Hello there. Hba1c help

[JonHutch75]

I am having difficult controlling my diabetes, it just feels so overwhelming. My Hba1c has been above 8 for a decade of my 19 years as a type 1 diabetic. I am 48 years old and have recently got a patch reader for my arm. My estimated h hba1c is at 8.3% and I’m getting scared as I don’t want complications but am having trouble controlling it. Any advice?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I am having difficult controlling my diabetes, it just feels so overwhelming. My Hba1c has been above 8 for a decade of my 19 years as a type 1 diabetic. I am 48 years old and have recently got a patch reader for my arm. My estimated h hba1c is at 8.3% and I’m getting scared as I don’t want complications but am having trouble controlling it. Any advice?

Have you taken (or even been offered) a structured education (DAFNE or similar) course? If not, hassle your hospital team to get on one. There are also links https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/board...for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/#post-938456 specifically the BERTIE online course and the NHS web site https://mytype1diabetes.nhs.uk/

It's also possible that your diabetes is tricky to control with injections (and the Libre should help show whether that's the case) in which case you might need a pump instead. (Or perhaps just a review of the insulins you're currently using.)

 

[JonHutch75]

I shall look into this, thank you.

 

[rebrascora]

Which insulins do you use?
Can you post a photo of a typical day's Libre graph so that we can see what is happening and perhaps make some suggestions.
Do you ever do a basal test where you skip a meal each day in rotation to see if your basal insulin is holding you steady in the absence of food and bolus insulin? If your basal insulin dose isn't right or the profile or activity of the basal insulin you use doesn't suit your body (sounds complicated but it isn't once you understand how the different basal insulin's work), then that will make your diabetes really difficult and frustrating to manage, so getting that basal right and learning when it needs adjusting, is key to good diabetes management. I was initially led to believe that once my basal dose was set, that was it, more or less for life, when in reality it needs tweaking quite regularly, for change in seasons, increased or decreased activity, ambient temperature, illness, stress, alcohol. I know it need adjusting when my diabetes becomes frustrating and I end up repeatedly firefighting high BG levels with corrections.
The DAFNE course was instrumental in giving me the confidence to adjust my basal insulin doses to match what my body needs, so I would encourage you to ask about doing such a course. It is also really beneficial to spend a week with other Type 1 diabetics as you learn so much from each other.

 

[Inka]

I am having difficult controlling my diabetes, it just feels so overwhelming. My Hba1c has been above 8 for a decade of my 19 years as a type 1 diabetic. I am 48 years old and have recently got a patch reader for my arm. My estimated h hba1c is at 8.3% and I’m getting scared as I don’t want complications but am having trouble controlling it. Any advice?

Welcome @JonHutch75 Have you identified anything specifically that’s pushing your HbA1C up? Eg are you going high after meals? Are you too high throughout the night? Etc etc

A basal test is a good place to start as that’s the foundation for good control. You can then move on to your mealtime boluses. I’m assuming you carb count?

 

[SB2015]

Hi Jon and welcome to the forum. I am sorry that you are finding your management a problem but very pleased that you have found the forum.

Having the sensor will give you a clearer picture of what is happening throughout the day, and give you a chance to make some changes. It will help us to know which insulins you are using so that we can give appropriate advice.

As others have said the DAFNE course is excellent. This was a chance to understand how to make adjustments to my insulin doses to match what I choose to eat, and also how to manage exercise and illness.

Can you identify any particular times of the day that are an issue?
If you are on Basal/Bolus regime have you done a fasting test to check that your basal insulin is correct?
Are there strategies that you have used already?

There is a wealth of experience to tap into on here. I learnt most of the practical strategies I use from others on here who are living with this day by day.

Any questions that arise - Just ask. Nothing is considered silly on here.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @JonHutch75

Just to offer some encouragement, when I first started frequenting forums over a decade ago, it felt like suddenly having access to a whole ’hive mind’ of diabetes knowledge and strategies that I could try. Not everything worked for me (or just didn’t appeal to me) but over a year or two of experimentation and trial-and-error all sorts of ‘diabetes randomness’ started making sense, and became more predictable and workable.

Basal checks were one of those ideas.

So ask away, and feel free to try all sorts of options to see how they sit with your diabetes and/or fit into your life.

Perfection isn’t possible with diabetes, but I’ve come a long way and learned such a lot thanks to forums like this one.