Wanted to share my news

I just wanted to share my news with some people who will understand!

I have been diagnosed as diabetic for 6yrs I think it is now, and my control hasn't necessarily been all that great in that time. However at the end of last year I went on a carb counting course, which was the best thing I could of ever done.

My Hba1c when starting the course was 12.6, three months after it was 9.2. Today 6months post course finishing my Hba1c was 7.4!!! That's the lowest it has ever been and I'm so proud that I've taken back control

I know it might not be perfect but I'm very proud to of seen a result of 7.4 and hope that when my Hba1c is measured again in 6months it will be slightly lower again

It was one my hospital runs called EDWARD (Eating in Diabetes Without A Restricted Diet). I believe it operates in much the same way that the DAFNE courses run. It teaches you how to carb count, your insulin ratio to carbs and also lots of other things about diabetes so you have alot more knowledge about it and what you should do in different situations like excercise and when your unwell.

The EDWARD course is specific to the hospital I attend, as one of the other posters has already said which is in Nottingham.

It is designed primarily for type 1 diabetics and you have to be following a certain insulin regime to be on it (Injecting fast-acting insulin at meal times with long-acting insulin either in a morning or evening or both!). I don't know what that type of regime is called but I was already on it before I started the course. However if they think the course might be beneficial to you, they will also consider changing your insulin regime accordingly.

The course runs for a month and you go once a week for the whole day (9am-4pm was the timings roughly). It's a small group of no more than 8people and it's designed so you work together and learn from each other. It gave you a sense of belonging and knowing that you weren't on your own. We were set some kind of homework each week along with a food/insulin diary so they could see how you are getting on with carb counting and whether your carb/insulin ratio need tweaking at all.

The following topics were covered on the course- what is diabetes?, nutrition, insulin/carb ratios, correction doses, action of insulin, hypoglycemia, reading food labels correctly, difficult to measure foods, exercise, hyperglycemia and ketoacidosis, eating out, takeaways, alcohol, long term complications of diabetes, travelling and smoking! It was alot of information but at no time did it ever feel overwhelming because of how it was broken down and alot easier to take it in. Some of it I had been told before but I had never taken it on board before because it was overwhelming when sat in an appointment. It just seemed different on a course in a room with others who could understand better what it is you are going through with diabetes.

badmedisin- congratulations to you too on your HBA1c!