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Newbie but not new to diabetes

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Charisma_1630

Well-Known Member
Messages
204
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi!

I've come in search of support. I'm 25 been type 1 diabetic since the age of 12. Recently done the IDAC course which is my hospitals equivalent of DAFNE. I've never been great at control I usually try for Afew weeks get really frustrated and give up. I see people on the forum that have levels of 6 all day, I'm so envious but that's why I'm here looking or help. A normal level for me is around 10-12 but I seem to get a lot of highs recently. Anyway I'll probably spend a lot of time searching the forum for ways of better control so I'll see ya all around :-)
 
Hi Charisma, I hope I don't get flamed, but anyway.
I too noticed many postings from those with low readings and hba1c, and after being amazed at some, followed postings to find out that many were type 2, so will have more control than we do (I sincerely hope that nobody gets upset with this as I am not trying to inflame T2s). Others have highlighted that some people are not always totally honest with either health care professionals or potentially themselves....
So don't feel bad about other results, if they are doing well, there may be some advice they can give you (and me), so it is worth asking for advice.
I have read a lot of books, and found them helpful, and there are some extremely helpful and well informed people on here as well. (Books I use: Think like a pancreas, Pumping insulin (ps latest version with european units was only available on amazon.com - the US site, but it was cheaper than the .co.uk even after delivery when I got it), Diabetic athlete's handbook).

All the best and good luck.
 
Charisma_1630 said:
Hi!

I've come in search of support. I'm 25 been type 1 diabetic since the age of 12. Recently done the IDAC course which is my hospitals equivalent of DAFNE. I've never been great at control I usually try for Afew weeks get really frustrated and give up. I see people on the forum that have levels of 6 all day, I'm so envious but that's why I'm here looking or help. A normal level for me is around 10-12 but I seem to get a lot of highs recently. Anyway I'll probably spend a lot of time searching the forum for ways of better control so I'll see ya all around :)
Click to expand...




Hi, Welcome :)
 
my levels are usually between 4.5 ~ 8 with the odd high/hypo thrown in. last hba1c 6.7, hoping top be slightly lower on next visit. Type 1, pumping, so a little easier than mdi. Have you enquired about a pump. Don't get me wrong I don't soley rely on my insulin, exercise and a varied diet also helps as does weight control. Also, every so often after a change in weather, ie summer/winter being the main culprets, insulin ratios need tweaking, both the basal and bolus. If your struggling go back to basics, do all the basal tests, plenty of info on here and google about how to do that. If thats wrong, so will your bolus ratios . so once basal done and covered all parts of the day, concentrate on bolus ratios, may also be different at various times of day. Alot of hard work, but in the.long run you will feel better and more in control.

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HI. I agree with Brett that you should review your Basal and Bolus units. I'm assuming you are on a Basal/Bolus regime as most T1s would be? The Basal needs to be set so that the morning fasting reading is around 6mmol. That's what my DN recommended, but in practice I aim for lower keeping a watch for hypos and my DN is happy with that. The Bolus should obviously be adjusted for carb-counting to keep 2-3 hours post-meal below 8.5'ish. I assume you are using reasonably modern pens and needles but it's possible your stuff may need updating as things change. I use 4mm very fine needles which are painless. Yes, do keep the carbs down where you can as this reduces sugar swings and hypo risk. If you are overweight then reducing carbs helps both blood sugar and weight reduction. Being overweight can make sugar control more difficult. Obviously any radicle change to carbs will need insulin adjustment. Do ask more questions if needed.
 
My background insulin was moved from evening to mornings not long ago and was reduced by 6 units. I wake up around 6 then it all goes downhill from breakfast. I'm on a 1.5 to 10g ratio for breakfast and 1 unit to 10 grams for lunch and dinner. I think the breakfast and lunch one I need to up the ratio by half a unit for each one? As after lunch today it shot up to 22 :-( when it was 9.1 pre meal.

I have recently been changed to the 4mm needles and gettin on well with them!

Also since giving birth to my daughter 18 months ago I have massive anxiety about going low so I sometimes purposely push it up :-(
 
you really need to do basal checks, would say to up your breakfast ratio as 9.1 is too high pre meal for lunch, and would.probably need more than a half unit to avoid getting to 22. But, not knowing what your basal does between breakfast and lunch, that may need looking at first. Try mussing breakfast, test hourly aim to stay within 1.5mmol from.your morning reading. If starting at 6mmol in morning a good starting point to test from.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Yeah good call. I'm sure I can do that for one morning. Just until lunch will that be long enough to test? Does lantus start working straight away??

I admit I do eat things like bread and pasta a lot. But then I always have and never had problems before. I get to the point where if it's at a normal level I don't want to eat cause I know it'll go up! It controls me too much at the moment

Although I've been feeling really sick tonight And my daughter was up sick in the night so we may have a bug which could affect it. I will deffo do the long acting test tho!!

Thanks for your replies :-) really nice having people to help that understand
 
Yeah, test every hour for 4 hours, miss ing only one meal, then have lunch and insulate as normal. Lantus being a basal is not meant to drop you alot but also prevent you going high when not eating. Depending on results you may need more basal than currently, most people do in the winter anyway. see how you go with that, not having breakfast,no snacks and no sugary drinks.

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