[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

C-Shore

CramCycle wrote: »

They will have whatever one they have been getting free lately, if you call into them and say that you need a replacement, then they should provide you with one there and then if there are any to spare. Failing that you can buy most of them online or in different chemists for about 30euro.

If they are what you need the consultant should not have any issue with them. Just ask him for a script to refresh your long term illness book and give him a list of what you need on it.

Never heard of it till today, a quick google reveals it was recalled last month due to a software glitch though. I have the Contour next which I think is great.

Thank you!

I'm going in at the start of June so just want to have most things prepared and know what I need to ask for.

I've applied for an InsuLinx through the Abbot website using an NI address that I have, so hopefully that will be delivered before my appointment and then I get the prescription for the strips.
There's a software update for it to fix that problem so shouldn't need a recall hopefully.
I just like that it will work out correction boluses for me, although I probably have it in my head without having to think of it at this stage but every little helps as Marty Whelan says.

Thanks for your help, I'll take a look at the Contour Next now.

Dreading going back because I always feel the Nurses hate me, but looking forward in a way because my bloods have been fantastic!

Royal Legend

Dr Silly Bollox MD wrote: »

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/

Thanks, might add this to my routine

gctest50

Royal Legend wrote: »

Thanks, might add this to my routine

another little bit for you :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/may/12/type-2-diabetes-diet-cure

Royal Legend

gctest50 wrote: »

another little bit for you :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/may/12/type-2-diabetes-diet-cure

Thanks, interesting to see you can eat chicken, fish, steak as the protein.

Week 1 now over.
Average BG reading over 5 readings for today is now at 5.5mmol
They say that the important reading is the first one of the day and for the last two days it has been below 6 (5.8/5.5) All my BG readings today have been 6 and under.
Not feeling as tired that last few days, plus I got some exercise in over the last three days.
The big bridge for me to get over was Friday and Saturday as I am usually always was poor with my eating habits over a weekend, plus watching the rest of the family eating all the things I would love to eat.
Introduced myself to vegetable stir fry over the weekend and really enjoyed it. One thing is that I know I am not drinking enough water, need to get that right in week 2.
Week 2 starts tomorrow, only weighed myself yesterday, so have no record of weight loss, but I know I have lost a couple of pounds at the very least.

gctest50

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/gap-in-diabetes-care-blamed-for-preventable-amputations-1.1394882

robert2010

robinph wrote: »

Stupid GP.

Three weeks ago picked up a prescription of 1 vial as it was needed quickly to get me started on the pump a couple of days later. Realised pretty quickly that 1 vial was only going to last just over a week so ordered some more, still not sure entirely so had only ordered another 2 as I figured that would do for now.

They only give me another 1, pharmacist thinks it's daft and says to order 10 at a time. Order 10.

Today they give me another 1 vial. So go in and explain to the receptionist yet again that 10 does not equal 1.

If they are trying to save money on what they prescribe then I've already done that by now having far more kit signed off by the hospital. I'm sure the price for a vial of insulin is less than it was for two different types of prefilled pens and the two different types of needles to then fit them.

Hi Robinph,

Our pharmacist is also reluctant with the meds for my 9 year old. I think it's because some people have been abusing the system and re-selling the stuff on the black market.
We were in Temple st. a couple of years back, and the nurse showed us a small private ad. in the paper advertising cheap glucose test strips.

Robert.

Royal Legend

Royal Legend wrote: »

Thanks, interesting to see you can eat chicken, fish, steak as the protein.

Week 1 now over.
Average BG reading over 5 readings for today is now at 5.5mmol
They say that the important reading is the first one of the day and for the last two days it has been below 6 (5.8/5.5) All my BG readings today have been 6 and under.
Not feeling as tired that last few days, plus I got some exercise in over the last three days.
The big bridge for me to get over was Friday and Saturday as I am usually always was poor with my eating habits over a weekend, plus watching the rest of the family eating all the things I would love to eat.
Introduced myself to vegetable stir fry over the weekend and really enjoyed it. One thing is that I know I am not drinking enough water, need to get that right in week 2.
Week 2 starts tomorrow, only weighed myself yesterday, so have no record of weight loss, but I know I have lost a couple of pounds at the very least.

Week 2 now over, mentally easier than week one, although it was tough going to a family party and eating salad and everyone else eating cake etc, plus the mother in-law make rhubarb and apple tarts yesterday Sometimes I substitute a grilled chicken fillet into the plan instead of a shake, once per day only at maximum. I test BG five times a day and it has been below 6.0 bar two mid afternoon spikes I had last week. Early morning readings range between 4.6/5.7mmol, average reading over last week (35 readings) = 5.60
So 25% of the way there in terms of time, so far so good. need to do a bit more exercise, last week was hard as I had serious work commitments. Weight is down 5 lbs over the week. Will report back next week

sunbabe08

getting blood test done tomorrow, me don't like needles. and i have a 24 bp monitor as well

Royal Legend

Royal Legend wrote: »

Week 2 now over, mentally easier than week one, although it was tough going to a family party and eating salad and everyone else eating cake etc, plus the mother in-law make rhubarb and apple tarts yesterday Sometimes I substitute a grilled chicken fillet into the plan instead of a shake, once per day only at maximum. I test BG five times a day and it has been below 6.0 bar two mid afternoon spikes I had last week. Early morning readings range between 4.6/5.7mmol, average reading over last week (35 readings) = 5.60
So 25% of the way there in terms of time, so far so good. need to do a bit more exercise, last week was hard as I had serious work commitments. Weight is down 5 lbs over the week. Will report back next week

Week 3 is after flying, keeping pretty close to the diet. Average BG over last 7 days is now 4.6mmol, average first BG reading in morning is 4.70mmol. Have lost 10lbs in last 2 weeks. Drinking at least 3 litres of water a day. Hopefully the weather keeps up and I can get some more walking in over the next few days. Will keep u posted.

Royal Legend

End of Week 4 on the Newcastle diet, still going pretty well. I stopped taking the meds a week ago, bloods fairly ok, average about 5.5 over the last week. Weight is down over 20lbs, which even if the bloods don't come right is a good result, on average losing about 5lbs per week. Lots of water and lots of exercise seeing now as summer is here. Half way there now, I think I should stick it for a another 4 weeks at least.

Eurovisionmad

Of course I'd forget to take Lantus the night before English Paper 2! :rolleyes:
At least though it was an evening exam so I had to time to get them down to a somewhat reasonable level!

CramCycle

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

Of course I'd forget to take Lantus the night before English Paper 2! :rolleyes:
At least though it was an evening exam so I had to time to get them down to a somewhat reasonable level!

Hope it went OK, if it makes you feel better, I was terrible at English, hypod during paper2 and came out with my best ever english grade (admittedly it still wasn't great but I was over the moon).

Hope the bloods are holding together OK other than the hiccup last night.

Eurovisionmad

CramCycle wrote: »

Hope it went OK, if it makes you feel better, I was terrible at English, hypod during paper2 and came out with my best ever english grade (admittedly it still wasn't great but I was over the moon).

Hope the bloods are holding together OK other than the hiccup last night.

I'm the same really, not that bothered how English goes, if I do badly who cares and if I do well that's a bonus! Yeah the main thing I'm trying to avoid is hypoing during any of the exams, that would definitely be the worst outcome so I'm leaving my bloods stay a bit higher than normal, but at the same time not so high that I feel tired and need to go to the toilet every few minutes!

But I brought the "Carbs & Cals" app recently, cause I had seen my dietician use the book a few times when I met her, and it was definitely worth the €5 price tag for the app. It's so visual with the portions it's really helped my carb counting, especially as you can input the ratio and all, my accuracy in choosing my dose has definitely improved a lot!

5live

Quick question.

I saw my doc on friday and she said my hBa1c was 49%(?) and this was equivalent to 6.2. How do i calculate the conversion?

I am happy with this level as i was 5.5 for a good while with lots of hypos but i feel i have a happy medium at this level.

The_Conductor

5live wrote: »

How do i calculate the conversion?

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Professionals/Publications-reports-and-resources/Tools/Changes-to-HbA1c-values/

It has a calculator- but it also goes into detail telling you exactly how to calculate it long hand (if you're mathematically inclined )

5live

smccarrick wrote: »

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Professionals/Publications-reports-and-resources/Tools/Changes-to-HbA1c-values/

It has a calculator- but it also goes into detail telling you exactly how to calculate it long hand (if you're mathematically inclined )

Thanks Shane. Much appreciated:)

5live

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/animals-may-carry-infectioustype-1-diabetes-29344035.html

This might interest anyone with type-1

A bit frightening for the general population though

robinph

Interesting.

I believe that it's something I was always going to get though, it was just a case of when. The fact that I lasted so long before being diagnosed could indicate a change of environment triggered it, or or could just be that I happened to be lucky previously, or that I was healthy enough to avoid the triggers.

Think it's a long way from them being able to track down some beastie as being responsible, they haven't yet figured out what actually triggers it anyway, so nowhere near figuring out if that trigger then comes from some animal.

5live

I thought the finding of clusters of cases due to better collection/analysis of information was interesting.

And the fact that evidence was pointing to an animal to human transmission. I must do a bit more research into it but the implications could be huge. Like vaccinations to prevent type-1, for example:)

The_Conductor

Surely its more that you have a genetic pre-disposition to T1D- triggered by environmental factors- and rather than a vaccination, if you knew you had the pre-disposition, taking preventative measures whenever you're likely to encounter those environmental conditions (be it immune suppressants- as T1D is the result of an over-active immune system)?

We have similar triggers for other autoimmune diseases- i.e. exposure to a trigger generates a vastly excessive autoimmune response, that in turn activates the disease/condition.

So three things-

a) identify those with a genetic pre-disposition to the condition
b) identify/clarify what the triggers are
c) devise a mitigation plan- medication or even physical exclusion policies?

5live

My reading of the article was slightly different.

What i took from it was an infection transmitted from animal to human, a zoonose, which ,if identified, could lead to a vaccination and prevention of type-1 caused by the autoimmune response. Something similar to the HPV vaccination carried out in schools now.

Though how they would trigger an immune respone to the infection rather than an autoimmune response to destroy the pancreas could be difficult

CramCycle

There was a similar interpretation in a paper years ago (and damn it if I can't find it now). I think the researchers were based in London but they had attributed an percentage of T1DM cases to an over reaction of the immune system to a specific infection, as the spikes at the time, were roughly in line with the levels of either the common cold or the flu (it really was a long time ago I read it). They were happy though that this did not attribute for all cases and was most likely one trigger in an illness that may have many startpoints/ triggers etc.

gctest50

This lovely thing ? :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9662368

some "versions" turn on your heart instead and kill you that way - no cure/vaccine progress until lately

5live wrote: »

Like vaccinations to prevent type-1, for example

be more along the lines of buying shares in NovoNordisk

5live

gctest50 wrote: »

This lovely thing ? :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9662368

some "versions" turn on your heart instead and kill you that way - no cure/vaccine progress until lately



be more along the lines of buying shares in NovoNordisk

Sorted years back:D

gctest50

5live wrote: »

Sorted years back:D

Didn't happen to order petri dishes and a pile of agar around the same time by any chance ?

sunbabe08

GOT BLOOD test back, cholesterol 2.3 tablets reduced. blood pressure very good, tablets been reduced, diabetes meh:mad: boarder line:( at leat it's not gone high

Royal Legend

sunbabe08 wrote: »

GOT BLOOD test back, cholesterol 2.3 tablets reduced. blood pressure very good, tablets been reduced, diabetes meh:mad: boarder line:( at leat it's not gone high

Well done

mike65

Just a heads up for drivers, got this from diabetes.ie

Diabetes Ireland, in partnership with Zurich and ERM Financial Services, has launched a Private Motor Car Insurance Scheme offering competitive preferential motor insurance rates to people with diabetes and their families.



You Can Benefit

We are keen to ensure that as many individuals of the diabetes community as possible are aware of this opportunity so that at renewal time, they contact the Zurich Diabetes Scheme Line for a quote so they can compare costs. The scheme will factor in all the normal benefits you would expect from your motor insurance policy.



Programme Details

The scheme which is open to Diabetes Ireland members and their families will:

- enable patients to switch insurers more easily

- eliminate the hassle and cost of obtaining a medical report from their GP or Consultant.

- provide an instant quote so they can compare it against their current premium

- enable immediate family members access to the scheme

- give access to many other benefits offered by Diabetes Ireland.

To get a quote, simply call Zurich on 1890 161 162

This scheme, in conjunction with Zurich and ERM, is based on the premise that Diabetes Ireland members have a respect for their personal health and wellbeing and thus manage their condition effectively placing them in a lower risk category than the general population. As a result, our members will be offered preferential competitive rates.

If you are not a member now, don’t worry, ring Zurich for a quote, compare the cost, and if you feel it’s worth it, ring Diabetes Ireland on 1850 90 909 to become a member and avail of the costs savings.

Please help us spread the word about this scheme. It’s another benefit of Diabetes Ireland membership and will keep the euros in your pocket.

calfmuscle

Has anyone actually had any trouble getting car insurance?

I've never had to get a medical or had my premium loaded.

I get an online quote and then inform them of my diabetes over the phone, the quote has never been raised from the initial quote.

CramCycle

calfmuscle wrote: »

I get an online quote and then inform them of my diabetes over the phone, the quote has never been raised from the initial quote.

My understanding is that they can't, they can ask for your doctor to provide a letter confirming that your control is either consistent. good or of a level that there is no reason to expect it would affect your driving.

Jumping it up just because your a diabetic is a no no AFAIK.