Hello.

[AngelaC]

Hello. My Mum has been diabetic (type 1) since her early forties and now 30 years later still struggles with her levels (hypos in particular). Good to see this website and the email updates.
Thanks,
Angela

 

[SB2015]

Hi @AngelaC I am glad that you have found us.
There is plenty of experience on here that you can tap into.

Are you in touch with your Mum’s Diabetes team?
Is she managed by the specialist team of by her GP Practice.
If she is having regular hypos it would be worth getting in touch with her team.
Having said that if they are mild hypos which she manages herself, this is something that just goes with T1. Problems arise if she needs assistance with these or has lost her awareness of these.
It will help us to tailor our responses if we know a little more about your Mum’s insulin regime.

Do keep in touch and ask any specific questions that you have. Nothing is considered silly on here. Just ask.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Angela and welcome.

Sorry to hear that your Mum is struggling, particularly with hypos. Do you know which insulins she is using and is there a particularly pattern to her hypos or do they occur at random times of the day or night?
Has she spoken to her Diabetes team about the problems she is having? They are there to help and although they are stretched due to the pandemic, I believe they are giving priority to people struggling with repeated hypos and particularly more senior diabetics who may end up having falls as a result. There will be a helpline number for your local diabetes clinic, where it is usually an answering service but if you leave your name and telephone number and details of the problem, they should ring back within a day or two. It will be helpful to them if your Mum can keep a food diary with details of her readings (times and doses of insulin) so that they can figure out where the problem lies.

There is also new technology available now which can help to detect low glucose and sound an alarm. It is not cheap but some of this is available on the NHS if you fit the criteria. If you Mum is suffering from repeated hypos, she might qualify or it is possible to self fund as many of us did/do at least short term. The one most of us use is the Freestyle Libre which is made by Abbott. The new Libre 2 is just being introduced and it has alarms for high and low readings I believe. It is a sensor which is applied to your arm for 14 days and you scan it with a reader to get your levels instead of finger pricking, so you can scan 100 times a day if you wish although that would be very extreme. It gives you a much better idea of what is happening with your BG levels and helps to keep you safer.

Anyway, just some info which may help you to get help for your Mum, but do encourage her to join us as I am sure she would benefit from being part of our community herself.

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum. 🙂

 

[AngelaC]

Hi @AngelaC I am glad that you have found us.
There is plenty of experience on here that you can tap into.

Are you in touch with your Mum’s Diabetes team?
Is she managed by the specialist team of by her GP Practice.
If she is having regular hypos it would be worth getting in touch with her team.
Having said that if they are mild hypos which she manages herself, this is something that just goes with T1. Problems arise if she needs assistance with these or has lost her awareness of these.
It will help us to tailor our responses if we know a little more about your Mum’s insulin regime.

Do keep in touch and ask any specific questions that you have. Nothing is considered silly on here. Just ask.

I'm not, as she manages everything herself. I know that she has diabetes check-ups but not sure if it's through the GP or Diabetes team. Her situation is complicated by the fact that she is also Carer to my Dad who has Dementia. This comes with it's own stresses which obviously then affect her levels. I know she uses some form of pork derived insulin & injects herself once a day. She monitors her levels by pricking her finger many times a day. It would be great if she could qualify for the Libre monitoring system.

 

[stillgoing]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately the condition does not really become easier with time but experience does help. I have had the condition 57 years and still get hypos but nothing I can't deal with by myself. plenty of help and advice here if you want it or get your mum on and she can talk directly (if she feels able). Many seniors here🙂

Best wishes and ask away.

 

[AngelaC]

Hi Angela and welcome.

Sorry to hear that your Mum is struggling, particularly with hypos. Do you know which insulins she is using and is there a particularly pattern to her hypos or do they occur at random times of the day or night?
Has she spoken to her Diabetes team about the problems she is having? They are there to help and although they are stretched due to the pandemic, I believe they are giving priority to people struggling with repeated hypos and particularly more senior diabetics who may end up having falls as a result. There will be a helpline number for your local diabetes clinic, where it is usually an answering service but if you leave your name and telephone number and details of the problem, they should ring back within a day or two. It will be helpful to them if your Mum can keep a food diary with details of her readings (times and doses of insulin) so that they can figure out where the problem lies.

There is also new technology available now which can help to detect low glucose and sound an alarm. It is not cheap but some of this is available on the NHS if you fit the criteria. If you Mum is suffering from repeated hypos, she might qualify or it is possible to self fund as many of us did/do at least short term. The one most of us use is the Freestyle Libre which is made by Abbott. The new Libre 2 is just being introduced and it has alarms for high and low readings I believe. It is a sensor which is applied to your arm for 14 days and you scan it with a reader to get your levels instead of finger pricking, so you can scan 100 times a day if you wish although that would be very extreme. It gives you a much better idea of what is happening with your BG levels and helps to keep you safer.

Anyway, just some info which may help you to get help for your Mum, but do encourage her to join us as I am sure she would benefit from being part of our community herself.

Hello, thanks for your reply. The hypos are quite random. More often in the night, but occasionally in the day. She cares for my Dad who has advanced Dementia, so that does not help matters. The information you gave regarding the Libre monitoring system sounds very interesting. I will pass this on to her & see if she can look in to that. Out of interest, how much is the Libre 2?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Out of interest, how much is the Libre 2?

If you self-fund? £50 for each sensor (which last for 14 days), so £100 a month, roughly. The Reader (which is also a glucometer) costs about the same, though there's a bundle of a reader with 2 sensors for a bit less than £150. Some smartphones can be used instead of a reader.

It's currently prescribed to a little over 30% of people with Type 1, so it's worth her asking. (The process of migrating people on prescription from Libre to Libre 2 is ongoing, and apparently not all GPs can access Libre 2 for daft IT reasons.)

 

[stillgoing]

Just for interest. My BG meter died and have been issued with a libra reader today 🙂 (my existing reader is no longer made).

 

[Bruce Stephens]

My BG meter died and have been issued with a libra reader today

I think the test strips aren't the cheapest, though maybe that's changed and they're OK now. There are ketone strips for it, which is convenient, and it has a bolus calculator.

 

[rebrascora]

I know she uses some form of pork derived insulin & injects herself once a day. She monitors her levels by pricking her finger many times a day. It would be great if she could qualify for the Libre monitoring system.

It sounds like she is on a very old fashioned insulin regime. I can't imagine how she would manage her levels effectively by injecting just once a day and porcine insulin would only be used these days if you had an allergic reaction to the modern analogue versions or you were not being supported by a diabetic team I would have thought. It sounds like she needs to get a review of her diabetes through a specialist clinic and get an updated insulin regime. I think it is easy for people who have been diagnosed a good few years to be left to their own devices and continue to use outmoded regimes and equipment just because it is what they know and on repeat prescription and no one with any knowledge actually reviews it.... she may also be resistant to change which I can understand, but new insulins and technology are so much better for diabetics these days.
If she is also responsible for your Dad's welfare then it is even more imperative that she gets more support for her diabetes and you should stress to her that her own health needs to come first because without that, she can't look after your Dad. It might be helpful if you did a bit of research on her behalf and perhaps took a bit of strain off her shoulders and then you could talk stuff through with her.... but if you could encourage her to join this forum herself we would be very happy to advise and support her.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I think it is easy for people who have been diagnosed a good few years to be left to their own devices and continue to use outmoded regimes and equipment just because it is what they know and on repeat prescription and no one with any knowledge actually reviews it

It is indeed! I was on reasonably new insulins, but I hadn't done DAFNE (or equivalent) and was suffering hypos especially at night which I was failing to manage, and that eventually drove me to the local DSNs.

 

[grovesy]

I think the test strips aren't the cheapest, though maybe that's changed and they're OK now. There are ketone strips for it, which is convenient, and it has a bolus calculator.

They are in the mid price range I pay about 12.00 for 50.

 

[Annemarie]

@AngelaC hello, do get your Mum to join this group it’s really helpful particularly for those of us over 70!! Does your Mum use Dextrose ‘tablets’ I have them in the car, every handbag and my pockets. Also useful in a restaurant (remember when they were open?) if you take your insulin before finding out there’s a delay in serving your food

 

[trophywench]

I really do not know how well your average 70+ year old full time carer for her beloved with Alzheimer's Type 1 on one jab of porcine a day could reasonable be expected to cope with MDI, how flipping strong do some of you expect this lady to be, for heaven's sake?

Cos when life is that stressful, straws can weigh more than a ruddy great RSJ.

The suggestion of an Abbott Libre 'Flash' glucose monitor, though - yes, that could make life a bit easier.

Are you certain she's still on porcine and one jab a day?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @AngelaC

Sorry to hear about your Mum’s difficulties with hypos.

Do you know if she has ever been offered ‘structured education’ a detailed course on insulin therapy. One of the main ones DAFNE has excellent clinical evidence for reducing hypos.

There are online versions available if that is something you and she feel might help, and while Covid lockdowns are preventing face to face meetings.

DAFNE - now available in an online version
(dose adjustment for normal eating)
https://dafne.nhs.uk

BERTIE Online carb-counting course:
www.bertieonline.org.uk