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DAFNE course

smc4761

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,041
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Well today was the first day on my ADAPT course, this is the new name for the DAFNE course in South Lanarkshire.

9 brave souls on the course for 4 days ranging from 14 years old to the old man of the course, me at 56.

Although I have so much still to learn despite having diabetes for 37 years, did not feel that I learned a great deal today that I did not already know. Today was mainly about carb counting, the importance of testing regular, varying sites, changing needles each time. I was surprised that there were a few on the course who did not know much about carb counting.

They have suggested we each try a ratio of 1 unit insulin to 10g of carbs. This will be fun for me as I am usually at least twice that dose. Even for dose adjustment they have suggested 1 unit insulin brings down bg by 2 or 3 mmol. With me its usually 1 unit to bring down 1 mmol. I know we are all different so again will be interesting to monitor.

Anyone else down the DAFNE/ ADAPT course and did you get a lot out of it
 
Hi @smc4761 . I did the DAFNE course. Very similar to yourself, I knew a lot. As the week passed by I also realised there was things I didn't know.
Probably the biggest thing for me was spending time with 9 other T1's , young and old , recently diagnosed and longer diagnosed than me.
Perhaps instead of asking what you can get out of the week, consider what you can give to the week.
Your 37 yrs could be the inspiration so desperately needed by someone else on the course.
Enjoy the week
 
I am looking forward to rest of course. I have never exchanged experiences with others as I do not know any other type 1. Some of the others on course are fairly young, 4 people under 20 who are very timid and nervous about the course. Even those running the course are having some difficulty getting them to open up slightly. Hopefully tomorrow they will not be so nervous and we can all benefit from each others experiences.

I may have been diabetic for 37 years but have perhaps only last 3/4 years started taking more interest in my diabetes instead of blundering through, so hopefully I can learn from others as well
 
Like @therower the biggest thing I got out of the DAFNE equivalent (it's called "Freedom4Life" where I live) was spending time with other people with type 1 diabetes.
Unfortunately a few of them had experience serious complications and, as horrible as it may sound, this was the biggest learning point - up until then, 12 years with type 1, complications were just "theory". Seeing the affect they have on people in real life made me even more determined to manage my diabetes.
Thankfully, they were in the minority and there were people there who had had diabetes longer than I with no complications to illustrate I could live without them.
 
Hi
I did the DAFNE course ten years ago.
As an old hack of now 44 years a type 1 I found I had forgotten a lot but did learn new skills.
I have an open mind and that's why I enjoy this site.
One thing that made me laugh was in the hospital canteen we were all eating and injecting at lunchtime.
Somebody asked what the collective noun was for a group of diabetics.........
A lot of thinking went around the table....
We came up with.....

A needle of diabetics.

I thought this was genius and still do............

Good luck

Tony
 
I did DAFNE in 2016. Having been T1 for 34 years, I honestly thought it was a waste of time.

Now, I believe it was one of the best things I've ever done. I did learn lots.

The best bit however was meeting 9 life long friends. We are still all in contact and help each other out all the time. Being able to share the experience of T1 with others has helped me so much.

Good luck! x
 
Done mine, in South Lanarkshire, back in 2009......

Because I was coming from a mixed, twice a day regime, it was life changing really....

If you do the course after being on here for a while you wont feel a huge benefit likely, especially if you have established ratios and correction factors already.....

its the approach to the analysis of your readings and how to adjust doses to that data that is valuable....

It allowed me to really get my teeth into dosing techniques, timing.......I actually had 4/5 correction factors on MDI.....now I have one on the pump......

The course does contain standard advice and things like that, which is good for the newbies and those who have had no experience of such things from the start....

I am a fan of DAFNE and similar........having the skills it provides is a must, especially for people considering Libre....
 
I did my version 11 years ago and got a great friendship group out of it. Be aware that after 37 years of type 1 you may be insulin resistant so that the average ratio suggested just won't work for you.
I think the course was run on the premise that as long as you count it you can do some maths and get the perfect dose which in practice seems confounded by many biological factors (resistance, hormones, exercise, illness) not to mention the impossibility of counting carbs accurately. My course was run by a very skinny dietician who said she did not like food and could not emphathise with my love of a Starbucks almond croissant on the way to work but this and what I have learnt since makes me think that the main value for me was my social life!
 
Thanks for the replies guys really appreciated

One thing that did concern me was we were all asked to start with a ration of 1:10 and take it from there. Now I normally do a 1:3 for breakfast followed by 1:5 for lunch and evening meal. Still lets go for it, in effect cutting my insulin by 50%. I was fairly sceptical about this.

Pre evening meal reading was a bit high at 9.7 but before bed this had held pretty steady at 9.5. I checked at 3am and it actually dropped to 8.5 and by breakfast it had dropped further again to 6.5

So today for breakfast instead of my usual 1:3 ratio I tried 1:10 and by lunch it had gone to 10.2 from 6.5. Same at lunch time instead of 1:5 I stuck with 1:10 it had gone up but only to 12.3, just over 3 hours later.

Looks like I can reduce my 1:3 and 1:5 ratios but may need to make this 1:8. Its all going to be trial and error

Every day learning something new and I think as long as we have an open mind to try new things it should be OK
 
i started the dafne course 3 weeks ago at aintree hospital my last appointment is this week but it wasnt a group course i have spent 20 mins with dietician and 20 mins with nurse at each appointment think i would have preferred to have been in a group
 
Course we are taking is a 4 day course from 9 am to 16.30, with DSN and specialist diabetic nurse, We also have doctors coming in a for couple of hours as well

The fact that I can speak with other diabetcis for me is a huge bonus. I used to always panic that i was taking too much insulin. especially when I read on the forums how much others were taking. Guess what there are others on course taking more than me.

I used to get upset when I had high readings. Most of folks on course have reading way higher than mine

When I take a hypo, I tend to go a bit overboard, with things to bring BG back up, none of this eat 4 jelly babies stuff, or 150 ml can of coke. I would take full can of coke maybe some sweets as well, guess what others do the same thing.

Its good to know that you are not alone and others have the same fears and anxieties that you have. Plus sharing experiences makes it soo much better
 
Yours sounds like a great course. Enough time to ask questions and get to know the other diabetics plus the right medics there.
Glad you have been able to reduce your insulin. I wondered if you were also being more diligent with the carb counting too?
 
I think I have been more diligent with my carb counting but have been been more aware particularly over past month or so; I have moved to a low carb diet, through choice in an attempt to lose weight.

My insulin has reduced dramatically over past few days, typically a 50% decrease, but this has only been only going for 2 days. BG are slightly higher than I would like so will need to make a few adjustments over next few days /weeks
 
i totally agree with you none of my friends are diabetic or really understand it but it would be nice to talk face to face .this forum sure helps though
 
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