HbA1c Control

[KateL00]

Hi,
I know there might already be a forum like this but i am unable to find it.
I have really struggled with my diabetes.
I really find it difficult and my HbA1c isn't too good either it is 87. So i would like to know if there is anything that has helped you to get control of your bloods? And get your HbA1c down?
Thank you,
Kate

 

[Radders]

Hi,
I know there might already be a forum like this but i am unable to find it.
I have really struggled with my diabetes.
I really find it difficult and my HbA1c isn't too good either it is 87. So i would like to know if there is anything that has helped you to get control of your bloods? And get your HbA1c down?
Thank you,
Kate

Hi Kate, you’ve come to the right place! Have a read of many of the posts on this forum and I’m sure you’ll get some good ideas.
How long have you been diagnosed, and what insulin are you on? Personally I have found that increasing exercise and reducing carbs has enabled me to reduce my insulin requirements and my HbA1c but finding the right insulin and then getting the pump certainly helped make that more manageable.
Do you have certain times of day when your levels are high?

 

[khskel]

For me it was keeping a food diary in conjunction with my pre and post meal BG readings. The occasional freestyle libre sensor has helped as well. A not inconsiderable investment but we'll worth while for me.

If you are able to keep to the nice guidelines of 4-7 mmol before meals and no higher than 9 after about 1.5 to 2 hours after eating your HBa1C should come down.

 

[KateL00]

Hi Kate, you’ve come to the right place! Have a read of many of the posts on this forum and I’m sure you’ll get some good ideas.
How long have you been diagnosed, and what insulin are you on? Personally I have found that increasing exercise and reducing carbs has enabled me to reduce my insulin requirements and my HbA1c but finding the right insulin and then getting the pump certainly helped make that more manageable.
Do you have certain times of day when your levels are high?

Thank you for replying i was diagnosed in September 2012, and I'm currently on humulin m3. I am generally really healthy i eat well and exercise a few times a week, i also go walking with my dog everyday, but i just am terrible at checking my bloods and insulin. I'm 17 right now and sometimes my legs get really sore which i know is because of my diabetes and not caring for them and i really want to but I'm just finding it hard.

 

[Kaylz]

Thank you for replying i was diagnosed in September 2012, and I'm currently on humulin m3. I am generally really healthy i eat well and exercise a few times a week, i also go walking with my dog everyday, but i just am terrible at checking my bloods and insulin. I'm 17 right now and sometimes my legs get really sore which i know is because of my diabetes and not caring for them and i really want to but I'm just finding it hard.

Am I right in thinking that this is a mixed insulin? Most of us find that it is much easier to control our blood sugar if on a basal/bolus regime, have you considered this? xx

 

[KateL00]

Am I right in thinking that this is a mixed insulin? Most of us find that it is much easier to control our blood sugar if on a basal/bolus regime, have you considered this? xx

Yeah its a mixed insulin, i was put on because it is easier and less times you have to inject everyday.

 

[Kaylz]

Yeah its a mixed insulin, i was put on because it is easier and less times you have to inject everyday.

Yes that is true but then its more difficult to control things as I believe you have to eat certain amount of carbs in line with what you are taking? with basal bolus its much easier to get the control you need to get the Hba1c down, well that's my opinion, and I have seen from many that were on mixed insulin that switching to basal/bolus in their words was the best thing they had done, would you not consider doing that switch? then you can eat when and what you want and adjust for it? xx

 

[KateL00]

Yes that is true but then its more difficult to control things as I believe you have to eat certain amount of carbs in line with what you are taking? with basal bolus its much easier to get the control you need to get the Hba1c down, well that's my opinion, and I have seen from many that were on mixed insulin that switching to basal/bolus in their words was the best thing they had done, would you not consider doing that switch? then you can eat when and what you want and adjust for it? xx

I was on nova rapid originally but it was to difficult with school everyday so it was easier to go onto m3 because it was either that or i wasn't really having any but I'm going to speak to my nurse about maybe going back on it to see if it will help xx

 

[Amberzak]

Yes. Now you’re not at school I would highly recommend going on a basal/bolus mix.

I have found an app I love where I log my readings. It encourages me to test by giving me goals to test a certain number of times a day. It’s called my sugr

Also ask if they have a carb counting course. It’s called DAFNE in some areas.

I also struggle to control my sugars. I find stress really affects me. One thing that helped massively is getting on to the insulin pump. So that’s also an option for you. But I was on multiple daily injections from the moment of diagnosis and it might be a massive jump up from mixed to the pump.

The other thing I found was that my background insulin wasn’t right. So I would start to go high as the day went on. So I strongly believe that the mixed insulin may be having a huge part to play in your control.

Are you fine with the injections themselves? On multiple daily injections you can have as many as 5-6 injections a day (for many it’s less but that’s as many as I did).

If you’re struggling to remember to test your sugars, try and focus on doing the morning one every morning as soon as you wake up. You can of course (and should) test more. Especially if you’re not feeling right. But overwhelming yourself or beating yourself up for not testing regularly will do nothing to help. So just focus on getting into a routine of that morning test.

When that’s part of your routine, you can look at other key times to test. But I usually find the morning one helps me get an idea of where I’m at.

And just another point. Try not to compare yourself to other diabetics. I know I have this problem. I look at type ones in forums and Facebook or friends and they always seem to have perfect control. Usually they don’t have perfect control. The targets are exactly that, targets.

I had a lot of counselling about this from a counsellor who happened to be a type one herself. And my nurse has helped too. They all say that it’s okay to be out of range, as long as you do something about it when you are out of range. (Being on multiple injections will help with this as you’ll be able to do corrections and such).

There are a lot of things that can help. And you’ve come to the right place. This is the only forum I’ve felt I can be honest about my struggles with diabetes and not be judged. 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Mmmmm - don't think you are eligible for DAFNE and the like until you have transferred over to the adult diabetes services, which doesn't fully happen until you are 19. In any event, it's useless if you are on mixed insulin so you'd need to get off that first before they'd probably even put your name down.

 

[KateL00]

Mmmmm - don't think you are eligible for DAFNE and the like until you have transferred over to the adult diabetes services, which doesn't fully happen until you are 19. In any event, it's useless if you are on mixed insulin so you'd need to get off that first before they'd probably even put your name down.

Yes. Now you’re not at school I would highly recommend going on a basal/bolus mix.

I have found an app I love where I log my readings. It encourages me to test by giving me goals to test a certain number of times a day. It’s called my sugr

Also ask if they have a carb counting course. It’s called DAFNE in some areas.

I also struggle to control my sugars. I find stress really affects me. One thing that helped massively is getting on to the insulin pump. So that’s also an option for you. But I was on multiple daily injections from the moment of diagnosis and it might be a massive jump up from mixed to the pump.

The other thing I found was that my background insulin wasn’t right. So I would start to go high as the day went on. So I strongly believe that the mixed insulin may be having a huge part to play in your control.

Are you fine with the injections themselves? On multiple daily injections you can have as many as 5-6 injections a day (for many it’s less but that’s as many as I did).

If you’re struggling to remember to test your sugars, try and focus on doing the morning one every morning as soon as you wake up. You can of course (and should) test more. Especially if you’re not feeling right. But overwhelming yourself or beating yourself up for not testing regularly will do nothing to help. So just focus on getting into a routine of that morning test.

When that’s part of your routine, you can look at other key times to test. But I usually find the morning one helps me get an idea of where I’m at.

And just another point. Try not to compare yourself to other diabetics. I know I have this problem. I look at type ones in forums and Facebook or friends and they always seem to have perfect control. Usually they don’t have perfect control. The targets are exactly that, targets.

I had a lot of counselling about this from a counsellor who happened to be a type one herself. And my nurse has helped too. They all say that it’s okay to be out of range, as long as you do something about it when you are out of range. (Being on multiple injections will help with this as you’ll be able to do corrections and such).

There are a lot of things that can help. And you’ve come to the right place. This is the only forum I’ve felt I can be honest about my struggles with diabetes and not be judged. 🙂

I do already know how to carb count and for things i don't i have an app on my phone but I learnt how to carb count when i was first diagnosed, and I'm pretty good at maths so that really helps.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

Hi and welcome 🙂
If you can carb count I would echo what others have said, a basal/bolus insulin regime would be much better to suit your needs.

 

[weecee]

For me I would say testing, testing, testing. Especially when introducing a new food or after something I am not sure about. The is interesting to see how the body reacts to different foods and gives good feedback for meal planning