Recent Posts - DAFNE Online

Feb 21, 2010

marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne

I think the fact that you are all on here, means you have benefited from DAFNE and want to continue to do so. We have seen very little negative feedback on the course although Vic is correct that maybe not everyone will continue to follow DAFNE principles.
However I would prefer to look at the positives, even if you don't follow DAFNE religously if you test your BG's more or even just take
your Diabetes more seriously then DAFNE has had a positive effect on you. I think too many people set themselves very high targets
and expect to be able to keep their BG's perfect using DAFNE. Sadly life is not that simple, as Vic correctly says it requires continued
effort and dedication and not everyone can manage that. Hopefully this site will help people with that by letting them talk to other graduates and get encouragement from others. But don't be discouraged if it all seems to go wrong, just keep at it, keep believing and ask others
if there are things you are struggling with. One of the great things for me about the course was to sit in a room with other Diabetics and realise my problems were the same as theirs, i wasn't unique or alone in my struggle with BG's others were exactly the same.

DAFNE is fantastic and hopefully one day all Diabetics will be able to benefit from it, once we convince PCT's that short term investment can provide long term savings in reduced treatment for Diabetics.

Feb 21, 2010

Fay 4 posts

Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne

Hi

Before DAFNE I used to suffer with bad night-time hypos. I didn't used to wake up and went unconscious. My husband used to have to bring me round with hypostop. Since DAFNE these are a thing of the past for which I'm so grateful. I still have highs and lows with my BG, but at least I can go to sleep at night now without worrying about debilitating hypos.

Feb 21, 2010

vic demain 87 posts

Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne

Hi, I completed my course in November 2009. Having had type1 for the best part of 30 years. DAFNE taught me to understand diabetes and how to cope with it. I learnt more in a week than I had in the past 30 years. But the main thing I took from the course, is that it is not a quick fix and requires a great deal of effort and patience also a willingness to conform and be brave. I do believe that a great number of people who are fortunate enough to be invited onto the course will unfortunately not see it through, and I guess that will be reflected on this message board. Those wanting to work will come on whilst others will not. 3 months on from the course, my control is a lot better but by no means sorted, I am struggling to get results in the green section but will keep on persevering.
Good luck to you. Vic.

Feb 21, 2010

sj61angel 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne

Hi Benji, I have to agree Dafne is amazing it's been a week since I completed my course with some fabulous people and educators. Although I've had some serious ups and down with the help of Dafne I've been able to look at my BG results and take the step-wise approach to getting some normality. And in the last 12hours I think I've cracked it My blood Glucose has been stable AND on target.
Thanks Dafne.

Sarah x

Feb 21, 2010

Fay 4 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Dawn Phenomenon

Hi all

I too sometimes suffer with morning BG's in double figures and get really frustrated by it. I'm on Novorapid at mealtimes and have my Lantus at 17.30 each day. Have done 3 am tests and don't seem to be hypoing. I correct my BG at breakfast time and this usually works for me.

After checking the diabetes-support website that Sam posted above in October, over the past week I've been having a heaped teaspoon of peanut butter at bed-time (and maybe a small snack if necessary depending on my bed-time BG) and have had: 1 morning BG at 3.7, 4 above 7 and 4 between 4-7 mmol. I'm going to keep going with the peanut butter for another few weeks and see how things go before I contact my diabetes team. Has anyone else tried this and what were the results, please?

Feb 20, 2010

benji 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne

Hi all, just finished my dafne on friday and wondered if every1 else thinks its the best thing they ever did! I have also made some fab friends who actually know what im talking about, its great. I only went on it cus i want an insulin pump, but im so glad i did, thanks dafne. x

Feb 20, 2010

laurals11 11 posts

Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE diaries

I print inside pages from here

http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=122

not exactly DAFNE terms CHO not CP, Basal & Bolus not QA & BI
made my own cover using Dafne logo
Laura

Feb 20, 2010

Karl 83 posts

Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE diaries

not that i know http://dafneonline.co.uk/forums/1/topics/93

Feb 20, 2010

steve o 5 posts

Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE diaries

I have just been on the DAFNE course last week which i really enjoyed and found it to be really interesting. I was told that i could print off spare pages of the DAFNE diaries on here but am not sure how to do it could someone help me please thanks.

Feb 20, 2010

novorapidboi26 1,819 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Red Wine/Tonic Wine

after duscussion with buckfast (j chandler and co) I was told that there is approximately 92 grams of grape sugar in a 75 cl bottle...

the question now is, is grape sugar the same as nornal sugar (sucrose,fructose).

one gram of sugar is the equivelant to one carbohydrate (10g)...

Feb 20, 2010

sj61angel 9 posts

Topic: General Discussion / post meal peaks

Hi Rachel, I hope you've got your post meal peaks back under control. I've been having very much the same problem it seems like the Humalog isn't kicking in untill at least 3hours after taking it which is very frustrating especially after 6months of trial and error (Pre-Dafne) trying to get my background right I'm 99%positive that's not at fault. I've contemplated changing my QA insulin for one which doesn't peak quite so early. But since I've only been a Dafne Graduate for 2weeks I'm reluctant to try anything quite so dramatic just yet.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts and I hope the family planning is going well.

Kind Regards

Sarah

Feb 19, 2010

BigManRestless 2 posts

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

I still count tinned sweetcorn, even though I get the unsweetened varieties there still seems to be a lot of carbs in there.

Feb 19, 2010

larryjm 1 post

Topic: General Discussion / Coeliac as well as Diabetic?

my name is larry
i and i have Coeliac as well as Type 1 Diabetic, trying to find the right food to eat is quick hard some times,
once you find the right things to eat you will be ok it just find the right food and stick to it.
I have at coelac all my life but when I was growing I thouht it at gone
but 4years ago it came back and made my diabetic bad it took a long time to get it right again. but now I am nearly there just hoping my diabetes will get better soon or sooner.
all the best larry or laurence

Feb 18, 2010

sixtall 2 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Type 1 Diabetes and working shifts

Hi all .I,ve been type 1 for 27 years and worked a regular day shift pattern with very few problems until January 2009 when my employer changed my shift pattern to a double day shift ."6 -2 , 2 -10 " .Since changing I,ve had alot of hypos some disabling .I did the d.a.f.n.e course in January this year and strictly follow the guidelines they set ,but I am still having hypos ,only last week I had one at work so serious the company had to send for the paramedics to sort me out .Has anyone experienced any problems with Type 1 and working shifts , take care all .

Feb 18, 2010

DavidJ 23 posts

Topic: Questions for HCPs / Metformin /Type 1

Hi Paul
I'm not a healthcare professional just another type 1 diabetic who takes Metformin. Metformin increases your sensitivity to insulin so it is likely that your blood glucoses will drop if you continue with the same ratios. I take 500mg of Metformin twice a day and if I forget and miss a dose my blood glucose rises as if I should have moved my ratio up by another 0.5. Most of my ratios are 1:1, if I didn't have the Metformin they would probably be 1.5:1. This example is just my experience though. Just apply the DAFNE principles and find your new ratios and background. Best of luck. Dave.

Feb 16, 2010

Mike Dagley 12 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Is life expectancy limited for diabetics?

Thanks Marke,
A few slips will be inevitable I suppose. I had feared that repeated slips, say over a few hours a few times a week could cause an accumulative problem. That makes hypers seem more sinister than hypos to me.

I am still trying to get the balance right and have had too many mild hypos. Then with DAFNE that is normal. Being in my 'honeymoon' time my injections are normally so small that the change of regime with DAFNE meant that I am really upping my dosage at certain times which seems a bit racy.

There's no rush but getting recognition for good control after another 9 years will be nice. Definiteey no rush - lots of life to live before then!
Mike

Feb 16, 2010

marke 686 posts

Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / porridge

John,
I don't think the DAFNE CP value is wrong, its a guideline not a rule set in stone. As I said before different people have different insulin needs for the same food. In addition its a generic value for porridge and different brands all have different ingredients ( apart from the obvious !). So the thing to remember when looking at the CP booklet or this site is its a guide and yuor requirements may vary.

Feb 16, 2010

marke 686 posts

Topic: General Discussion / Is life expectancy limited for diabetics?

Mike,
One thing I would add, is that getting the scores wrong occasionally won't necessarily wreck your health. The complications caused by Diabetes develop over time, so the main issue with getting it wrong in the short term are things like Ketatosis but fortunately that is pretty rare. I'm not encouraging you to be complacent just warning you that over the years there will be times when your control 'slips' slightly, you shouldn't get too worked up over this I'm sure most people on this site who have been diabetic for 10 years+ will have had the occasional period where things have not gone quite right. The secret is, to get back on the wagon as soon as possible and get things back under control. Thats one of the reasons for this site existing, its recognised that the long term support for DAFNE graduates is lacking from the DAFNE Programme. The hope is this site will help remedy that by giving DAFNE graduates support and information ongoing over the years, helping them to stick to the DAFNE regime and thus greatly reduce the risk of complications and hospital treatment for their condition.

I look forward to seeing your posts on your 20th and 30th anniversaries of being a diabetic :-)

Feb 21, 2010 marke 686 posts	Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne I think the fact that you are all on here, means you have benefited from DAFNE and want to continue to do so. We have seen very little negative feedback on the course although Vic is correct that maybe not everyone will continue to follow DAFNE principles. However I would prefer to look at the positives, even if you don't follow DAFNE religously if you test your BG's more or even just take your Diabetes more seriously then DAFNE has had a positive effect on you. I think too many people set themselves very high targets and expect to be able to keep their BG's perfect using DAFNE. Sadly life is not that simple, as Vic correctly says it requires continued effort and dedication and not everyone can manage that. Hopefully this site will help people with that by letting them talk to other graduates and get encouragement from others. But don't be discouraged if it all seems to go wrong, just keep at it, keep believing and ask others if there are things you are struggling with. One of the great things for me about the course was to sit in a room with other Diabetics and realise my problems were the same as theirs, i wasn't unique or alone in my struggle with BG's others were exactly the same. DAFNE is fantastic and hopefully one day all Diabetics will be able to benefit from it, once we convince PCT's that short term investment can provide long term savings in reduced treatment for Diabetics.

Feb 21, 2010 Fay 4 posts	Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne Hi Before DAFNE I used to suffer with bad night-time hypos. I didn't used to wake up and went unconscious. My husband used to have to bring me round with hypostop. Since DAFNE these are a thing of the past for which I'm so grateful. I still have highs and lows with my BG, but at least I can go to sleep at night now without worrying about debilitating hypos.

Feb 21, 2010 vic demain 87 posts	Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne Hi, I completed my course in November 2009. Having had type1 for the best part of 30 years. DAFNE taught me to understand diabetes and how to cope with it. I learnt more in a week than I had in the past 30 years. But the main thing I took from the course, is that it is not a quick fix and requires a great deal of effort and patience also a willingness to conform and be brave. I do believe that a great number of people who are fortunate enough to be invited onto the course will unfortunately not see it through, and I guess that will be reflected on this message board. Those wanting to work will come on whilst others will not. 3 months on from the course, my control is a lot better but by no means sorted, I am struggling to get results in the green section but will keep on persevering. Good luck to you. Vic.

Feb 21, 2010 sj61angel 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne Hi Benji, I have to agree Dafne is amazing it's been a week since I completed my course with some fabulous people and educators. Although I've had some serious ups and down with the help of Dafne I've been able to look at my BG results and take the step-wise approach to getting some normality. And in the last 12hours I think I've cracked it My blood Glucose has been stable AND on target. Thanks Dafne. Sarah x

Feb 21, 2010 Fay 4 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Dawn Phenomenon Hi all I too sometimes suffer with morning BG's in double figures and get really frustrated by it. I'm on Novorapid at mealtimes and have my Lantus at 17.30 each day. Have done 3 am tests and don't seem to be hypoing. I correct my BG at breakfast time and this usually works for me. After checking the diabetes-support website that Sam posted above in October, over the past week I've been having a heaped teaspoon of peanut butter at bed-time (and maybe a small snack if necessary depending on my bed-time BG) and have had: 1 morning BG at 3.7, 4 above 7 and 4 between 4-7 mmol. I'm going to keep going with the peanut butter for another few weeks and see how things go before I contact my diabetes team. Has anyone else tried this and what were the results, please?

Feb 20, 2010 benji 1 post	Topic: General Discussion / How good is dafne Hi all, just finished my dafne on friday and wondered if every1 else thinks its the best thing they ever did! I have also made some fab friends who actually know what im talking about, its great. I only went on it cus i want an insulin pump, but im so glad i did, thanks dafne. x

Feb 20, 2010 laurals11 11 posts	Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE diaries I print inside pages from here http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=122 not exactly DAFNE terms CHO not CP, Basal & Bolus not QA & BI made my own cover using Dafne logo Laura

Feb 20, 2010 Karl 83 posts	Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE diaries not that i know http://dafneonline.co.uk/forums/1/topics/93

Feb 20, 2010 steve o 5 posts	Topic: General Discussion / DAFNE diaries I have just been on the DAFNE course last week which i really enjoyed and found it to be really interesting. I was told that i could print off spare pages of the DAFNE diaries on here but am not sure how to do it could someone help me please thanks.

Feb 20, 2010 novorapidboi26 1,819 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Red Wine/Tonic Wine after duscussion with buckfast (j chandler and co) I was told that there is approximately 92 grams of grape sugar in a 75 cl bottle... the question now is, is grape sugar the same as nornal sugar (sucrose,fructose). one gram of sugar is the equivelant to one carbohydrate (10g)...

Feb 20, 2010 sj61angel 9 posts	Topic: General Discussion / post meal peaks Hi Rachel, I hope you've got your post meal peaks back under control. I've been having very much the same problem it seems like the Humalog isn't kicking in untill at least 3hours after taking it which is very frustrating especially after 6months of trial and error (Pre-Dafne) trying to get my background right I'm 99%positive that's not at fault. I've contemplated changing my QA insulin for one which doesn't peak quite so early. But since I've only been a Dafne Graduate for 2weeks I'm reluctant to try anything quite so dramatic just yet. I'd really appreciate any thoughts and I hope the family planning is going well. Kind Regards Sarah

Feb 19, 2010 BigManRestless 2 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / Watch out - Corn on the cob! I still count tinned sweetcorn, even though I get the unsweetened varieties there still seems to be a lot of carbs in there.

Feb 19, 2010 larryjm 1 post	Topic: General Discussion / Coeliac as well as Diabetic? my name is larry i and i have Coeliac as well as Type 1 Diabetic, trying to find the right food to eat is quick hard some times, once you find the right things to eat you will be ok it just find the right food and stick to it. I have at coelac all my life but when I was growing I thouht it at gone but 4years ago it came back and made my diabetic bad it took a long time to get it right again. but now I am nearly there just hoping my diabetes will get better soon or sooner. all the best larry or laurence

Feb 18, 2010 sixtall 2 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Type 1 Diabetes and working shifts Hi all .I,ve been type 1 for 27 years and worked a regular day shift pattern with very few problems until January 2009 when my employer changed my shift pattern to a double day shift ."6 -2 , 2 -10 " .Since changing I,ve had alot of hypos some disabling .I did the d.a.f.n.e course in January this year and strictly follow the guidelines they set ,but I am still having hypos ,only last week I had one at work so serious the company had to send for the paramedics to sort me out .Has anyone experienced any problems with Type 1 and working shifts , take care all .

Feb 18, 2010 DavidJ 23 posts	Topic: Questions for HCPs / Metformin /Type 1 Hi Paul I'm not a healthcare professional just another type 1 diabetic who takes Metformin. Metformin increases your sensitivity to insulin so it is likely that your blood glucoses will drop if you continue with the same ratios. I take 500mg of Metformin twice a day and if I forget and miss a dose my blood glucose rises as if I should have moved my ratio up by another 0.5. Most of my ratios are 1:1, if I didn't have the Metformin they would probably be 1.5:1. This example is just my experience though. Just apply the DAFNE principles and find your new ratios and background. Best of luck. Dave.

Feb 16, 2010 Mike Dagley 12 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Is life expectancy limited for diabetics? Thanks Marke, A few slips will be inevitable I suppose. I had feared that repeated slips, say over a few hours a few times a week could cause an accumulative problem. That makes hypers seem more sinister than hypos to me. I am still trying to get the balance right and have had too many mild hypos. Then with DAFNE that is normal. Being in my 'honeymoon' time my injections are normally so small that the change of regime with DAFNE meant that I am really upping my dosage at certain times which seems a bit racy. There's no rush but getting recognition for good control after another 9 years will be nice. Definiteey no rush - lots of life to live before then! Mike

Feb 16, 2010 marke 686 posts	Topic: Carbohydrate Counting / porridge John, I don't think the DAFNE CP value is wrong, its a guideline not a rule set in stone. As I said before different people have different insulin needs for the same food. In addition its a generic value for porridge and different brands all have different ingredients ( apart from the obvious !). So the thing to remember when looking at the CP booklet or this site is its a guide and yuor requirements may vary.

Feb 16, 2010 marke 686 posts	Topic: General Discussion / Is life expectancy limited for diabetics? Mike, One thing I would add, is that getting the scores wrong occasionally won't necessarily wreck your health. The complications caused by Diabetes develop over time, so the main issue with getting it wrong in the short term are things like Ketatosis but fortunately that is pretty rare. I'm not encouraging you to be complacent just warning you that over the years there will be times when your control 'slips' slightly, you shouldn't get too worked up over this I'm sure most people on this site who have been diabetic for 10 years+ will have had the occasional period where things have not gone quite right. The secret is, to get back on the wagon as soon as possible and get things back under control. Thats one of the reasons for this site existing, its recognised that the long term support for DAFNE graduates is lacking from the DAFNE Programme. The hope is this site will help remedy that by giving DAFNE graduates support and information ongoing over the years, helping them to stick to the DAFNE regime and thus greatly reduce the risk of complications and hospital treatment for their condition. I look forward to seeing your posts on your 20th and 30th anniversaries of being a diabetic :-)