[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

cocker5 · 17-02-2014 4:23pm

herisson wrote: »

Mine clicks like a pen too, i have the one that came in the FreeStyle freedom light one. I think its a psychological thing with regards the noise!

Another question Honestly i dont really know anything about diabetes at all. But I took my blood sugars 10 mins ago, it was very high the first time so i checked again and they were much lower ones, i did it on 3 different fingers. Should this usually happen??

What one should i go with??

OP - welcome.... when were you diagnosed?
My husband was only diagnosed nearly 3 months ago (at 35 years of age) so very much a newbie too...

He too hated pushing the button with the anticapation of what was coming but eventually his fingers git a bit tougher and it got easier.. sounds silly but for the first few weeke he did put hand cream on his hands each night to help heal all the finger pricking.

do you mind if i ask what age you are?

There are a good book to read , this has helped my husband alot (albeit quiet complicated in places)....

http://www.easons.com/p-1295188-think-like-a-pancreas.aspx

download the "carb and cals" app to your smart phone, this too will help alot...

http://www.carbsandcals.com/apps

Try not to worry too much, i know its very easy me saying this but it does get a little easier to manage over time

With regard to finger pricking result... again this happened to my husband a good few times... what he did was take 3 in a row.... look at the average... retest again in 15 mins...

Best of luck....

herisson · 17-02-2014 4:36pm

CramCycle wrote: »

How much different? Had you washed your hands/dried your hands thoroughly the first time?

It is quite normal to get different readings from different hands. Its been discussed in thread before but the issue is that it is only a rough guide, but it is the best we've got. Different machines also have different accuracies, newer ones tend to be better with some claiming as good a results as the gold standard bench top machines.

It went from 18 to 5 to 7 :eek: Im averaging out between 5 and 9 usually, the 20 threw me because i havent eaten any high sugar or carb foods today. When i woke up i was at 8.9.

No i didnt but that could have been my mistake, there could have been something on my finger. Im going to take it again in a little bit and see if its changed.

cocker5 wrote: »

OP - welcome.... when were you diagnosed?
My husband was only diagnosed nearly 3 months ago (at 35 years of age) so very much a newbie too...

He too hated pushing the button with the anticapation of what was coming but eventually his fingers git a bit tougher and it got easier.. sounds silly but for the first few weeke he did put hand cream on his hands each night to help heal all the finger pricking.

do you mind if i ask what age you are?

There are a good book to read , this has helped my husband alot (albeit quiet complicated in places)....

http://www.easons.com/p-1295188-think-like-a-pancreas.aspx

download the "carb and cals" app to your smart phone, this too will help alot...

http://www.carbsandcals.com/apps

Try not to worry too much, i know its very easy me saying this but it does get a little easier to manage over time

With regard to finger pricking result... again this happened to my husband a good few times... what he did was take 3 in a row.... look at the average... retest again in 15 mins...

Best of luck....

Ive posted here a bit, diagnosed in September after my doctor knew for 2 months and didnt tell me.

I dont find him helpful at all. I asked in October to refer me to a diabetic clinic and its now the end of February and i have my first meeting next week. >.< Im going to get her to tell me everything. My doctor has no idea about it at all.

Im 22. I got so used to the finger pricking, i was doing it multiple times a day with no bother. Then the last week i forgot to take the readings and it just came over me that i couldnt do it anymore. The noise was freaking me out.

CramCycle · 17-02-2014 5:01pm

herisson wrote: »

No i didnt but that could have been my mistake, there could have been something on my finger. Im going to take it again in a little bit and see if its changed.

Sounds like something on either the strip or your finger, it is too much of a difference. Try not to get too stressed over it, once you double checked that's the most important thing.

Then the last week i forgot to take the readings and it just came over me that i couldnt do it anymore. The noise was freaking me out.

Hope you get over it soon, I have had things freak me out before, when I was younger, one day for no reason, I just couldn't stomach injections anymore, had to get my mother to do it for me, it had been so long she was barely able to manage it as I had injected myself from 5, here I was in my late teens asking my mother to start it again. My younger brother ended up doing them for a few days and then it stopped.

It is one of the hardest things for me is the effect that your blood sugars have on your personality. It doesn't seem to affect everyone(AFAIK) but my sugars being slightly out of sorts can change who I am fundamentally and so quickly, it is horrifying. It still bugs me to this day, that one day of letting your sugars slip and you can do or say something that isn't you, and you may not be able to take back. Everyone has their biggest hates of Diabetes, and that is definitely mine.

herisson · 17-02-2014 5:11pm

CramCycle wrote: »

Sounds like something on either the strip or your finger, it is too much of a difference. Try not to get too stressed over it, once you double checked that's the most important thing.

Hope you get over it soon, I have had things freak me out before, when I was younger, one day for no reason, I just couldn't stomach injections anymore, had to get my mother to do it for me, it had been so long she was barely able to manage it as I had injected myself from 5, here I was in my late teens asking my mother to start it again. My younger brother ended up doing them for a few days and then it stopped.

It is one of the hardest things for me is the effect that your blood sugars have on your personality. It doesn't seem to affect everyone(AFAIK) but my sugars being slightly out of sorts can change who I am fundamentally and so quickly, it is horrifying. It still bugs me to this day, that one day of letting your sugars slip and you can do or say something that isn't you, and you may not be able to take back. Everyone has their biggest hates of Diabetes, and that is definitely mine.

I find i change when they are higher than usual. I get really annoyed with myself.

The one thing i find is that i hate admitting im diabetic, i absolutely hate. Its like im ashamed of it. Me and my friends joke about it sometimes but really i hate admitting it. I genuinely dont know why. I stil dont think ive admitted it to myself i am, even though i take my blood sugars and my meds.

cocker5 · 17-02-2014 5:14pm

Ive posted here a bit, diagnosed in September after my doctor knew for 2 months and didnt tell me.

I dont find him helpful at all. I asked in October to refer me to a diabetic clinic and its now the end of February and i have my first meeting next week. >.< Im going to get her to tell me everything. My doctor has no idea about it at all.

Im 22. I got so used to the finger pricking, i was doing it multiple times a day with no bother. Then the last week i forgot to take the readings and it just came over me that i couldnt do it anymore. The noise was freaking me out.[/QUOTE]

Wow thats very bad form on your doctors behalf.

Can i ask where you are living?

Reason i ask is my husband is only just diagnosed and so far he's had two appointments with the Diabetes clinic in Vincents and had all "the required tests done" - eyes, full bloods etc and had two appointments with a Dietican to go through carb counting etc.

Would you consider going to a different GP?

CramCycle · 17-02-2014 5:37pm

herisson wrote: »

The one thing i find is that i hate admitting im diabetic, i absolutely hate.

My wife still laughs at the fact that on our third date, we were out but planning on food later. She kept talking about how looking forward to food she was, apparently she was actually really hungry. I popped out to an ATM but I was covering a hypo and grabbed some sugar on the way back. She didn't say it until I told her awhile later but she thought I was a bit of a dick for sneaking off for food on my own (she could see me force swallow the bar as I walked back into the room). She laughs about it now but I still left the room to do my injections for the first few years we went out.

Its like im ashamed of it. Me and my friends joke about it sometimes but really i hate admitting it. I genuinely dont know why. I stil dont think ive admitted it to myself i am, even though i take my blood sugars and my meds.

The shame comes and goes, generally I don't mind but sometimes I do. My daughter once done an impression of me, saying "oh that cake looks lovely, I better eat it, my bloods are low" and then mimicked the cookie monster. It was funny but it was also quite mean/inappropriate, if it wasn't my daughter and I was younger (more hot headed) I would have thrown out as hurtful a comment I could muster against the person regardless of the inappropriateness. I hated admitting it when I was younger as I felt people had pre conceived ideas and would treat me differently (and some would).

Alanstrainor · 18-02-2014 1:00pm

I tend to keep my diabetes to my self to be honest. Just started a new job and haven't told many people. My CGM tends to beep a lot, and by beep I mean that annoying Casio alarm kind of beeping. Which is probably annoying some people, but I haven't said anything. I'd rather keep it to myself tbh. If the need arises I let people know, but otherwise no.

I remember, a few years ago, going on a date and forgetting my pump. Pretty catastrophic really. Somehow it ended well, and not in ketosis! Ridiculously stupid of me not to get it dropped out to me, or do something about it. But luckily nothing bad happened :eek::eek::eek:

robinph · 18-02-2014 1:37pm

I've never been shy about my diabetes and and quite happy for anyone to know, not sure if that may be due to having been diagnosed quite late on (early 20's) so didn't have to deal with the confusion of adolescence at the same time. Although I'm sure that people diagnosed late on may also be shy about telling people due to not wanting it to seem to have changed them. All very personal as to how anyone deals with it.

How did you manage to forget your pump though? You are meant to keep it attached.

Close encounters with another person would be tricky to keep diabetes hidden when on a pump, but once both parties are aware of it before hand, by the time you get under the covers it wouldn't be an issue. Just have to watch out for getting a bit tangled up in the excitement.

graflynn · 19-02-2014 11:20am

herisson wrote: »

The one thing i find is that i hate admitting im diabetic, i absolutely hate. Its like im ashamed of it. Me and my friends joke about it sometimes but really i hate admitting it. I genuinely dont know why. I stil dont think ive admitted it to myself i am, even though i take my blood sugars and my meds.

I know you are relatively new to this but what you are feeling isn't rare. Lots of us go through that stage. For me, I like to reach out and find other people like me. This thread has been great for that but also I like to meet face to face with my local diabetes support group. It's such a relief when you are talking to a bunch of people about what's going on with you and they reply "me too!"

I don't know where you live but I've attached a list of some of the groups in the country that I know about. And there might be more groups around, check; http://www.diabetes.ie/category/events/

herisson · 24-02-2014 8:24pm

cocker5 wrote: »

Wow thats very bad form on your doctors behalf.

Can i ask where you are living?

Reason i ask is my husband is only just diagnosed and so far he's had two appointments with the Diabetes clinic in Vincents and had all "the required tests done" - eyes, full bloods etc and had two appointments with a Dietican to go through carb counting etc.

Would you consider going to a different GP?

Carlow at the moment. It is very hard to get into the diabetes clinic here as its done through Kilkenny and it takes months.

Im tempted to switch it isnt the first run in ive had with him. But because im from a small village im only a 5 min walk away and i dont drive so convenience sake i just stick to him.

graflynn wrote: »

I know you are relatively new to this but what you are feeling isn't rare. Lots of us go through that stage. For me, I like to reach out and find other people like me. This thread has been great for that but also I like to meet face to face with my local diabetes support group. It's such a relief when you are talking to a bunch of people about what's going on with you and they reply "me too!"

I don't know where you live but I've attached a list of some of the groups in the country that I know about. And there might be more groups around, check; http://www.diabetes.ie/category/events/

Thanks GraFlynn! Ill take a look at it.

I was actually talking to my counsellor today and she did calm me down about it. At the end of the day i shouldnt be ashamed of it. But im working on it.

I have my first meeting with the diabetes nurse tomorrow afternoon, im a bit nervous about it. Im making a list of what i need to know. I actually know nothing.

herisson · 26-02-2014 11:20pm

The meeting went great i must say

I got loads of information and im getting the HbA1c test the next time i go in then im being transferred to the diabetic clinic afterwards.

I am much calmer then i was when i went in. I did cry a little because it finally hit me that i am diabetic but she told me there is nothing to be ashamed of or anything.

C-Shore · 28-02-2014 11:02am

Has anyone ever put in a special request for something that wasn't on the list of reimbursable items on the LTI scheme?

I was talking to my consultant and she said that there are cases where a special request can be made for some circumstances - so I'm just wondering if anyone has had any experience with that?

graflynn · 03-03-2014 1:33pm

The International Diabetes Federation are looking for your personal stories!

They will be attending a UN High Level Meeting in September 2014 to raise awareness of the International Charter on the Rights and Responsibilities of People with Diabetes. They will be presenting the storybook to draw attention to examples of typical discrimination faced by people with diabetes and highlight the importance of action to establish basic rights. If you would like to share your story follow the link below.

Follow this link for more information: http://www.idf.org/advocacy/storybook-overcoming-stigma-and-discrimination and submit your story.

Eurovisionmad · 03-03-2014 7:48pm

C-Shore wrote: »

Has anyone ever put in a special request for something that wasn't on the list of reimbursable items on the LTI scheme?

I was talking to my consultant and she said that there are cases where a special request can be made for some circumstances - so I'm just wondering if anyone has had any experience with that?

Could you give an example?

C-Shore · 03-03-2014 8:02pm

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

Could you give an example?

A pump or cgm that isn't on the list of items covered.
Apparently if you can explain why that specific item is needed instead of an alternative that is on the reimbursable list, it can be considered as a kind of exceptional request.

I'd even pay for the unit up front if I could get the consumables on my LTI.

Eurovisionmad · 03-03-2014 9:49pm

C-Shore wrote: »

A pump or cgm that isn't on the list of items covered.
Apparently if you can explain why that specific item is needed instead of an alternative that is on the reimbursable list, it can be considered as a kind of exceptional request.

I'd even pay for the unit up front if I could get the consumables on my LTI.

In general you have to get your consultantto apply for a pump or CGM on your behalf, the HSE has to be in agreement that you would benefit from a pump or CGM. To the best of my knowledge the HSE tend to only fund a CGM for a short period of time (I'm open to correction on this?) while a pump would be more long term. I'm personally not too sure myself about consumables for CGM (from what I can work out Medtronic Paradigm CGM consumables are covered under the LTI scheme but not Dexcom, but I'm also open to correction on this!) and if you pay privately for the pump unit the consumables are covered by the HSE.

C-Shore · 03-03-2014 11:29pm

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

In general you have to get your consultantto apply for a pump or CGM on your behalf, the HSE has to be in agreement that you would benefit from a pump or CGM. To the best of my knowledge the HSE tend to only fund a CGM for a short period of time (I'm open to correction on this?) while a pump would be more long term. I'm personally not too sure myself about consumables for CGM (from what I can work out Medtronic Paradigm CGM consumables are covered under the LTI scheme but not Dexcom, but I'm also open to correction on this!) and if you pay privately for the pump unit the consumables are covered by the HSE.

Oh no I know that my consultant would have to make the request, but there are only so many pumps that are on the approved list for reimbursement such as the Medtronic Paradigm and that's all that they typical request.

There can be a special request for something that isn't on the list though, and that's what I was wondering if anyone had made such a request so I could get more information.
Specifically I want to get a Dexcom G4 because it has a far greater range and waterproofing forwhich I need because of my work/exercise.

Yeah you're right, the dexcom sensors aren't covered unfortunately, but that's what I'm hoping to get a special request for.
I don't think there's a time limit on the consumables though, and they would be covered indefinitely. That's the first I've heard that they only cover it for a short period but perhaps you're right.

cocker5 · 04-03-2014 10:59am

C-Shore wrote: »

Oh no I know that my consultant would have to make the request, but there are only so many pumps that are on the approved list for reimbursement such as the Medtronic Paradigm and that's all that they typical request.

There can be a special request for something that isn't on the list though, and that's what I was wondering if anyone had made such a request so I could get more information.
Specifically I want to get a Dexcom G4 because it has a far greater range and waterproofing forwhich I need because of my work/exercise.

Yeah you're right, the dexcom sensors aren't covered unfortunately, but that's what I'm hoping to get a special request for.
I don't think there's a time limit on the consumables though, and they would be covered indefinitely. That's the first I've heard that they only cover it for a short period but perhaps you're right.

C-shore…

I was speaking with our pharmacist and he said it’s nothing to do with the actual “make” or “brand” of the unit.
So it’s irrelevant whether it’s the Dexcom or Medtronic etc… its whether your consultant has recommended it for you. and yes you can apply as a special case.

As I already mentioned we purchased the Dexcom privately 2 months ago, but we are going to try and get the sensors covered until the LTI card (until such a time we will have to pay ourselves). Just remember the sensors last 10 – 14 days (so far) and you can claim 20% through the med 1 form etc.

This is what the pharmacist suggested…

Next time my husband is in with his consultant show him the Dexcom, say he can’t live without it, give reasons (i.e. sports, swimming / work etc), get letters from his work supporting the need (i.e. hypos etc)… and if the consultant says yes, then they will “apply to have it approved etc”.
if you get the CGM directly through your consultant then they are automatically covered, it’s because we bought it privately etc they are not. But we will be working on this in the coming months and as soon as I know for definite etc I will let you know the outcome.

what I have learned from Vincent’s is that getting a pump from the HSE is hard enough, getting a CGM is even harder still (budgets etc), they don’t see them as a necessity unless you can prove you need one (which is rubbish IMO).

Just wanted to make a point on the CGM or Dexcom…
In our experience they are brilliant , it has given my husband a new lease of life, we have just returned from skiing and other activities (even though Vincent’s advised against it) and we had a blast, my husband skied no bother thanks to the Dexcom, no hypos / never got too high etc.
Now he will never be without one.

Just the peace of mind of it all…. it has made his recent diagnoses all the more easy to deal with having a GCM. Just my two cents.

C-Shore · 04-03-2014 11:42am

cocker5 wrote: »

...

You lovely lovely person! Thanks so much for that. It has explained so much to me - I was of the understanding that only certain ones were approved. At least now I know that it is somewhat the same chance for all of them.

cocker5 wrote: »

Just remember the sensors last 10 – 14 days (so far) and you can claim 20% through the med 1 form etc.

I didn't realize I could claim for them. I'll work out how much that would cost me then, but unfortunately I'm not in a great position to be able to afford that.
Are you buying your sensors through Advanced Therapeutics?

cocker5 wrote: »

If you get the CGM directly through your consultant then they are automatically covered, it’s because we bought it privately etc they are not. But we will be working on this in the coming months and as soon as I know for definite etc I will let you know the outcome.

I'm also going to try and get an application for one, so if I make any progress then I'll be sure to let you know as well. Hopefully it's something that can happen.
I need it for much the same reasons. I've gone from being active for a couple of hours, 4/5 days a week as a hobby - to now being active as part of my job which includes a lot of swimming and the lows and resulting spikes are killing me. My HbA1c has gone up to 8.5% from 6.1% in the last 6 months because of it. While that doesn't sound too bad, it's taking chunks out of my working day trying to get my blood glucose right.

cocker5 wrote: »

Just wanted to make a point on the CGM or Dexcom…
In our experience they are brilliant , it has given my husband a new lease of life, we have just returned from skiing and other activities (even though Vincent’s advised against it) and we had a blast, my husband skied no bother thanks to the Dexcom, no hypos / never got too high etc.
Now he will never be without one.
Just the peace of mind of it all…. it has made his recent diagnoses all the more easy to deal with having a GCM. Just my two cents.

That's exactly why I need it, jut knowing what's actually happening to my blood glucose outside of the finger prick tests should help me to figure out what's going on.

cocker5 wrote: »

What I have learned from Vincent’s is that getting a pump from the HSE is hard enough, getting a CGM is even harder still (budgets etc), they don’t see them as a necessity unless you can prove you need one (which is rubbish IMO).

Yeah I completely agree. A CGM will automatically reduce the number of finger pricks I do anyway. So rather than using 10 lancets and 10 strips per day, at a cost of about €4.90 per day - I will only be using 2 of each at about €0.90 per day in order to calibrate.
So if I can save €28 per week and the sensors are costing ~€50 each and I can get almost 2 weeks out of a sensor, then the cost is almost the same as with a regular Blood Glucose Monitor.

That doesn't even take into consideration the reduction in future complications it should provide me, and thus being less of a burden on public health care costs, if I have better Blood Glucose control.

Sorry for the long post, but really, thanks very much for your post, I appreciate it.

calfmuscle · 04-03-2014 12:09pm

C-Shore wrote: »

Yeah I completely agree. A CGM will automatically reduce the number of finger pricks I do anyway. So rather than using 10 lancets and 10 strips per day, at a cost of about €4.90 per day - I will only be using 2 of each at about €0.90 per day in order to calibrate.
.

Do you honestly use 10 lancets a day?!?!?!?

C-Shore · 04-03-2014 12:11pm

calfmuscle wrote: »

Do you honestly use 10 lancets a day?!?!?!?

It's a horrible downward spiral! The more I test, the thicker my fingers get and the sharper and deeper my lancets need to be. I'm on level 4 now

I'm not even fat!

calfmuscle · 04-03-2014 12:14pm

C-Shore wrote: »

It's a horrible downward spiral! The more I test, the thicker my fingers get and the sharper and deeper my lancets need to be. I'm on level 4 now I'm not even fat!

Why are you testing 10 times a day?

I rarely change my lancet :pac::pac:

C-Shore · 04-03-2014 12:37pm

calfmuscle wrote: »

Why are you testing 10 times a day?

I rarely change my lancet :pac::pac:

I used to go days without changing it, but just in the last while it has become quite painful - I do expect to get back to "normal" and change it when I actually think about it rather than needing to so often.

I'm just having really strange activity on my blood glucose. The diabetes clinic in hospital haven't really been much help in figuring it out either so I'm doing everything I can.

Here's what happened to me this morning.

At 7am, my BG was 5.4, I ate 1 slice of toast with butter, and took 10 units of Humalog even though my ratio on non exercise days is 1:10g.
So then I did 1 hour of weights with a 30 minute swim, which as diabetes education has taught me, should be helping my blood sugars to stay level.

Instead, at 10:20, my BG was up to 10.2 and I've been testing with taking corrections and not taking corrections.
This morning I didn't take a correction, and it's at 11.8 at 11:20 even though I haven't eaten anything since that slice of toast

Yesterday, I took a 2 unit correction and it made no difference, reduced my BG by about .5 which is way off against my 1800 calculation. But, on Sunday I did a 1 hour cycle which had a similar high effect, but a correction of 2 units brought me down to 3.4!

So it's just difficult to figure out with being so active.

I've been trying to find out is there increased adrenalin activity from the weights, or am I dumping glycogen from my liver as a reaction.

It used to happen before with exercise, but I got it under control, but now that I'm doing it everyday I'm at a loss.

calfmuscle · 04-03-2014 12:42pm

C-Shore wrote: »

I used to go days without changing it, but just in the last while it has become quite painful - I do expect to get back to "normal" and change it when I actually think about it rather than needing to so often.

I'm just having really strange activity on my blood glucose. The diabetes clinic in hospital haven't really been much help in figuring it out either so I'm doing everything I can.

Here's what happened to me this morning.

At 7am, my BG was 5.4, I ate 1 slice of toast with butter, and took 10 units of Humalog even though my ratio on non exercise days is 1:10g.
So then I did 1 hour of weights with a 30 minute swim, which as diabetes education has taught me, should be helping my blood sugars to stay level.

Instead, at 10:20, my BG was up to 10.2 and I've been testing with taking corrections and not taking corrections.
This morning I didn't take a correction, and it's at 11.8 at 11:20 even though I haven't eaten anything since that slice of toast

Yesterday, I took a 2 unit correction and it made no difference, reduced my BG by about .5 which is way off against my 1800 calculation. But, on Sunday I did a 1 hour cycle which had a similar high effect, but a correction of 2 units brought me down to 3.4!

So it's just difficult to figure out with being so active.

I've been trying to find out is there increased adrenalin activity from the weights, or am I dumping glycogen from my liver as a reaction.

It used to happen before with exercise, but I got it under control, but now that I'm doing it everyday I'm at a loss.

Im very active too but I cant exercise in the morning time. Im too insulin resistant. What time of the day did you go cycling on Sunday?

What kind of intensity was your swim this morning?

cocker5 · 04-03-2014 12:43pm

C-shore - No probs at all.... yeah my hubby is very active also (swimming, squash, running) and like you he kept going really high / really low, the Dexcom has helped him massively reduce this... plus he has no hypos at night now (due to the alarms on the Dexcom etc) - its honestly been a god send.

I have read other people saying their sensors last them 18-25 days... so its all how you look after them i suppose. They do "auto" reset after 7 days but you can trick them into "thinking its a new sensor" etc. you only need to chnage your sensor when the ??? appears but not before, so people are getting longer and longer from their sensors.

He also used to use 10 lancets a day (consultant told him to change everytime he pricked his finger too)... now he tests around 4 times a day...

He also uses these little "skins" around the sensor to make sure it stays fully stuck on for the full 7/10 days etc. if you go ahead i can recommend the ones he uses, the cost 60 cents each and are breathable etc... some of them are too thick etc... hes tried a few and these ones he finds are the best / most comfortable etc.

Yeah we've purchased his Dexcom through Advanced Therapeutics in the UK.... cant get them locally im afraid, although they do deliver within 24 hours (only down side is they only take bank transfer no credit card) which results in a longer delay and bank charges for me. but sure its worth it.

As i said we will be working on getting the sensors paid for by LTI... but it could be a WIP for a few months - as soon as i get somehwere ill keep you posted.

he is going into his consultant in mid April, we will start the ball rolling then and ill keep you posted

C-Shore · 04-03-2014 12:54pm

calfmuscle wrote: »

Im very active too but I cant exercise in the morning time. Im too insulin resistant. What time of the day did you go cycling on Sunday?

What kind of intensity was your swim this morning?

That's really interesting! I didn't go cycling until about 11:30 on Sunday.

I've never heard of anyone talking about insulin resistance in the morning, well I never even researched it either because I never heard about it until now.
A quick Google Search has uncovered a lot though, and the talk of residual insulin in this paper is interesting: http://web.diabetes.org/perspectives/new/ADA%20Journal_38_3_Searchable.pdf

It was actually a high intensity session this morning, 1 minute sprint intervals with 30 second rests. I thought it would increase carbohydrate requirement in my muscles and try to offset any glycogen dump.

I mean if I can be guaranteed I'm always going to get that glycogen supply from my liver then I can just take more insulin. The problem is that sometimes when I take more to factor that into my exercise, I end up going low, and it's so hard to figure out. Hence my hoping for a CGM to see what's going on.

C-Shore · 04-03-2014 1:02pm

cocker5 wrote: »

C-shore - No probs at all.... yeah my hubby is very active also (swimming, squash, running) and like you he kept going really high / really low, the Dexcom has helped him massively reduce this... plus he has no hypos at night now (due to the alarms on the Dexcom etc) - its honestly been a god send.

I have read other people saying their sensors last them 18-25 days... so its all how you look after them i suppose. They do "auto" reset after 7 days but you can trick them into "thinking its a new sensor" etc. you only need to chnage your sensor when the ??? appears but not before, so people are getting longer and longer from their sensors.

He also used to use 10 lancets a day (consultant told him to change everytime he pricked his finger too)... now he tests around 4 times a day...

He also uses these little "skins" around the sensor to make sure it stays fully stuck on for the full 7/10 days etc. if you go ahead i can recommend the ones he uses, the cost 60 cents each and are breathable etc... some of them are too thick etc... hes tried a few and these ones he finds are the best / most comfortable etc.

Yeah we've purchased his Dexcom through Advanced Therapeutics in the UK.... cant get them locally im afraid, although they do deliver within 24 hours (only down side is they only take bank transfer no credit card) which results in a longer delay and bank charges for me. but sure its worth it.

As i said we will be working on getting the sensors paid for by LTI... but it could be a WIP for a few months - as soon as i get somehwere ill keep you posted.

he is going into his consultant in mid April, we will start the ball rolling then and ill keep you posted

Good god if I could prevent night time hypos that would be enough. Nothing worse, and the horrible tiredness waking up the next morning.

Thanks for the tips on the skins, I'll get details on those if I do get one soon.

The same for me, whenever I get some more progress made on it, I'll let you know how things went for me. I've been talking with a lot of people and just trying to get the right person that can take it to the next step in the process.

CathyMoran · 04-03-2014 7:25pm

Mine is messed up due to having my food pipe removed due to cancer surgery. Only one doctor has been brilliant - well at least I am still here:D

Alanstrainor · 04-03-2014 10:44pm

Eurovisionmad wrote: »

In general you have to get your consultantto apply for a pump or CGM on your behalf, the HSE has to be in agreement that you would benefit from a pump or CGM. To the best of my knowledge the HSE tend to only fund a CGM for a short period of time (I'm open to correction on this?) while a pump would be more long term. I'm personally not too sure myself about consumables for CGM (from what I can work out Medtronic Paradigm CGM consumables are covered under the LTI scheme but not Dexcom, but I'm also open to correction on this!) and if you pay privately for the pump unit the consumables are covered by the HSE.

I have a CGM and have never been told it will be short term. As far as I'm concerned I'll be on it for the foreseeable future.

C-Shore wrote: »

Yeah I completely agree. A CGM will automatically reduce the number of finger pricks I do anyway. So rather than using 10 lancets and 10 strips per day, at a cost of about €4.90 per day - I will only be using 2 of each at about €0.90 per day in order to calibrate.
So if I can save €28 per week and the sensors are costing ~€50 each and I can get almost 2 weeks out of a sensor, then the cost is almost the same as with a regular Blood Glucose Monitor.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but as a CGM user, I find my glucose testing has increased after going on the CGM. I probably test 5+ times a day at the moment on the CGM, and it's not just for calibration. The CGM is great, but it is not that accurate, nor is it necessarily real time. The CGM results can be out by 20% + or - which is a large margin all considered, and the way the CGM works, since it is not testing your blood per se, you need to test if the CGM tells you anything out of the norm. And since you see 288 CGM readings a day, you tend to track it rather closely, resulting in more tests.

It is a game changer. It is the best advance forward I have ever had in my 16/17 years as a diabetic, but there was a couple of points I felt I should correct you on.

Preset No.3 · 05-03-2014 2:04am

Discovered this forum, and this page by accident. I usually stick to AH and the likes.

10 year type 2 veteran. Fell off the wagon about 6 months ago. Don't smoke or drink, but I could murder a box of mini rolls in a flash! Sugar is pure evil. A line of coke couldn't be as bad for me as a bag of jellies!!!!! Back on the wagon again now the last month. So sweet treats at all.

On a combination of januvia/diamicron daily and a dart of a pen if I feel the levels going to high. General indicators are dry mouth and blurry vision.

I'll keep coming back here to see what other ideas people are suggesting.

[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

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