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[Diabetes] General Chat and Support Thread

tbh

Hey guys - I've created a single "chat" thread for all the diabetics for any topics of conversation that don't fit in the existing threads.

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gerrybbadd

Was chatting with Boots earlier, and they tell me that the Libre Metre sensors can now be got on LTI.

Rang my local pharmist, who confirmed this. They tell me I'd need to get a letter from my "local health board" (i assume the diabetes clinic), linking my LTI book to the sensor requirement, and that's pretty much it.

I've gone on a diet with the missus lately. I'm just headed into week 3, but the hypos are killing me. Just recovering here from the 17th hypo in 3 weeks. I don't think i've had 17 hypos TOTAL prior to this feckin diet!

CramCycle

I could be wrong but what I think they need you to do is get a script and send this in with your LTI book to the local health board and get them to stamp it. Sometimes your clinic will do this for you, mine always does but my old clinic would just hand me the script and tell me to send it in to be updated.

banie01

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Was chatting with Boots earlier, and they tell me that the Libre Metre sensors can now be got on LTI.

Great news if accurate!
Price wise a month of libre is @ the same as my current one touch verio and it offers much better scope for controlling and reviewing BG levels.

echo beach

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Was chatting with Boots earlier, and they tell me that the Libre Metre sensors can now be got on LTI.

Rang my local pharmist, who confirmed this. They tell me I'd need to get a letter from my "local health board" (i assume the diabetes clinic), linking my LTI book to the sensor requirement, and that's pretty much it.

Children and young adults on multiple insulin injections daily can get Libre on LTI. It isn't the same process as for other items on the book.
ONLY a consultant endocrinologist can apply to the HSE for the approval. If it is approved the pharmacist can check your LTI number to see the approval and can then supply up to 2 packs every 4 weeks.

banie01

echo beach wrote: »

Children and young adults on multiple insulin injections daily can get Libre on LTI. It isn't the same process as for other items on the book.

That's the situation as I understood it too.
Based on the HSE circular from last year.
I was hoping that a new circular had issued but I can't find anything since the 2017/01 circular confirming multiple injecting diabetics from 4y.o to 21y.o.
Here's hoping that it will be made available to all insulin users soon, as even on price grounds alone if someone is using 2 or more strips a day it would be quite cost effective.
Particularly if it allows a reduction in concurrent insulin use.

gerrybbadd

Spoke with the Diabetes team in Sligo there and they told me I was given some bad info from the pharmacy.

They do prescribe the sensors for those over 21, but only in cases of people that had strokes or retinal damage through diabetes, where they find it hard or impossible to test the regular way.

Oh well!

banie01

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2019/feb/scientists-make-breakthrough-by-turning-stem-cells-into-insulin-producing-cells-94739587.html

Stem cells have been transformed into insulin producing cells.
This may lead to insulin independence for T1 sufferers.
Amazing potential.

ebbsy

Back at the Eye and Ear for my checkup today. It is the first time in 7 years that I have had 3 consecutive "stable" outcomes , i.e. I did not need laser etc.

This has to be a combination of their treatment / Noctura 400 glasses / Coming off insulin / Blood Pressure and Cholesterol tablets.

Hopefully one day they will find a cure for this particular eye problem.

banie01

Great news Ebbsy!
Well done on keeping control!
Delighted for you and it gives people like me who are on the threshold of retinopathy taking hold a lot of hope!

kylith

Hi folks. I don’t have diabetes myself, though it rubs in my family. Consequently I had gestational diabetes. I have a tub of test strips for an AccuCheck machine left. They didn’t fit the machine I had and have been opened but are free for the taking if they’d be any good to anyone. They’re not cheap so I’d hate them to go to waste

Pm me if you’d want them.

ebbsy

banie01 wrote: »

Great news Ebbsy!
Well done on keeping control!
Delighted for you and it gives people like me who are on the threshold of retinopathy taking hold a lot of hope!

I celebrated with a lettuce leaf.

banie01

I've decided to make a serious effort with the Newcastle Diet/MRP type diet.
I'm only 4 days in and coming from what I thought was good control.
My AVG HbA1c over the last 2 years is @6.5, but!
Already the difference in my blood sugar is noticeable!
I've already had to drop 8 units on my Lantus dosing.
Will keep a good eye on how it goes.
My aim is to get off Lantus for the foreseeable if I can and push out the clock on the incipient retinopathy.

gerrybbadd

banie01 wrote: »

I've decided to make a serious effort with the Newcastle Diet/MRP type diet.
I'm only 4 days in and coming from what I thought was good control.
My AVG HbA1c over the last 2 years is @6.5, but!
Already the difference in my blood sugar is noticeable!
I've already had to drop 8 units on my Lantus dosing.
Will keep a good eye on how it goes.
My aim is to get off Lantus for the foreseeable if I can and push out the clock on the incipient retinopathy.

Fair play - it takes some dedication.

My wife is gone on this diet with a personal trainer, and has roped me into it.

I had to drop 8 units off my tresiba because i kept having hypos. And now, I can have a small amount of carbs, and not need novorapid for it. Up until yesterday, i hadn't taken (or needed) novorapid. I'm down about 9 pounds, 4 weeks in

silverharp

https://twitter.com/lowcarbGP/status/1095066972159655936

banie01

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Fair play - it takes some dedication.

My wife is gone on this diet with a personal trainer, and has roped me into it.

I had to drop 8 units off my tresiba because i kept having hypos. And now, I can have a small amount of carbs, and not need novorapid for it. Up until yesterday, i hadn't taken (or needed) novorapid. I'm down about 9 pounds, 4 weeks in

My GP is very curious to see how it goes for me and truth be told, I need something to focus on at the moment. Something I can actually influence at the very least.

I'm adding a little psyllium husk to the MRP shakes and I've yet to encounter any real hunger pangs or similar.
2 shakes and some green veg and carrots is my plan at the moment.
It is a hard slog, but even from the difference I've noticed to date it could be a huge moneysaver for the HSE if it was properly supported.

The potential reduction in meds, and other interventions and supports needed due to nueropathy, retinopathy, heart disease, stroke and so on that are often a co-morbidity of diabetes are surely worth at least a review by the powers that decide the HSE strategy.

silverharp

Out of curiosity I was checking a couple of foods I would normally restrict, the other day I had 2 or 3 apples and measured 30 min after and got a reading of 6 mmol/l thought that was reasonable. Last night I ate 2 punnets of grapes and 30 min I got a measure of 16 mmol/l yikes! after 2 hours it had dropped to 6 , obviously the quantities weren’t the same. Some time I will try to measure out how many apples would give the same quantity of sugar and try again but it seems like it wouldn’t hit that level.

MrMacPhisto

Some good info here

I follow Dr. Unwin on twitter, he posts lots of good information.

wakka12

I wonder why it is isnt more well known that bananas are so sugary. I would have sometimes in the past eaten a banana even when I wasnt particularly hungry just to get another one of my 5 a day, but it likely did more harm than good

silverharp

Same here, a good guy will even respond to questions, ive seen that chart before it’s a good visual. I never really got into the nitty gritty of counting carbs or sugar but I had had a look on the Tesco website to get the basic nutritional info and apples and grapes “seemed” similar enough in sugar terms per 100g though I checked against Pink Lady, whereas his chart has grapes having twice the sugar of apples.

silverharp

wakka12 wrote: »

I wonder why it is isnt more well known that bananas are so sugary. I would have sometimes in the past eaten a banana even when I wasnt particularly hungry just to get another one of my 5 a day, but it likely did more harm than good

fruit is overrated relative to veg, the "5 a day " makes them sound interchangeable , I don't go out of the way to even bother have fruit in my diet, frozen berries are my treat and I go through phases of having drinks made with fresh limes and lemons.

CramCycle

wakka12 wrote: »

I wonder why it is isnt more well known that bananas are so sugary. I would have sometimes in the past eaten a banana even when I wasnt particularly hungry just to get another one of my 5 a day, but it likely did more harm than good

Pretty well known in sporting circles as its one of the fruits of choice for cyclists in races.

silverharp wrote: »

fruit is overrated relative to veg, the "5 a day " makes them sound interchangeable , I don't go out of the way to even bother have fruit in my diet, frozen berries are my treat and I go through phases of having drinks made with fresh limes and lemons.

Well the 5 a day thing is rubbish, and only a marketing campaign, realistically should be closer to 10 a day, but also more weighted towards veg than fruit.

silverharp

CramCycle wrote: »

Well the 5 a day thing is rubbish, and only a marketing campaign, realistically should be closer to 10 a day, but also more weighted towards veg than fruit.

I wouldn’t want to feel pressured to hit a particular number, the main benefit as a nutritional guideline is that if people are eating more veg they are likely to be eating less garbage. To hit 10 portions I’d need to be juicing vast quantities of spinach n’ stuff. Plenty of cultures wouldn’t have or have had access to lots of year round vegetable type foods and are or were in good health however if more broccoli means less pizza then sure

CramCycle

silverharp wrote: »

I wouldn’t want to feel pressured to hit a particular number, the main benefit as a nutritional guideline is that if people are eating more veg they are likely to be eating less garbage. To hit 10 portions I’d need to be juicing vast quantities of spinach n’ stuff. Plenty of cultures wouldn’t have or have had access to lots of year round vegetable type foods and are or were in good health however if more broccoli means less pizza then sure

True, and what a portion is also misleading as you can't say 1 sort of fruit is the same as one of another fruit or veg. I pay no heed ot it in general, just eat a balanced diet my point was that the 5 a day was a marketing campaign which had no basis in studies, just simply that they thought it would be easier to market.

vargoo

CramCycle wrote: »

True, and what a portion is also misleading as you can't say 1 sort of fruit is the same as one of another fruit or veg. I pay no heed ot it in general, just eat a balanced diet my point was that the 5 a day was a marketing campaign which had no basis in studies, just simply that they thought it would be easier to market.

No, they said 5 because it was somewhat doable, they knew their was no chance of people hitting the real number without a little ice breaking first.

silverharp

vargoo wrote: »

No, they said 5 because it was somewhat doable, they knew their was no chance of people hitting the real number without a little ice breaking first.

"they" aren't really worth listening to anyway, the same "they" that brought you margarine , dodgy "vegetable" oils ie steam pressed alternative diesel from gmo seeds :pac: and "low fat"

Royal Legend

banie01 wrote: »

I've decided to make a serious effort with the Newcastle Diet/MRP type diet.
I'm only 4 days in and coming from what I thought was good control.
My AVG HbA1c over the last 2 years is @6.5, but!
Already the difference in my blood sugar is noticeable!
I've already had to drop 8 units on my Lantus dosing.
Will keep a good eye on how it goes.
My aim is to get off Lantus for the foreseeable if I can and push out the clock on the incipient retinopathy.

Are you getting help on this from a GP?

banie01

Royal Legend wrote: »

Are you getting help on this from a GP?

Yep, my GP and the local Diabetes team.

Royal Legend

banie01 wrote: »

Yep, my GP and the local Diabetes team.

I did it about 4 years ago, without help. lost about 4 stone, with the intention of reversing my type 2. after about 3 months blood sugar was between 4-6, with meds, went off the meds and the sugars went up, slowly lost interest and put on the weight again.

Since November, have just cut out rubbish from my diet, plus plenty of walking and have lost over 2 stone so far. If I hit a bottle neck I will go back on the newcastle diet. My goal is to get the weight down to normal, already have reversed NAFLD down to half what it was in November.

P.S. You will hit a wall early on with the Newcastle diet, feel cold and hungry, but it wears off in a few days. stick at it and set realistic goals that will make you feel that you have achieved. sounds like you are on the right road.

silverharp

ive been doing intermittent fasting this week , tested by blood sugar last night and got a 4.2 which is the lowest reading ever. i wont shade the newcastle diet but i guess its something you need to transition out of for the long term, some kind of fasting is a great long term tool

banie01

I'm @5days in to the Newcastle diet and as Royal Legend has said a little bit of a wall is here.
Saturday is the usual "treat" day round here and my stomach is starting to miss solid food.
My motivation for continuing with it has only been heightened by taking a look at the improvement in BG average in just 4 days!

1st pic is BG average from the 6/2/19 to the 12/2/19.
2nd pic is BG average from the 12/2/19 to the 16/2/19

Now while the improvement in BG is always good, what I'm happier about however is the fact that my Lantus basal does so far from @32units to 20units and likely to drop even further.