Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Mar 19, 2010

Rachie Wilson 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Accuchek mobile blood glucose monitor

Hi Steve

Yes I have one of the Accu Chek Mobile Meter. I think it is great as every thing is built into it. It is really easy to use. I have been on it since January and would highly recommend it.

Mar 19, 2010

steve o 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Accuchek mobile blood glucose monitor

Does anyone use the new accu chek blood glucose monitor if so are they any good? I am thinking about getting one but would like to hear other peoples views first

Mar 18, 2010

Cameron Lockie 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Travelling Tips

Thanks for the useful advice, only 10 days until we go!!

Mar 18, 2010

mcmillan 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using?

A very old "One Touch" ultra - big and clunky but works for me....

Mar 18, 2010

mcmillan 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using?

A very old "One Touch" ultra - big and clunky but works for me....

Mar 18, 2010

mcmillan 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Travelling Tips

I travel between the UK and US a lot (between 4-5 hours and 8-10 hours time differences). I start my trip on "beginning time zone" and keep to regular injection schedules for baseline insulin, but monitor my sugars a bit more frequently during the trip and adjust with QA as necessary (because I'm sitting down - usually in an uncomfortable seat - and often stressed - also eating "unnatural" foods...). Once I get to the US I then try to re-adjust the schedule quickly to the local time zone (but I try to be aware that the first 24 hours might be problematic) - I prefer to go a little "high" and bring that down later rather than risk a serious hypo. (Doing the trip over 2-3 days can be a real hassle !). Main thing is to stay relaxed - DAFNE lets us do that. Make sure you have food/hypo treatments with you. I usually take a sandwich in the plane (airline food can be inedible at times, or sometimes not even offered...) - even if I have to dump it before US customs (I was "caught" with a banana once...). Small oranges or tiny tomatoes are good (and re-hydrating) - also some carrot/celery sticks etc. Make sure you have some sweets/fast sugar - problems can come up quickly while travelling, and planes are not good places to have a severe hypo problem ! (Last little thing - be careful to re-hydrate during the flight - I take a couple of bottles of water (I fill up an empty after passing through security) - and not too much wine with the meal etc.... All good advice for anyone, but we all know that diabetics are more healthy than the general polulation).... Have a great trip !

Mar 18, 2010

ChrisS 12 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using?

Optium Xceed

Mar 18, 2010

NiVZ 82 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter

Hello,

The cross-platform idea is an interesting one but there seems to be many routes that could *possibly* work.

The two I've seen that look most promising are Ruby and Mono. Both claim to be OS and Hardware independent and I've found RS232 Serial COM examples for both.

http://ruby-serialport.rubyforge.org/
http://www.mono-project.com/HowToSystemIOPorts

The downside to this is it would require a lot of learning on my part, and as I've only got a PC I could only test Windows and Linux (no access to a MAC)

The big upside of course is that this would mean one source code for an application that could work on all OS's.

The only other big question mark with these two languages is how to access the REST protocols to do the uploading of the data.

NiVZ

P.S We seem to have gone way off track from the Bayer USB - perhaps we should continue this discussion in the Site Development ;)

Mar 18, 2010

Snjstar 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using?

Onetouch Ultra Easy

Mar 17, 2010

Simon 578 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter

Nothing really to comment on the changing meter debate - my UltraSmart is looking pretty tired now, but I'd probably just exchange for a new one of them. Though I do like gadgets, so given something more high tech I may change my mind ;)

On Ruby - yes the site is coded in Ruby so both Mark and I have some experience in it. I wonder how we would package a Ruby app - there is an interpreter that needs to be installed before it can be 'run' so would users need to install this to run it? I've not had experience of making Ruby desktop apps so can't comment on that... Yet.

On the Contour USB meter - I'm sure they have some sort of API (Java, Proprietary or Otherwise) to interface with a meter, it's just a matter of getting hold of it (legitimately or otherwise).

Mar 17, 2010

Tracey Bond 14 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Snacks

Hi Carbtastic................................ If you have a snack of more than 1CP an hour of less before your next meal then either take the insulin at the time of snack or with your meal, however if your snack is eaten more than 1 hour before your next meal take the insulin at the time of the snack. Don't have any corrections at meal time if your BG is elevated as the insulinn you had at the time of the snack will account for it. I know it's confusing but it will sink in, I promise.

Mar 17, 2010

Carbtastic 8 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Cherries

I finished Dafne last week and was told that grapefruit and cherries are the only fruit which you dont count! It was news to me but i like it!

Mar 17, 2010

Carbtastic 8 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Indian food and takeways

Me too! I completely gave up eating chinese take aways as every dish just seemed to be full of sugar. The same appears to go for curry, the sauces are always so thick and sweet. It's not even authentic curry! I have found a good one near me which is an exception to this rule and uses very little sugar however, this is rare!

Mar 17, 2010

Carbtastic 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Snacks

Ive just completed Dafne and Im still trying to get my head round all the rules! Im a bit confused about snacks. If for example I have a 3CP Snack at 3pm then have my evening meal at 6pm would I take a correction dose if my BG was high before my meal? As the QA from my snack would still be working I didnt know whether too or not. Can anyone help? Thanks!

Mar 17, 2010

Carbtastic 8 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Random question!

Does anyone know the carb content of fruit pudding? I had it with my cooked breakfast and didnt even know what I could compare it to!

Mar 17, 2010

Carbtastic 8 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Watch out - Corn on the cob!

You apparently dont count the carbs in corn because of the high fibre content. I dont count it and dont have problems.

Mar 17, 2010

Jennie 1 post

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Indian food and takeways

I get the impression that takeaways (Indian in particular) are not just full of fat and salt, but also often have loads of added sugar.
Saucey curries that I've not made myself often raise my BG in serious excess of what I'd expect.

Mar 17, 2010

NiVZ 82 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter

Hello,

Tried out the Contour USB last night. It was a little bigger than I expected (only slightly smaller than my UltrEASY).

It does appear to be a very good meter, although as Mark says it doesn't do too much differently.

The Pro's are it uses a TINY amount of blood and the result takes a very quick 3 seconds. It's also useful having the software right there on the device so you can connect it to the PC and see the graphs etc, although for Windows you do need to have Java Runtime installed.

Con's - The carrying pouch is quite large (bigger than my ultraEASY) and the lancing device isn't quite as good as I'd expected.

Overall I do really like it as a meter and it is another step forward, albeit not a huge jump. One more difficulty for me is it looks like it's going to be tough to get at the raw data for my program. It doesn't use a COM port at all. It appears asa USB Composite device with a USB STOR to hold 500mb of your own files, plus an HID device. I'm guessing it's the HID part that handles the communication and Data so I'm off to email Bayer to see if they'll lend a hand.

I've just printed the license agreement for Lifescan so hoepfully get back to looking at the UltraSmart as soon as I get their protocol document ;o)

I could finish both the Lifescan meters just now, but I'm hoping to get things like the number of records stored on the meter so I can do progress bars, etc and also get at the Insulin and Carb info from the UltraSMART to eliminate manual entries altogether ;)

NiVZ

Mar 17, 2010

marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter

I don't think its a simple cost comparison though. The costs of Diabetes are complex, if the right meter means you test regularly and have better control and hence avoid a hypo that results in hospital treatment or avoid complications then that is a major saving to the NHS regardless of the cost of the test strips. I apprciate your concerns relating to cost but its a very complex area.
I personnally would not change my meter to the latest and greatest unless I thought there would be a benefit to me. I'm interested in what is available and maybe trying out a new meter, but if it provided no benefit I would stick with my current one. Looking at the Accu-check mobile it STILL has an infra-red interface for connecting to a PC , so I would steer well clear of it. It seems Roche are determined to stay in the 80's while technology moves on. I'm not sure of what the benefits are supposed to be, it has an 'attached' finger pricker and supposedly no test strips to handle, but I can't really rate that as a benefit. I still need to prick my finger, I still need to put blood on the meter so no change there really. I prefer the lifescan ultrasmart. I can enter carbs and other stuff as well as recording BG's and it has a sensible USB interface that works reliably with a PC. We can also read the meter directly for uploading to the site, once the app to do it is complete. I would like to get hold of a Contour USB just to play with it and see if its better, but I wouldn't swap to it unless it is an improvement on my current meter.

Mar 16, 2010

Matilda 2 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Glucotabs: Where they can be found?

I get mine on prescription

Mar 16, 2010

marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Diabetes and minor illness

no never experienced this, but personal experience is that GP's know about as much about Diabetes as the general public :-( Mine was impressed by 'modern' insulin pens, which told me straight away that I would be staying under my local hospital for Diabetes support for as long as possible. I don't really see why Diabetes would make yoor immune system work harder. If you are well controlled your immmune system is pretty much like everyone elses, with the exception that it ate all your islet cells of course ;^)
I do find it can push up my BG's though which 'could' be what is happening to you, what are your BG's when this happens ? higher, lower ?

Mar 16, 2010

NiVZ 82 posts

Topic: Site Development / Meter Upload Development

Hello,

Not had a chance to do more testing, but I have received the papers from Lifescan to sign to give me access to the UltraSMART protocol, and Bayer have kindly donated me a Contour USB to see if I can get it working too.

NiVZ

Mar 16, 2010

NiVZ 82 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter

Hello

I've read that Ruby is corss platform and that theres a serial library for it. Simon, I think you mentioned you had done a bit of Ruby programming. Not sure if that would be an option?

To be honest I've not got any Linux programming experience so it would be a big task to try and figure all that out. I know a lot about Windows and have done plenty of programming and it's been a big challenge getting it to where it is already. Using the AutoIT language was purely for convenience. It's very like Visual Basic syntax, great for rapid prototyping, we use it at work a lot and someone had already started a Serial COM programme so all the pieces just came together at the right time.

I'm open to suggestions though and happy to help anyone else get as far as I have if they fancy giving it a go. Figuring out the meter 'language' was the hardest part but once you get it you just basically make sure the meter is ready (initialise) and then ask a question (transmit) and get a reply (recieve) and when you're finished end (disconnect).

I've added some extra stuff like trying to automatically figure out which COM port the meter is connected to so that the program is easier to use.

NiVZ

Mar 19, 2010 Rachie Wilson 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Accuchek mobile blood glucose monitor Hi Steve Yes I have one of the Accu Chek Mobile Meter. I think it is great as every thing is built into it. It is really easy to use. I have been on it since January and would highly recommend it.

Mar 19, 2010 steve o 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Accuchek mobile blood glucose monitor Does anyone use the new accu chek blood glucose monitor if so are they any good? I am thinking about getting one but would like to hear other peoples views first

Mar 18, 2010 Cameron Lockie 2 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Travelling Tips Thanks for the useful advice, only 10 days until we go!!

Mar 18, 2010 mcmillan 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using? A very old "One Touch" ultra - big and clunky but works for me....

Mar 18, 2010 mcmillan 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using? A very old "One Touch" ultra - big and clunky but works for me....

Mar 18, 2010 mcmillan 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Travelling Tips I travel between the UK and US a lot (between 4-5 hours and 8-10 hours time differences). I start my trip on "beginning time zone" and keep to regular injection schedules for baseline insulin, but monitor my sugars a bit more frequently during the trip and adjust with QA as necessary (because I'm sitting down - usually in an uncomfortable seat - and often stressed - also eating "unnatural" foods...). Once I get to the US I then try to re-adjust the schedule quickly to the local time zone (but I try to be aware that the first 24 hours might be problematic) - I prefer to go a little "high" and bring that down later rather than risk a serious hypo. (Doing the trip over 2-3 days can be a real hassle !). Main thing is to stay relaxed - DAFNE lets us do that. Make sure you have food/hypo treatments with you. I usually take a sandwich in the plane (airline food can be inedible at times, or sometimes not even offered...) - even if I have to dump it before US customs (I was "caught" with a banana once...). Small oranges or tiny tomatoes are good (and re-hydrating) - also some carrot/celery sticks etc. Make sure you have some sweets/fast sugar - problems can come up quickly while travelling, and planes are not good places to have a severe hypo problem ! (Last little thing - be careful to re-hydrate during the flight - I take a couple of bottles of water (I fill up an empty after passing through security) - and not too much wine with the meal etc.... All good advice for anyone, but we all know that diabetics are more healthy than the general polulation).... Have a great trip !

Mar 18, 2010 ChrisS 12 posts	Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using? Optium Xceed

Mar 18, 2010 NiVZ 82 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter Hello, The cross-platform idea is an interesting one but there seems to be many routes that could possibly work. The two I've seen that look most promising are Ruby and Mono. Both claim to be OS and Hardware independent and I've found RS232 Serial COM examples for both. http://ruby-serialport.rubyforge.org/ http://www.mono-project.com/HowToSystemIOPorts The downside to this is it would require a lot of learning on my part, and as I've only got a PC I could only test Windows and Linux (no access to a MAC) The big upside of course is that this would mean one source code for an application that could work on all OS's. The only other big question mark with these two languages is how to access the REST protocols to do the uploading of the data. NiVZ P.S We seem to have gone way off track from the Bayer USB - perhaps we should continue this discussion in the Site Development ;)

Mar 18, 2010 Snjstar 2 posts	Topic: General Discussion / What meter are you using? Onetouch Ultra Easy

Mar 17, 2010 Simon 578 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter Nothing really to comment on the changing meter debate - my UltraSmart is looking pretty tired now, but I'd probably just exchange for a new one of them. Though I do like gadgets, so given something more high tech I may change my mind ;) On Ruby - yes the site is coded in Ruby so both Mark and I have some experience in it. I wonder how we would package a Ruby app - there is an interpreter that needs to be installed before it can be 'run' so would users need to install this to run it? I've not had experience of making Ruby desktop apps so can't comment on that... Yet. On the Contour USB meter - I'm sure they have some sort of API (Java, Proprietary or Otherwise) to interface with a meter, it's just a matter of getting hold of it (legitimately or otherwise).

Mar 17, 2010 Tracey Bond 14 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Snacks Hi Carbtastic................................ If you have a snack of more than 1CP an hour of less before your next meal then either take the insulin at the time of snack or with your meal, however if your snack is eaten more than 1 hour before your next meal take the insulin at the time of the snack. Don't have any corrections at meal time if your BG is elevated as the insulinn you had at the time of the snack will account for it. I know it's confusing but it will sink in, I promise.

Mar 17, 2010 Carbtastic 8 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Cherries I finished Dafne last week and was told that grapefruit and cherries are the only fruit which you dont count! It was news to me but i like it!

Mar 17, 2010 Carbtastic 8 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Indian food and takeways Me too! I completely gave up eating chinese take aways as every dish just seemed to be full of sugar. The same appears to go for curry, the sauces are always so thick and sweet. It's not even authentic curry! I have found a good one near me which is an exception to this rule and uses very little sugar however, this is rare!

Mar 17, 2010 Carbtastic 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Snacks Ive just completed Dafne and Im still trying to get my head round all the rules! Im a bit confused about snacks. If for example I have a 3CP Snack at 3pm then have my evening meal at 6pm would I take a correction dose if my BG was high before my meal? As the QA from my snack would still be working I didnt know whether too or not. Can anyone help? Thanks!

Mar 17, 2010 Carbtastic 8 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Random question! Does anyone know the carb content of fruit pudding? I had it with my cooked breakfast and didnt even know what I could compare it to!

Mar 17, 2010 Carbtastic 8 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Watch out - Corn on the cob! You apparently dont count the carbs in corn because of the high fibre content. I dont count it and dont have problems.

Mar 17, 2010 Jennie 1 post	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Indian food and takeways I get the impression that takeaways (Indian in particular) are not just full of fat and salt, but also often have loads of added sugar. Saucey curries that I've not made myself often raise my BG in serious excess of what I'd expect.

Mar 17, 2010 NiVZ 82 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter Hello, Tried out the Contour USB last night. It was a little bigger than I expected (only slightly smaller than my UltrEASY). It does appear to be a very good meter, although as Mark says it doesn't do too much differently. The Pro's are it uses a TINY amount of blood and the result takes a very quick 3 seconds. It's also useful having the software right there on the device so you can connect it to the PC and see the graphs etc, although for Windows you do need to have Java Runtime installed. Con's - The carrying pouch is quite large (bigger than my ultraEASY) and the lancing device isn't quite as good as I'd expected. Overall I do really like it as a meter and it is another step forward, albeit not a huge jump. One more difficulty for me is it looks like it's going to be tough to get at the raw data for my program. It doesn't use a COM port at all. It appears asa USB Composite device with a USB STOR to hold 500mb of your own files, plus an HID device. I'm guessing it's the HID part that handles the communication and Data so I'm off to email Bayer to see if they'll lend a hand. I've just printed the license agreement for Lifescan so hoepfully get back to looking at the UltraSmart as soon as I get their protocol document ;o) I could finish both the Lifescan meters just now, but I'm hoping to get things like the number of records stored on the meter so I can do progress bars, etc and also get at the Insulin and Carb info from the UltraSMART to eliminate manual entries altogether ;) NiVZ

Mar 17, 2010 marke 686 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter I don't think its a simple cost comparison though. The costs of Diabetes are complex, if the right meter means you test regularly and have better control and hence avoid a hypo that results in hospital treatment or avoid complications then that is a major saving to the NHS regardless of the cost of the test strips. I apprciate your concerns relating to cost but its a very complex area. I personnally would not change my meter to the latest and greatest unless I thought there would be a benefit to me. I'm interested in what is available and maybe trying out a new meter, but if it provided no benefit I would stick with my current one. Looking at the Accu-check mobile it STILL has an infra-red interface for connecting to a PC , so I would steer well clear of it. It seems Roche are determined to stay in the 80's while technology moves on. I'm not sure of what the benefits are supposed to be, it has an 'attached' finger pricker and supposedly no test strips to handle, but I can't really rate that as a benefit. I still need to prick my finger, I still need to put blood on the meter so no change there really. I prefer the lifescan ultrasmart. I can enter carbs and other stuff as well as recording BG's and it has a sensible USB interface that works reliably with a PC. We can also read the meter directly for uploading to the site, once the app to do it is complete. I would like to get hold of a Contour USB just to play with it and see if its better, but I wouldn't swap to it unless it is an improvement on my current meter.

Mar 16, 2010 Matilda 2 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Glucotabs: Where they can be found? I get mine on prescription

Mar 16, 2010 marke 686 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Diabetes and minor illness no never experienced this, but personal experience is that GP's know about as much about Diabetes as the general public :-( Mine was impressed by 'modern' insulin pens, which told me straight away that I would be staying under my local hospital for Diabetes support for as long as possible. I don't really see why Diabetes would make yoor immune system work harder. If you are well controlled your immmune system is pretty much like everyone elses, with the exception that it ate all your islet cells of course ;^) I do find it can push up my BG's though which 'could' be what is happening to you, what are your BG's when this happens ? higher, lower ?

Mar 16, 2010 NiVZ 82 posts	Topic: Site Development / Meter Upload Development Hello, Not had a chance to do more testing, but I have received the papers from Lifescan to sign to give me access to the UltraSMART protocol, and Bayer have kindly donated me a Contour USB to see if I can get it working too. NiVZ

Mar 16, 2010 NiVZ 82 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Bayer Contour USB Meter Hello I've read that Ruby is corss platform and that theres a serial library for it. Simon, I think you mentioned you had done a bit of Ruby programming. Not sure if that would be an option? To be honest I've not got any Linux programming experience so it would be a big task to try and figure all that out. I know a lot about Windows and have done plenty of programming and it's been a big challenge getting it to where it is already. Using the AutoIT language was purely for convenience. It's very like Visual Basic syntax, great for rapid prototyping, we use it at work a lot and someone had already started a Serial COM programme so all the pieces just came together at the right time. I'm open to suggestions though and happy to help anyone else get as far as I have if they fancy giving it a go. Figuring out the meter 'language' was the hardest part but once you get it you just basically make sure the meter is ready (initialise) and then ask a question (transmit) and get a reply (recieve) and when you're finished end (disconnect). I've added some extra stuff like trying to automatically figure out which COM port the meter is connected to so that the program is easier to use. NiVZ