus/Levemir comparison) and, although there were plenty of people for whom Levemir was working well, I also found several posts from people saying that they'd been experiencing the same problems - unpredictability, lack of patterns and extreme highs and lows - particularly very high levels on waking. I'm just wondering if it works for a lot of people but not for some and I happen to be one of the some. We've been using it for about the same amount of time (I started the Levemir in July 2010) and I think that 5 months is long enough to try something with no success to be honest. I've been diabetic for 22 years, so same as you again, although I didn't develop it until I was 15. To be honest I don't find that the time of the month has too much effect on my levels but I had enormous problems during my pregnancy. I'm not sure whether the insulin resistance that you develop is caused by hormonal changes, weight gain, a combination of both or something completely different. If I am lucky enough to get pregnant again I can't for the life of me imagine being able to cope with it with the experiences that I'm having on the Levemir at the moment. I have been in email contact with my DAFNE team but I've just changed to a new team so I haven't known them that long. Although they're very good about replying to my questions, their opinion is that I should keep trying with the Levemir and, unless someone can give me a really good reason why this is the best option for me, I'm beginnning to think that maybe I shouldn't. |
|
Nov 17, 2010
grandma carol
61 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Help with BI Phoned the DAFNE educater today and I am still wating for her to get back to me I have no one that I can get intouch with I have no apoinments for anybody I just seem to be left to get on with it myself |
|
Nov 17, 2010
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Help with BI Is this the CGM your waiting for, that should give you some answers...Its either that or take it in the morning, then during the night when your most sensitive to iinsulin, the background should be on its last legs... Chase them up, the quicker you get things sorted the better... |
|
Nov 17, 2010
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast Im hungry for eggs now.............
|
|
Nov 17, 2010
JayBee
587 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast Omelettes make a nice option for any time of day.
|
|
Nov 17, 2010
Heather B
20 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast You could have scrambled egg (made without milk) and bacon. |
|
Nov 17, 2010
grandma carol
61 posts
|
Topic: Questions for HCPs / Help with BI Thanks novorapidboi26 I was thinking that but will I have to speek to Dafne educator first about doing that I dont have any apointments for her or the Doctor I was told just to wate untill she phoned me about the blood moniter and she would get in touch when I had to go back. Ill see if I can get hold of her and ask thank you |
|
Nov 17, 2010
vic demain
87 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Abusive posting will not be tolerated People should be encouraged to post under their own names. |
|
Nov 17, 2010
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast also a good choice...... |
|
Nov 17, 2010
novorapidboi26
1,819 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / App Thats great news caroline.........long may it continue.... |
|
Nov 17, 2010
meltow
78 posts
|
Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Carb Free Breakfast Boiled eggs, without the soldiers? |
|
Nov 17, 2010
chixystix
10 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Flu jab - just curious i have it most years though i'm a bit disorganised and sometimes forget and it's never done me any harm. Flu jab definitely doesn't last for life. You're supposed to have one every year (in october / november) as it always targets whatever specific strain of flu is about that year and it changes constantly. All diabetics are supposed to have it. M x |
|
Nov 17, 2010
MelissaF
56 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Levemir versus Lantus Thanks Paul.Personally I've found that my BG readings on the Levemir have been really variable and much harder to predict than they were when I was on the Lantus. I've had real problems with very high early morning readings and far more extreme highs and lows. I was just wondering whether anyone else had experienced anything similar? I'm really tempted just to switch back to the Lantus again but I want to get my facts straight first. |
|
Nov 17, 2010
bangers
6 posts
|
Topic: General Discussion / Levemir versus Lantus The main difference I have seen is that people on one injection of Lantus per day who have found that the Lantus does not last the full 24 hours have benefited from 2 injections of Levemir but I would welcome any other opinions.Paul |