Type 1'stars R Us

[Jaylee]

I put the new sensor on right away last night and figured I'd start it after getting up this morning to give it some time to bed in. I've never had a nighttime hypo in over 4 years I've been using the Libre (except for that one lantus Low, but that doesn't count) so no issue to skip a night. Only downside is no alarm if I start to rise in the early morning, but I haven't needed a correction during the night in the past 6 days or so, so chances were I wouldn't need it this night either.
So I went to sleep without worries, and even if I would rise due to DP, so what, it's only one day and I don't expect to rise over 9 even if it happens.

Woke up, did a finger prick, 3.8! Whut???
I always need a couple of units for Foot on the Floor, so I figured I'd just get up, make coffee, feed the goats, chickens, guinea pigs and bunnies to give FOTF a head start, and dose for it by the time I sat down with my coffee.

Grabbed my Reader to start the sensor only to have it say the sensor had already been started with another device. Huh? Checked my phone to see I apparently started the sensor at 5AM.
I must really be taking my diabetes very seriously if I even scan in my sleep!

So now I have a sensor which will end in the middle of the night, and no reader for the next two weeks. Not a big issue, the first thing will be easily rectified by sleeping and only starting the sensor after waking up, losing a few hours of data. The second thing is more annoying: I use the reader twice a week when swimming. It sits in a waterproof bag on the edge of the pool, next to an apple, and halfway through I just swim to the side, scan, have a couple of bites of my apple if dropping, and never even need to get out of the water.
This is possible with my phone as well, but it doesn't like to be handled through the bag so it's a fight to make it scan.
Not the end of the world, but still one of those pesky little diabetic annoyances.

By the time I sat down with my coffee I felt slightly shakey, fingerprick said 3.7. So instead of the expected insulin I had a swig of milk, which took me up to a comfortable 5.1, and FOTF never came.
Very odd, the one night in years I don't have my Libre is the only time ever I had a nighttime hypo, and the only time I didn't have FOTF.

At least my BG's are nice and stable so I can calibrate DiaBox!

Had you any alcohol the night before? Which may have stunted the foot on the floor?


I kid you not, since starting using the L2. I have never needed to calibrate. For me the MK11 has been a vast inprovment on that score..

I have to admit, I've renamed "foot on the floor" to "pedal to the metal?" Mine happens when facing having to drive the work's truck.

 

[Jaylee]

Whoops, almost forgot.

Heading out for fine dining this evening with my wife. & going to be bolusing for an "unknown quantity..."

Wish me bally good luck..

 

[Antje77]

Had you any alcohol the night before? Which may have stunted the foot on the floor?

Yes I did.
But then again, I didn't drink more than I do about every day (*looks behind back to check if aunt isn't reading this*) so that shouldn't make a difference to the usual behaviour of my diabetes. Food and activity wise it was a very average day as well, so it must be just one of those diabetic mysteries.
The trend stayed over the day, I've needed a ridiculous small amount of fast acting insulin for me.

That said, the amount of insulin I need fluctuates pretty wildly. Just last week I made a graph of the amount of bolus insulin used every day over 3 months, determined to finally find the pattern. Couldn't find one. By far the most of my days follow comparable eating and activity levels at the moment, still, the amount of bolus I need fluctuates heavily.

I'll include the graph, perhaps someone will see something I've missed
Left are the insulin units, top are the dates, three days for every vertical line, every dot is a day.
Ignore the spike on the 3rd of august, had Chinese take-away that day .

Pattern or no pattern, my glucose levels are very nice usually, it's only that it's a lot of work when you never know how much insulin you'll need each day...

I kid you not, since starting using the L2. I have never needed to calibrate.

I envy you!
I hate calibration day!
For me, the Libre2 tends to read low by a little over 1 mmol/l, on average.

Heading out for fine dining this evening with my wife. & going to be bolusing for an "unknown quantity..."

Wish me bally good luck..

Lots of good luck coming your way, hope you'll have a lovely evening!

 

[Marie 2]

@Antje77 I was cracking up too, sorry lol!
It was going to happen just because!

@becca59 I had a terrible time with the Libre2 starting up. The first 2 that I got wouldn't start, then a couple did, then I switched back to the 14 day. I finally tried the Libre2 again and a couple worked and then 4 in a row wouldn't start. They just wanted to keep sending me sensors. Finally when the 5th one wouldn't start again I asked for a new reader. In the meantime I switched back to the 14 day. I have the new reader now and a coupon for the Libre2 replacement but haven't picked it up to try it yet. A bunch of people have started posting they are having the same repeated non start issue but someone has said they only use the phone ap and are having the same issue so now I'm not sure the reader will solve it.

@Tracyserajian It is a tubed pump. I have always used the Omnipod as I never wanted tubed pumps. The 780G is a looped system and Omnipod is aiming for a looped system to be out next year. But until it's actually out and approved no one knows.

I really like the Medtronics new ad. It says Type 1 is like tapping a balloon all day to try to keep it in the air while you go about your daily activities. That reminds me of @Antje77 reaching over in your sleep to automatically scan in the middle of the night and starting your sensor.

About the new Medtronic pump.

 

[Marie 2]

@Antje77 Wow what a fluctuation level! It's almost like you get enough insulin in your system for a few days and then it kicks in lowering your needs for a few days. Because the only pattern I see is a boost and then the bigger drops. It's kind of what happens in a day where you get a stubborn high and you keep pumping insulin because you're not coming down and then bam it hits. I don't see how that can happen for days though.

My dog could be irregular. She got her diabetes after being given steroids and had to stay on them for a stomach issue. so I always thought that maybe her pancreas was still trying to work sometimes. She would have days or weeks of requiring a higher dose and then all of a sudden starting to drop too low for days. We'd have to adjust her dose fast which is why I loved having the Libre on her with Miao Miao alerts. Sometimes nice and steady and then same food, same activity from 40 units a day to 70 units a day sometimes.

 

[Antje77]

Sometimes nice and steady and then same food, same activity from 40 units a day to 70 units a day sometimes.

Glad to see I'm in good company!

Wow what a fluctuation level!

I'm wondering if it's more common than we can see.
I'm in various diabetes Fb groups, and a recurring thing is people posting frustratedly that their BG is stubbornly high or stubbornly low for days, despite taking the 'correct amount' of insulin. This amount being calculated according to their I:C ratio.

I don't use ratios for exactly this reason, as you can see from my graph it wouldn't make much sense.
Instead I go with high/medium/low insulin days, and high/medium/low carb food, plus a fair bit of gut feeling and sugar surfing and a lower carb diet.
Which are an awful lot of variables to work with, and not something to easily explain to someone struggling with their numbers.

I got lucky my practice nurse gave me free rein from the start (reluctantly but still), which worked perfectly to help me own my diabetes, and fit my pigheaded character.
She didn't know too much about diabetes, especially not T1/LADA (I was assumed a T2 at the time) but she was very good at reading people and taking the approach which suits them best!
So I wasn't hindered by instructions, and went with what my meter told me instead, thanks to all the T2 threads I'd been reading on this forum when I was first diagnosed.

What if there are many more people who don't need the same amount of insulin for the same things at the same time every day?
If they'd make a graph of their daily insulin intake, it might look flattish, mirroring my BG graph, where my insulin use graph looks more like their BG graph.

Just random thoughts of course.

@Antje77 I was cracking up too, sorry lol!
It was going to happen just because!

Glad to have made you laugh!
And I think you've hit the nail on the head with your reasoning too!

I'll dial back my basal dose a bit tonight, although it being Tresiba I doubt it will take effect before my needs rise again.

 

[Hopeful34]

I'm in the same club as you Antje77, and thought it was just me, but maybe there are a lot of us?

 

[Antje77]

I'm in the same club as you Antje77, and thought it was just me, but maybe there are a lot of us?

I 'm happy to see it's not just me!
First @Marie 2 s very lucky dog, and now you as well!

I don't share often because my approach works so well for me people tend to think my diabetes is easily managed as soon as I share numbers.
And in a way they are right, seeing as it works while many can do everything in their power and still ride a rollercoaster.

 

[karen8967]

Good morning everyone have a good start to the week

 

[becca59]

@Antje77 @Hopeful34 you can add me to that list too. Frankly it is a relief when you hear of others the same. I have always wondered about people’s ratios for each meal. At my last consultant appointment I gave up pretending what my ratios were and admitted that I wing it on a daily basis. Depending on type of food eaten, how my levels have seemed that week, activity levels and general mood-happy/a bit down. He didn’t bat an eyelid and said well your results are good. As is my HBA1C. The person actually eating and injecting is me so to be honest I will do what is right to keep me on track. Sticking to a daily ratio will not help me in the slightest.

 

[Antje77]

@Antje77 @Hopeful34 you can add me to that list too. Frankly it is a relief when you hear of others the same.

Definitely a relief!

 

[karen8967]

Good morning everyone

 

[Fairygodmother]

Good morning all. Also a winger! I wonder how many of us there are? The one size fits all stuff just doesn’t work well enough, so it has to be sugar surfing and testing out the kind of day it is. Stores of various carb content things essential, especially if a new lot of goodies to try appears in a shop. Happy experimentation. Do you all judge the time it’ll take for things to work too? Slow rise for fudge, middling time for rise from a rice cake and zoom up for a jelly baby? And then the time to rise changes too, especially if I really want to be somewhere and have to be fit to drive when it always seems to take for ever.
I had a bit of a set to with husband when I found out he’d been helping himself to fistfuls of one of the more tempting carb stashes. I think he was applying “What’s yours is mine” too much to the letter.
Went to older daughter’s yesterday to dog sit. Dog sitting wasn’t really needed, but we tell ourselves it is and then we have all the pleasure of watching the puppy as he grows up.
We drove past lots of petrol stations where the fuel had all been used up and tried not to feel smug. We just felt really pleased, and had already told GP next door neighbour and teacher daughter that we’d drive them to work if needed. We could do that as a few months ago husband had bought a secondhand EV. It’s not new but still looks nearly garage fresh so I don’t want to drive it too much as I’d feel dreadful if I scratched it and added to the small scrape he’s already made on a prickly bush near the house. It’s all shiny bight inside too. I think it’s always nicer to drive a car when a it feels used, but I’d feel very guilty. It’s not mine to make feel used and to spoil the wonderfully clean interior. It’s not like my older car which has carried all kind of stuff from furniture to piles of manure, and which we’ll go on using if we need to fetch anything mucky.
We got two initially for getting to work, and because before the pandemic we were going up to the Midlands a lot, separately or together, to see younger daughter and family, and where my ‘part time job’ is. and before the pandemic we also used to go separate ways to do the things we enjoy back here. Lucky to be able to do that.

 

[Marie 2]

I do a lot of sugar surfing and a lot of eyeballing...........I like to throw stuff together and never measure. So how much pasta did I put in the veggies? And then there's the taro bun or togo vegan food we get that is total guessing. If I don't drop enough in 60-90 minutes that I think I should be doing, I add on a dose and/or maybe get on my exercise bike for my days exercise. I just did that this evening. I had 6 crackers with oil based garlic dip and dosed for 12 carbs, but somehow that fat content required another 2 units on top of getting on the bike. Fat content, lack of sleep..............snorkeling, many variables sometimes.

@Fairygodmother We have his and hers stuff lol. In his family growing up it was whoever got to it first. I always had to be watchful of my weight and that did not work for me. So we got into it early on that I didn't want to feel like I had to eat something because it wasn't going to be there tomorrow. So when we buy treats or snacks it's this is my stuff, that is yours, that line was solidly drawn years ago!

 

[RVW]

Hello everyone,

In reply to the recent conversations i have to admit that i wing it most of the time, my carb to insulin ratio is 15g of carbs for 1 unit of insulin but i never weigh any food so i just give myself what i think i need then scan every hour to see whats happening.

My Hba1c results have been averaging about 6.7 and my doctor seems more than happy with my figures so i must be doing something right but sometimes feel like i cant do right for doing wrong.

 

[becca59]

Received text message from Gp today with info for doing a urine test for kidneys. All part of diabetes checks. The NHS provider Healthy.io will send me a test and link for an app to record results on. Anybody else have this happen?

 

[Japes]

It is only Tuesday, isn't it?

So... this year's students are settled in, most boundaries tested and limits sorted and, very happily, the diabetes routines for all three of us running smoothly! Our own group bat not a single eyelid as I wander around the room with record books asking for a scan here, a finger prick there, hauling someone out for pre-lunch insulin, negotiating hyper treatments when on a restricted liquid intake, negotiating a not quite hypo but definitely heading that way before the next meal, and ignoring the occasional drama (generally the frustration at the 3rd attempt to extract blood...). Other staff are learning the routines without too much fuss well, apart from one day - and there was a bit of a "There's too much to remember and you just know it all so why should I!!!" sulk in one corner as I pointed out I'm not always in the room.

But this week, we've been encountering supply staff. Oh my. One was foolish enough to peer over mine and my student's shoulder to see what my student was doing and got a bit distressed about the sight of blood, not ever having encountered a blood glucose meter and all its doings before. I did apologise for not pre-warning but pointed out that (a) we were following our normal pre-break routine (b) peering so closely over a number of our students' shoulders was never going to be a good idea. and (c) there were three of us in the room who could be doing this at any time, and the other staff and students were fine with it. There was a bit of a panic about possible needles being used next at which point I took pity and explained for the student concerned's privacy we went to another room for that at lunchtime. Not break time.

Today's was "Oh, have you all got the severe kind of diabetes that needs insulin and could it have been avoided if you'd altered your lifestyles. My relative's got the one that's not too bad, and if she'd sorted her diet she'd not be on insulin now" 15 minutes later, she was far better informed.

But, otherwise all is well on Planet Japes and waves at everyone else!

 

[Japes]

Also, forgot to say. One student, for the first time ever in the two years we've worked together, quietly asked what my bloods were as I did a random test whilst deep concentration (as I thought) typing up the morning's work was going on next to me.

"Hold on" said me after I'd vouchsafed the information, "How did you know I was testing?!" (Said student is both significantly hearing impaired and visually impaired.)

"I heard the lid of the test strips being opened." was the reply accompanied by a massive grin .

"So, that hearing aid is helping after all and it was worth all the angst." I mused.. It's early days, and it's taken quite a while for this student to to accept it is needed but it's oh so definitely helping.

"Mmmm... maybe." was the reluctant response with a smile.

 

[Fairygodmother]

Received text message from Gp today with info for doing a urine test for kidneys. All part of diabetes checks. The NHS provider Healthy.io will send me a test and link for an app to record results on. Anybody else have this happen?

This is the first time I’ve heard of it being carried out in this way. For me, it’s usually recorded on the Patient Access app. Maybe Healthy.io is another similar system that GPS can utilise?

 

[Fairygodmother]

Just when you think foot on the floor’s a regular thing it says it’s not. Not today. Can I put a foot near the floor without falling over? Thank goodness some predictive god made jelly babies. I’ll be with you soon floor.