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Do you use any apps?

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jd89

jd89

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi there! I've been diabetic (type 1) for 18 years and I still really struggle with calculating the correct insulin doses. I currently use the freestyle libre app to track my BG and doses. I tried mySugr but I didn't like it and don't want to pay for an app..... does anyone use any others or recommend any?

I also like carbs and cals but find that some of the foods I like aren't on there!
 
Hey, I've been a type 1 for the same amount of time!

Do you weigh all your food? I used to cook everything and "guesstimate" the carbs from what was on my plate (and struggled to get the right insulin doses through trial and error), but ever since I've been weighing all my food, I can calculate the correct insulin dose most of the time. It's a bit of an extra step to weigh all the carbsy ingredients before cooking, but after a while I've started to remember the nutritional information for a lot of foods by heart and I can do all the calculations in my head haha. I'm also better now at guessing when eating out at restaurants too.
 
ooh snap! yes I also guestimate and I know roughly how much to do for my favourite meals. But my ratios have changed and they're awkward numbers (1:8g) and when I have to add in a correction dose I usually get it wrong. My consultant suggested mySugr to help calculate but I'm not a fan!
I just find the calculations hard, especially if there are other factors (like exercise, illness, etc)
 
jd89 said:
ooh snap! yes I also guestimate and I know roughly how much to do for my favourite meals. But my ratios have changed and they're awkward numbers (1:8g) and when I have to add in a correction dose I usually get it wrong. My consultant suggested mySugr to help calculate but I'm not a fan!
I just find the calculations hard, especially if there are other factors (like exercise, illness, etc)
Click to expand...
There is a meter that works out the insulin dosage for you. Do a google search or hang on a bit longer as someone will know the name of it.
 
Accu Chek Aviva Expert - you can program in all your ratios, correction factors etc, it even allows you to have different ratios at different times of the day. Then each time you eat do your blood test with it, tell it you want to do a bolus and input your carb count for the meal. It will then work out your exact dose. It should even know e.g. if you had a snack 2 hours ago and might still have some active insulin floating around from then, and it will reduce the new bolus accordingly to allow for that.
 
jd89 said:
ooh snap! yes I also guestimate and I know roughly how much to do for my favourite meals. But my ratios have changed and they're awkward numbers (1:8g) and when I have to add in a correction dose I usually get it wrong. My consultant suggested mySugr to help calculate but I'm not a fan!
I just find the calculations hard, especially if there are other factors (like exercise, illness, etc)
Click to expand...
I too used the AccuChek Aviva Expert before going on to the pump. It did all my calculations for me and worked out exactly how much I needed based on my BG and carbs. Are you under the hospital team or with the Practice. If you ask for a referral they are likely to be more familiar with what is available. My Practice tried to change me to a more basic test kit (cheaper) but I explained that I needed a test kit with a Bolus calculator included and that was that. They left me with my same test strips.
 
Thanks @Sally71 @SB2015, Is that a pump? I've wanted a pump for years! I have so many problems with my background insulin, I've tried countless different ones but I still either wake up in the 20s or hypo all night. It's exhausting. I feel like the only solution is a pump that I can program to give me that extra boost after I go to sleep but my doctor (consultant at the hospital) wouldn't refer me for one, she says that I don't qualify. So at the moment I'm trying to find an online calculator or app that can help me
 
jd89 said:
Thanks @Sally71 @SB2015, Is that a pump? I've wanted a pump for years! I have so many problems with my background insulin, I've tried countless different ones but I still either wake up in the 20s or hypo all night. It's exhausting. I feel like the only solution is a pump that I can program to give me that extra boost after I go to sleep but my doctor (consultant at the hospital) wouldn't refer me for one, she says that I don't qualify. So at the moment I'm trying to find an online calculator or app that can help me
Click to expand...
Why don't you qualify for a pump according to your consultant?
 
jd89 said:
Thanks @Sally71 @SB2015, Is that a pump? I've wanted a pump for years! I have so many problems with my background insulin, I've tried countless different ones but I still either wake up in the 20s or hypo all night. It's exhausting. I feel like the only solution is a pump that I can program to give me that extra boost after I go to sleep but my doctor (consultant at the hospital) wouldn't refer me for one, she says that I don't qualify. So at the moment I'm trying to find an online calculator or app that can help me
Click to expand...
No the Aviva Expert is just a test kit. There are lots of others that have a bolus calculator.
There is a similar one that works with my current pump so the transition from injections to pump was made easier.
 
@Pumper_Sue she says that there isn't a lot of funding for pumps where I am and that my control isn't bad enough. My control isn't great, but I think she was implying that it has to be really really bad for me to be considered. I am thinking of asking my GP to refer me to a new consultant so that I can get a second opinion and see if they will refer me. But at the same time I don't know if that's not 'the done thing', if you know what I mean? Also, because of Covid, I don't know if I will be able to change any time soon. I know that they all have so much to do that is more important at the moment
 
The libre handset will calculate insulin doses like an Insulinx if you use the unlock code (easy to find online) and have blood strips for it.

The Expert is being phased out unfortunately - Roche acquired mySugr instead
 
jd89 said:
I've wanted a pump for years! I have so many problems with my background insulin, I've tried countless different ones but I still either wake up in the 20s or hypo all night.
Click to expand...

Fear of hypoglycaemia - which persists unpredictably despite education and modern insulins, and which is affecting quality of life is one of the criteria to access pump therapy (pumps have good evidence for reduction of hypos)

You might find this page helpful, which outlines the NICE TA151 criteria and NHS pump funding


(INPUT has now merged with JDRF)
 
jd89 said:
@Pumper_Sue she says that there isn't a lot of funding for pumps where I am and that my control isn't bad enough. My control isn't great, but I think she was implying that it has to be really really bad for me to be considered. I am thinking of asking my GP to refer me to a new consultant so that I can get a second opinion and see if they will refer me. But at the same time I don't know if that's not 'the done thing', if you know what I mean? Also, because of Covid, I don't know if I will be able to change any time soon. I know that they all have so much to do that is more important at the moment
Click to expand...
Your consultant is talking through her article.
You are entitled to pump so do not take no for an answer.
Ask for a referral elsewhere, help yourself though by keeping detailed records of what is happening what you are doing to alleviate the problem (highs/lows) correction factor, carb ratios etc. As you need a pump funding has to be made available.
Start the ball rolling. The best thing to do is a basal test which can be found on the pump forum and if you can not get steady blood sugars then point out that the basal insulin's on the market do not fit your basal pattern 🙂

No does not exist when you want/need a pump. It wont happen overnight but do not give up. It's your life not theirs.
 
@everydayupsanddowns The thing is, my consultant knows all of this but she won't refer me. I even printed out 3 months of graphs with my BGs on which showed I had 93 hypos during those 90 days. I've given up on the idea of a pump now because I don't think I'll get to have one, I'm just trying to find other ways to manage it (or other tools to help me).
I think that maybe I think my BG control is worse than it is, I tend to worry about things a lot!
Thank you for your suggestion of the libre handset though, I will definitely look in to that!
 
Pumper_Sue said:
Your consultant is talking through her article.
You are entitled to pump so do not take no for an answer.
Ask for a referral elsewhere, help yourself though by keeping detailed records of what is happening what you are doing to alleviate the problem (highs/lows) correction factor, carb ratios etc. As you need a pump funding has to be made available.
Start the ball rolling. The best thing to do is a basal test which can be found on the pump forum and if you can not get steady blood sugars then point out that the basal insulin's on the market do not fit your basal pattern 🙂

No does not exist when you want/need a pump. It wont happen overnight but do not give up. It's your life not theirs.
Click to expand...

so do you think I should do what I was going to do (ask for a new consultant)? But you don't have to answer that!
Is the basal test where you only do your background insulin and eat no carbs for 3 days? I have already tried that a few times (once with a cgsm, but that was when I was living in Scotland and with a different consultant) I ended up having to do corrections. I put my levemir up by 1 unit and I had really bad hypos. I'm really sensitive to that 1 unit!
maybe there is another background insulin that is somewhere in between levemir and degledec?
 
As @Pumper_Sue says - you could always move clinics (to a more pump-friendly centre). JDRF/INPUT have done a lot of work historically to help people jump through these hoops.

But yes... absolutely, in the meantime you should try to work around your challenges with the tech and apps you have available.

I use mySugr (sorry!), Dexcom, Dexcom Clarity, LibreLink and Diasend/Glooko. Plus occasionally Excel.
 
jd89 said:
Is the basal test where you only do your background insulin and eat no carbs for 3 days?
Click to expand...

I am not sure that would give you reliable results - the liver might go into starvation mode.

Better to just skip one meal a day and spread the checks over several days until you’ve covered the whole 24 hours?

Like this (instructions start half way down the page):
www.diabetes-support.org.uk

Basal Testing in Diabetes - Diabetes Support

Managing diabetes effectively requires constant monitoring and adjustments to ensure blood sugar levels remain stable. One key aspect of this management process is basal testing, which focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of basal insulin in the body. In this blog article, we’ll explore the...
www.diabetes-support.org.uk www.diabetes-support.org.uk
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
As @Pumper_Sue says - you could always move clinics (to a more pump-friendly centre). JDRF/INPUT have done a lot of work historically to help people jump through these hoops.

But yes... absolutely, in the meantime you should try to work around your challenges with the tech and apps you have available.

I use mySugr (sorry!), Dexcom, Dexcom Clarity, LibreLink and Diasend/Glooko. Plus occasionally Excel.
Click to expand...

How do you change clinic? I thought that you can only attend the one in your county?
Do you pay for mySugr or is there a free version? I stopped using it because (amongst other things) my free trial was over! I'm willing to give it a second chance though. What do you like about it?
 
They may have changed it now, but there used to be a free version (which was plenty for the basic logging) and a subscription for the full version.

I have been using it for years, and at that stage you could upgrade to ’Pro‘ for a one-off fee, which I did.

Before that you could earn pro points by meeting challenges which was another way of getting pro for free if you were using it regularly as I was.

You'd have to see what was available now, but I am pretty sure some forum member use the simpler free version?
 
also thank you for the link! This looks very familiar, I think I did this on the DAFNE course
 
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