Recent Posts

I don't get to deep with it. I dont put it in a category. I dont see is as anything more than my life and thats it. I don't like to be labelled.

After 15 years I can honestly say when soemone asks me what it is like to be diabetic I can't really answer it. To me its like asking someone what its like to have size 8 feet or brown hair.

Aug 4, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Humilin I and morning sugars

Thanks for the insight....I will try takking at bedtime (26) and then in the morning (17).

As you can see I am on quite alot of insulin, well to me anyway. This probably being down to being overweight as well as being a big guy in general.

So I dont really want to increase my intake of insulin, but if it needs to be done, it need to be done..

Will keep you posted........

Aug 4, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

It was the same in my class, there were ppl who were diabetic for 30 years, but they still didnt know the ins and outs......

Now that you know your stuff you couldnt be better equipped to investigate whats happening with your sugars and how to combat them.....it took me ages to finally get a hold of them, and several different insulins with different peaks and troughs...bla bla bla.......and i am still not perfect..but thats ok.......

Hope to hear from you soon....

Aug 4, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

I understood the point, but I beleive that it is not an inconvenience, its been 11 years now and I dont think claire has been diagnosed that long, but it does become part of life, so much so it becomes normal....its all in the mind.....

Aug 4, 2010

Simon 578 posts

Hi Karl,

Not sure on price as yet... As I say we (the DAFNE Online team) would like to keep it free if at all possible.

Simon

Aug 3, 2010

meltow 78 posts

Not for me, thank you. Not certain what an app is, or where I find one, or what I do with it.

Off to get back into my cardboard box!

Aug 3, 2010

Judith23 7 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Loss of Hypo warning signs

Thanks for the advice and support. I managed to get hold of my HCP yesterday and she gave me some good advice to get warning signs back. Run my levels to the top of dafne targets for the next few weeks and then if they still haven't returned run them slightly higher. I have got to keep an eye on my night-time sugars though and make sure I'm not going hypo then as that could ruin all my hard work.

So far so good - will let you know how I get on. Feeling more confident about it all now - and know I can get everything back to normal, and rid myself of that scary 'lack of' sensation - and hopefully relax and enjoy my holiday a bit more when I jet off on Saturday!

Aug 3, 2010

Karl 83 posts

Hi

Do you have an idea of a price?

Aug 3, 2010

claireadams 12 posts

HAha exactly Alan! Thankyou... thats right, i wouldnt say it was a "disease" but more of a 'dis-ease', and i dont know anyone who would say it wasnt an inconvenience.

Aug 3, 2010

Simon 578 posts

Hi all,

Well the DAFNE Online iPhone app is ready - however we've hit a small problem. The DAFNE Central team aren't keen on releasing the carb list in 'app' form without users paying for it. We're campaigning for it to be a free app, and whether we will be allowed to distribute the carbs list in an app for free will be decided at a DAFNE Executive meeting on 30th September.

As we don't want to keep you waiting for another 2 months or more - I'd like to get your opinion on the best course of action.

As it stands we could release the app, which allows you to enter and view your DAFNE Diary entries, as well as uploading these entries to your DAFNE Online account so that you can view them in graphical form and share with other users. You can also specify your own targets within the app, and BG results are colour coded according to those targets. Although the carbs list is implemented, we would have to lock it out and simply provide a link to the online carbs list we have here, until the DAFNE Executive make their decision.

Option two - we can wait until after september 30th for a decision from the DAFNE Executive as to whether the carbs list can be in a free version of the app. If the answer is no, we will create two versions of the app - one a paid for version containing the carbs list on your iPhone, the other without the carbs list, but for free.

Apologies for the complication - it is out of our hands at the moment, however your opinions on the above options would be gratefully received.

Answers on a postcard please (or just reply to this topic ;) )

Aug 3, 2010

Simon Heller 46 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Humilin I and morning sugars

Hi. Actually your suggestion that you give your BI at bedtime is the right idea since as you say you want to have some background insulin still around when you wake up. You probably won't need to move the time of your morning BI. One of the problems with Humulin I is that the peak (around 4 hours on average but it varies hugely both between people and even when the same person gives it) may be too early and so increasing the dose, even at bedtime may still give you hypos in the night. If this does happen then you might be better off switching back to Levemir (given at the same time, although you often need slightly higher doses). If you still have problems then a pump may be the best solution as the background infusion rate is totally variable through the night and you can increase at 4am to prevent your glucose rising first thing. Simon

Aug 3, 2010

claireadams 12 posts

Thankyou so much guys! I think where i have just spent a whole week with 10 other type 1's in a classroom, its kind of hard getting used to be thrown back out to a world where noone understands. (Although, like i said my brother has had type 1 since age 7... im not saying it was easy for him because i wouldnt swap with him, but he had our parents to do everything for him because he was a child and learnt to live with it. Whereas i got it through gestation and it never went away- slow onset type 1).

When i was diagnosed with gestational diabetes i wasnt too worried about it, my bg levels were perfect and my consultants were really pleased, but i could do it because i thought it was only for 9 months and it was for the sake of my precious unborn baby. Im so desperate to have more children and cant until my Hba1c is 6-8 because of the risks to the baby. Just before i did the dafne course my results were 10% but that was 6 weeks ago and my blood sugar has been repeatedly high, but especially since i finished the course. My meter reads HI quite a bit in the last few days (i still test my blood a lot). Having and eating disorder does not help the diabetes situation but i am getting help for that and it is getting better. I am glad my Hba1c went down 6% but after the last 6 weeks its probably gone up to 16% again!

Ive been through some tough things and ive always thought i was fine with being diabetic and now 4 years later and after doing dafne ive found out im obviously not! I dont feel sorry for myself as such, i just feel like crap everyday because of my high sugar levels and i really AM trying, but its just not good enough. If i cant get my bg down so i can have a baby i will never do it!

Thanks everyone for replying, i really appreciate it

Aug 3, 2010

marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Exhaustion

Helen,
I think you need a chat with a Diabetes Consultant. I tend to agree with others I don't think Diabetes should cause the tiredness problems you have, however only a consultant can answer questions like that and provide a proper diagnosis. Personally I am really lucky and see an excellent consultant at my hospital who seems to know everything even vaguely diabetes related and is happy to have 'long' chats aboout any problems I might be having. It sounds as if it is what you need. You sound like you have a number of issues not all of which are necessarily diabetes related. I personnally think you need to talk to the hospital again, tell them all the things you have posted on here and hopefully they will have some suggestions.
We can all offer opinions but I think you need expert as well as 'lay' help with your problems.

Aug 3, 2010

marke 686 posts

I would echo most of what novarapidiboi26 says, apart from how long denial should last. There is no set time for denial I don't think, you can come out of it and go back to it. I'm lucky in that I just 'accepted' it and mostly I'm good, but hey we are all bad sometimes right ? life would be too boring otherwise. A few bad days is not going to cause any long term damage, better maybe to get it out of your system than let it build up. I agree you need to focus on the positive, your HBa1C is down 6% !! OK so its still not ideal but its much, much better and if you keep going in the right direction you WILL get there eventually.
I'm sure others will add their experiences of denial, thats what the site is for, sharing experiences just like the course itself. We are all here to help each other and hopefully stick to the DAFNE principles (most of the time ;^) )

Aug 3, 2010

Alan 49 284 posts

I think you've both missed the point of Claire's clever play on the word 'disease'. She's not saying that it's a disease but more of an inconvenience. That's my interpretation of her comment. anyway.

Alan

Aug 3, 2010

toni 9 posts

Hi Claire
I can sympathise with you.
I have been type 1 since i was 5 and didnt have a clue about it so kinda drifted along with what the doctors said!
BUT when i hit my teens i rebelled and wais in a serious state of denial, right up til i hit my early 20s having had 2 kids by this time too!
You do get over the "why me" bit and it will get easier!
My son is going through exactly the same thing as you are now he is 12 and has been diabetic since he was 5.
I have yet to go through it with my younger daughter who was diagnosed at 20 months shes 8 now!
Good luck and remember we are all her for moral support and help and to scream at if need be!

Aug 3, 2010

toni 9 posts

i have to agree with Novorapidboi life is what you make it, so dont let the diabetes rule you you have to rule it.
I have had diabetes for 30 years now and have two kids with it too, and at the moment im trying to teach my son ( who starts 4 injection regime thursday) that diabetes wont stop him from achieving what he wants to do only he will stop himself!

Aug 3, 2010

Athena 52 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Exhaustion

Hi All,

thanks for getting back to me. Sorry for not being quick to reply but I do this at work during lunch hours and I have had to take time off due to the DAFNE. I have been in touch with my hospital and have seen them and they have been fantastic. I have been unlucky as I have had about 5 viruses since my course in March so that hasn't helped. I think I do have BI sorted, but because I keep getting ill it is difficult to tell. I have come down with shingles jsut now despite taking time off which is really annoying.
I used to chain drink coffee to keep me going with my diabetes. I had to go down to part-time working eventually because I couldn't sleep at nights due to night time hypos. I drink it during the day to keep going.
however, although it is effective with sleepless nights, it doesn't seem to have the same effect with high blood sugars. I find it strange that I can sleep really well at nights now, yet am more tired than before when I wasn't sleeping! As ofr my diet, it is ussually very good, but since DAFNE I have not been eating as too sick and also too tired to get up to make meals. I have however, been eating since taking the time off. That was one of the reasons for doing this so that I could put what energy I had into eating instead of gong to work. Feel a bit better but now back at work and am deteriorating again although still eating ok. I can't evercise with my diabetes. I did for the first 3 years of it, but a swim on a Saturday morning meant staying the rest of the day in bed to recover and I started hating ecxercise when before I loved it! I was also into hill-walking etc. but it became too dangerous as I would only be able to walk for a few hundred metres and then ahve to sit down for a rest so that had to to many years ago! We have not really ahd a heatwave up here and in any case I have not been out in the sun as I want to stay in bed. Think it is just due to high bg which I am not used to at all.
Correction dose do work but they t ake 4 and a half hours which is really long. My hypos are much worse now too. They are in the 1's now since doing DAFNE probably because of the increased BI- don't know, but maybe that is a factor although you are supposed to feel fine with highs and lows. HAving said that, when you look at the examples in the work book, they bg's are great. Non -one has gone up into the 20's or even the mid-teens whereas my BG's shot up terribly doing DAFNE . I think thisi is probably not supposed to happen at all and your sugars should only have gone up a little bit like to 10 ish as per the examples in the book. tha tis probably the problem. I did go to the chemist's to ask for something for exhaustion, but there is nothing. She did suggest that I may have knocked off iron stores or B vitamin stores by being high for a few months. She says that this can happen to diabetics, and could be the cause of it. However, thsi involves going to my own GP, then gettinga nother appt for a blood tes and I am too tired just now for this. Hopefully the eating again will help this anyway.

Hope you are all doing okay and thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions.
It makes me feel less isolated about all this.

Helen

Aug 3, 2010

Garry 328 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Illness and resistance

Don't worry.
Just follow the rules and things will come back to normal as soon as your infection fades.
Only tricky bit of course is getting it right when on the return to normal insulin uptake when your resistance reduces.
Regards Garry

Aug 3, 2010

Ffi010 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Illness and resistance

Hi,
I have been ill for a few days now with tonsilitus and flu like symptoms.
I knew that I was ill as soon as my bg's would not come down below 12! So I began on the sick day rules and increased my QA by 10 and then 20% of TDD and they still havent reduced bellow 11.

Even though I am now on antibiotics and feeling better, my bg's are still high (over 13) and I have done an experiment where my BG was 19, I ingected 5QA and ate nothing. After 4 hours I had only come down to 16.6

I think that my body is resisting, but how long should this last as I am getting more and more concerned.

THank you

Aug 3, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Dawn Phenomenon

I experience DP too, but I would never use the basal background to combat it.

This is beacuase its only a short term increase of resistance to insulin in the morning.

I found out I was having DP when my BG went up with no food be consumed from 6am to 10am.

I still wake up with double figures........

Aug 3, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

We will need to change that opinion claire.....

It can be managed with ease if you let it...

Aug 3, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts