support has gone

Hobs

Master
Messages
11,797
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Dislikes
Argumenative barstifferous (new word *lol*) types who think that they know everything *wink*
I rarely get any support from my DN anymore.
I know that feeling too. I achieved great Hb1Ac figures with 6.3% for over many years since being prescribed Victoza morning injections. The supply suddenly dried up due to none at the wholesalers and all my DN could say was "that's it, there IS no more for the foreseeable future, so you'll just have to cope without it" and that was it! Victoza gave me great weight loss as well as excellent daily blood glucose control, but now both are climbing and my surgery are doing nothing to help me. I am in despair over the loss of the Victoza ‍♂️
 

UsmanMo96

Well-Known Member
Messages
938
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I know that feeling too. I achieved great Hb1Ac figures with 6.3% for over many years since being prescribed Victoza morning injections. The supply suddenly dried up due to none at the wholesalers and all my DN could say was "that's it, there IS no more for the foreseeable future, so you'll just have to cope without it" and that was it! Victoza gave me great weight loss as well as excellent daily blood glucose control, but now both are climbing and my surgery are doing nothing to help me. I am in despair over the loss of the Victoza ‍♂️
i am so sorry to hear about this - i will look up the news of Victoza don't know why they stopped making the medicine or / supply is shortage. if it worked for you and helped you it is difficult to then not be able to take the medicine that helped you. i have been on many medications which at the start worked so well for me and now they don't and now i am giving insulin a try and after a week or so. it hasn't helped me but will keep titrating my dose and see what happens, since insulin is the last option on the medication of course lots of new medications are being made all the time but i know that it is only insulin now that i can try and see if it helps or exercise and lifestyle the food i am already on top of since i have seen a dietitian and did my research.

hopefully you will be good with a different medicine or maybe VIctoza will come back
 

Grandadfatboy

Well-Known Member
Messages
68
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
arrogant, abusive, greedy people
First thing is to phone your GP surgery and demand a diabetes review. Tell them you went to A&E as result of diabetes. The whole idea of having diabetes nurses/doctors at your GP practice, is to give you the skills to prevent you becoming a hospital admission due to poor diabetes management, which is why I can't understand the attitude of the A&E staff.

It sounds like you need a rapid acting insulin, from what I'm reading. I started out on Novrapid, then Humalog 100 and Humalog 200 at present. My initial advice was to start at 10 units and increase by 3 units every 2-3 days until it had the desired effect. It wasn't until my diabetes nurse retired and I was passed to the central diabetes team for my area, that it became apparent I was doing it all wrong. :banghead:

In the end it made sense to me. How could the same quantity of insulin be correct for every meal? Simply, it can't. Firstly, you need to know your current BG. Secondly, you need to know how many carbs are in the meal you are going to eat, and thirdly, you can then guestimate how much insulin to inject. To start with it is trial and error, but I've made myself a food and insulin chart, which I complete every day. This is a great guide to assist me in selecting the appropriate amount of insulin for my given BG level and the carbs in my meal.

How do others go about choosing their insulin doses?
 
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DizzyChick

Well-Known Member
Messages
64
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Sorry to hear that your support has gone. I would get in touch with your GP and request an appointment with the DN. I was diagnosed back in 2015 with a Hba1c of 117 and really struggled to get my blood sugars lower. In the end I was referred to the hospital diabetic medicine team. I was then put on fast acting and long acting insulin. I was on 80 units of the long acting and 36 units with meals. I did get my Hba1c down but it was still high at 88 I recently got diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver ( non alcohol) so after looking into this I have made some drastic changes in my diet. I have gone somewhat low carb but can’t do high fat so I am still working out what I can eat that will be good for both. The good news is, my BS have gone down, with the highest reading being 10 ( this was from eating bread ) I got the free trial of the freestyle libre 2 and self funded for 2 months but now have it on prescription as I am having lots of hypos and have lost awareness. The freestyle libre has helped a lot with which foods I was eating that was causing high readings. It is hard work but I have now managed to bring my Hba1c down to 66 at my last review and I know it will be lower on my next 1 . I hope you get the support back from your GP but this forum has also helped me.
 
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IanA123

Active Member
Messages
40
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
First thing is to phone your GP surgery and demand a diabetes review. Tell them you went to A&E as result of diabetes. The whole idea of having diabetes nurses/doctors at your GP practice, is to give you the skills to prevent you becoming a hospital admission due to poor diabetes management, which is why I can't understand the attitude of the A&E staff.

It sounds like you need a rapid acting insulin, from what I'm reading. I started out on Novrapid, then Humalog 100 and Humalog 200 at present. My initial advice was to start at 10 units and increase by 3 units every 2-3 days until it had the desired effect. It wasn't until my diabetes nurse retired and I was passed to the central diabetes team for my area, that it became apparent I was doing it all wrong. :banghead:

In the end it made sense to me. How could the same quantity of insulin be correct for every meal? Simply, it can't. Firstly, you need to know your current BG. Secondly, you need to know how many carbs are in the meal you are going to eat, and thirdly, you can then guestimate how much insulin to inject. To start with it is trial and error, but I've made myself a food and insulin chart, which I complete every day. This is a great guide to assist me in selecting the appropriate amount of insulin for my given BG level and the carbs in my meal.

How do others go about choosing their insulin doses?
Gp's are not qualified to give advice, they can refer and that is about it.
 

Fenn

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,405
Type of diabetes
Type 1.5
Treatment type
Insulin
insulin has to work, you just need to inject more or need less (reduce carbs) why not try a keto diet? Intermittent fasting? You are not out of options, you just are not exploring them.