16 tests in a day

alaska

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Today I hit upon the thought of buying a pack of test strips and using 1/3 of a pot to test how my blood sugar changes each hour.

When I think about it, it seems like potentially an idea actually worth trying. The strips may cost me between £15 and £20 but the chance to see how my blood sugar is affected will be reasonably close to the results of a CGM -albeit testing each hour in the night is not going to happen :yawn:

I'm on a split dose of Levemir at the moment but get periods of time* where the blood sugar suddenly shoots up -which I gather is the result of one of the doses of Levemir running out.

I'm considering whether switching to 3 doses of Levemir per day might help, but to do so, I could do with knowing how my blood sugar is changing on a typical day. Hence the interest in doing a test each hour of the waking day.

Ed

* These times are as follows:
(i) between around 4pm and 6pm (night time Levemir running out) -evening meal helps as the evening meal Humalog helps out
(ii)between 10pm and 11pm (which is likely a result of the evening meal Humalog running out)

Levemir shots at 7.30am and 11pm
 

ellecook79

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I'd be really interested to know how this works out as I am on the same insulin as you (humalog 3 x a day and levemir split).

Are you type 2?

Just wondering why you need to pay for test strips? Surely you must be able to get them on prescription for free if you are on insulin in any case?

Let me know how you get on - I have the same issue with blood sugars (Itake my levemir at 9am and 1030pm).

Thanks

Elle
 

alaska

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I'm type 1, it's more that I'm not sure the NHS (or taxpayers) would be keen on me using 16 test strips in a day at the NHS's expense.

Ed
 

noblehead

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alaska said:
Today I hit upon the thought of buying a pack of test strips and using 1/3 of a pot to test how my blood sugar changes each hour.

When I think about it, it seems like potentially an idea actually worth trying. The strips may cost me between £15 and £20 but the chance to see how my blood sugar is affected will be reasonably close to the results of a CGM -albeit testing each hour in the night is not going to happen :yawn:


Why do they cost you £15-£20 when you are type 1 and entitled to them on prescription?

I don't see any harm in the testing to get a bigger picture of what your bg is doing, a cheaper and less stressful way of conducting the same test is to do it over two days at different times.

I use lantus and find it lasts the full 24 hours, I did try levemir but couldn't get stable blood glucose no matter how many times I adjusted the dose and timings, if you've not tried lantus it might be worth a go.
 

alaska

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Hi Nigel

Moving back onto Lantus would be an option.

When I was on Lantus to start with, I found the Lantus pen dreadful to use (early 2000s). So I instead used a Humapen to deliver the Lantus which worked fine for years until it eventually failed. The HCP's were a bit against this (which is fair enough) but it was a decent solution I found. Maybe the Lantus pens have improved in the last decade (I should hope :) ).

At that time -around 2009- there was a scare about Lantus insulin and cancer* so I requested to go onto Levemir instead.

I may try a 3 way split of Levemir and see what the differences in test results through the day are.

I'm still along the thoughts of buying the strips as I'd feel guilty towards the many people with type 2 who have to pay for each of their strips.

Ed

* I believe the European Medicines Agency could not find convincing enough evidence of causation of cancer to change prescribing recommendations for Lantus
 

noblehead

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The pens for lantus have come a long way since it's introduction, I use the Solostar pens which are pre-filled and you dispose with once finished.

The cancer scare did concern me but after speaking with my consultant and gp they put my mind at rest (although I do still have some reservations) but lantus is the only BI that gives me the best control.

I've heard of people splitting levemir 3 times but it does mean extra injections and having to remember 3x instead of 1x or 2x, have you tried Insulatard at any point, the profile for Insulatard is 8-14 hours and you may get away with injecting twice a day should you try it a go.

As for feeling guilty about test strips, well we need to test in order to give the right amount of insulin prior to eating, driving and correcting hypo's, whilst I have every sympathy for type 2's who are not allowed strips and fully support their fight.....this doesn't make me worry about asking for them as they are as vital to me as insulin is.
 

xyzzy

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alaska said:
I'm type 1, it's more that I'm not sure the NHS (or taxpayers) would be keen on me using 16 test strips in a day at the NHS's expense.

Ed

I'm Type 2, have to pay for my strips but think what you're doing is a good idea so do some on me :D
 

AMBrennan

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Did you ask your consultant/GP about the possibility of getting CGM for a week? When I told them I had privately bought a Navigator CGM I was told that they could have provided me with a simple CGM (sensor recordings without live display and such) if I had asked them.
 

noblehead

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AMBrennan said:
Did you ask your consultant/GP about the possibility of getting CGM for a week? When I told them I had privately bought a Navigator CGM I was told that they could have provided me with a simple CGM (sensor recordings without live display and such) if I had asked them.


That's a good suggestion AM. Three years ago I inquired about a CGM at my hospital clinic and was told the waiting list was 9 months....... although this may not be the case with other members clinics.
 

Unbeliever

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xyzzy said:
alaska said:
I'm type 1, it's more that I'm not sure the NHS (or taxpayers) would be keen on me using 16 test strips in a day at the NHS's expense.

Ed

I'm Type 2, have to pay for my strips but think what you're doing is a good idea so do some on me :D

Yes indeed, have some on me too Alaska. I can get srips on prescription [so far} but only rarely request any and buy my own in the hope that this migh help someone else!

I naurally feel for my fellow T2s and I am far from affluent but my blood runs cold whenever I hear of T1s being refused or having test strips restricted.
 

SAH154

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Have you thought about a 3 day continual blood glucose monitor?
They stick a sensor into your belly and it gives you a lovely graph at the end of it - I had one via my diabetic consultant to see exactly what was happening

oops someone else beat me to it
 

AndyS

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16 tests in a day. I feel sorry for you on that one but I salute your devotion to the cause (hmm.. no fist in the air emoticon.. a shortfall methinks)

Anyhow I know exactly where you are coming from and, while not quite 16 odd, I have done plenty to see what the whole story is.

One thing I have learned is that there is a LOT of weird transient rubbish that needs to be discarded and if we looked at it all will only muddy the water and confuse us (more...).
As an example. Last night I had a lateish dinner and when I headed off to bed my BG was 9 (I had been expecting 6ish) which is odd because 2 hours after eating I was at 6.9, but when I woke this morning it was 6.3

So sometimes you have to simply log your data points and trust in your maths (scary I know) but if it doesn't work you simply need to look back and work out what adjustments you need to make for the future.

It is odd but in some cases too much data can be a bad thing. One of the hardest things to learn (for me at least) was to ignore readings and trust that my calculations were right and everthing would word out.

Best of luck to all fighting the good fight ;)

/A
 

TheShedle

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I wouldn't worry too much about whether the NHS would object to 16 tests in a day, spare a thought for those who have type 1 and have managed to jump through all the DVLA hoops and got their class C + E (LGV) or C1 + E (7.5 ton & trailer) licence back. As a requirement of their licence they have to test 3 times a day plus every time they drive and every 2 hours on long trips, working 6 days a week this soon adds up to silly amounts - as you can imagine they feel (and look) like pin cushions :lol:
 

Pneu

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I average around 10 - 12 tests per day.. and if it were practical and my fingers could take it I would test more frequently.

As type I testing is the flagstone of your control and I would imagine that there is probably a reasonable corolation between testing and control achieved (assume you are dose adjusting).
 

alaska

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Have you thought about writing an account of how you manage your diabetes on a typical day Pneu?

I'm sure some of us could learn a few really important things.

Your A1c reading is superb.

I wonder whether you inject x minutes before eating, for example, to help keep your post meal readings down.

Ed
 

Pneu

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Alaska...

In regards to your questions... It would depend on the meal.. for the most part my meals are low GI and therefore I would inject post meal.. or perhaps even double wave if the carbohydrate release was going to be sufficiently slow. On the rare occasion where I eat higher GI carbohydrates then I would probably double wave with the first injection being 15 - 20 mins pre-meal.

My daily routine is variable and probably considered extreme by most peoples standard! I am happy to discuss in PM or answer specific questions if you have them.. Clearly as a mod I need to be a little careful about specific numbers and targets as I don't want to promote control that if you don't have the correct knowledge or your own diabetes is potentially dangerous.
 

alaska

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Thanks Pneu

I saw in your other thread you were also on 10+ injections a day and were measuring halfway through the night which helps to add to how you were able to tightly manage your levels.

I'm getting towards 10 injections a day. I'm on 3 Levemir injections a day, 3 main Humalog injections + around 3 or so for corrections and any between meal snacks.

Since going onto 3 injections of 7 units of Levemir, my control has improved and the highs during late afternoon and before bed have been reduced to normal levels.

The times I have forgotten to inject around 3pm have resulted in some higher levels but only as bad as the level;s I was getting around that time on 2 basal injections a day.

So, so far it's going well.

To solve the test strips conundrum, I dug out some strips from an old meter which turned out to give good (albeit slightly higher) results than my new meter. I wouldn't recommend using old strips usually but I was testing with my new meter as much as I would normally to check the old strips weren't way off mark.

Ed
 

noblehead

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alaska said:
I'm getting towards 10 injections a day. I'm on 3 Levemir injections a day, 3 main Humalog injections + around 3 or so for corrections and any between meal snacks.


Alaska that's a lot of injections, have you not though about asking for a pump yourself?