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CT scan ?

The reason I asked is that mixed insulins are usually injected twice a day, before breakfast and then before evening meal.

Is toothpaste supposed to prevent bleeding/bruising? I have never heard of that! Do you use it before or after injecting?
 
@jtg1964 , I'm also on clopidegrol after a TIA 12 months ago. I bruise from anything I come closer than a metre to!! Not just needles. My longer term concern is that I might progressively lose usable injection sites, with my 4 or 5 times daily injections. Each bruise seems to need a month + to recover, some take longer.

When I first started injecting insulin I was, not surprisingly, ultra cautious. More recently I'd become pretty relaxed and content to inject quickly, but those rapidly taken doses certainly cause bruising - from a rushed job/jab. I have no magic solution to prevent bruising. Nowadays I try to be very steady while injecting and certainly avoid getting jostled in any way.
 
Hope the CT scan goes well @jtg1964

Glad to hear you are putting weight on. Fingers crossed for your results.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
@jtg1964 , I'm also on clopidegrol after a TIA 12 months ago. I bruise from anything I come closer than a metre to!! Not just needles. My longer term concern is that I might progressively lose usable injection sites, with my 4 or 5 times daily injections. Each bruise seems to need a month + to recover, some take longer.

When I first started injecting insulin I was, not surprisingly, ultra cautious. More recently I'd become pretty relaxed and content to inject quickly, but those rapidly taken doses certainly cause bruising - from a rushed job/jab. I have no magic solution to prevent bruising. Nowadays I try to be very steady while injecting and certainly avoid getting jostled in any way.
Click to expand...
I agree im cautious injecting though thumb pricks are worse lol. I only injections my legs . My doctor said injections then press on the sight for 2 mins after and you shouldn't bruise. It is working so far.
 
rebrascora said:
The reason I asked is that mixed insulins are usually injected twice a day, before breakfast and then before evening meal.

Is toothpaste supposed to prevent bleeding/bruising? I have never heard of that! Do you use it before or after injecting?
Click to expand...
I don't know about mixed insulins.I think they have just started me on it. Today my blood glucose has been 5 all day with 10 units after breakfast. They were in the 20 plus 4 x a day...waking/ lunch/ teatime and bedtime. So its clearly working.
Apparently you put it on after.
 
jtg1964 said:
Yes just before breakfast. On 10 units. Yes I pinch my skin. Doc said press on it for 2 mins afterwards so I've tried that this morning. I did read toothpaste is good lol. Not tried that yet. x
Click to expand...
toothpaste thats a new one to me
 
rebrascora said:
The reason I asked is that mixed insulins are usually injected twice a day, before breakfast and then before evening meal.

Is toothpaste supposed to prevent bleeding/bruising? I have never heard of that! Do you use it before or after injecting?
Click to expand...
Had my CT scan this morning...get results Friday when I see the Consultant on Friday morning 9am xxx
 
Fingers crossed it shows nothing amiss and it has just been a "covering all bases" thorough approach. How are you managing with the insulin?
 
rebrascora said:
Fingers crossed it shows nothing amiss and it has just been a "covering all bases" thorough approach. How are you managing with the insulin?
Click to expand...
It's going ok. I started on 6 now up to 10. Just every morning. It all may change after Friday. Seeing the head diabetic consultant at the hospital. Can't say I like injecting myself.Sometimes I feel over whelmed but it is what it is. Are you on insulin? How often do you take it? x
 
Yes, I am on what we call a basal/bolus insulin regime. My basal insulin is injected twice a day, morning and evening and this covers the glucose that my liver trickles out day and night. Then I take the bolus insulin before meals/snacks to deal with the glucose released from my food/drink. The bolus insulin is also used to do what we call a correction where, if my levels go high and don't come down for whatever reason, I can inject a bit of extra bolus insulin to bring them down. Because I follow a low carb way of eating, I have to do corrections after most meals because in the absence of enough carbs in a meal, the body also breaks down protein and fat to release glucose but this process takes longer and typically starts 2 hours after the meal, so I have to inject up front for whatever small amount of carbs are in the meal and then correct afterwards for the protein release which is much slower and more gentle but can still gradually take you up into double figures if you don't deal with it. So typically I inject basal twice a day and bolus maybe 5 or 6 times a day sometimes more sometimes less, so probably about 7-8 injections a day. To be honest the injections are the easiest part of it, it is the calculating carbs and factoring in exercise/activity you did over the past 2 days and illness and ambient temperature and when you are next going to be physically active and hormones and what colour socks you are wearing etc etc which can be more taxing. Gradually it just becomes a bit of a dark art where experience plays a part and educated guessing and a good bit of luck to get it somewhere near right. They reckon we make in excess of 100 decisions a day about our insulin needs and diabetes every day, but the amazing thing is that a bit like learning to drive a car, your brain takes over quite a lot of those decisions/actions on autopilot once you get into a routine with it. You develop strategies to tackle specific foods which are tricky or the effects of different exercise or alcohol. It's like a complicated game of chess where your opponent doesn't always play by the rules and you have to adapt to deal with that. I used to take it really seriously but now I see it much more as a game and when I am doing well I try to get a new personal best result on Libre and when I am not doing so well I ease off a bit and just coast along or sometimes it feels like fighting until things suddenly settle down and I am back up to winning the game and trying for a new personal best. Finding a mental approach that works for you as an individual is really key to good management.
 
rebrascora said:
Yes, I am on what we call a basal/bolus insulin regime. My basal insulin is injected twice a day, morning and evening and this covers the glucose that my liver trickles out day and night. Then I take the bolus insulin before meals/snacks to deal with the glucose released from my food/drink. The bolus insulin is also used to do what we call a correction where, if my levels go high and don't come down for whatever reason, I can inject a bit of extra bolus insulin to bring them down. Because I follow a low carb way of eating, I have to do corrections after most meals because in the absence of enough carbs in a meal, the body also breaks down protein and fat to release glucose but this process takes longer and typically starts 2 hours after the meal, so I have to inject up front for whatever small amount of carbs are in the meal and then correct afterwards for the protein release which is much slower and more gentle but can still gradually take you up into double figures if you don't deal with it. So typically I inject basal twice a day and bolus maybe 5 or 6 times a day sometimes more sometimes less, so probably about 7-8 injections a day. To be honest the injections are the easiest part of it, it is the calculating carbs and factoring in exercise/activity you did over the past 2 days and illness and ambient temperature and when you are next going to be physically active and hormones and what colour socks you are wearing etc etc which can be more taxing. Gradually it just becomes a bit of a dark art where experience plays a part and educated guessing and a good bit of luck to get it somewhere near right. They reckon we make in excess of 100 decisions a day about our insulin needs and diabetes every day, but the amazing thing is that a bit like learning to drive a car, your brain takes over quite a lot of those decisions/actions on autopilot once you get into a routine with it. You develop strategies to tackle specific foods which are tricky or the effects of different exercise or alcohol. It's like a complicated game of chess where your opponent doesn't always play by the rules and you have to adapt to deal with that. I used to take it really seriously but now I see it much more as a game and when I am doing well I try to get a new personal best result on Libre and when I am not doing so well I ease off a bit and just coast along or sometimes it feels like fighting until things suddenly settle down and I am back up to winning the game and trying for a new personal best. Finding a mental approach that works for you as an individual is really key to good management.
Click to expand...
Wow...I love your strategy! Do you mind me asking what age you were diagnosed. I've just turned 60 so I was 59 x
 
I was 55 at diagnosis. Initially assumed Type 2 but didn't respond to max dose Metformin and Gliclazide and within a few weeks I was on insulin despite going very low carb and a few months later my test results for Type 1 came back positive. I am 6 years down the line with it now and it is just part of life. Libre was a big game changer as regards treating it like a game, rather than a medical condition and that takes a lot of pressure off me and enables me to manage it really well, although of course I get it wrong from time to time as everyone does and I've had a scary moment here and there but life is like that and you "live and learn" as they say and try not to make the same silly mistake twice. The way I see it I now have a much better diet because I am very conscious of everything I eat and how I "spend" my insulin. I exercise more because it means I need less insulin, and I get regular health checks. I would not have gone low carb if I hadn't got diabetes and going low carb has dramatically improved several other health issues, so there are positives there too, so I actually see my diabetes as having made me more healthy rather than less healthy and since I manage it well, I hope to increase my lifespan and quality of life because of the changes I have made, rather than decrease it. I will be having words with the powers that be if that doesn't prove to be the case! 😉
 
You have inspired me there! I had a heart attack at 42 and felt relieved I was fit to got through it with a stent and only a few pills .Having diabetes was another knock...but whilst I ate a healthy diet and im very active I have improved my diet and like you I've got this far I certainly want longer as im in a happy place in my life. I do believe positively plays a big part!
I will join your game if that's OK with you ❤️
 
rebrascora said:
I was 55 at diagnosis. Initially assumed Type 2 but didn't respond to max dose Metformin and Gliclazide and within a few weeks I was on insulin despite going very low carb and a few months later my test results for Type 1 came back positive. I am 6 years down the line with it now and it is just part of life. Libre was a big game changer as regards treating it like a game, rather than a medical condition and that takes a lot of pressure off me and enables me to manage it really well, although of course I get it wrong from time to time as everyone does and I've had a scary moment here and there but life is like that and you "live and learn" as they say and try not to make the same silly mistake twice. The way I see it I now have a much better diet because I am very conscious of everything I eat and how I "spend" my insulin. I exercise more because it means I need less insulin, and I get regular health checks. I would not have gone low carb if I hadn't got diabetes and going low carb has dramatically improved several other health issues, so there are positives there too, so I actually see my diabetes as having made me more healthy rather than less healthy and since I manage it well, I hope to increase my lifespan and quality of life because of the changes I have made, rather than decrease it. I will be having words with the powers that be if that doesn't prove to be the case! 😉
Click to expand...
Had my results...CLEAR. Hes doing blood tests to confirm type 1 diabetes. MRI scan as a nodule on my liver...not concerned but said to have one to rule out. Suggested I increase insulin to the evening as it's my only double figure reading.
Libre 2 isn't available in my area. Got a 2 week free one I'm using.
Are they any good...not sure on accuracy?
All good...thank you and thank you all for your support ❤️
 
Great to hear your pancreas scan was all clear and good that they are investigating a slight abnormality in your liver.

Just to be clear, are you now injecting your insulin twice a day, morning and evening?

Libre should be available in every part of the UK to Type 1 diabetics who would like it. It may be because you are currently on a mixed insulin and not diagnosed Type 1 that you don't qualify for it yet. Hopefully that will change if/when you are confirmed Type 1.
Libre is a wonderful bit of kit BUT it has it's limitations. Many of us apply it a day before we activate it to allow the tissue that the filament is injected into to react to a foreign body in it's midst and then settle down as some of us found the first day or so of reading were often less reliable. Giving it a day after application to settle gave better results from the off once it was activated.
I will post a link to a thread about the limitations which is worth reading, particularly about "compression lows" which are false low readings during the night if you lie on the sensor arm. You should check any low or high reading that it gives with a finger prick reading if the way you feel doesn't correspond to the reading and you should always assess recovery from a hypo with a finger prick 15 mins after treatment and ignore Libre, because Libre will almost always show your levels continuing to drop for a further 30+ mins whereas a finger prick reading after 15 mins will usually show you are recovering. If you rely on the Libre at this time, it will almost certainly panic you and cause you to over treat hypos and end up too high which of course then needs insulin to bring you down again and that can set you on a roller coaster, whereas a finger prick will usually reassure you that your initial hypo treatment is working. Those are the main times when Libre is unreliable and needs to be double checked.

H

Thread 'CGM limitations and precautions'

Moderator Note: This helpful reply was copied from another thread as it details some of the commonly experienced limitations of continuous glucose sensors.

MarinaDE said:
My blood sugar has been in perfect range for days now, but although I haven't changed anything, I'm starting to get very short periods of hypos while I sleep and this morning I had a hypo alarm.
Click to expand...
If these are very short periods of lows and occur overnight, they are more likely to be compression lows - when pressure is applied to a sensor, it will report a false low. The reason I say this is more likely to happen at...
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It takes time and trial and error to find the best placement to reduce compression lows and where you won't catch it on door frames or bra straps etc, but Abbott are pretty good about replacing ones that come unstuck or are unreliable. Usually if it is consistently within 2mmols of your finger prick readings when levels are reasonably stable then it is useable. More that 2mmols out on 3 occasions and Abbott will usually replace.

I find for my body, Libre usually consistently reads lower than my finger prick by about a half to one mmol when levels are stable, which is perfectly acceptable and I am very happy to base all my insulin doses on the readings it gives me. Generally I will do a couple of finger prick checks in the first couple of days of a new sensor when levels have been stable for about half an hour to make sure it isn't way out and after that I am happy.
 
rebrascora said:
Great to hear your pancreas scan was all clear and good that they are investigating a slight abnormality in your liver.

Just to be clear, are you now injecting your insulin twice a day, morning and evening?

Libre should be available in every part of the UK to Type 1 diabetics who would like it. It may be because you are currently on a mixed insulin and not diagnosed Type 1 that you don't qualify for it yet. Hopefully that will change if/when you are confirmed Type 1.
Libre is a wonderful bit of kit BUT it has it's limitations. Many of us apply it a day before we activate it to allow the tissue that the filament is injected into to react to a foreign body in it's midst and then settle down as some of us found the first day or so of reading were often less reliable. Giving it a day after application to settle gave better results from the off once it was activated.
I will post a link to a thread about the limitations which is worth reading, particularly about "compression lows" which are false low readings during the night if you lie on the sensor arm. You should check any low or high reading that it gives with a finger prick reading if the way you feel doesn't correspond to the reading and you should always assess recovery from a hypo with a finger prick 15 mins after treatment and ignore Libre, because Libre will almost always show your levels continuing to drop for a further 30+ mins whereas a finger prick reading after 15 mins will usually show you are recovering. If you rely on the Libre at this time, it will almost certainly panic you and cause you to over treat hypos and end up too high which of course then needs insulin to bring you down again and that can set you on a roller coaster, whereas a finger prick will usually reassure you that your initial hypo treatment is working. Those are the main times when Libre is unreliable and needs to be double checked.

H

Thread 'CGM limitations and precautions'

Moderator Note: This helpful reply was copied from another thread as it details some of the commonly experienced limitations of continuous glucose sensors.

MarinaDE said:
My blood sugar has been in perfect range for days now, but although I haven't changed anything, I'm starting to get very short periods of hypos while I sleep and this morning I had a hypo alarm.
Click to expand...
If these are very short periods of lows and occur overnight, they are more likely to be compression lows - when pressure is applied to a sensor, it will report a false low. The reason I say this is more likely to happen at...
  • Like
  • Star
  • Love

It takes time and trial and error to find the best placement to reduce compression lows and where you won't catch it on door frames or bra straps etc, but Abbott are pretty good about replacing ones that come unstuck or are unreliable. Usually if it is consistently within 2mmols of your finger prick readings when levels are reasonably stable then it is useable. More that 2mmols out on 3 occasions and Abbott will usually replace.

I find for my body, Libre usually consistently reads lower than my finger prick by about a half to one mmol when levels are stable, which is perfectly acceptable and I am very happy to base all my insulin doses on the readings it gives me. Generally I will do a couple of finger prick checks in the first couple of days of a new sensor when levels have been stable for about half an hour to make sure it isn't way out and after that I am happy.
Click to expand...
Thank you Barbara that is really helpful. I got a 3.5 reading and checked with my finger prick and I was 5.5. I felt fine but as you say check it. My Libre seems to be 2 lower. As I said its a free trial.
Interesting though to see some spikes.
I've not started my evening injection yet . I am usually around 10 at night and I'm worried I will drop too low in the night. Going to speak to the nurse tomorrow. My evening meal is 7.30pm.
Hope alls good with you and thank you again for your support I truly appreciate it.❤️
 
Hi @jtg1964 hope you get on well with your Libra

hopefully you get the correct diagnosis as to your type and best treatment

may I but in on your thread, and say
please when you speak to your DSN tell them of your worries

it was the fact that I was dropping low myself (in the night that finally my DSN picked up that I would benefit from CGM) and was then successful in getting Libra prescribed
and on my repeat prescription
following my GP initially being un-successful in obtaining funding from the ICB
when I first spoke to my GP regarding this
 
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