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Questions about Insulin.

ebony321 said:
ClaireG 06 said:
I am back from seeing the DN. I'm not starting insulin tonight but am starting Monday. Tonight was just a talk about everything, answering my questions etc and discussing what insulin i'm going to use and in what delivery system, how i dispose of sharps, deal with hypos an, rules around driving, who i need to inform etc I got to inject a plastic teddy with water :lol: Change needles etc and then i got to stick a needle in my tum. It is so so easy i can't believe it and didn't hurt a bit. I am going to use a prefilled Humulin kwik pen and start on a dose of 10 units half an hour before breakfast and 10 units half an hour before my evening meal and see how that goes. It's a low dose that will gradually be built up. I've been given a pen and some needles to practice with so i can try putting a needle in myself again and practice by injecting an orange. When i go Monday she will discuss sick day rules with me and what to do about holidays etc. and i will give myself 2 units of insulin infront of her which she said won't do anything but just make sure we are both happy with what i'm doing.
Anyone who is told they need insulin, please don't be scared i promise the needles are so tiny, i'm going to use 5mm ones and injecting hurt less than doing a finger prick!
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Hi,

Sounds like it was very positive, i'm happy to hear you've seen that going onto insulin is not as bad as it may seem! as Catherine said it'll be great for others to see that probably have worries about it that it can be positive and having a great DN with so much patience is fantastic. It's great she spent that time with you to explain everything and even let you have a go with the teddy bear! My mum told me my dad used an orange to practice on when he was diagnosed in the 70's so that practice is still there :lol:

I used to use the 5mm needles when i injected, tiny aren't they! you can even get 4mm ones now!

I think when your starting something new it's normal to expect everything to be big scary and complicated!

Starting on monday will give you plenty of time to practice and get everything sorted and into place before you start.

You'll be feeling better in no time, let us know how you get on and as always post away with any questions :)
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Thanks Ebony :D
Am off to get my 6, yes 6 prescriptions in awhile :lol: The poor DN was having a problem with the computer and it would only put one thing on a scrip and then print it. I had to laugh when she swore at it :lol:
Another question how many times a day do you test? She said i only need to test twice :? Once before each insulin dose.
 
If you drive you need a teststrip before the start of every journey.

If you exercise or (intend to exercise) you really ought to initally test before the exercise and after the exercise, and possibly during the exercise...

Initally, in an ideal world you would have strips to do testing pre meal and 2 hours after meal...

Also pre bed and at 2am in morning when BG levels can sink to the floor.

When DSN said 2 strips-did she mention timings of when she expected you to use these 2 strips.

The DVLA guidelines could help you to get more strips.....as without testing you could end up in deep trouble with injuring self/others and making insurance invalid if you didn't test before driving...and would they want the blame for all that???

Blood strips are a huge issue with us diabetics...It ws my DSN at hospital that told my GP that I needed 300 per month (on a pump), and previously when first moving here I had to be asked to be referred to hospital when he refused to give me more than 2...they automatically upped it to give me more and instructed him to do so, and then when I went on pump they increased it and told him 300.

I personally hate the thought of people being given 2-I know the battle I had with the new GP before getting him to refer me to hospital. Not nice...especially when I had never had problems in 20 years of getting them.....and how a GP can try to restrict you, but will alter their decision on a note from a consultant...and never argue again!!!
 
I agree with DD, i would recommend anyone to test at least 5 times a day.

Before bed
Before every meal
When you wake up

That doesn't take into account testing 2-4 hours after a meal to see how your insulin dose is working, or testing if you think your low.

Or importantly as DD says before everytime you drive and if the journey is for a while then at regular intervals. This is required by law.

I personally test quite a bit, due to having an insulin pump and i generally like to know where my BG's are throughout the day. I don't test as much as i did when i first started the pump, maybe around 8 times a day average. I also expecially test often i'm in poorly.

If your nurse is reluctant to give you a big enough prescription for test strips you may have to build a case to prove to her why you need to test often.

She sounds like an understanding woman though, i'm sure with reasoning she will certainly agree with testing more than twice a day.
 
She suggested i test just before taking my insulin half an hour before breakfast and same again with insulin half an hour before evening meal. She did say about testing before driving and that is something i will never not do. I test a lot more than twice a day normally now :lol: I normally do fasting, before each meal and 2 hrs after each meal and before bed. She has put them on repeat but it doesn't say next issue due as i've not had them on repeat before! She also said i may have to change to using a caresens meter as that is what they give out and they can get the strips cheaper than my bayer contour ones.
 
ClaireG 06 said:
She suggested i test just before taking my insulin half an hour before breakfast and same again with insulin half an hour before evening meal. She did say about testing before driving and that is something i will never not do. I test a lot more than twice a day normally now :lol: I normally do fasting, before each meal and 2 hrs after each meal and before bed. She has put them on repeat but it doesn't say next issue due as i've not had them on repeat before! She also said i may have to change to using a caresens meter as that is what they give out and they can get the strips cheaper than my bayer contour ones.
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That's good then, sounds like your already well in the swing of testing regularly. I'm not sure what a caresens meter is but if it does the job and enables you to get the strips you need i can't see that being a bad thing?.

i would add testing on waking to your list of testing times, then i think you've pretty much got it covered.

Just adding extra ones for driving, sickness and if you get symptoms of a hypo, i would also suggest testing more frequently if you drink alcohol as that can affect BG levels while using insulin too.
 
Hi Claire, Sounds like all went well...and also good that you are starting on Monday...as ifthere were problems, the weekend is not the best time to try and get help (as you know!).

I used to carry my insulin around, on a daily basis, in make up bag/pencil case etc. Alas, as I have bnever been lucky enough to go on holiday for more than a month, I have never needed a special bag to keep it cool. I have one of those rubber bracelet, that says "diabetic"...think it was abou £2.50 from e b ay. It is not pretty, but it doesn't jangle like the metal ones do.

No idea about the meter your DSN suggested, but like others have said, if it means less of a battle to get strips, I would go for it.

Re hypos. You may actually already know what they feel like, as some people, get hypo sysmptoms when their BG falls quickly. Like other have said, as long as you have something with you/near you, you should be fine. To be honest, if at all in doubt, or I am unable to test easily, like say if I am driving, I just eat some jelly babies and then stop when it is safe to do so. It doesn't happen very often at all, but I would rather, on these occasions go too high, than risk a hypo at the wheel. I guess one of the nice things about insulin is that you can adjust it to help, even the "mix" insulins allow you to do this a bit.

All the best, J
 
Thanks Ebony and Sugar2 :D
I will see what happens and if i have to use the meter the DSN suggests to get strips i will. Good idea about a pencil case or similar. I've just looked at my meter case and i think if i jiggle things around a bit i'd probably be able to get a pen and enough needles for a few days in there as well as my meter, pricker, lancets and strips. Thinking about it i don't really think i'll need to get anything to keep insulin cool. If we go away for longer than a pen full will last, we normally are going to somewhere where i can use a fridge. We don't go away that often anyway :lol:
 
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