DIABETICS!!: whats your HBA1c???

CramCycle

MUSEIST wrote: »

You take 8 units of lantus at night, wow. I take 29 (so high because I am inactive at this time of year) and down to 24ish during the summer.

On 28 at the minute myself but it has ranged between 20 and 34 over the past few years

tinkerbell20 wrote: »

I knew of a T1 girl who was on 96 units of Lantus. :eek: Compared to that, 29 units seems tiny!

96, wow, that sounds insane, were there any negative reactions?

tinkerbell20

CramCycle wrote: »

96, wow, that sounds insane, were there any negative reactions?

I didnt know her well, just heard about it through someone else. But I do know that she gained a lot of weight very quickly. Thats not surprising since insulin does that and with such a high dose it is not surprising.

Alanstrainor

Cathy, i hope you don't mind me asking, but since you've become unaware of hypos woud that not make you ease of for a couple of months until you regained awareness of hypos? Even if you let your HBA1c rise to 7 temporarily surely it would have little effect?
I don't mean to intrude, I was just curious.

CathyMoran

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Cathy, i hope you don't mind me asking, but since you've become unaware of hypos woud that not make you ease of for a couple of months until you regained awareness of hypos? Even if you let your HBA1c rise to 7 temporarily surely it would have little effect?
I don't mean to intrude, I was just curious.

I can not do that while I am pregnant as it would be bad for my unborn baby - it is tought being diabetic and pregnant.

Alanstrainor

CathyMoran wrote: »

I can not do that while I am pregnant as it would be bad for my unborn baby - it is tought being diabetic and pregnant.

Ah i see! Best of luck with everything!

cynder

I take it most on here are adults,

my young lady as you all are aware is on 29 lantus and she is 11 not even fully grown, Makes me wonder how much she is going to be on as an adult.

I was talking to our area medical doctor and she was a little shocked by how much she is on, it seems to go up and up she started out on 21 units that was 3 and a half years ago.

With the carb counting Ive noticed she eats a lot, some meals have 110 carbs other only have 30, she normally eats around 80 carbs a meal. which is 8 units, starting to get my head around the carb counting now. NOT one chocolate in the house for xmas day.

The_Conductor

grindelwald wrote: »

NOT one chocolate in the house for xmas day.

Why?
Starchy foods like potatoes, stuffing etc- have far more carbs than a few chocolates, and ironically are also much higher GI.......

robinph

I'd expect the insulin requirements to be fairly variable during the teenage years, I was lucky enough to have got through those years before being diagnosed so don't know myself.

MUSEIST

grindelwald wrote: »

I take it most on here are adults,

my young lady as you all are aware is on 29 lantus and she is 11 not even fully grown, Makes me wonder how much she is going to be on as an adult.

I was talking to our area medical doctor and she was a little shocked by how much she is on, it seems to go up and up she started out on 21 units that was 3 and a half years ago.

With the carb counting Ive noticed she eats a lot, some meals have 110 carbs other only have 30, she normally eats around 80 carbs a meal. which is 8 units, starting to get my head around the carb counting now. NOT one chocolate in the house for xmas day.

When I was in my early teens my diabetes was all over the place and totally unpredictable. Its only as I have got older it has become easier to control and my HBA1C has improved a lot. Its normal for youngsters and teens have unpredictable sugars (with the growing and developing body and all that) so just because she is on 29 now does not mean it will translate to higher than that as she gets older. Diabetes is always very difficult and unpredicatable until you reach about 20. I'm sure it was the same for others.

cynder

MUSEIST wrote: »

When I was in my early teens my diabetes was all over the place and totally unpredictable. Its only as I have got older it has become easier to control and my HBA1C has improved a lot. Its normal for youngsters and teens have unpredictable sugars (with the growing and developing body and all that) so just because she is on 29 now does not mean it will translate to higher than that as she gets older. Diabetes is always very difficult and unpredicatable until you reach about 20. I'm sure it was the same for others.

Cheers, when i saw that someone was on 96 lantus i went:eek:.

Thats good to know thanks,


Do ye recon its ok to have a few sweet things on xmas day, if so how much?

I know the boy (my 5 and 4 year old) will overload on the sugar and dont want the young lady geting upset becasue she cant, so we thought best not get anything.

We have got a cheese cake for dessert.

cynder

CathyMoran wrote: »

I can not do that while I am pregnant as it would be bad for my unborn baby - it is tought being diabetic and pregnant.

Fingers crossed all goes well for you Cathy, Do you have to cut down on your protein intake now?

robinph

grindelwald wrote: »

Do ye recon its ok to have a few sweet things on xmas day,

Yes, definitely.

grindelwald wrote: »

if so how much?

...erm, ask me the day after.



I would think your better off letting everyone indulge a bit and enjoy themselves, and deal with the consequences of the high BM's with more insulin as required.

CathyMoran

grindelwald wrote: »

Fingers crossed all goes well for you Cathy, Do you have to cut down on your protein intake now?

I was only slighly up - have been told to increase it,am not a good eater. It may not be diabetes related (have sarcoisosis as well).

tinkerbell20

grindelwald wrote: »

Cheers, when i saw that someone was on 96 lantus i went:eek:.

Grindewald,

Sory for alarming you. I was just pointing out that as an extreme case. I have never heard anything like it since.

Like it has been said before me, diabetes follows no rules during teenage years... like the teenager itself! :P I wouldnt worry too much about your daughters insulin levels rising with age. it doesnt necessarily go like that. Mine actually went down slightly when I left my teenage years behind. If you are concerned though, do speak to your endo or diabetes nurse.

Alanstrainor

robinph wrote: »

Yes, definitely.



...erm, ask me the day after.



I would think your better off letting everyone indulge a bit and enjoy themselves, and deal with the consequences of the high BM's with more insulin as required.

100% agree with this. I was diagnosed with type 1 when i was 8 or 9, so i know what is like, and there is nothing worse than being told you can't have sweets and let yourself have a bit of fun on Christmas day. Give extra insulin for meals and check her blood sugars occasionally. One day with a couple of highs shouldn't be a big deal.

tinkerbell20

Alanstrainor wrote: »

100% agree with this. I was diagnosed with type 1 when i was 8 or 9, so i know what is like, and there is nothing worse than being told you can't have sweets and let yourself have a bit of fun on Christmas day. Give extra insulin for meals and check her blood sugars occasionally. One day with a couple of highs shouldn't be a big deal.

I agree!

tbh

I've pretty much given up carb counting until Monday.

robinph

Alanstrainor wrote: »

One day with a couple of highs shouldn't be a big deal.

...but a day of one child feeling left out, or the siblings feeling hard done by because of their sisters issues meaning they have to miss out on stuff too =

CramCycle

tinkerbell20 wrote: »

I didnt know her well, just heard about it through someone else. But I do know that she gained a lot of weight very quickly. Thats not surprising since insulin does that and with such a high dose it is not surprising.

I was actually much more suprised she didn't have an allergic reaction. Due to the pH of Lantus it can cause anything from mild discomfort to a severe allergic reaction in some people. I am surprised at her care team if this is indeed true as it almost seems medically negligent by her team.

grindelwald wrote: »

I was talking to our area medical doctor and she was a little shocked by how much she is on, it seems to go up and up she started out on 21 units that was 3 and a half years ago.

, down from

Through my teenage years I was on a different Insulin regime but I do remember a fortnight where my insulin went down to under 5 units a day(across all the types) up to 50units a year later. the teenage years will always be the hardest, don't worry about what shes on if it does the job, I know plenty of us who are/were on far more during our teenage years.

CathyMoran wrote: »

I was only slighly up - have been told to increase it,am not a good eater. It may not be diabetes related (have sarcoisosis as well).

Ask about Postural protein disorder (postural proteinuria I think is the technical name), not saying it is but its a possibility. While mainly found in teenagers, my doc said he seen it in alot of T1DM, diagnosis consists of measuring urine protein content in the morning and evening for a few days to see if there is a pattern. Completely harmless AFAIK.

Urbanrose

grindelwald wrote: »

I take it most on here are adults,

my young lady as you all are aware is on 29 lantus and she is 11 not even fully grown, Makes me wonder how much she is going to be on as an adult.

I was talking to our area medical doctor and she was a little shocked by how much she is on, it seems to go up and up she started out on 21 units that was 3 and a half years ago.

With the carb counting Ive noticed she eats a lot, some meals have 110 carbs other only have 30, she normally eats around 80 carbs a meal. which is 8 units, starting to get my head around the carb counting now. NOT one chocolate in the house for xmas day.

Im 21 and on 16 units levemir. and varying units of novorapid, so it really does depend on the person, nothing to say she will be on a higher does as she gets older. personally when my diabetes is very well controlled i can be on very small amounts of insulin.

ivanski72

I have a 6 year old on a pump for nearly 3 years. We buy our pumps cases from pumpwearinc. Stuff is dear but worth it I guess
Does anybody source the pump cases etc anywhere else and can vouch for the quality. Haven't had much luck with the stuff I bought on ebay, cheap and cheerful to be honest.
Looking for some value for money.

robinph

robinph wrote: »

Got my latest today and think I've broken a new personal record for rubbishness.

9.3% or 78mmol by their new way of counting.

Just got some new results from a test from just before Christmas... 9.1%

Was thinking that was an awful result, but I guess it is a touch better than the last one. OK, I'm soon about to go onto a pump which in theory should help make things better eventually, but I'm really not sure what I've been doing so different from the previous umpteen years that my last couple of tests have been some relatively bad compared to before?!?

tbh

robinph wrote: »

Just got some new results from a test from just before Christmas... 9.1%

Was thinking that was an awful result, but I guess it is a touch better than the last one. OK, I'm soon about to go onto a pump which in theory should help make things better eventually, but I'm really not sure what I've been doing so different from the previous umpteen years that my last couple of tests have been some relatively bad compared to before?!?

are you checking bloods daily? are the results anything like what you expected? My last Hba1C was 9.1, (before I did the dafne) but since dafne I haven't had a result over 10, and I'm actually taking less unsulin, and checking bloods less as well.

remember if you're taking more insulin than you need, you'll lose sensitivity, so it's important that you understand where your highs are coming from, 9 times out of 10 its your BI. I think the pump will really help you tho.

CathyMoran

Mine in - 4.9 and have been told to up it as the amount of lows I am having (5+ a day) is too many.

robinph

tbh wrote: »

are you checking bloods daily? are the results anything like what you expected? My last Hba1C was 9.1, (before I did the dafne) but since dafne I haven't had a result over 10, and I'm actually taking less unsulin, and checking bloods less as well.

remember if you're taking more insulin than you need, you'll lose sensitivity, so it's important that you understand where your highs are coming from, 9 times out of 10 its your BI. I think the pump will really help you tho.

I've not been testing as much the last couple of weeks, but during the months before the last test I was testing uptown 8 times a day. Now there we're admittedly not always the best numbers, but they were not too far wrong.

The best Hba1c I've ever had was after about three months of nearly zero testing and I have no idea how that happened. I think things will improve soon on the pump but will get more confused first.

tbh

CathyMoran wrote: »

Mine in - 4.9 and have been told to up it as the amount of lows I am having (5+ a day) is too many.

you're a special case - if you weren't pregnant and esophagus-less I'd be giving out to you! but I'm sure you're getting the right advice.

robinph wrote: »

I've not been testing as much the last couple of weeks, but during the months before the last test I was testing uptown 8 times a day. Now there we're admittedly not always the best numbers, but they were not too far wrong.

The best Hba1c I've ever had was after about three months of nearly zero testing and I have no idea how that happened. I think things will improve soon on the pump but will get more confused first.

I was the same - testing 8 times a day. I know you're an athlete, so you may need to test, but for me, testing 8 times a day was totally pointless. For example, I'd have breakfast, and test an hour later. What is the point of that? You are still postprandial, and the insulin you took at breakfast is still working (or more likely in my case, hasn't kicked in yet), so the information i get by testing so soon is useless, as I can't do anything about it.

Now, I test
-On waking
-Before breakfast (about an hour later)
-Before Lunch
-1900 (when I take my lantus)
-Before dinner
-Before Bed.

Each test has a specific reason. On waking: To see how close it is to my previous night before bed test, so I can judge if my Lantus is right.

Before breakfast - so I can figure out how many units to give myself as a correction to that I'm on target for lunch, if any

Before lunch - so that I can figure out how many units to give myself as a correction so that I'm on target before dinner/1900, if any.

Before dinner - so that I can figure out how many units to give myself as a correction so that I'm on target before going to bed.

Before bed- so I can make sure my ratios are right (I never correct before going to bed, no matter how high my sugars are).

So, for example, my targets for meals are 5.5- 7.5 and pre-bed it's 8.5

IF I test at breakfast and it's 8.5, say, I'll take my usual ratio (2:1) and 1 unit correction. However, if I'm before dinner and it's 8.5 I won't take a correction because it'll bring me below target.
The difference between what I was doing, and what I'm doing now, is that before, I was trying to correct the previous bloods, whereas now I'm trying to affect the future bloods. It's a subtle change but it's really made a difference for me.

I honestly didn't realise the importance of getting the BI dose right. It really is the key in my treatment plan - if you wake up, and your bloods are in target, it's really easy to stay on target for the rest of the day.

Anyway - I know things may be different for you, but some of that might be useful for you.

tbh

CathyMoran wrote: »

Mine in - 4.9 and have been told to up it as the amount of lows I am having (5+ a day) is too many.

actually, do you mind me asking, why are you having so many hypos? Too much insulin or too little food? From what you've posted on here before, my suspicion would be you're a tester-and-correcter, would that be true? How many jabs a day?

I'm asking all this just out of curiousity, btw, don't feel any obligation to reply if you don't want to - I know the dangers of postprandial highs for pregnant diabetics, and I imagine its a nightmare, but you've mentioned lots of hypos before you got pregnant, right?

tbh

robinph wrote: »

The best Hba1c I've ever had was after about three months of nearly zero testing and I have no idea how that happened. .

Just one final thing - I'm convinced - seriously now - that the act of observing your blood sugars raises them. I tried to explain this to the doctor once. if I went four of five days without testing, and then just did a random test, it'd be 5.0
If I then carried on testing, it'd be like 17.3 within two hours.

robinph

The testing 8 times a day was not normal, and I never intend for it to be either. I was only doing that as part of my excessive Carb counting and testing to convince them to let me get a pump. A day when I do a good set of tests normally would be breakfast, lunch, pre run, dinner and then bed. The only test that I always do without fail is the pre run one though, the others are "optional". They did say something about having to commit to doing 4 a day on the pump and I perfectly understand their reasons for that. Will be five less times a day I have to poke myself with a sharp object though.

tbh wrote: »

Just one final thing - I'm convinced - seriously now - that the act of observing your blood sugars raises them. I tried to explain this to the doctor once. if I went four of five days without testing, and then just did a random test, it'd be 5.0
If I then carried on testing, it'd be like 17.3 within two hours.

I can believe that too.

robinph

Re: your comments about the testing for corrections.

I have only vaguely been doing that, such as just add an extra unit or two if I'm high at a meal bolus. There was never any system behind it though, just some random guessing. The pump will allow for doing this more scientifically once setup for me correctly. It will know how much insulin is still in your system since the last bolus, you tell it what the current bg is and how many carbs you are about to eat, and it then figures out a suggestion for the new bolus to the nearest decimal place.