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Over testing - is there such a thing?


Do you use a half unit pen? I find that 1.5 units is often what I need (I eat similar carb amounts per meal)

In such low doses 0.5 unit makes a huge difference!
 
No, although I'm going to ask ask about them at my next appointment.

Just the standard 1 unit humalog pen I use.

Sure a pump would be much easier than this!
 
I'm not sure if humalog is compatible with the half unit pens. Worth an ask from your DSN
 
I'll definetly ask.

All back to normal now so happy again. 3 units for chicken breast, broccoli and a 60g portion of brown rice at lunch. Would normally take 2 but took 1 unit correction dose....
 
It's funny how different people's ratios work - that would be only 1 unit for me, perhaps 1.5 with a sauce!
 
BG level is now 8.9 up from 7.1 2 hours ago! I've had nothing apart from water this afternoon!

Driving me mental!
 
Roberto said:
BG level is now 8.9 up from 7.1 2 hours ago! I've had nothing apart from water this afternoon!

Driving me mental!
Click to expand...

Stress will make it rise! Have you done fasting basal tests?
 
Night time tests??

Yeah I'm always testing If I need to get up through the night. Levels have been good....

Is there anything else I need to do??

So frustrating at times, I eat 99% of the time clean, I train hard in the gym 5 times a week, play football regularly and hill walk and to still be getting higher BG's is so disheartening!
 
I also have done a fasting test during the day, just to see what my basal was doing. Then you have a starting point at least!

On days that are less busy, less exercise etc, you'll have less insulin sensitivity and higher BG. So you may need higher ratios or basal on those days
 
Roberto said:
BG level is now 8.9 up from 7.1 2 hours ago! I've had nothing apart from water this afternoon!

Driving me mental!
Click to expand...


Type 1 low-carbers tend to split their basal insulin to cover the slow release of glucose from the protein in their meal, might be worth a try but hopefully one of them will advise you soon!
 
Thanks again, I appreciate all the advice.

Im active most days, either in the gym, football or a hillwalk at the weekend. I guess I need to absolutely nail my ratios. 1:12 was what I thought I was, but this was causing a few mild hypos....
 
There is this constant carb calculation. And there's also constant dose adjustment and re-adjustment.

I think that's just what you shouldn't be doing because it's highly unrealistic and completely unnecessary.

So don't do DAFNE.

You can instead take the same insulin each day, and then feed that insulin. (But don't take basal insulin at all, unless you believe you absolutely must take it.)

This would necessitate frequent testing - though not necessarily using expensive meter-read sticks all the time.

But more than anything, it would necessitate a change of diet.

So don't do DAFNE, and don't eat normally.
 
I think its very easy to get carried away trying to achieve perfection with insulin and failing at times
If my bg level was on 7mmol before I had food, then I would expect it to rise to about 9-10mmol 2hrs after eating and then wait for it to fall back to 8mmol at the 3hr mark and then by the 4th hour, bg level is back to about 6.5-7mmol again. If my bg level was on 6mmol before eating, then by the 2nd hr it would be about 8-9mmol and then by the 3rd it would be around 7mmol and then by the 4th it would be between 5-6mmol again. There is always going to be a rise and drop but at the moment, bolus insulin needs to be faster in its onset and shorter in its duration but until newer insulins become available, we can do our best but not make ourselves ill worrying all the time

Give yourself a break Roberto and stop worrying. You'll end up being a bag of nerves. Who has advised you to be so tight with your bg levels anyway?
 
Nobody has actually told me, the clinic are always very happy with me.

I never used to be like this and I've been diabetic nearly 21 years!. What set it off says a regular eye exam, the optician told me my eyes had changed and basically told me every time I go higher my eyes get damaged. I've been paranoid since. I even went to the eye clinic to get my retinal screening early. Results were fine, no changes, no damage. But what the optician told me is always in my head!

I'm in my late 20's now I just want to live a long healthy life as possible!
 

Hi

Its true to say that opticians are now able to do detailed eye screening and will go over the results of the eye scan with people which is really very good for those who would want to know but not good if it makes people go a bit overboard with the control of bg levels as usually lower bg levels which also result in a lower hba1c although good in one way, ends up being not so good if it also makes it that you only experience the hypo feeling when your bg levels get down to 2-3mmol. Ive been type 1 since I was 10yrs old and am now in my late 50's and I am fairly well and don't live in fear of complications ruining my life so please don't despair. As long as you can keep your bg levels within safe limits and achieve an hba1c somewhere between 6.7% to 7.1%, you should be able to enjoy life and do everything you want to do.
 
hale710 said:
I'm not sure if humalog is compatible with the half unit pens. Worth an ask from your DSN
Click to expand...

I use Humalog with 1/2 unit pen so just ask ;-)


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
With the testing thing, my doctors tried to limit the amount of test strips I could get. They said they could only give me 50 test strips a month. That's not even testing twice a day. I managed to get them up to 100 test strips a month, which means I can test 3 times a day, but I still like to test more. So now I've found if I'm feeling okay, I don't test as much on that day so I can keen my test strips for when I need them. When I've had a hypo, for instance, I test every 20 minutes for the first two hours, to make sure I haven't over done it and cause my sugars to go too high.

My doctor thought I was being a bit OCD about testing, and suggested I see a counsellor. He insisted I don't need to test that much. And I have to say, my last main blood test at the doctors did show a rise in my Hb1ac.

My diabetic nurse left the practise in November, and I've been struggling to get to see a diabetic nurse since. Finally got an appointment for next week, so I think I will have a chat with her and get an extra box.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 

Ouch yeah im lucky living in DK. High taxes but things like lancets, syringes and test cartridges are free. Tbh I only swap them out maybe every other day too but thats outta lazyness :mrgreen:
Just out of curiousity - have you tried a a lighter (less deep) setting on the lancet-punching-thingie (prickmaker)?
Also if you use it on thinner skin like your last 2 fingers on both hands it'll probably heal faster also.
Personally i couldn't imagine using it on my thumb as I've got really thick skin there...those craters would never heal :shock:
 


Hi

You need to push your GP into a corner in their surgery and confront them with the msg I did on this thread viewtopic.php?f=19&t=42856&p=391961&hilit=DannyH#p391961
Using an insulin regime such as basal/bolus is dangerous unless sufficient testing can be done as its impossible to be able to judge the correct amount bolus without knowing how low or high a bg level is. On the older insulin regimes there was better predictability but not so with bolus/basal even with reading books on the subject. Bg testing of about 6 times a day should enable diabetics to achieve decent bg levels and avoid complications and of course its now a legal requirement for insulin dependant diabetics to test their bg levels before they drive anyway so you need to confront your GP over this matter.
Sadly, the cost of prescribing teststrips is what concerns GPs working within a budget but that is not a diabetics fault, the NHS could quite easily appoint a manufacturer to make a bg meter for the NHS and at the same time, appoint a manufacturer to make bg teststrips for that meter and as such everyone could benefit. Why the NHS hasn't done this, beggers belief
 
That's terrible about test strips, I've never had any issues thankfully.....

Today I've carried on low carb and split my basal. So far so good. Not stressed out today either!!
 
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