samantha13 said:
Just an update peeps. In the past week I have lost 3lb. Almost halved my carb intake and therefor insulin bolus'. My fasting bs is now around 6/7 and I havnt had a reading over 10! This is massive for me. All your advice has helped sooo much. A few more tweaks and I'll be well on the way to good control. Am feeling so much better and a lot less stressed and it's all down to you guys so a big big thank you!! Xx
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Hi Samantha,
I have been following this thread with interest, since although I've managed my Type 1 well for 43 years with no complications, only in the last 8 months did I find this excellent site and learned all about basal testing by fasting, carb counting, insulin-carb ratios, ratios varying for each meal throughout the day, knowing my accurate correction factor etc, etc
A few comments ....
1) Even though you can't get on a DAFNE course, this ebook from Diabetes UK gives all you need to know about carb counting and calculating ratios ....
https://shop.diabetes.org.uk/usr/downlo ... educed.pdf. (See Chapters 3 and 4)
2) You have done really well so far .. well done
But please can you share with us a summary of the carbs, doses and factors you were on BEFORE and also AFTER you started all these changes ....
So what were/are these for a TYPICAL DAY? We all need to know all this data/factors in order to manage your diabetes successfully.
1. BG on waking
2. Levemir dose (am and pm)
3. Breakfast carbs, ratio used and hence bolus. Typical BG after 4-5 hours?
4. Lunch carbs, ratio used and hence bolus. Typical BG after 4-5 hours?
5. Dinner carbs, ratio used and hence bolus. Typical BG after 4-5 hours?
6a. How many correction doses needed? 6b. How many snacks needed?
- in an ideal well controlled diabetic on basal/bolus, neither should be needed ...
7. How many hypos during night and day?
8. What is your Correction Factor (e.g. 1u bolus reduces BG by 3 mmol/l)?
- for me 1u reduces BG by 1 mmol/l
9. How much does BG increase for 10g CHO?
- for me 10g CHO increases it by 1.4 mmol/l. So for a 4.0 BG I'll have x3 Jelly Babies (6g ea) -> 4.0 + (1.8 x 1.4) -> 6.5 (and so doesn't overshoot!)
10. Last question ... where do you record all the data so it can easily be reviewed?
- I use a detailed Excel spreadsheet that I have developed myself, and use conditional formatting so the cells change colour depending on the value. So each BG column uses a traffic light system (green - in target, amber - just out, and red OUT of target).
- in addition I have graphs to show the trends, so I can easily spot what is going off course. But, like everyone else, I still get a few random high or low readings that I can't account for .... so don't change anything .. and see if it is repeatable :-(
This has been a really interesting thread and just shows the power of such forums where fellow diabetics, who have gained much detailed knowledge from this forum and their own experience of managing their condition, assisting you so ably to achieve better control. To me there seems to be many more T1s on this forum who are struggling for better control, and using an interactive session such as this where you have supplied daily updates on carbs, insulin and resulting BGs is ...... REALLY POWERFUL.
Jonty