[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

pew

So I've been burying my head in the sand the past while.

I shouldn't be but I have. Got my bloods done last week. They have the results I just have to wait for another test.

If I'm honest I'm actually terrified. Really scared. I have this fear of turning into a type 1 diabetic.

My sugars have been fine all last week. this week, not so much and I have been running. I'll go again tonight and see what I get down to.

I just find it hard to know exactly what I can and can't eat. I'm getting frustrated with it all which is not good for my sugar levels.

Buford T. Justice XIX

A brand new Insulin producing cell has been found in the pancreas and may lead to a way of regeneration of Beta cells to produce insulin.

http://www.sciencealert.com/a-brand-new-type-of-insulin-producing-cell-has-been-discovered-hiding-in-plain-sight

banjobongo

hi all
I was diagnosed Type one last summer, aged 53. I had my 2nd three month / Hba1c reading today, it was was 49 mmol, the diabetes nurse was happy with it but my first reading was 45, should I be worried that its increased from 45 to 49?

CramCycle

banjobongo wrote: »

hi all
I was diagnosed Type one last summer, aged 53. I had my 2nd three month / Hba1c reading today, it was was 49 mmol, the diabetes nurse was happy with it but my first reading was 45, should I be worried that its increased from 45 to 49?

Not at all, it is still under 7 and shows really tight control (or poor control with a load of hypos). The big question to ask is, is your control good? If the answer is yes, then you are fine. It would only be something to worry about if it continued this way for a prolonged period. HbA1c is a test of the last 3 months, and your next one could be back down again, or even lower. This would not mean you have become better at management. Typically if there was something of great concern, it would be higher already.

banjobongo

CramCycle wrote: »

Not at all, it is still under 7 and shows really tight control (or poor control with a load of hypos). The big question to ask is, is your control good? If the answer is yes, then you are fine. It would only be something to worry about if it continued this way for a prolonged period. HbA1c is a test of the last 3 months, and your next one could be back down again, or even lower. This would not mean you have become better at management. Typically if there was something of great concern, it would be higher already.

Thanks for the great CramCycle - but Im sure about your question about is my control good? If you mean am I good about injecting and testing/pricking regularly every day, yes I am. If you mean are my blood sugar levels always perfect, no they are not! Can you let me know what you mean by good control, I think it would be helpful to me?
Thanks again!

CramCycle

banjobongo wrote: »

Thanks for the great CramCycle - but Im sure about your question about is my control good? If you mean am I good about injecting and testing/pricking regularly every day, yes I am. If you mean are my blood sugar levels always perfect, no they are not! Can you let me know what you mean by good control, I think it would be helpful to me?
Thanks again!

That was pretty much it. Do you have many hypos (low blood sugars)? If so how many? One a day or one a week?

banjobongo

ok thanks! Hypos, not that often, max once a week, and they are not bad usually, Ive only (touch wood!) so far only had a few bad expereinces. My usual hypo is aorund 4.5 or maybe even 3.8 sometimes but a half bottle lucozade and after 15 mins and IM fine again...in terms of my blood sugar levels varying for me, its more the other way around, blood sugar readings being sometimes high, especially if I have been a bit naughty and had a treat!

CramCycle

banjobongo wrote: »

ok thanks! Hypos, not that often, max once a week, and they are not bad usually, Ive only (touch wood!) so far only had a few bad expereinces. My usual hypo is aorund 4.5 or maybe even 3.8 sometimes but a half bottle lucozade and after 15 mins and IM fine again...in terms of my blood sugar levels varying for me, its more the other way around, blood sugar readings being sometimes high, especially if I have been a bit naughty and had a treat!

By the sounds of it your control is good if your only have one hypo a week and it is only down to 3.8. I wouldn't even call it a hypo for me.

TL:DR your nurse is right, you have nothing to worry about at the minute.

banjobongo

CramCycle wrote: »

By the sounds of it your control is good if your only have one hypo a week and it is only down to 3.8. I wouldn't even call it a hypo for me.

TL:DR your nurse is right, you have nothing to worry about at the minute.

yoo hoo thanks thats great! delighted to hear Im on track!
cheers!

banjobongo

at lunch time today, between being stressed and work and stuck for time etc I had started my lunch, I was eating out in a cafe, when I realised I had forgotton to check by bloods first and forgotton to inject my fast acting insulin, which I always do before eating....I havent yet had a chance to check my bloods but I injected shorter after eating the meal, once I got back to my car.....
how big of a issue it it to forget to take your bloods and/or to forget to injsct before a meal and do it after instead?

CramCycle

banjobongo wrote: »

at lunch time today, between being stressed and work and stuck for time etc I had started my lunch, I was eating out in a cafe, when I realised I had forgotton to check by bloods first and forgotton to inject my fast acting insulin, which I always do before eating....I havent yet had a chance to check my bloods but I injected shorter after eating the meal, once I got back to my car.....
how big of a issue it it to forget to take your bloods and/or to forget to injsct before a meal and do it after instead?

Not major, just don't correct for the high blood sugar as it will possibly have started to rise by the time you check. I find it frustrating as it takes ages to find whether you need a correction or not as technically you have to wait for it to come down.

uli84

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

A brand new Insulin producing cell has been found in the pancreas and may lead to a way of regeneration of Beta cells to produce insulin.

http://www.sciencealert.com/a-brand-new-type-of-insulin-producing-cell-has-been-discovered-hiding-in-plain-sight

Ooooh, a dream, all that artificial pancreas stuff doesn't appeal to me

Aeternum

Been offered a freestyle Libre trial next Friday - really looking forward to trying it out. Diabetic clinic reckons the sensors will be available on prescription within the next 6 months.

Rushy Fields

Aeternum wrote: »

Been offered a freestyle Libre trial next Friday - really looking forward to trying it out. Diabetic clinic reckons the sensors will be available on prescription within the next 6 months.

Had it on trial for four weeks back in November....... best thing ever...... cant afford it ..... can't wait for it to be on the LTI Card.

Zebrano

Aeternum wrote: »

Been offered a freestyle Libre trial next Friday - really looking forward to trying it out. Diabetic clinic reckons the sensors will be available on prescription within the next 6 months.

Hiya, we're using the libre with our toddler and its great not having to prick her finger all the time! We love it Best of luck with your trial. When you say that it will be available on prescription, do you mean the LTI? Or just that you can get a prescription so you can claim tax credit for buying the sensors??

Thanks!

Alanstrainor

Aeternum wrote: »

Been offered a freestyle Libre trial next Friday - really looking forward to trying it out. Diabetic clinic reckons the sensors will be available on prescription within the next 6 months.

Did you get this through your consultant? I'd love one, I already have a CGM, but I find results can be a bit off at times. So I'd be interested to give this a go, and to give my fingers a bit of a break after nearly 19 years!

Aeternum

Zebrano wrote: »

Hiya, we're using the libre with our toddler and its great not having to prick her finger all the time! We love it Best of luck with your trial. When you say that it will be available on prescription, do you mean the LTI? Or just that you can get a prescription so you can claim tax credit for buying the sensors??

Thanks!

I was wondering that myself - the nurses just said 'on prescription' didn't mention LTI so I'm guessing they need to be approved for normal prescriptions and then they might be added to LTI after that?

Aeternum

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Did you get this through your consultant? I'd love one, I already have a CGM, but I find results can be a bit off at times. So I'd be interested to give this a go, and to give my fingers a bit of a break after nearly 19 years!

It was actually the diabetic nurse and dietician who offered it to me. The rep from FreeStyle did a session in the hospital recently and there was great uptake in it so they're coming back again next week and they managed to fit me into it. We get the monitor and one sensor that should last two weeks.

calfmuscle

Apologies in advance, I'm a tad annoyed. I work as a physio for a charity who provides care for children with physical disabilities. I only work for them 3 days a week and this week I asked to have a half hour off to attend my retina screen in two weeks time. The reply was- can you change the appointment to the end of the day. I'm seriously annoyed and feeling very let down. These appointments are not easily come by and are so important I feel they should be more encouraging. The hypocrisy!!!

Meauldsegosha

calfmuscle wrote: »

Apologies in advance, I'm a tad annoyed. I work as a physio for a charity who provides care for children with physical disabilities. I only work for them 3 days a week and this week I asked to have a half hour off to attend my retina screen in two weeks time. The reply was- can you change the appointment to the end of the day. I'm seriously annoyed and feeling very let down. These appointments are not easily come by and are so important I feel they should be more encouraging. The hypocrisy!!!

I can understand your annoyance. I don't know where you attend for retina screening but I have always found the clinic in Santry very accommodating when changing appointments or arranging a time suitable to my needs.

banjobongo

calfmuscle wrote: »

Apologies in advance, I'm a tad annoyed. I work as a physio for a charity who provides care for children with physical disabilities. I only work for them 3 days a week and this week I asked to have a half hour off to attend my retina screen in two weeks time. The reply was- can you change the appointment to the end of the day. I'm seriously annoyed and feeling very let down. These appointments are not easily come by and are so important I feel they should be more encouraging. The hypocrisy!!!

sounds like they are taking your generous help/services for granted!

graflynn

Hello Everyone,

I am one of the volunteers that has organised a workshop with a Dr Stephen Ponder who coauthored a book called “Sugar Surfing; How to manage Type 1 Diabetes in a Modern World”. He is an Endocrinologist and has lived with the condition himself for over 50 years.

The Sugar Surfing workshop is taking place in Dublin on Saturday May 13th and would be most valuable to people using either a CGM or the Freestyle Libre to manage their diabetes. It's 16 years and over event as 4 hours is a long time for children to sit and listen.

Preregistration is required and costs 20.00

You can find out more about the Sugar Surfing Workshop here.

Aeternum

Got my Libre today and I'm very impressed so far! Readings are about 5 mins behind your finger pricks but I haven't had any major differences between them. Looking forward to seeing how the next two weeks goes and if I'll be counting my pennies to continue using it!

I asked the Rep today about the LTI and they basically just said they've put in their application so it's out of their hands but they're hoping it should be available by the end of the year.

graflynn

Aeternum wrote: »

Got my Libre today and I'm very impressed so far! Readings are about 5 mins behind your finger pricks but I haven't had any major differences between them. Looking forward to seeing how the next two weeks goes and if I'll be counting my pennies to continue using it!

I asked the Rep today about the LTI and they basically just said they've put in their application so it's out of their hands but they're hoping it should be available by the end of the year.

Don't forget to keep all you receipts and you can claim 20% back through the MED1 form from revenue.ie

There's more information here - http://bloodsugartrampoline.com/index.php/2016/11/01/funding-the-freestyle-libre/

paulmurphyvec

this is great for people

Buford T. Justice XIX

Here's an article on using smartphones to control insulin release in diabetic mice.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39746027

You wouldn't want to be losing your phone though.

Adamsrogers

CramCycle wrote: »

Brilliant, we can post here when we're having hypos, it'll be like drunk posting for diabetics :pac:

Hahaha

banjobongo

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last year. As part of the process I was told i needed to get a new driving license stamped with my having diabetes, which I did. Today in the post I got a letter saying I need to get it renewed. This is going to be a pain. I would have thought my driving license woudl be good for 5 - 10 yrs, never checked the expiry date. Is this for TYpe 1 diabetes people only and will I need to get my license renewed every year?

C-Shore

banjobongo wrote: »

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last year. As part of the process I was told i needed to get a new driving license stamped with my having diabetes, which I did. Today in the post I got a letter saying I need to get it renewed. This is going to be a pain. I would have thought my driving license woudl be good for 5 - 10 yrs, never checked the expiry date. Is this for TYpe 1 diabetes people only and will I need to get my license renewed every year?

When you got the diabetes note added to the licence, did they renew the licence or just update it?

I lost my licence and when I got a new one, it was just a reissue so it was the same expiry date.

So I'm wondering if your licence was due to expire at that date anyway.

I'm a type 1 and my licence is a 10 year licence. I just have to get the fit to drive form from a doctor when I renew.

Not sure have things changed?

Meauldsegosha

The medical report form your doctor signs gives a choice of 1, 3 or 10 years. I think most doctors tick the 3 year box. It depends on how good your control is.