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Hi everyone

Dartmoor Diabetic

Dartmoor Diabetic

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi, I've just been to a Diabetes UK meeting in Exeter and made some new friends!
I am a T2, have been for 20 odd years.
I enjoy walking on Dartmoor and doing the Ramblers Wellbeing Walks.
I'm struggling at the moment with my diabetes and decided to try the free sensors on offer. Although I am a T2 on insulin twice a day my doctor's won't let me have a Libre sensor on the NHS and I certainly can't afford £1200 a year!
 
Hi! Feeling the pressure to get my levels down and not having the backing of my doctor's when I know I need a sensor to help me. I eat a healthy diet and I've been told not to lose anymore weight.
I'm on Levemire twice a day.
 
Levemir - interesting. I guessed you might be on a mixed insulin not Levemir (a basal insulin). Are you finding you’re going high after meals?
 
I test before bed and I'm usually around 12. I was told to be over 10 to get me through the night. I'm usually between 5 and 7 in the morning. I try not to eat after 7pm.
 
Can I ask what your doses of Levemir are and when you take them?

Pushing your levels up to 12 before bed seems a bit of overkill. I would have thought it made more sense to reduce your evening Levemir if it is routinely dropping you overnight!

What are your daytime levels like?
 
I take 10/12 units every morning and evening. I don't push my levels up, it's just what I am after tea.
Yesterday I was 5.0 in the morning and went up to 11.7 before bed.
 
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Dartmoor Diabetic said:
I'm struggling at the moment with my diabetes and decided to try the free sensors on offer. Although I am a T2 on insulin twice a day my doctor's won't let me have a Libre sensor on the NHS and I certainly can't afford £1200 a year!
Click to expand...
There are additional criteria than just being on insulin if t2. Have you been medically advised to check your bg at least 8 times a day? That’s one of the main criteria but if you’re only on a background insulin you would be unlikely to need to test that much as you can’t adjust the dose regularly during the day to react to highs etc.
 
Dartmoor Diabetic said:
Feeling the pressure to get my levels down and not having the backing of my doctor's when I know I need a sensor to help me.
Click to expand...
What would you do differently based on the results of a sensor? How would you react to the numbers you see during the day to get your levels down? Why can’t you do those things without the sensor?
 
Dartmoor Diabetic said:
I take 10/12 units every morning and evening. I don't push my levels up, it's just what I am after tea.
Yesterday I was 5.0 in the morning and 11.7 before bed.
Click to expand...

If your blood sugar drops overnight from 11.7 to 5 or so overnight, then you could consider eating fewer carbs for your evening meal, and taking less evening Levemir. Then you could aim to be, say, 7 before bed and remain around the same in the morning.

Or, if you’re already eating very few carbs, you could ask about a bolus/fast/meal insulin before your evening meal eg Novorapid.
 
Lucyr said:
There are additional criteria than just being on insulin if t2. Have you been medically advised to check your bg at least 8 times a day? That’s one of the main criteria but if you’re only on a background insulin you would be unlikely to need to test that much as you can’t adjust the dose regularly during the day to react to highs etc.
Click to expand...
Not medically but I do test when I wake up, before meals, before driving and if I feel a bit wobbly. So yes probably right or so.
 
Inka said:
If your blood sugar drops overnight from 11.7 to 5 or so overnight, then you could consider eating fewer carbs for your evening meal, and taking less evening Levemir. Then you could aim to be, say, 7 before bed and remain around the same in the morning.

Or, if you’re already eating very few carbs, you could ask about a bolus/fast/meal insulin before your evening meal eg Novorapid.
Click to expand...
That is exactly what I am trying to do. I've got my insulin down from 20+ units.
I was talking to my nurse about injections before meals but I have decided I would rather eat fewer carbs.
I am also at the 'menopause age' which seems to be interfering with my levels.
 
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Dartmoor Diabetic said:
That is exactly what I am trying to do. I've got my insulin down from 20+ units.
I was talking to my nurse about injections before meals but I have decided I would rather eat few carbs.
I am also at the 'menopause age' which seems to be interfering with my levels.
Click to expand...

Yes, hormones can have a surprisingly large effect, and can cause erratic sugars too.
 
Lucyr said:
What would you do differently based on the results of a sensor? How would you react to the numbers you see during the day to get your levels down? Why can’t you do those things without the sensor?
Click to expand...
My free sensor was like a big brother watching me. It constantly reminds you of your levels and for me personally I paid a lot of attention to it.
I walk a lot to keep my levels at bay.
I can't do it on my own because I need the push to stay on the straight and narrow. It's a mental thing and sometimes we need support.
 
Dartmoor Diabetic said:
It constantly reminds you of your levels and for me personally I paid a lot of attention to it.
Click to expand...
Is reminding you of your levels actually that useful in terms of reducing your risk of complications, when only on levemir so you can’t correct for highs though? The cost of the sensor to the NHS has to be worth the benefits.
 
Lucyr said:
Is reminding you of your levels actually that useful in terms of reducing your risk of complications, when only on levemir so you can’t correct for highs though? The cost of the sensor to the NHS has to be worth the benefits.
Click to expand...
Working on being low carb is giving me more lows but not getting it quite right and admittedly not having the willpower quite right I'm getting highs.
I have insulin and the needles for it, cartridges for my Accu-Chek mobile and the needle cartridge for that and atorvastatin every month, so out of interest what does that cost every month?
I was told again yesterday that some type 2's are using sensors and it is a postcode lottery.
I'm trying really hard to keep on the straight and narrow, I need help with it. I'm not as strong as you possibly are.
I think my health is worth it.
 
Dartmoor Diabetic said:
Working on being low carb is giving me more lows but not getting it quite right and admittedly not having the willpower quite right I'm getting highs.
I have insulin and the needles for it, cartridges for my Accu-Chek mobile and the needle cartridge for that and atorvastatin every month, so out of interest what does that cost every month?
I was told again yesterday that some type 2's are using sensors and it is a postcode lottery.
I'm trying really hard to keep on the straight and narrow, I need help with it. I'm not as strong as you possibly are.
I think my health is worth it.
Click to expand...
I think in most, if not all, places you would need to be on MDI (basal plus bolus insulins) so injecting for meals rather than just the basal as you currently do or a twice daily mixed insulin, to qualify.
 
silentsquirrel said:
I think in most, if not all, places you would need to be on MDI (basal plus bolus insulins) so injecting for meals rather than just the basal as you currently do or a twice daily mixed insulin, to qualify.
Click to expand...
I was talking about that with my nurse on Thursday. I have a liver issue (which will be another post) so I'm going back in two months to see what is going on and to discuss it further.
 
Hi. When you say a liver issue, it isn't related to your gall bladder is it? That might make you Type 3c rather than Type 2. In fact, since you seem to have been diagnosed in your 30s, did anyone ever consider you might be Type 1 rather than Type 2?
Could you tell us a bit about how your diagnosis came about and how quickly you went onto insulin after diagnosis? If you were Type 1 you would be eligible for a CGM. Your doses of Levemir don't suggest much insulin resistance which you might expect with Type 2, but perhaps your liver issue is a fatty liver which would suggest Type 2. If you are comfortable providing more information about your original diagnosis, it might give us a bit of insight. There are many of us here on the forum who were misdiagnosed as Type 2 initially, some for a lot longer than others.
 
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