Hello - I'm new to the forum but have been anxiously scouring the internet for some help and advice. I have been diabetic for 15 years (now 25) and always thought that I just about managed my diabetes although never had fabulous HBa1c usually about 7 - 8. I knew that in the last few years things had gone a bit askew but had been under GP instead of hospital who just shouted at me and told me to go and sort it! I have moved and went to see new GP, HBa1c was 14.6!! Was referred to hospital and have been today, have been told I need to be completely re-educated. Changing insulin from humalog and humulin I to humalog and Lantus next week, being taught how to count carbs and put on waiting list for DAFNE. I feel so upset, feel like have woken up and don't know how to use my fingers anymore! Really feel that I have no idea how to manage my diabetes and just want to wallow and eat chocolate - I know that won't help. Would really appreciate any advice or any information on Lantus or DAFNE!
Help needed!! HBa1c 14.6
- Thread starter meela83
- Start Date
Not surprisin you're shaken
But there's a lot you can do.
Carb counting is a good technique for insulin users, however, it's not the only way.You can cut down your carbs o a bare minmum. As a T1, you might find Dr. Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Solution book useful.
It goes against much "conventional wisdom", but works. It does take dedication though.
Try it!
It can't hurt you
But there's a lot you can do.
Carb counting is a good technique for insulin users, however, it's not the only way.You can cut down your carbs o a bare minmum. As a T1, you might find Dr. Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Solution book useful.
It goes against much "conventional wisdom", but works. It does take dedication though.
Try it!
It can't hurt you
jopar
Well-Known Member
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- 2,222
meela83
Don't worry to about what you may have or may have not done with your diabetic control, as you can turn it all around...
The new insulins they are putting you on work better for the carb counting regime, which actually when you've got used to the way it works, and how carbs interact with your insulin does give a flexible regime indeed...
The DAFNE course yes is based around carb counting, but it is a real education into diabetes, what can effect your control, how to interpretate your monitoring data so that you can adjust your insulin doses to suit your needs as they araise.. don't be put off by the feeling it seems that it's a lot to take in, but they do it in such as way, that you'll be surprised ow much you've learnt at the end of the week...
My best advice when you change to your new insulins and start carb counting, is putting the effort into writtne down your monitor in details, note not only the carbs count, but also what types of carbs you had, and exercise you might done before or after, and whether you were un well stressed, even nervous about something, the better picture you can build the easier it is to adjust to get your insulin to meet your needs... Don't panic you dont have to keep this indepth for ever more you can slim down the detail when you start getting control and understanding..
Don't worry to about what you may have or may have not done with your diabetic control, as you can turn it all around...
The new insulins they are putting you on work better for the carb counting regime, which actually when you've got used to the way it works, and how carbs interact with your insulin does give a flexible regime indeed...
The DAFNE course yes is based around carb counting, but it is a real education into diabetes, what can effect your control, how to interpretate your monitoring data so that you can adjust your insulin doses to suit your needs as they araise.. don't be put off by the feeling it seems that it's a lot to take in, but they do it in such as way, that you'll be surprised ow much you've learnt at the end of the week...
My best advice when you change to your new insulins and start carb counting, is putting the effort into writtne down your monitor in details, note not only the carbs count, but also what types of carbs you had, and exercise you might done before or after, and whether you were un well stressed, even nervous about something, the better picture you can build the easier it is to adjust to get your insulin to meet your needs... Don't panic you dont have to keep this indepth for ever more you can slim down the detail when you start getting control and understanding..
Thank you guys starting to feel a bit better. I really want to get things under control and at least I have made a start by going to the hospital. Have a super New Year.
I found that when the put me on basal bolus my HBa1c went right down to about 7-9 quite quickly. my bit of advice is to plan your meals if you can, adjust accordingly if its a bigger or smaller meal and stuff like that.
Once you've been reeducated hopefully everything will get better
Once you've been reeducated hopefully everything will get better
Read some of this book online and it seems a bit strict for my pathetic willpower but after reading lots of threads on here I am seriously considering the low carb option - seems to make so much sense and I like lots of the recipes on here including your cauliflower chese hanadr!hanadr said:
phoenix
Expert
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- 5,671
- Type of diabetes
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Whilst you are waiting for your DAFNE course, you have a look at this course. Its an online carb counting course devised by the hospital at Bournemouth http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/
Hi meela83,
There are a number of other books which might be an easier introduction to the wonderful world of low-carb. 'The Diabetes Revolution' by Professor Charles Clark covers many of the important issues in a more concise way, with lots of great recipe ideas too.
All the best,
fergus
There are a number of other books which might be an easier introduction to the wonderful world of low-carb. 'The Diabetes Revolution' by Professor Charles Clark covers many of the important issues in a more concise way, with lots of great recipe ideas too.
All the best,
fergus
Thank you everyone for all your advice, I am so glad I found you! Feeling much better about things this morning.
When my son was diagnosed T1 I read "Diabetes for Dummies". A really good book in very simple language.
My son is on Levemir as his long acting but I've only heard good things about Lantus (one being that you can mix long and short acting insulin). I also use Novorapid.
Don't worry about your HbA1c as what's done is done and you already know the importance of finding a way to lower the number. I am appalled to hear that you have not had supportive medical care before now and to be yelled at is a disgrace. I had a similar incident with an endocrinologist who told me off and I was in tears for hours. I felt like telling her to come walk in my shoes and see if she could do better. My son had an HbA1c of 7.8 at the time and I was being accused of running him too low. I was only having a really mild hypo about 1 every 3 weeks and I was getting some sleep.
I think I've had 5 mild hypos in the last week as the doctor at the hospital now wants me to lower his HbA1c that has risen gradually to 8.7.
Anyway, I gather you will have to start testing yourself a bit more often and making sure your diet matches your insulin. It's all just a balancing act.
Cheers Jen.
My son is on Levemir as his long acting but I've only heard good things about Lantus (one being that you can mix long and short acting insulin). I also use Novorapid.
Don't worry about your HbA1c as what's done is done and you already know the importance of finding a way to lower the number. I am appalled to hear that you have not had supportive medical care before now and to be yelled at is a disgrace. I had a similar incident with an endocrinologist who told me off and I was in tears for hours. I felt like telling her to come walk in my shoes and see if she could do better. My son had an HbA1c of 7.8 at the time and I was being accused of running him too low. I was only having a really mild hypo about 1 every 3 weeks and I was getting some sleep.
I think I've had 5 mild hypos in the last week as the doctor at the hospital now wants me to lower his HbA1c that has risen gradually to 8.7.
Anyway, I gather you will have to start testing yourself a bit more often and making sure your diet matches your insulin. It's all just a balancing act.
Cheers Jen.
Hi Jen,
You wrote: My son had an HbA1c of 7.8 at the time and I was being accused of running him too low.
the doctor at the hospital now wants me to lower his HbA1c that has risen gradually to 8.7.
It seems that you can't win!
You wrote: My son had an HbA1c of 7.8 at the time and I was being accused of running him too low.
the doctor at the hospital now wants me to lower his HbA1c that has risen gradually to 8.7.
It seems that you can't win!
I am a big fan of DAFNE and from what you have written I am sure it is the answer to your problems. I really think all people who are diagnosed Type 1 should go on the DAFNE course within 6 months of being diagnosed.
It explains everything you need to know about Diabetes and managing it. The process works but it is only as good as the personal motivation you have to make it work. I attended DAFNE after being Diabetic for 21 years and I learned alot. I had been having lots of hypo's and some really really bad ones during the night. Now I hardly get any hypo's. My HbA1c has reduced from 7.5 to 6.5 after the course - I really believe in it.
As far as Lantus is concerned I took Lantus for about 3 years and it was Ok but I changed to Levimir about 18 months ago and I find it much better. However like many of these things what works for one person may not work for another.
Good luck with the DAFNE course and I would be interested to know how you get on.
It explains everything you need to know about Diabetes and managing it. The process works but it is only as good as the personal motivation you have to make it work. I attended DAFNE after being Diabetic for 21 years and I learned alot. I had been having lots of hypo's and some really really bad ones during the night. Now I hardly get any hypo's. My HbA1c has reduced from 7.5 to 6.5 after the course - I really believe in it.
As far as Lantus is concerned I took Lantus for about 3 years and it was Ok but I changed to Levimir about 18 months ago and I find it much better. However like many of these things what works for one person may not work for another.
Good luck with the DAFNE course and I would be interested to know how you get on.
Thanks Jer
I had an appointment on Thurs with the nurse changed to Lantus and she taught me to carb count (she also runs the DAFNE). I feel fantastic already blood sugars are down to 5-7 and I have bags of energy! I'm booked on to the DAFNE course in July and looking forward to it!
I had an appointment on Thurs with the nurse changed to Lantus and she taught me to carb count (she also runs the DAFNE). I feel fantastic already blood sugars are down to 5-7 and I have bags of energy! I'm booked on to the DAFNE course in July and looking forward to it!
Hi Meela, I'm about the same age and have been in a similar kind of position.
My HbA1cs have been too high so I'm on a mission to get the figure down.
I think it's a good idea to keep things simple.
I was awful. Take a look at some questions and see my answers which tell you how i'd let things slip
1. Is your monitoring good? - do you write all your results down?
2. Do you regularly review how you're doing?
3. Do you test regularly? once or twice each day say?
4. Do you have a fairly regular routine or does every day feel different?
5. Do you have a habit of letting your diabetes take second place or worse?
6. Roughly how good is your carb counting? do you carb count for easy things but still make quite rough guesses here and there?
7. How good is your understanding of how much insulin you need at different times?
Until recently my answers would be:
1. awful. i would never monitor results. they would just be left on my monitor and forgotten
2. no. i would think about things but very little i learned had relevance because every day was so very different
3. ok but sometimes I could go two days without a test and I'd not learn anything from doing the test other than to find out whether I was too high or too low at that moment
4. i had a terrible routine. my sleep was all over the place and i was always rushing around or working long hours and having meals at odd times
5. i'd often let things get in the way of my type 1. i'd eat then forget to inject far too often.
6. I'd gone on a carb counting course and whilst i knew the theory, applying it felt like too much effort (considering points 1 to 5 above were all over the place this is probably not surprising!)
7. i went for a long time not knowing what the effects of not taking my long term would be. i was told i should always take it but it took 15 years for someone to correctly explain that i must take it otherwise my body will start to poison me.
I've got better lately by slowly fixing the basics.
Working on trying to get a better routine. Not having every day completely different to the last.
I've been recording my results writing them onto my computer once a week.
Spending a bit of time figuring out what the numbers are telling me.
One of the most important things I did was to set myself a 30 day test. To give myself 30 days to produce a better set of results than the previous month.
This was really helpful. If you say you're going to get better forever it becomes overwhelming. However, you say just 30 days and you think, "yeah, even i can do that".
Also, another big thing was to not let disappointments hold me back. After the 1st week i had really good figures but then the second week i started to slip. usually i'd give up at this point but instead i kept going. I thought i'l try and make the 30 days. i did and my results have been much better than the previous month's wayward results.
For the full story and some random other **** (like a scary photo of me) see the blog i started to invigorate myself into keeping up the good work
http://from-infinity.blogspot.com/
Good luck with getting back on the right.
All the best
Ed
My HbA1cs have been too high so I'm on a mission to get the figure down.
I think it's a good idea to keep things simple.
I was awful. Take a look at some questions and see my answers which tell you how i'd let things slip
1. Is your monitoring good? - do you write all your results down?
2. Do you regularly review how you're doing?
3. Do you test regularly? once or twice each day say?
4. Do you have a fairly regular routine or does every day feel different?
5. Do you have a habit of letting your diabetes take second place or worse?
6. Roughly how good is your carb counting? do you carb count for easy things but still make quite rough guesses here and there?
7. How good is your understanding of how much insulin you need at different times?
Until recently my answers would be:
1. awful. i would never monitor results. they would just be left on my monitor and forgotten
2. no. i would think about things but very little i learned had relevance because every day was so very different
3. ok but sometimes I could go two days without a test and I'd not learn anything from doing the test other than to find out whether I was too high or too low at that moment
4. i had a terrible routine. my sleep was all over the place and i was always rushing around or working long hours and having meals at odd times
5. i'd often let things get in the way of my type 1. i'd eat then forget to inject far too often.
6. I'd gone on a carb counting course and whilst i knew the theory, applying it felt like too much effort (considering points 1 to 5 above were all over the place this is probably not surprising!)
7. i went for a long time not knowing what the effects of not taking my long term would be. i was told i should always take it but it took 15 years for someone to correctly explain that i must take it otherwise my body will start to poison me.
I've got better lately by slowly fixing the basics.
Working on trying to get a better routine. Not having every day completely different to the last.
I've been recording my results writing them onto my computer once a week.
Spending a bit of time figuring out what the numbers are telling me.
One of the most important things I did was to set myself a 30 day test. To give myself 30 days to produce a better set of results than the previous month.
This was really helpful. If you say you're going to get better forever it becomes overwhelming. However, you say just 30 days and you think, "yeah, even i can do that".
Also, another big thing was to not let disappointments hold me back. After the 1st week i had really good figures but then the second week i started to slip. usually i'd give up at this point but instead i kept going. I thought i'l try and make the 30 days. i did and my results have been much better than the previous month's wayward results.
For the full story and some random other **** (like a scary photo of me) see the blog i started to invigorate myself into keeping up the good work
http://from-infinity.blogspot.com/
Good luck with getting back on the right.
All the best
Ed
Hello everyone
I'm dragging up this thread just in case it can give some hope to people who are struggling and have high results. I have been for my 6 month review today and have an HBa1c of 7.3% - woohoo!!!!
I know this is still high compared to a lot of you on here but seeing as I was 14.6% in Jan, I'm over the moon. Also on preconception clinic and have a target of about 7% before we are allowed to try and get pregnant so I am nearly there.
Hope this can help somebody feel a little better, I know how horrible it is to feel like the worst diabetic in the world!
I'm dragging up this thread just in case it can give some hope to people who are struggling and have high results. I have been for my 6 month review today and have an HBa1c of 7.3% - woohoo!!!!
I know this is still high compared to a lot of you on here but seeing as I was 14.6% in Jan, I'm over the moon. Also on preconception clinic and have a target of about 7% before we are allowed to try and get pregnant so I am nearly there.
Hope this can help somebody feel a little better, I know how horrible it is to feel like the worst diabetic in the world!
