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Dafne course, what is it about?

pandaburrh

pandaburrh

Member
Messages
8
Location
Worcester
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
My diabetic consultant is referring me to the DAFNE course as I am struggling to control my blood glucose levels... yay :(
Can anyone tell me what it is about and such?
 
It covers lots of things really, but the main thing is teaches you is how to look at your blood sugars and make dose adjustment decisions......

so you will be able to test your background dose/doses to see if they are correct and also how to get your meal time insulin dose correct too...

being able to adjust for illness, physical activity and so on is also covered........

there has been a lot of bad press on here, in my opinion, about how it encourages you to eat what you want......I would be interested to hear how you felt on this.....

for me it didn't do this, but for some it might........ultimately it shouldn't, its all about adjusting doses for your day to day life.....

good luck and have fun....
 
novorapidboi26 said:
It covers lots of things really, but the main thing is teaches you is how to look at your blood sugars and make dose adjustment decisions......

so you will be able to test your background dose/doses to see if they are correct and also how to get your meal time insulin dose correct too...

being able to adjust for illness, physical activity and so on is also covered........

there has been a lot of bad press on here, in my opinion, about how it encourages you to eat what you want......I would be interested to hear how you felt on this.....

for me it didn't do this, but for some it might........ultimately it shouldn't, its all about adjusting doses for your day to day life.....

good luck and have fun....
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My Diabetic consultant has decided to refer me to it now as I have finished being rebellious, etc and now actually taking it seriously 4 years down the line, While most of the rebelliousness was from ignorant people saying you can't eat this and that.

Hope it teaches me things correctly as I've been half-assing it these last years.
 
there has been a lot of bad press on here, in my opinion
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Anything other than extreme low-carb will have bad press on this forum. DAFNE doesn't teach that that you need to low-carb, and as such is completely worthless.

I would be interested to hear how you felt on this.....
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It's completely missing the point - DAFNE simply teaches you how to adjust insulin based on what you eat, and as such is an essential skill regardless of what you are going to eat.

BDEC covers much the same as DAFNE.
 
DAFNE is not all about matching insulin to carbs. It teaches sick day rules, alcohol & how it effects diabetes and some input on exercise too. It's also quite nice just talking to other T1's and hearing how people cope. It's not a magic cure to good control and it does need updating but I still think it's a worthwhile course.
 
DAFNE, for me, teaches a lot of valuable skills and applications,.

What it doesn't teach and makes no attempt to teach is moderation or healty eating.

It also has a very narrow view on what constitues a carb and excludes a whle load of food types that most people on my course were saying have an effect on them and would need to be dosed for.

I found it quite dogmatic in it's approach with questions outside the DAFNE box not getting answered, so although I found it had a lot of value for me, you do need to approach it as part of the solution and do your own work outside of that as well.
 
AlexMBrennan said:
Anything other than extreme low-carb will have bad press on this forum. DAFNE doesn't teach that that you need to low-carb, and as such is completely worthless.


It's completely missing the point - DAFNE simply teaches you how to adjust insulin based on what you eat, and as such is an essential skill regardless of what you are going to eat.

BDEC covers much the same as DAFNE.
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IMHO AlexMBrennan is just sitting out his dummy here. We are not all extremely low carbers here. He just thinks they are followers of the antichrist:woot::woot:
 
DAFNE was the best thing I have done in my diabetic life! I learnt so much, not just carb counting but things related to alcohol, sick day rules etc and it was also great to meet other diabetics who showed you that you weren't alone. We also covered pregnancy and exercise and it was deffo a week worth doing! Good luck!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I like simplicity. And the whole idea of DAFNE is anything but simple.

For DAFNE encourages you to eat in such a way as though you weren't really diabetic at all: you're encouraged to eat normally - as non-diabetics normally eat.

This requires carb counting, dose adjustment, calculation, and an awful lot of guesswork.

I don't have to do any of that stuff. (Well, okay, I occasionally make slight adjustments to my insulin.) And my blood-sugar control could not be better.

However, in your position I would certainly attend such a course. (I was first diagnosed aged 25.) There are other good options available to you. And what's best for you will surely depend a lot on the type of person you are, and what you get up to in life - and what you hope to get up to.

If I were you, I'd go along for the laugh. I'd learn things too.
 
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As everyone has said the DAFNE course is excellent and very worthwhile :)
 
michaeldavid said:
I like simplicity. And the whole idea of DAFNE is anything but simple.

For DAFNE encourages you to eat in such a way as though you weren't really diabetic at all: you're encouraged to eat normally - as non-diabetics normally eat.

This requires carb counting, dose adjustment, calculation, and an awful lot of guesswork.

I don't have to do any of that stuff. (Well, okay, I occasionally make slight adjustments to my insulin.) And my blood-sugar control could not be better.

However, in your position I would certainly attend such a course. (I was first diagnosed aged 25.) There are other good options available to you. And what's best for you will surely depend a lot on the type of person you are, and what you get up to in life - and what you hope to get up to.

If I were you, I'd go along for the laugh. I'd learn things too.
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And what, exactly is wrong with having the skills to be able to eat and dose flexibly if you so choose?

And, I don't believe DAFNE does teach you to eat normally, I believe it encourages you to eat a modern, processed junk carbohydrate diet and actively discourage a low GI healthy diet, but those are completely separate issues.
 
ElyDave said:
And what, exactly is wrong with having the skills to be able to eat and dose flexibly if you so choose?

And, I don't believe DAFNE does teach you to eat normally, I believe it encourages you to eat a modern, processed junk carbohydrate diet and actively discourage a low GI healthy diet, but those are completely separate issues.
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DAFNE certainly did not discourage a low GI diet! In fact it was actively encouraged at mine! Not because we are diabetics, but because that is the healthy thing for anyone to do.

DAFNE gives you the tools to eat which ever diet you desire. Many opt for processed junk, but there are those of us (and many here on this forum) that enjoy all things in moderation and DAFNE helps to allow you to eat that piece of cake at the party and work it off in the gym later by controlling your insulin.


Blogging at drivendiabetic.wordpress.com
 
Sadly, "a modern, processed junk carbohydrate diet" is all too normal in this part of the wider world.

But the 'normal eating' of DAFNE surely also refers to normal meals (as opposed, say, to grazing) and normal mealtimes.

An evening meal would be very bad for me, especially when it comes to the consideration of my overnight blood sugar.
 
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I expect that all the opinions in this thread are correct, however contradictory they appear. Being type-free, I haven't made the acquaintance of Dafne or her pal Desmond, but I've been on a awful lot of courses, and it's my experience that however prescriptive, detailed and standardised the teaching materials, the course differs greatly depending on the presenter. You can prevent presenters from teaching their own opinions as such, but their individual personality, experience and views will always colour the way they present. And a course where participants share their experience will be further coloured by the views and personalities of the participants.

But I can't think of a single course I've been on in any subject where I haven't learnt something. When my pancreas finally packs up insulin production completely and I have to go back on insulin I'll jump at the chance of a Dafne.

Kate
 
DAFNE covers a lot of ground. It's meant as a refresher course for diabetics who may not have had any instruction since diagnosis, to update them on current clinical best practice. It teaches a carb counting method for basal/bolus which I would call not dogmatic, but maybe simplistic. However simplicity is its virtue. They had to design something that would work for everyone. The DAFNE dose method does not assume much more than very basic arithmetic.

But there is a lot more to DAFNE than just the carb counting method. Probably there should be two names, one for the carb counting method and the other for the course. When I went on the course I thought I was just going to learn carb counting, which (I thought) I already knew. Actually there was all kinds of interesting new information.

Most important is what is not on the curriculum at all, which is everything you can learn from the other participants. This is not just knowledge but also support and validation. It is a huge relief to know other people are going through what you are going through. There are confessions and you realise that you are not the only 'imperfect' diabetic. You see people who have been living with diabetes for forty years who are in great shape, and that is an inspiration. You may see others who are in bad difficulties, and that is a warning. It is enriching and uplifting. It supports NHS goals for patient led car and patient centred treatment. I didn't agree with everything taught and everything said, and neither did the other participants, but I learned a great deal and gained a lot from it. I was on a waiting list for years. If I had known what it was about, I would have pushed to attend earlier.
 
Much like what Spiker says, being in the same room as other type 1's discussing life's up & downs was uplifting.
 
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