Newbie

[shuks]

Hi, I have never joined any diabetes forums before, even though I have been a type1 diabetic since I was 21 years old and I am currently a healthy 54 years young.

I am acutely aware that I will undoubtedly begin to have issues as I get older. so I thought joining up to Diabetes UK may keep me on the right track.

Kind Regards

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Good to have your significant diabetes experience added to the goldmine of knowledge and experience that other members have brought here. Great to hear that you are currently healthy and feeling young still at 54. The forum is a great place for comparing notes and sharing tips and thoughts/ideas with others who face similar challenges and letting off steam when it gets frustrating as we all know it does sometimes.

Would you like to tell us a bit about how you manage your diabetes? Ie which insulin(s) you use, MDI or a pump, Libre or other CGM etc. Things you find most challenging about long term diabetes management. Interests and hobbies.... anything else really.

Look forward to getting to know you a bit better and perhaps picking your brains for some long term diabetes strategies.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @shuks 🙂 I hope you find the forum as helpful as I do. It’s not just the tips and advice, it’s the moral support I appreciate, and not feeling alone with diabetes.

Looking forward to hearing more from you 🙂

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi shuks, glad you've found us!

Always lovely to have people who've got a good amount of experience with managing diabetes on the forum.

If there's anything we can help with, do let us know and please feel free to chip in on the forum as we have a variety of sections that may be of interest.

 

[shuks]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply, I use Novarapid for my short acting and use Tougeo for my long acting, I also use Libre, which I fine very helpful.

I have an unusual concern (at least I think I do) in that my insulin requirement varies from using 4/4/6/24 units per day for example to as much as 9/9/18/36, but each time I change I either have very high sugars until I rebalance or hypos going the other way.

I manually inject.

Regards

 

[Inka]

Are you female @shuks ? Hormones can send sugars mad. If not, could it be an absorption issue?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Do you adjust your doses based on the carbohydrate content of your meals @shuks with an insulin:carbohydrate ratio? And if not do you aim for a specific fixed carb count for each meal?

Some variation in insulin need throughout the year is quite common (people often need more insulin in colder months and are more sensitive to insulin and likely to be more active in warmer months). Having said that, I’d not expect my doses to double from one time of the year to another.

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome @shuks 🙂 I hope you find the forum as helpful as I do. It’s not just the tips and advice, it’s the moral support I appreciate, and not feeling alone with diabetes.

Looking forward to hearing more from you 🙂

Don't forget the moral support you give to others with your words of wisdom. I'm sure they appreciate it.

 

[shuks]

Are you female @shuks ? Hormones can send sugars mad. If not, could it be an absorption issue?

Hi Inka, no I am a male.🙂

 

[shuks]

Do you adjust your doses based on the carbohydrate content of your meals @shuks with an insulin:carbohydrate ratio? And if not do you aim for a specific fixed carb count for each meal?

Some variation in insulin need throughout the year is quite common (people often need more insulin in colder months and are more sensitive to insulin and likely to be more active in warmer months). Having said that, I’d not expect my doses to double from one time of the year to another.

Hi, I try to adjust on a meal-by-meal basis, so I try and eat the same things each day, at least for breakfast and lunch, the evening meal is a little more difficult.

I am currently struggling to get my BM readings below 18 after 1 injection, therefore I then top up and end up crashing to a hypo (controllable). from previous experience, I will get by BM's under control and it will begin to fall again, giving me hypos as my insulin intake is way more than what is required.

I have had a stable summer on that front, only requiring 14 units Novarapid for an entire day, today I took 12 with my breakfast and my BM was 20.8 within 2.5hrs - strange!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi again.

Have you ever had an intensive insulin use education course like DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating) or whatever your local equivalent is. It is usually a week long course or 5 individual days over a 5-6 week period with occasional follow up sessions months afterwards. It is so much more than just a carb counting course. It teaches you systems to recognize when it is your basal or bolus insulin which needs changing and how to keep yourself safe in all manner of everyday situations including illness and alcohol use and exercise etc. I think a lot of long term diabetics, especially those diagnosed as children, slipped through the net in being offered such courses or perhaps were offered but couldn't see the relevance because they had been managing their diabetes for so many years reasonably adequately without it. It can however make a huge difference to your understanding of how it all works and how you can manage it better, so that you get less fluctuation and less frustration, especially with the current technology available and I am certain that it leads to better outcomes for long term diabetics in terms of preventing (or at least lowering the risk of) long term complications.
I already knew a lot from visiting this forum regularly but the course gave me confidence (a huge benefit) and a framework to work off and fall back on if I needed to when things don't go as I expect, which they do from time to time.

I think the other important thing to understand is that there seems to be an ebb and flow with diabetes and you have to learn to go with the flow and be flexible in how you respond. I used to really resist adjusting my basal insulin doses (I am on a twice daily basal insulin) as I was of the impression that these doses were set in stone, when in fact I sometimes need almost daily adjustment both up and down and other times they can be stable for weeks or even months. I also find that getting my basal dose right (or as close as possible) is absolutely key to good diabetes management. If my levels are misbehaving and I am getting frustrated, it is almost always because my basal insulin dose is not quite right rather than that my carb to insulin ratios need changing.