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Steevo said:
Sheila, yes there are, possibly Insulin Pumps but there are more qualified people on here to help you than me and your local diabetic clinic should be advising you as well.
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Thanks Steevo. I will check out insulin pumps and also see if I can find a local diabetic clinic. I don’t live near my father, but spoke to my stepmother last night and she needs support as his Carer. Both of us can see this will become a serious issue but so far no one has given her any useful advice
 
Sheila Ashley said:
Thanks Steevo. I will check out insulin pumps and also see if I can find a local diabetic clinic. I don’t live near my father, but spoke to my stepmother last night and she needs support as his Carer. Both of us can see this will become a serious issue but so far no one has given her any useful advice
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Just a note of caution, there hasn't been invented yet a pump that will do it all for you, in terms of reading blood glucose and delivering insulin automatically. There still has to be human input to deliver mealtime doses of insulin, (although the machine will help you with the maths when you calculate the dose.)
 
Cityblow22 said:
Hi Everyone (1st post for me)

A bit of history....

I've been a diabetic for 10 years now type two. Was originally just on metformin 1g then 2g then after 7 years or so added sitagliptin 100mg. my HB1c started at 6 in old money and steadily went up until last year it was 65 in new money. I was a regular weekend drinker since my teens but stopped drinking completely 25/12/2016. I am now 44. 2016 not long after I gave up alcohol my HB1c went to 6.3 in old money but my recent test (before Christmas 2017 and April 2017) showed it had gone up to 65 in new money. My weight is 120kg I'm 5'9" and have been this weight for at least 15 years. I'm not a big sweet eater I just tend to eat a large main course but that's it. I don't snack at all between meal times.
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@Cityblow22 Welcome to the forum. I think it would be helpful for you to start your own thread to introduce yourself, so that your post is more noticeable and you can get better responses.
Just go to 'Newbies say hello...' here - https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/newbies-say-hello-here.12/
Then select 'Post New Thread'. There are lots of well-informed folk on here who may be able to offer a bit of guidance. 🙂
 
Robin said:
Just a note of caution, there hasn't been invented yet a pump that will do it all for you, in terms of reading blood glucose and delivering insulin automatically. There still has to be human input to deliver mealtime doses of insulin, (although the machine will help you with the maths when you calculate the dose.)
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Ah - that’s good to know. Thanks Robin.
 
Sheila Ashley said:
Dear Hannah
my father has had type 1 diabetes for over 50 years. He is currently 79 and was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I'm concerned that he will soon lose the ability to monitor his blood sugar levels and administer his insulin. Is there any technology available that can measure blood sugar levels and administer appropriate levels of insulin automatically?
Many thanks
Sheila
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Hi Shelia, pumps and cgm meters are possibilities but as @Robin mentioned, pumps are not automatic and still requires management of some kind.
It may be that your father would need a care plan in place later down the line if he reaches a stage where he is unable to manage his diabetes by himself, something that you would need to discuss with adult social services in your area. You might want to start your own thread in 'Newbies say hello..' as it may get more reponses from anyone who may have had a similar experience?

The Diabetes UK advocacy team may also be able to advise on accessing care and finding the right support for your father so may be worth getting in touch? https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/helpline/your-rights

Also, it could be helpful to contact Altzeimers Society to see what information they have? They also have a really supportive online forum 🙂 - so there may be individuals who has also supported someone with managing diabetes or other health conditions alongside Altzeimers?
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20007/types_of_dementia/2/alzheimers_disease
 
Hannah DUK said:
Hi Shelia, pumps and cgm meters are possibilities but as @Robin mentioned, pumps are not automatic and still requires management of some kind.
It may be that your father would need a care plan in place later down the line if he reaches a stage where he is unable to manage his diabetes by himself, something that you would need to discuss with adult social services in your area. You might want to start your own thread in 'Newbies say hello..' as it may get more reponses from anyone who may have had a similar experience?

The Diabetes UK advocacy team may also be able to advise on accessing care and finding the right support for your father so may be worth getting in touch? https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/helpline/your-rights

Also, it could be helpful to contact Altzeimers Society to see what information they have? They also have a really supportive online forum 🙂 - so there may be individuals who has also supported someone with managing diabetes or other health conditions alongside Altzeimers?
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20007/types_of_dementia/2/alzheimers_disease
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Thank you Hannah. I've posted in Newbies and will now contact the two orgs you mention.
 
Steevo said:
Hi Hannah

could we have a topic(s) so people can state whether they are getting the Freestyle Libre free on the NHS particulary so people can state the name of the their local NHS trust.
So far our doctor nor our diabetes contact are bothering to get back to us, any emails sent to the local trust just do not get a reply nobody seems bothered or wish to pursue, there is an article in todays sunday daily mail stating how the NHS are sitting on this with a photo of the prime minster who uses one but no doubt she can afford them easy.
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The flash monitoring advocacy packs and guides are now up on the webpage in PDF format 🙂:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/campaigning/flash-glucose-monitoring
 
Hi! I'm newly registered to talk on the forum even though I have had diabetes for nearly 24 years! (Should have signed up sooner!) I was wondering, how do I start a forum topic of my own (if I can) because I want to know what other Type 1's have experienced in terms of discrimination within the work place. I began work as soon as I finished my A levels over 10 years ago and this was within the healthcare sector, and the amount of negativity I've encountered from actual doctors/nurses/dentists is CRAZY.

So I really wanted to start a discussion because I wanted to find out if others have experienced the same, and in what setting/area to hopefully start a movement to challenge the inequality we potentially face for a condition we did not choose to have. #Timesup shouldn't just be for sexual harassment... it should be for everything
 
missemma3 said:
I was wondering, how do I start a forum topic of my own (if I can) because I want to know what other Type 1's have experienced in terms of discrimination within the work place. I began work as soon as I finished my A levels over 10 years ago and this was within the healthcare sector, and the amount of negativity I've encountered from actual doctors/nurses/dentists is CRAZY.

So I really wanted to start a discussion because I wanted to find out if others have experienced the same, and in what setting/area to hopefully start a movement to challenge the inequality we potentially face for a condition we did not choose to have. #Timesup shouldn't just be for sexual harassment... it should be for everything
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Firstly, welcome to the forum! 🙂 As you probably already know, this is a great place to be.

Re. your specific query, for the "where" part the General Messageboard is probably the most appropriate. As for "how", every forum here has a large cyan button at top right saying "Post New Thread", and you just click that and it should be simple.
 
robert@fm said:
Firstly, welcome to the forum! 🙂 As you probably already know, this is a great place to be.

Re. your specific query, for the "where" part the General Messageboard is probably the most appropriate. As for "how", every forum here has a large cyan button at top right saying "Post New Thread", and you just click that and it should be simple.
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I'm so confused about that last part with all the crossed out parts! But if I've made lots of spelling and grammatical errors I really do apologise, I've become horribly reliant on my phone for sorting it for me (guilty pleasure), but thankyou for replying and I found the button I needed to start a thread
 
missemma3 said:
I'm so confused about that last part with all the crossed out parts!
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That's just my forum signature, in which I parody the all-too-common "I never make mistakes" attitude. 😉 No need to worry, it wasn't part of my reply as such. 🙂
 
Ahhh I'm with you! I just worried I'd made a tonne of mistakes! Thankyou for replying to me though. So what brought you to these parts of the web? Are you/family member a diabetic? If so how long and what's your story? I've had this condition for 24 years and I've never properly reached out before untill now
 
Seriously - has not even ONE question been asked of DUK for 12 months?

Well I have one now anyway.

How often are we (diabetics) allowed to have free NHS eyesight checks when we don't seem to have any new anything happening?
 
I can answer that one - my optician will see me for free once a year indefinitely but if I want to have eyesight checks any more frequently than once a year I have to pay (I once tried to get an appointment a month early for some reason and they wouldn't do it, unless I paid).
 
Bronco Billy said:
@trophywench, hopefully, this link answers your question.

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-qu...nts/how-often-can-i-have-a-free-nhs-eye-test/
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That NHS advice page was last reviewed in 2016. I was told by my local optician (Specsavers) a couple of years ago, that they were now restricted to every two years. They said there had been discussions as to whether people with diabetes should be offered retinal screening less often, or sight checks less often, and it had been decided that retinal screening was more important to keep annually. I was reassured that if I thought my sight had changed, I could have a test at any time, and if there had been a change, there would be no charge.
 
Sneaky wotsits - dunno how this escaped me, except by 2016 I was well into cataract country so I expect my optician decided being as I was diabetic, to still see me every 12 months so I was unaware that if I didn't have em I'd be just the same as anyone else without D.

However - I definitely would prefer to keep my retinopathy screening every 12 months - knowing that if I happen to have an eyesight prob - my optician will see me between times anyway NP.

Will be interesting to see if I get a 'reminder' for an eye test from the optician this summer, since I last had them tested last summer once the eye clinic had signed me off following my second cataract removal ! Won't be holding my breath LOL
 
Interesting, it looks as though different opticians are interpreting the rules differently. It's every 2 years for people without diabetes (or other relevant conditions) but whether diabetics are seen every 2 years or less frequently seems to be down to the individual optician. Jenny, I think you will be OK because of the cataracts (and if you're not you could change optician!) - because I've only just had my free eye test, almost exactly a year after I last had one, so I'm definitely still getting a free test every year. But my Mum has glaucoma so they are taking that into account as well as my diabetes.
 
My opticians started doing me every year, because I got onto them about it. Then after a couple of years they went to every two years, without telling me. When I went in, I was told that it was because they thought I was in a good position. I could still have a check after a year if I was concerned. I can still have one yearly if I want. I'd have to ask for it.
Robin said:
I was reassured that if I thought my sight had changed, I could have a test at any time, and if there had been a change, there would be no charge.
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I was told that a Long time ago (before I was diabetic). An important point is that if there was no change, then I would have been charged. That was as a non diabetic.
 
Mum's 85 in March so now Specsavers see her once a year, but I'm still every two years as far as I know. I must check that out come to think of it...

I don't have any questions. I know it all. 😉
 
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