Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Aug 14, 2017

Brumfoodie 10 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Should Beetroot be counted?

Hi
Very late comment. I eat a lot of beetroot as I grow it and I don't count the carbs in it. It's a vegetable so"free" IMHO. Seems to work for me especially as it's often paired with cheese that would slow down the absorption of carbs into my blood stream.

Aug 14, 2017

DianeN 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / Exercise

I've just completed the dafne course last week and am just trying to put everything I have learnt into practice. Can anyone give me advice regarding how exercise affects your levels. I understand the principle of giving less insulin but would like to know more about how it affects you the following day etc

Aug 14, 2017

michaelj 45 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries

Sorry for the delay in response to your enquiry. I have to be honest and say that I do not use the dafne diary but have made one of my own. I would just work out the total carbs for the meal whatever the food and enter this as a number of portions so whether it's bread, potatoes, biscuits, sausage, rice or any other carb, you should still end up with a total figure, which you can then relate to the amount of insulin you need depending on the ratio you use. An evening meal for me for example could be 2 portions potatoe, 1 portion yorkshire pud, 1 banana = 2 portions and an apple = 1 portion. total for the meal is 6 portions and on a ratio of 1.5 -1 that would be 9 units Novorapid. Hope this helps.

Aug 11, 2017

Brumfoodie 10 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / How much should BG rise or fall after a carbohydrate free meal?

Hi
I've forgotten how much blood glucose should rise or fall after a carb free meal when checking BI dosage. I tend to be more active during the spring and early summer (injecting 6 units of Levemir night and morning) and think it's time to up the BI dose to 7 as my blood sugars are getting higher but can't remember the maximum variations - and can't find the information in my DAFNE course booklet

Peta

Aug 11, 2017

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries

I don't actually keep a diary now believe it or not.....

This is down to having my pump set up with the right basal rates and bolus ratios......

I do enter my carbs/food items into myfitness pal app/website in order to get the total but don't need any diary anymore, unless of course I notice a need to adjust my dose somewhere, then a quick 3 days of result would be noted down somewhere....

Aug 11, 2017

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Snacks Between Meals

Hi Gill,

Hope you're feeling better....

I don't feel guilty of snacking in between meals no, I only really get that opportunity at the weekend though....

Most of the time I do inject or in my case bolus with the pump.....the pump makes it easier to snack as you can see.....lol..

I would always try and have something light in carbs if I feel the need to snack but I certainly do have times where I don't bother and I suffer later...

Aug 8, 2017

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Snacks Between Meals

Hi,
Do you feel guilty of snacking between meals & do you inject if you eat a snack over 10g in between meals?

Aug 7, 2017

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries

Hi,
Thank you very much for your reply.
please can you tell me how you set this out in your BG diary

'I don't break down the food value as to what I've eaten, just the total carb amount for the meal'

Aug 6, 2017

Bananaman 34 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Dosage auto-calculation in apps

What if there was an official Dafne page on Facebook, could someone anonymously be able to create a hack for people to download/install on their phones to allow auto calculation?

Aug 6, 2017

Bananaman 34 posts

Topic: Site Development / results graphs

Try looking at the Freestyle optium neo software or even better the Freestyle Libre which is expensive but free for a reader and two sensors from some hospital clinics, it uses the same test strips as the neo for blood glucose/ketone tests, you only pay for the sensors

Aug 6, 2017

michaelj 45 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries

I usually do four entries each day with time, carbohydrate portion, blood glucose and then insulin amount. This is usually enough information to see how things are going for me. I don't break down the food value as to what I've eaten, just the total carb amount for the meal.

Aug 6, 2017

mum2westiesGill 502 posts

Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries

Hi,
What do other people do re writing down food entries in your BG diary. Do you write a food entry in every comment of your diary?

Aug 5, 2017

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Anxiety / Stress and Dose Adjustment

From my limited knowledge I have heard tha when adrenaline is released, your system assumes that additional energy is about to be needed and triggers the release of glucagon from the liver - so your BG rises.

Aug 4, 2017

CoreyLewisA 1 post

Topic: Questions for HCPs / High Sugars in the morning / Pins and Needles in foot.

Hi, I am looking for any advice to be honest as I am starting to get really down and depressed about this whole situation.

I have been type 1 diabetic for 4 and a half years and I completed the DAFNE course 4 weeks ago. Previous to the course I was on 24 Lantus before bed and was recommended by my nurse to be put on Levimer. Since being put on Levimer I started on 12 at night, 12 in morning, however this dosage has increased significantly from 12 at night to 24 at night and 18 in the morning, this being because every morning I wake up with minimum of 16-20mmol blood sugars EVERY SINGLE MORNING.

Which is frustrating as I consider to almost master carb counting as after spending almost half of my day trying to correct these high sugars I am keeping on top and keeping them in the DAFNE range.

However, For the past 9-10 days everyday I have had pins and needles in my foot and leg and sharp pain in my foot and top of my leg when I walk. My Diabetic nurse who is now on holiday told me to ring the diabetes centre to sort out a pump if needed, I have been ringing and trying for the past 4 days and asking to speak to a pump nurse and nobody is calling me back, after hounding and pestering them 3-4 times a day.

It has also got to point where I rang 111 3 days ago and when I visited somebody in A&E they told me to carry on taking paracetomol, which does nothing, I felt like she was just trying to get rid of me.

I visited my doctors yesterday who also told me to carry on taking paracetomol.

I am really struggling and getting really depressed from this.

Please does anybody have any suggestions or advice.

Thanks

Aug 3, 2017

Deadly 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Anxiety / Stress and Dose Adjustment

Hi All, my job changed just a couple of weeks ago so that I regularly find myself in positions where I am suffering from anxiety, and I notice that at the times of high anxiety my BG rises. What is the best way to deal with this? Does adrenaline cause your BG to fall sharply a bit later as much as it causes it to rise? Should I increase my quick acting insulin to cover it or my background nasal?

If you have nay ideas please let me know.

Thanks, David

Jul 31, 2017

JayBee 587 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Campaigning Against Hospitals Dropping DAFNE

To update on the situation in East Norfolk - the Diabetes Intermediate Service that the CCG has put in place to replace DAFNE is in fact a service designed for patients with Type 2 Diabetes, not Type 1 Diabetes. My GP has referred me at least three times now to this service and I'm being rejected because I'm not the right type.

I guess patients with Type 1 Diabetes just do not matter in East Norfolk? The DAFNE service has been replaced with NOTHING.

Jul 29, 2017

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity

Thanks for the replies - very useful.

Jul 29, 2017

PAR 2 posts

Topic: Site Development / Time settings

It's annoying isn't it, the time seems to stay at GMT. I use the software on my iPad and it's the same. Either have to remember during summer time or change it with every entry.

Jul 27, 2017

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin sensitivity is simply how well your body responds to insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is a result of low insulin sensitivity - high blood sugars are a result of more insulin being required to carry the blood glucose into cells. There are a number of factors that can cause this - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_2#Cause

At the other end of the spectrum, high insulin sensitivity means that a small amount of insulin converts a larger amount of blood glucose into cells, leading to lower blood glucose levels. There are also a number of factors that influence this such as body mass composition, exercise, fasting, seasons of the year, ability to sleep well, and diet.

Jul 26, 2017

alturn 78 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity

I am not aware of any definition of "sensitivity", so as usual it's in the eye of the user.

As a user, I would define high sensitivity if your QA ratios are low eg 0.5:1 or 1:1 (units of insulin to counteract 1 CP of carbs), and your BI is low. I thought I saw some entries where ratios were given as even less but my meter only works in 0.5 increments. Conversely, I would say ratios of 2.5:1 or 3:1 indicate less sensitivity.

But sensitivity can vary for each meal time (mine are 2:1, 1.5:1 and 2.5:1 and even 2.5:1 seems much too low sometimes as often high at bedtime and can drop a lot overnight). So this makes it all more complicated.

High sensitivity means a small change in units can lead to a large change in BG, so possibly more prone to low and high BG levels. Less sensitivity means it may be more difficult to get BG levels down if high.

Tried to keep it simple, hope it helps,

J

Jul 26, 2017

Alan 49 284 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity

Can someone please explain - in simple terms - what this is and what effects it can have.

Jul 26, 2017

Warwick 425 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Wits end

If you can share your diary, then we can make some suggestions. First off, compare your before bed and waking readings. If you are regularly waking up higher than when you go to bed, then take a look at increasing your basal insulin - 1 unit or 10 %, then wait three days to observe any changes before making any further adjustments.

Frustrating I know. I find that low-carb does make it a lot easier for me to control my blood sugars, but every now and again my insulin sensitivity takes a dive, or goes the other way without rhyme or reason and I need to adjust basal and insulin ratios all over again.

And as mentioned previously in this thread, some T1Ds (myself among them) find that protein needs to be accounted for when dosing when having a low carb meal.

Jul 22, 2017

derekh1965 95 posts

Topic: Site Development / Time settings

Hi,
my time i stil a houir behind and has been since the time change and it is nothing to do with my PC clock.

Jul 21, 2017

JayBee 587 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Libre

Yeah, the inaccuracy of the Libre is why you can't use a result from it for before driving. Stay safe.

Aug 14, 2017 Brumfoodie 10 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Should Beetroot be counted? Hi Very late comment. I eat a lot of beetroot as I grow it and I don't count the carbs in it. It's a vegetable so"free" IMHO. Seems to work for me especially as it's often paired with cheese that would slow down the absorption of carbs into my blood stream.

Aug 14, 2017 DianeN 1 post	Topic: General Discussion / Exercise I've just completed the dafne course last week and am just trying to put everything I have learnt into practice. Can anyone give me advice regarding how exercise affects your levels. I understand the principle of giving less insulin but would like to know more about how it affects you the following day etc

Aug 14, 2017 michaelj 45 posts	Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries Sorry for the delay in response to your enquiry. I have to be honest and say that I do not use the dafne diary but have made one of my own. I would just work out the total carbs for the meal whatever the food and enter this as a number of portions so whether it's bread, potatoes, biscuits, sausage, rice or any other carb, you should still end up with a total figure, which you can then relate to the amount of insulin you need depending on the ratio you use. An evening meal for me for example could be 2 portions potatoe, 1 portion yorkshire pud, 1 banana = 2 portions and an apple = 1 portion. total for the meal is 6 portions and on a ratio of 1.5 -1 that would be 9 units Novorapid. Hope this helps.

Aug 11, 2017 Brumfoodie 10 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / How much should BG rise or fall after a carbohydrate free meal? Hi I've forgotten how much blood glucose should rise or fall after a carb free meal when checking BI dosage. I tend to be more active during the spring and early summer (injecting 6 units of Levemir night and morning) and think it's time to up the BI dose to 7 as my blood sugars are getting higher but can't remember the maximum variations - and can't find the information in my DAFNE course booklet Peta

Aug 11, 2017 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries I don't actually keep a diary now believe it or not..... This is down to having my pump set up with the right basal rates and bolus ratios...... I do enter my carbs/food items into myfitness pal app/website in order to get the total but don't need any diary anymore, unless of course I notice a need to adjust my dose somewhere, then a quick 3 days of result would be noted down somewhere....

Aug 11, 2017 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Snacks Between Meals Hi Gill, Hope you're feeling better.... I don't feel guilty of snacking in between meals no, I only really get that opportunity at the weekend though.... Most of the time I do inject or in my case bolus with the pump.....the pump makes it easier to snack as you can see.....lol.. I would always try and have something light in carbs if I feel the need to snack but I certainly do have times where I don't bother and I suffer later...

Aug 8, 2017 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Snacks Between Meals Hi, Do you feel guilty of snacking between meals & do you inject if you eat a snack over 10g in between meals?

Aug 7, 2017 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries Hi, Thank you very much for your reply. please can you tell me how you set this out in your BG diary 'I don't break down the food value as to what I've eaten, just the total carb amount for the meal'

Aug 6, 2017 Bananaman 34 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Dosage auto-calculation in apps What if there was an official Dafne page on Facebook, could someone anonymously be able to create a hack for people to download/install on their phones to allow auto calculation?

Aug 6, 2017 Bananaman 34 posts	Topic: Site Development / results graphs Try looking at the Freestyle optium neo software or even better the Freestyle Libre which is expensive but free for a reader and two sensors from some hospital clinics, it uses the same test strips as the neo for blood glucose/ketone tests, you only pay for the sensors

Aug 6, 2017 michaelj 45 posts	Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries I usually do four entries each day with time, carbohydrate portion, blood glucose and then insulin amount. This is usually enough information to see how things are going for me. I don't break down the food value as to what I've eaten, just the total carb amount for the meal.

Aug 6, 2017 mum2westiesGill 502 posts	Topic: General Discussion / BG diary food entries Hi, What do other people do re writing down food entries in your BG diary. Do you write a food entry in every comment of your diary?

Aug 5, 2017 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Anxiety / Stress and Dose Adjustment From my limited knowledge I have heard tha when adrenaline is released, your system assumes that additional energy is about to be needed and triggers the release of glucagon from the liver - so your BG rises.

Aug 4, 2017 CoreyLewisA 1 post	Topic: Questions for HCPs / High Sugars in the morning / Pins and Needles in foot. Hi, I am looking for any advice to be honest as I am starting to get really down and depressed about this whole situation. I have been type 1 diabetic for 4 and a half years and I completed the DAFNE course 4 weeks ago. Previous to the course I was on 24 Lantus before bed and was recommended by my nurse to be put on Levimer. Since being put on Levimer I started on 12 at night, 12 in morning, however this dosage has increased significantly from 12 at night to 24 at night and 18 in the morning, this being because every morning I wake up with minimum of 16-20mmol blood sugars EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Which is frustrating as I consider to almost master carb counting as after spending almost half of my day trying to correct these high sugars I am keeping on top and keeping them in the DAFNE range. However, For the past 9-10 days everyday I have had pins and needles in my foot and leg and sharp pain in my foot and top of my leg when I walk. My Diabetic nurse who is now on holiday told me to ring the diabetes centre to sort out a pump if needed, I have been ringing and trying for the past 4 days and asking to speak to a pump nurse and nobody is calling me back, after hounding and pestering them 3-4 times a day. It has also got to point where I rang 111 3 days ago and when I visited somebody in A&E they told me to carry on taking paracetomol, which does nothing, I felt like she was just trying to get rid of me. I visited my doctors yesterday who also told me to carry on taking paracetomol. I am really struggling and getting really depressed from this. Please does anybody have any suggestions or advice. Thanks

Aug 3, 2017 Deadly 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Anxiety / Stress and Dose Adjustment Hi All, my job changed just a couple of weeks ago so that I regularly find myself in positions where I am suffering from anxiety, and I notice that at the times of high anxiety my BG rises. What is the best way to deal with this? Does adrenaline cause your BG to fall sharply a bit later as much as it causes it to rise? Should I increase my quick acting insulin to cover it or my background nasal? If you have nay ideas please let me know. Thanks, David

Jul 31, 2017 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Campaigning Against Hospitals Dropping DAFNE To update on the situation in East Norfolk - the Diabetes Intermediate Service that the CCG has put in place to replace DAFNE is in fact a service designed for patients with Type 2 Diabetes, not Type 1 Diabetes. My GP has referred me at least three times now to this service and I'm being rejected because I'm not the right type. I guess patients with Type 1 Diabetes just do not matter in East Norfolk? The DAFNE service has been replaced with NOTHING.

Jul 29, 2017 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity Thanks for the replies - very useful.

Jul 29, 2017 PAR 2 posts	Topic: Site Development / Time settings It's annoying isn't it, the time seems to stay at GMT. I use the software on my iPad and it's the same. Either have to remember during summer time or change it with every entry.

Jul 27, 2017 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity Insulin sensitivity is simply how well your body responds to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is a result of low insulin sensitivity - high blood sugars are a result of more insulin being required to carry the blood glucose into cells. There are a number of factors that can cause this - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_2#Cause At the other end of the spectrum, high insulin sensitivity means that a small amount of insulin converts a larger amount of blood glucose into cells, leading to lower blood glucose levels. There are also a number of factors that influence this such as body mass composition, exercise, fasting, seasons of the year, ability to sleep well, and diet.

Jul 26, 2017 alturn 78 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity I am not aware of any definition of "sensitivity", so as usual it's in the eye of the user. As a user, I would define high sensitivity if your QA ratios are low eg 0.5:1 or 1:1 (units of insulin to counteract 1 CP of carbs), and your BI is low. I thought I saw some entries where ratios were given as even less but my meter only works in 0.5 increments. Conversely, I would say ratios of 2.5:1 or 3:1 indicate less sensitivity. But sensitivity can vary for each meal time (mine are 2:1, 1.5:1 and 2.5:1 and even 2.5:1 seems much too low sometimes as often high at bedtime and can drop a lot overnight). So this makes it all more complicated. High sensitivity means a small change in units can lead to a large change in BG, so possibly more prone to low and high BG levels. Less sensitivity means it may be more difficult to get BG levels down if high. Tried to keep it simple, hope it helps, J

Jul 26, 2017 Alan 49 284 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Insulin Sensitivity Can someone please explain - in simple terms - what this is and what effects it can have.

Jul 26, 2017 Warwick 425 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Wits end If you can share your diary, then we can make some suggestions. First off, compare your before bed and waking readings. If you are regularly waking up higher than when you go to bed, then take a look at increasing your basal insulin - 1 unit or 10 %, then wait three days to observe any changes before making any further adjustments. Frustrating I know. I find that low-carb does make it a lot easier for me to control my blood sugars, but every now and again my insulin sensitivity takes a dive, or goes the other way without rhyme or reason and I need to adjust basal and insulin ratios all over again. And as mentioned previously in this thread, some T1Ds (myself among them) find that protein needs to be accounted for when dosing when having a low carb meal.

Jul 22, 2017 derekh1965 95 posts	Topic: Site Development / Time settings Hi, my time i stil a houir behind and has been since the time change and it is nothing to do with my PC clock.

Jul 21, 2017 JayBee 587 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Libre Yeah, the inaccuracy of the Libre is why you can't use a result from it for before driving. Stay safe.