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Hi! New to forum

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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Kerry Williams

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Type 1 for 27 years. Roche Insight pump 8 years. Very insulin sensitive. Mean total daily dose 20 units. Hoping to meet other insulin sensitive people on the forum.
 
Welcome to the forum @Kerry Williams . Glad that you have joined us.

I have been on a pump for over eight years, but have so far stuck with my Combo. However I am switching to the new Insight at the end of this year. So I shall be interested to hear of your experiences with these, although I know that the new ones will be linked to a phone which should address some of the issues that people have raised about the early Insight pumps.

One factor that enabled me to get the pump was that I was so insulin sensitive so it was very difficult to make adjustments on MDI even with a half unit pen. It certainly makes life a lot easier wth such fine adjustments possible to basal insulin and also to Bolus doses.
 
Nearer 25 all in all I reckon, but the past 10 days same as you 20.

I've never thought I was weird in terms of how much insulin I need, personally. For what reason do you think you might be?
 
I won't want another Insight if it's linked to a phone - it's the ruddy handset/meter that's too flippin slow, not the pump and if you wish to use a bolus calculator as I do please, that means you still have to carry the handset/meter and your mob phone, which latter I don't - I do not live my life by phone thanks.
 
trophywench said:
I won't want another Insight if it's linked to a phone - it's the ruddy handset/meter that's too flippin slow, not the pump and if you wish to use a bolus calculator as I do please, that means you still have to carry the handset/meter and your mob phone, which latter I don't - I do not live my life by phone thanks.
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My understanding is that the Bolus calculator will be on the phone. I will also be able to use my readings from the Libre (with a fudge using the info from the arrow) instead of having to finger prick. I switched to using my phone for my Libre instead of the sniper to see how I would manage. I still revert to my reader for sport but it is okay. I shall let you know.
 
My clinic say mine's due December, it's due to run out 0n 10th August according to the pump timer on the pump itself, they don't die anyway but in any case, Roche have extended everyone's due to run out 'soonish' by 6 months, so presumably they'll now say Feb next year.
 
SB2015 said:
Welcome to the forum @Kerry Williams . Glad that you have joined us.

I have been on a pump for over eight years, but have so far stuck with my Combo. However I am switching to the new Insight at the end of this year. So I shall be interested to hear of your experiences with these, although I know that the new ones will be linked to a phone which should address some of the issues that people have raised about the early Insight pumps.

One factor that enabled me to get the pump was that I was so insulin sensitive so it was very difficult to make adjustments on MDI even with a half unit pen. It certainly makes life a lot easier wth such fine adjustments possible to basal insulin and also to Bolus doses.
Click to expand...
I had the same problem with MDI, but also with the Levemir dose. On the pump I need 0.3 units/hour through the night but only 0.02/hour through the afternoon. No wonder I was having trouble!
 
Welcome to the forum @Kerry Williams

I think generally the estimates I have seen for starting TDDs at conferences have been based around units/Kg - with heavier and taller people seeming to need more.

But the forum saying is certainly ‘you need what you need’ and I am sure there are a wide range of sensitivities among T1s here.

In fact i think I will start a thread so see what sort of responses we get - just out of interest
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Welcome to the forum @Kerry Williams

I think generally the estimates I have seen for starting TDDs at conferences have been based around units/Kg - with heavier and taller people seeming to need more.

But the forum saying is certainly ‘you need what you need’ and I am sure there are a wide range of sensitivities among T1s here.

In fact i think I will start a thread so see what sort of responses we get - just out of interest
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, that might be interesting. I have a friend the same height and build as me who needs twice as much insulin. I have not yet met a doctor who could find an explanation for my low dosages.
 
Well the other thing that's been interesting to me recently - I already knew that a lot of T1s even as old as you and I - still produce some insulin themselves just not enough to do anything much useful by the looks of it - is that folk diagnosed when older than c.13 ish (which fits me diagnosed aged 22) are much more likely to still produce insulin than one diagnosed in childhood.

No idea if that fits you or not - but the question remains in my head - does this explain 'better' how I've generally stayed so otherwise healthy all my life so far, with the only 'diabetic' side effect as far as I'm currently aware being background retinopathy which I've had for well over 20 years?
 
Kerry Williams said:
Type 1 for 27 years. Roche Insight pump 8 years. Very insulin sensitive. Mean total daily dose 20 units. Hoping to meet other insulin sensitive people on the forum.
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trophywench said:
Well the other thing that's been interesting to me recently - I already knew that a lot of T1s even as old as you and I - still produce some insulin themselves just not enough to do anything much useful by the looks of it - is that folk diagnosed when older than c.13 ish (which fits me diagnosed aged 22) are much more likely to still produce insulin than one diagnosed in childhood.

No idea if that fits you or not - but the question remains in my head - does this explain 'better' how I've generally stayed so otherwise healthy all my life so far, with the only 'diabetic' side effect as far as I'm currently aware being background retinopathy which I've had for well over 20 years?
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I was diagnosed at age 40. I've often wondered if I'm still producing tiny amounts of insulin but had a negative c peptide test about a year ago. I'm still not convinced though, as it would explain a lot. Perhaps it's sporadic, or the test isn't sensitive enough?
 
There was a lady on my DAFNE course who only needed 3 units of Lantus and generally only 2 or 3 units of NR as she only ate once a day in the evening. She was about my age and had been diagnosed when a toddler, so she had 50 years of diabetes under her belt. She hypoed nearly every night despite her tiny insulin doses but then went high during the day, which was why she was on the DAFNE course.... I believe she has subsequently been offered a pump. She was small but not overly petite, just a medium, slim build.
It is really interesting how much insulin needs ,so I look forward to reading the entries on your new thread, Mike, if you get around to it.
 
No idea about the test, not knowingly had one. (always think I have no idea whatever what else if anything they tested in hospital when I was first diagnosed)
 
rebrascora said:
It is really interesting how much insulin needs ,so I look forward to reading the entries on your new thread, Mike, if you get around to it.
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For anyone that hasn't found it already - here it is 🙂

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Total daily doses for T1s LADAs and 3cs?

We have a well known saying on the forum that ‘you need what you need’ when it comes to insulin doses, but a question from a new member made me begin to wonder what different levels of insulin doses we had among members of the forum with T1, LADA and Type 3c. (as T2s are more likely to be...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk

And its just as mixed a bag of TDDs as i had expected!
 
@Kerry Williams - you know how you mentioned on the 'TDD' thread Mike posted how you still go hypo every afternoon? Well early on in my pumping journey, Pumper_Sue offered me some really good advice which is that if you discern a need to have a different BG at X o'clock, it is essential to make the change to your hourly rate a full 2 hours before X. Hence as you say a rate of Nil all afternoon doesn't help (and I'm taking that statement literally for the purpose of replying) - instead of commencing the Nil rate from 12 noon, what happens if you start Nil at 11am instead? (or indeed 10am)

Or just reduce the last hour/2hours in a morning (or even most of the waking hours of the morning) by a percentage - I usually do no more than 5% at a time with such small hourly rates - and even changing the last digit - ie one hundredth of a unit at a time - by a smidge or two - can be successful.

Alternatively how about reducing your Insulin to Carb ratio for lunch?
 
trophywench said:
@Kerry Williams - you know how you mentioned on the 'TDD' thread Mike posted how you still go hypo every afternoon? Well early on in my pumping journey, Pumper_Sue offered me some really good advice which is that if you discern a need to have a different BG at X o'clock, it is essential to make the change to your hourly rate a full 2 hours before X. Hence as you say a rate of Nil all afternoon doesn't help (and I'm taking that statement literally for the purpose of replying) - instead of commencing the Nil rate from 12 noon, what happens if you start Nil at 11am instead? (or indeed 10am)

Or just reduce the last hour/2hours in a morning (or even most of the waking hours of the morning) by a percentage - I usually do no more than 5% at a time with such small hourly rates - and even changing the last digit - ie one hundredth of a unit at a time - by a smidge or two - can be successful.

Alternatively how about reducing your Insulin to Carb ratio for lunch?
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Believe me I have tried all the various combinations. Both my Consultant and SDN have been trying to work this out for a number of years. Sometimes I find something that works for a week or two, then it all changes. My physiology seems very reactive to various things which then affect my insulin sensitivity. Changes in the weather, stress levels, very slight variations in physical activity and goodness knows what else all have an effect. I'm classed as a borderline brittle diabetic. I need a closed loop system but the Libre has helped a lot.
 
Kerry Williams said:
Changes in the weather, stress levels, very slight variations in physical activity and goodness knows what else all have an effect.
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That sounds like my experience too, and most T1s I‘ve ever met. It’s a right ole runaround this diabetes lark. :D

I tweak my basal profile 2-3 times a month guided by sensors and which regular, consistent meals are suddenly no longer ‘behaving’ 🙄🙂
 
Hi @Kerry Williams

As others have said, things need tweaking regularly, and sometimes it is very difficult to work out whether it is the hourly basal rate, the sensitivity ratio or the carb ratio, the weather, slight change in acitivity level, ...... I have found that the changes needed seem to be required more often at present or it is just that I have more of a focus on it. As @everydayupsanddowns says it is just T1 giving us the run around.

Like you I find it is great to be on here and know that others have similar experience.
 
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