DKA!???

[Elise Broenlund]

.. a pump is not the right tool for everybody... you are right.

I had a pump (brilluant for 5 years) but all of a sudden cannulas wouldnt work...took 5 horrid hospital emergencies to find out exactly the cause of probs... so I completely empathise with you...
Totally.

However, there isnt a magic answer of one size fits all.. but your basal being correct is a must...
And to be honest - there are ways to get better responses with your eating and bolus's.

I have to have a strange mixture of two basal background insulins and its taken 3 hospitals and extensive monitoring to establish what routine has been necessary to get numbers better since I had to come off the pump..
3 years down the line now and I'm not totally happy with levels but there isnt one single person I know that has to wake at 4am (or 4hours before waking for first basal and again another correction bolus before feet on floor etc..

We aree all individual ...BUT there are ways for you to get better levels and your acceptance and commitment to keep trying things like carb counting and basal testing is hugely important...

I have also had chronic digestive issues... I also have some screwy results for different foods etc or the same food according to how my stomach and colon is working.
However, carb counting is vital... it maybe that it teaches you that rather than just ditching the carb counting.. that it is identifying foods that react well and those that dont.

I do not eat bread, pasta, rice or meat. Or leafy veg and too many foods to list.

With you, you need to eat lower carbs and 5 hours apart.. and to watch exactly...keep each meal under 30g initially of carb.. keep to 30g for every meal.. (or 20 or 10, but no more than 30g) for a month.
This will allow you to see if its actually that mornings.. have a different bolus ratio to evenings.

I really think you have chosen to give up carb counting rather than using it to give you basics...

I think you are right in everything you are saying and I really wish I could like this post haha. The thing about eating every 5 hours I can`t do. If I go more than 3 hours without eating I go low. Besides my levels are so high that I feel starved just 2 hours after eating now

 

[donnellysdogs]

Make sure you have every aspect covered in US!! Ie medically and insurance and supplies!!
I hope it may bring you everything that you are hoping for..

 

[Diakat]

If you are always low after 3hrs your basal really needs looking at.

 

[donnellysdogs]

I think you are right in everything you are saying and I really wish I could like this post haha. The thing about eating every 5 hours I can`t do. If I go more than 3 hours without eating I go low. Besides my levels are so high that I feel starved just 2 hours after eating now

Thats difficult situation as that is really starting at acceptance with brain....

The basics are though if you cant basal test...

If you go low 2-3 hours after any bolus injecting.. its your bolus that needs adjusting. At any other time, its your basal that needs to be adjusted. If however you go low or high from bolus time to 2hoyrs then the bolus was given at wrong time orthe wrong amount...

I have a tresiba injection at 5pm and an insulatard one at 4am.. so I am odd because I dont know any other T1 that has had to do this....and another bolus before I get up at 8am. Its taken a long time to establish this was my needs but all I can really say is that there is a routine that can be gained somehow, but my goodness it needs determination and good care froom knowledgeable Professors etc...

There us not one solution suitable for everybody..
But it is important to keep trying.

There is the medical reference of "flight or fight".... despute going to US you are still going to have to fight and get tge determination to find your solution. Medics in their 15 mins with you cant do it... they can write prescriptions of different insulins to try and certainly giv you 1/2 unit pens but the understanding and dertimination for your body is ultimately yours....

I've had cancer, cant tolerate tablets.. I could think doom and gloom (as one person has suggested that I am actually like)... but I fight in my own way.. I cant tolerate the tablets so I have to fight it any other good way I can. I could flee from doing this and just accept that the NHS will give me more treatment if cancer returns... but I can fight it to the best of my abilities first. I've had to accept quality of life over quantity.. you do need to accept that you need to find a way for yourself and not give up...

If you cant basal test then, please try adjusting by 1/2 units and try to keep your carb qtys small.. uf you eat less carbs, less insulin and less room for errors.

I ate a very rare huge chinese years ago.. a true rarity for me. Huge bolus.. and was promptly sick, sick, sick. With a huge bolus in me. I knew I was in big trouble.. told hubby to dial 999.. by time first responders and ambulance arrived I was unconscious....
Not my fault I was sick but I learnt never to do it again!! If it had been a normal low carb meal I could have rubbed glucosegel in my gums, I could have sucked sugar cubes.. I wouldnt have needed external help..

Honest..keep trying and dont give up.

Wishing you well for US....

 

[catapillar]

I think you are right in everything you are saying and I really wish I could like this post haha. The thing about eating every 5 hours I can`t do. If I go more than 3 hours without eating I go low. Besides my levels are so high that I feel starved just 2 hours after eating now

That in itself suggests your basal dosage is too high.

 

[Elise Broenlund]

.. a pump is not the right tool for everybody... you are right.

I had a pump (brilluant for 5 years) but all of a sudden cannulas wouldnt work...took 5 horrid hospital emergencies to find out exactly the cause of probs... so I completely empathise with you...
Totally.

However, there isnt a magic answer of one size fits all.. but your basal being correct is a must...
And to be honest - there are ways to get better responses with your eating and bolus's.

I have to have a strange mixture of two basal background insulins and its taken 3 hospitals and extensive monitoring to establish what routine has been necessary to get numbers better since I had to come off the pump..
3 years down the line now and I'm not totally happy with levels but there isnt one single person I know that has to wake at 4am (or 4hours before waking for first basal and again another correction bolus before feet on floor etc..

We aree all individual ...BUT there are ways for you to get better levels and your acceptance and commitment to keep trying things like carb counting and basal testing is hugely important...

I have also had chronic digestive issues... I also have some screwy results for different foods etc or the same food according to how my stomach and colon is working.
However, carb counting is vital... it maybe that it teaches you that rather than just ditching the carb counting.. that it is identifying foods that react well and those that dont.

I do not eat bread, pasta, rice or meat. Or leafy veg and too many foods to list.

With you, you need to eat lower carbs and 5 hours apart.. and to watch exactly...keep each meal under 30g initially of carb.. keep to 30g for every meal.. (or 20 or 10, but no more than 30g) for a month.
This will allow you to see if its actually that mornings.. have a different bolus ratio to evenings.

I really think you have chosen to give up carb counting rather than using it to give you basics...

Hello, I was given the Novopen Echo today to help me become more confident in taking insulin as I can do half units and give more accurate boluses. They all agreed my basal was too high and would be way too high for the hot weather in the states. It is now down from 15 to 13. They said try 12 for 5 days, but I would really like to go down to 10 haha.

Any advice please from US citizens?? I have no idea how it works with insulin and medical supplies over there. In Norway I get it from the pharmacy, on prescription or by the hospital. In the UK I get it on prescription for free. How does it work in the US???

 

[donnellysdogs]

Hello, I was given the Novopen Echo today to help me become more confident in taking insulin as I can do half units and give more accurate boluses. They all agreed my basal was too high and would be way too high for the hot weather in the states. It is now down from 15 to 13. They said try 12 for 5 days, but I would really like to go down to 10 haha.

Any advice please from US citizens?? I have no idea how it works with insulin and medical supplies over there. In Norway I get it from the pharmacy, on prescription or by the hospital. In the UK I get it on prescription for free. How does it work in the US???

Really good to hear that you got 1/2 unit pens! Yaaay!!!

Does your blood meter suggest 1/2 unit doses and is it a fully functional one like the accuchek expert? That for me is superb.. and that allows 1/2 unit suggestions for boluses/corrections.
Whatever meter you are using make sure its one that suggest 1/2 units when needed...

The US is heavily reluant upon all persons having medical insurance but I have no idea how it all works..

There are US people on forum, I just cant remember names!!

Whats tge date you are planning to go?

 

[Diakat]

Tagging @TorqPenderloin and @TheBigNewt they are in the US.

 

[Claire007]

My best advice to you is back to basics, pen and paper, log your BG, carb count on a ratio that's been suggested by your DSN and watch the patterns. Don't change more than one thing at a time and concentrate on your basal rate. Until this is right, nothing else will work.
You and I have very different outlooks re the pump. I've been on mine two months. It's not right, yet. Well some weeks it is but the honeymoon phase coupled with an 18 day menstrual cycle due to the peri menopause means ironing out the basal is tricky. But! I never expected to be sorted in a matter of weeks. I expected it to take a few months and I feel you must have been given the impression that the pump does the work for you when it's only as good as the information you give it.
If you don't carb count how do you know how much insulin to give? Are you on set meal doses?

 

[TorqPenderloin]

Any advice please from US citizens?? I have no idea how it works with insulin and medical supplies over there. In Norway I get it from the pharmacy, on prescription or by the hospital. In the UK I get it on prescription for free. How does it work in the US???

It's never fun explaining how our system works because there's very limited coverage for people that don't have medical insurance and/or aren't covered by some sort of government assistance.

1.) Insulin is sold at public pharmacies and they're commonly found inside grocery stores, or as stand alone buildings (Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, and Duane Reade to name a few).

2a.) In order to buy the more recent types of insulin, you will need a doctor's prescription to provide to the pharmacist. Generally, that doctor would have to reside in the same state as the location you're purchasing (you can't bring a doctor's note from the UK).

2b.) Note: Walmart sells older types of insulin like Novolin R that are very cheap (around $25) and do not require a prescription. That would be where I would start if I needed insulin couldn't afford anything else.

3a.) After you have a prescription from a doctor, you have to pay for the pharmacy for the insulin (This is where it becomes very painful to explain). Pharmacies have "retail prices" that almost no one pays (probably <.01%) and they're usually ridiculous. Example: my month supply of Novolog/Novorapid retails for about $750 or $150/pen.

3b.) What happens for most people is that their health insurance negotiates the retail cost down (let's say $600 in this case), and they usually pay for the majority of the costs with the patient being left to pay their co-pay (which in my case is $25-30 for that insulin that supposedly retails for $750).

4.) Unfortunately, when you don't have health insurance, you're one of the few stuck with paying these otherwise imaginary retail costs. The elderly, disabled, and low income people are generally covered by Medicare or Medicaid (government assistance).

However, it is usually foreign people and the lower middle class (who don't have health insurance through their employer) that are forced with the decision of how to pay for their medical treatment here.