Have you been on a diabetes education course?

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Diabetes UK

Diabetes UK

Know Diabetes. Fight Diabetes
Staff member
Can you share one thing you learned on a diabetes education course with us?

We're putting together a free collection of Top Tips from people who have diabetes and have been on a diabetes education course, sharing what they learned or found useful.

Visit our website to share your tip: https://campaigns.diabetes.org.uk/page/9044/data/1

We'll put these in to a free resource to encourage more people to come along to diabetes education courses. We want more people to know how life changing a diabetes education course can be.

Your tip can be anything, from medical information the course coordinator gave you to tips on socialising with diabetes that you picked up from others on the course.

We'll let you know if your tip is included in the final resource, and of course send you a copy 🙂
 
I haven't been on one as apparently my area don't do them, so my only tip would be for them to be available everywhere!
The only info I got re carb counting was the hospital diabetes nurse reading, word for word, a leaflet about it and then giving me said leaflet. I took a morning off work for that total and utter waste of time. 😡 I've learnt about carb counting, ratios etc from this forum.
 
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I have done a very basic carb counting course but didn't feel it was very beneficial - I got sent home early because I already knew everything. I've been on a waiting list to do the DAFNE course for 3 years now, which the DSN tells me I must do before I can be considered for a pump. So my tip would be if there is an area with such a backlog of demand then to offer more courses!!
 
One thing I learnt about was insulin stacking. When my sugars go above a certain number (for me it is 12) I become insulin resistant. I used to panic that my sugars weren't coming down and give myself more insulin, which of course would then eventually cause a hypo.

I've learnt to give the insulin time to work.
 
I went on my local equivalent of the DAFNE about 6 weeks after DX and it helped me immensely, especially being able to match insulin to carbs.
 
Went to an Xpert course but the lecturer didn't turn up, and the room they put us all in was far too small, we were sardines. She telephoned some weeks later to apologise and ask us to go back but we decided against it. We'd lost faith.
 
Went to xpert but over 8 years ago now so whatever I did learn I've forgot
 
I did a course about five years ago.

At the time of the course i was "stepping up" my exercise routine, starting to introduce running as well as power walking. After a 30 minute run (with a few sprints) my sugars would go up to around 14 having started at around 7/8. (Power walking had the opposite effect if anything) It was suggested that 5/10 mins into the run I had a fruit pastille (before liver "woke up") and bingo this sorted out the problem.

Finally and possibly most importantly, I learnt not to be too hard on myself. I realised few people with diabetes achieve perfection. 🙂

Apologies, I couldn't decide which one to pick.
 
I've never been offered a DAFNE course at a time I could manage eg I couldn't commit to a 5 day week several months ahead, when session paid and not wanting to risk losing paid work, when turning work down makes getting future work less likely.
However, I paid for myself to go on Animas Sports weekend at Loughborough Uni a few years ago, which was useful, but expensive, due to conference style accommodation and lack of cheaper option eg camping. I'm considering Leeds Beckett Uni sports weekend in Sept 2017.
 
My first course I was offered is March 2018 and I was diagnosed December 2015 so a bit of a wait!
I just read @Amberzak speaking about stacking, first I have heard about that.
 
Diabetes education course is life 🙂 Mum was shown carb values when I was first diagnosed in 1965 and the info was slowly fed into my brain over the years so as a child I understood what I could have and how much I could have.
The internet is a wonderful source of info esp sites like this as it's real people living with the condition everyday and not some stuffed oracle of a consultant who even though he knows or thinks he knows his subject, doesn't actually live with the condition which are two different things.
 
I did DAFNE about 9 years ago. At the time the main thing I took away was to be more systematic about changes, doing one thing at a time (e.g. Timing of doses, ratios, exercise etc) and repeating the tests twice to make sure it was a pattern before changing things.
 
As a type 2 I got three sessions at a local library which were absolutely useless - my top tip is don't take any notice of the 'education' given.
I've put that on the website - and left contact details - I wonder what will be made of that or if, like my doctors, they will just ignore me.
I was diagnosed 8 months ago and the only follow up from a doctor has been to try to persuade me to go back on statins. My coping with diabetes was not even mentioned.
 
Everything i've learned has been on the tinterweb or more importantly, the brilliant people on this forum who are actually living it and offering their valuable advice rather than a 'party line' sort of advice
 
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