Bluemarine Josephine
Well-Known Member
About a month ago, I attended the DAFNE course.
When I started the DAFNE course, I was on 18u of Tresiba background insulin. My readings where around 8-10 mmols (not within range but not absurdly high) so, my expectation from this course, was better glycemic control so as to get within the target range.
I was asked by my educators to make several changes, which I did.
I switched from Tresiba to 2 Levemir injections a day. I started accurate carb counting, learned about foods and how they interact with each other, affecting blood glucose, exercise and activity, illness and how to tackle challenges with diabetes when travelling.
All in all, it was an informative seminar and I do recommend it.
We were 8 people during this 5 day course.
By seeing their diabetes readings every day, how they handled it and how they progressed, I realized several things, and here are my assessments:
1. There were people in this course who sorted out their glycemic control within just 2 days.
This, however, did not happen because they were very competent at carb counting or very careful; it happened because they were lucky enough to have a diabetes which was very straight-forward it its expression.
What I mean is, there were 2 people in the group, let’s call them “Steve” and “Jenny” who were not carb counting, were not careful or attentive but, had a 1:1 ratio, had a sedentary lifestyle which didn’t challenge their diabetes, liked to eat the same foods everyday (Jenny for example liked pasta so much that almost had the same pasta meal with slight variations everyday) and with a bit of fiddling with their background insulin, managed to be within range. Jenny, had never read the nutritional facts from a box ever and had no idea how to perform a simple equation to assess the carbohydrate content in her meal.
If you ask those people how they found DAFNE, of course they will reply that it was more than beneficial. They also come accross as experts in their diabetes handling... but, take my word for it, they have no idea what they are doing... they are only lucky.
2. There were other people, who had a good glycemic control overall, were nibbling all the time however, made some adjustments to their medication, kept nibbling, were either going high or going low…. They came in the course with a rollercoaster of highs and lows, did some fiddling with their background insulin, learnt some carb counting, continued with their nibbling routine and came out of the course with the same results as when they started it.
I suspect, if they were asked they would reply that they well liked the course. I am not sure if it provided any actual glycemic control to them though.
And then, there were people like me.
I made several adjustments, changed my insulin regime, went from a low-carb diet to 10 grams carbs per meal, then 20grams, then 30 grams, changed my ratios from 1:1 to 1:1+1 to 1.5:1, to 2:1, to 2:1 plus adjustments. Carried my Salter scale with me to weight my food, did accurate calculations basis carbohydrate content… and my levels were hovering between 15-18 mmols.
I did basal tests, changed my background, waited for patterns, conducted basal tests again, made adjustments, kept waking up every 1 hour during the night to record readings....
It’s been a month, and I am still testing and adjusting, testing a adjusting… ranging between 11-15 mmols now. My ratios are still all over the place and my adjustives work half as what they should be.
Feeling frustrated I confided in my nutritionist (who re-assured me that I am following the DAFNE rules perfectly and that I am doing great) “how come things are so straight-forward for other people… they don’t even know or bother to read the carbohydrate content on a package for goodness sakes…” She replied that it is like this for some people and that the low carbohydrate diet that I used to follow made my body unable to cope with carbohydrates so I need to persevere an adjustment period and raise my carbohydrate intake further…
If you ask me how I feel about DAFNE… I would say that I did well to attend the course because, now, I am certain that it didn’t work for me. Otherwise, I would always have the thought in my mind “what if I had attended the course, what if I had that chance to achieve better glycemic control and didn’t take it.”
I am certain that DAFNE works for several people, I have seen it happening.
But it hasn’t worked for me so far (and also for one more diabetic who abandoned the course on the 2nd day describing it as a waste of time).
The second thing I want to address is the other diabetics in the group themselves.
When I got into the room, it felt comforting meeting other Type1 diabetics. I felt that we were all connected through our diabetes. I approached the course also as a kind of group therapy where we talked about our problems, challenges, targets and aspirations…
Let me tell you, I have received bullying or psychological manipulation from non-diabetics and I experienced the same from diabetics alike. And I also received that condescending smile of pitty (which I hate) combined with that sparkle in their eyes when you can see their thought process in the background "Thank God there are worse cases than mine so I can feel better about myself".
I still get that random text from a couple of people from our group who will ask how am I getting on (not well obviously) and my reply makes them feel comforted about a meal that set them off range…
They have a reading of 8-9mmols and they will text me to feel comforted that there are worse cases out there than their own…(”I mean, look at Josephine’s readings… that girl is on her way to a stroke…")
I got a text message this morning “Hi Josephine, I was away last weekend and on Sunday I forgot my long acting but numbers were not too bad. How are you? Are you numbers coming down at all?”
And here I am, swimming in sugar, calculating and bolusing and correcting, only to receive a message that someone forgot their basal insulin but, oh well the numbers aren’t too bad…
I mean… seriously…?
Regarding DAFNE, I guess I would recommend it because you may belong to the people to whom the course will prove to be beneficial.
As for me, a month later, I am in despair… wondering if I should go back to my 18u Tresiba and forget this whole month.
Regards
Josephine
When I started the DAFNE course, I was on 18u of Tresiba background insulin. My readings where around 8-10 mmols (not within range but not absurdly high) so, my expectation from this course, was better glycemic control so as to get within the target range.
I was asked by my educators to make several changes, which I did.
I switched from Tresiba to 2 Levemir injections a day. I started accurate carb counting, learned about foods and how they interact with each other, affecting blood glucose, exercise and activity, illness and how to tackle challenges with diabetes when travelling.
All in all, it was an informative seminar and I do recommend it.
We were 8 people during this 5 day course.
By seeing their diabetes readings every day, how they handled it and how they progressed, I realized several things, and here are my assessments:
1. There were people in this course who sorted out their glycemic control within just 2 days.
This, however, did not happen because they were very competent at carb counting or very careful; it happened because they were lucky enough to have a diabetes which was very straight-forward it its expression.
What I mean is, there were 2 people in the group, let’s call them “Steve” and “Jenny” who were not carb counting, were not careful or attentive but, had a 1:1 ratio, had a sedentary lifestyle which didn’t challenge their diabetes, liked to eat the same foods everyday (Jenny for example liked pasta so much that almost had the same pasta meal with slight variations everyday) and with a bit of fiddling with their background insulin, managed to be within range. Jenny, had never read the nutritional facts from a box ever and had no idea how to perform a simple equation to assess the carbohydrate content in her meal.
If you ask those people how they found DAFNE, of course they will reply that it was more than beneficial. They also come accross as experts in their diabetes handling... but, take my word for it, they have no idea what they are doing... they are only lucky.
2. There were other people, who had a good glycemic control overall, were nibbling all the time however, made some adjustments to their medication, kept nibbling, were either going high or going low…. They came in the course with a rollercoaster of highs and lows, did some fiddling with their background insulin, learnt some carb counting, continued with their nibbling routine and came out of the course with the same results as when they started it.
I suspect, if they were asked they would reply that they well liked the course. I am not sure if it provided any actual glycemic control to them though.
And then, there were people like me.
I made several adjustments, changed my insulin regime, went from a low-carb diet to 10 grams carbs per meal, then 20grams, then 30 grams, changed my ratios from 1:1 to 1:1+1 to 1.5:1, to 2:1, to 2:1 plus adjustments. Carried my Salter scale with me to weight my food, did accurate calculations basis carbohydrate content… and my levels were hovering between 15-18 mmols.
I did basal tests, changed my background, waited for patterns, conducted basal tests again, made adjustments, kept waking up every 1 hour during the night to record readings....
It’s been a month, and I am still testing and adjusting, testing a adjusting… ranging between 11-15 mmols now. My ratios are still all over the place and my adjustives work half as what they should be.
Feeling frustrated I confided in my nutritionist (who re-assured me that I am following the DAFNE rules perfectly and that I am doing great) “how come things are so straight-forward for other people… they don’t even know or bother to read the carbohydrate content on a package for goodness sakes…” She replied that it is like this for some people and that the low carbohydrate diet that I used to follow made my body unable to cope with carbohydrates so I need to persevere an adjustment period and raise my carbohydrate intake further…
If you ask me how I feel about DAFNE… I would say that I did well to attend the course because, now, I am certain that it didn’t work for me. Otherwise, I would always have the thought in my mind “what if I had attended the course, what if I had that chance to achieve better glycemic control and didn’t take it.”
I am certain that DAFNE works for several people, I have seen it happening.
But it hasn’t worked for me so far (and also for one more diabetic who abandoned the course on the 2nd day describing it as a waste of time).
The second thing I want to address is the other diabetics in the group themselves.
When I got into the room, it felt comforting meeting other Type1 diabetics. I felt that we were all connected through our diabetes. I approached the course also as a kind of group therapy where we talked about our problems, challenges, targets and aspirations…
Let me tell you, I have received bullying or psychological manipulation from non-diabetics and I experienced the same from diabetics alike. And I also received that condescending smile of pitty (which I hate) combined with that sparkle in their eyes when you can see their thought process in the background "Thank God there are worse cases than mine so I can feel better about myself".
I still get that random text from a couple of people from our group who will ask how am I getting on (not well obviously) and my reply makes them feel comforted about a meal that set them off range…
They have a reading of 8-9mmols and they will text me to feel comforted that there are worse cases out there than their own…(”I mean, look at Josephine’s readings… that girl is on her way to a stroke…")
I got a text message this morning “Hi Josephine, I was away last weekend and on Sunday I forgot my long acting but numbers were not too bad. How are you? Are you numbers coming down at all?”
And here I am, swimming in sugar, calculating and bolusing and correcting, only to receive a message that someone forgot their basal insulin but, oh well the numbers aren’t too bad…
I mean… seriously…?
Regarding DAFNE, I guess I would recommend it because you may belong to the people to whom the course will prove to be beneficial.
As for me, a month later, I am in despair… wondering if I should go back to my 18u Tresiba and forget this whole month.
Regards
Josephine
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