Hi

[Leadinglights]

You have probably read people mentioning the 2 hour point after eating but they are usually people who are Type 2 who are managing their condition with oral meds and or diet not those who are taking insulin be they Type 1 or Type 2 or 3c.
Don't be misled by that.

 

[Inka]

Do you normally get to optimal range immediately after 2 hours after food ? I noticed my son's taking a longer time. Is it ok ?

Ignore the two hours. Type 1s should be back in range by the next meal. More than that, as your son is so recently diagnosed his range will be higher than along-established Type 1’s. This is partly for safety (to avoid hypos) and also because it’s less stressful for the body (particularly the eyes) to have the blood sugar brought down gradually.

 

[rebrascora]

@Mom of Type 1

Can you confirm that you now have a means of checking your son's levels as a back up to the Libre? I believe initially you didn't have a BG meter and means to do finger prick tests to double check Libre when you need to. I was thinking about this after I posted about my old Libre 1 reader acting as a "back up" back up system. So I have a BG meter to do finger pricks and in fact I have several of those, I have my old Libre reader, I have my new Libre 2 reader and I have my phone app.
I can't remember you saying that you had acquired a BG meter and test strips since you mentioned you didn't have one and even if you do have one, you should also have a spare or "back up" in case one breaks or gets damaged etc. You really can't be too careful because you will invariably find you need a back up at the least convenient time, so it is really important to cover the risk of these situations in advance of them happening.
I imagine it may be easy for your son to misplace his meter when he goes to college, especially if he is room sharing. College is often a more chaotic lifestyle and easier to misplace things, so having a spare may be more important then.

 

[Mom of Type 1]

@Mom of Type 1

Can you confirm that you now have a means of checking your son's levels as a back up to the Libre? I believe initially you didn't have a BG meter and means to do finger prick tests to double check Libre when you need to. I was thinking about this after I posted about my old Libre 1 reader acting as a "back up" back up system. So I have a BG meter to do finger pricks and in fact I have several of those, I have my old Libre reader, I have my new Libre 2 reader and I have my phone app.
I can't remember you saying that you had acquired a BG meter and test strips since you mentioned you didn't have one and even if you do have one, you should also have a spare or "back up" in case one breaks or gets damaged etc. You really can't be too careful because you will invariably find you need a back up at the least convenient time, so it is really important to cover the risk of these situations in advance of them happening.
I imagine it may be easy for your son to misplace his meter when he goes to college, especially if he is room sharing. College is often a more chaotic lifestyle and easier to misplace things, so having a spare may be more important then.

Yes, am planning to but not yet. Will try to get one next week before he goes off to college.

 

[SimonP]

That is actually rather useful to know, because if my original Libre Reader will still work (even without alarms), it means that I have a back up, back up, if you know what I mean, especially as the Libre 2 readers seem to be difficult to acquire these days. Obviously I can't check that it works until I get to that scenario without risking losing a new sensor by starting it with the old reader, but if I am ever in a jam where my Libre 2 reader died or got damaged, and I couldn't get a replacement, it would be worth a shot with the old one which still charges up OK.

It does work, I only upgraded to the newer scanner towards the middle of last year because they sent me one for free and told me that they no longer supported the old one. I only use the scanner to start the sensors and to provide debugging info when I need to return one, otherwise I use Juggluco + XDrip+ for day to day.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, am planning to but not yet. Will try to get one next week before he goes off to college.

Blooming heck! Sorry, no offence intended, just shocked!
So you still don't have even one BG meter and test strips?

I guess we are so used to the NHS providing such things, it is pretty shocking to us that you wouldn't be provided with such an essential bit of kit straight away before you left the hospital and that if it was an oversight on the hospital's part, a quick phone call would rectify it more or less immediately, but I guess private health insurance, if that is what you have, doesn't work the same or you have to save up the funds to buy it privately.

To me, finger prick test kit and test strips are probably more essential than Libre. What would you do if the Libre sensor came off (as often happens) or he lost his reader or it fell down the toilet or something? You have to be able to test and have back up options.

 

[SimonP]

The libres do also have an occasional propensity to go completely haywire and read much lower than actual BG. I do a calibration test at least once a day. They are much better than they were, but still fail, which would mean running much higher than expected for potentially a 2 week period.

 

[Mom of Type 1]

Blooming heck! Sorry, no offence intended, just shocked!
So you still don't have even one BG meter and test strips?

I guess we are so used to the NHS providing such things, it is pretty shocking to us that you wouldn't be provided with such an essential bit of kit straight away before you left the hospital and that if it was an oversight on the hospital's part, a quick phone call would rectify it more or less immediately, but I guess private health insurance, if that is what you have, doesn't work the same or you have to save up the funds to buy it privately.

To me, finger prick test kit and test strips are probably more essential than Libre. What would you do if the Libre sensor came off (as often happens) or he lost his reader or it fell down the toilet or something? You have to be able to test and have back up options.

In our country, we do not get these for free. We had to buy and save enough money to support all these...the CGM is not cheap here and had to be changed every 2 weeks...test kit, insulin, etc....thats an added cost...

 

[Mom of Type 1]

My kid is planning to go picnic at a beach the week after next. My anxiety and panic came back...he seems to be ok. I hope one day, these feelings will reduce or go away...how long do you take to get used to the routines ? Any tips ?

 

[Lucyr]

My kid is planning to go picnic at a beach the week after next. My anxiety and panic came back...he seems to be ok. I hope one day, these feelings will reduce or go away...how long do you take to get used to the routines ? Any tips ?

I know you call him your kid but you mentioned above he’s aged 18+ so he’s an adult and you need to let him manage his diabetes himself whilst doing whatever he wants to do. There’s nothing different about eating a picnic at the beach to eating at a restaurant or a meal at home. It’s the same procedures.

 

[Mom of Type 1]

I know you call him your kid but you mentioned above he’s aged 18+ so he’s an adult and you need to let him manage his diabetes himself whilst doing whatever he wants to do. There’s nothing different about eating a picnic at the beach to eating at a restaurant or a meal at home. It’s the same procedures.

True True..he is an adult..will always be my baby. And yes, am letting him go for picnic...will let him manage his diabetes but will be watching from afar...haha....

 

[Inka]

You could remind him to take hypo treatments and top-up carby snacks @Mom of Type 1 He might be more active at the beach and if he’s with friends the schedule might vary and he might walk more than he planned or stay longer than he planned. He should also tell his friends about the Type 1 too. Partly that will explain to them why he’s doing things but also they can watch out for any strange behaviour that might be due to a hypo.

 

[Mom of Type 1]

You could remind him to take hypo treatments and top-up carby snacks @Mom of Type 1 He might be more active at the beach and if he’s with friends the schedule might vary and he might walk more than he planned or stay longer than he planned. He should also tell his friends about the Type 1 too. Partly that will explain to them why he’s doing things but also they can watch out for any strange behaviour that might be due to a hypo.

Got it ! Thanks a lot.

 

[SB2015]

Good to hear that he is off doing normal stuff.

Having hypo treatment is the absolute essential everywhere. Even with our sensors they can come unexpectedly, but with the alarms they can be treated quickly. It is also important that if he has one he STOPS and treats it. It so tempting to just keep going.

Do his friends that he is going with know about his T1? I find friends are very patient when I say I need to stop, and are quite happy to sit with me. Nothing needed from them apart from that.

We developed an acronym for checks on what we had to take with us all the time.
Spectacles, handbag, insulin, test kit, emergency.
At the time it summed up Diabetes, and now it has stuck.
Perhaps he might develop his own

 

[Mom of Type 1]

Good to hear that he is off doing normal stuff.

Having hypo treatment is the absolute essential everywhere. Even with our sensors they can come unexpectedly, but with the alarms they can be treated quickly. It is also important that if he has one he STOPS and treats it. It so tempting to just keep going.

Do his friends that he is going with know about his T1? I find friends are very patient when I say I need to stop, and are quite happy to sit with me. Nothing needed from them apart from that.

We developed an acronym for checks on what we had to take with us all the time.
Spectacles, handbag, insulin, test kit, emergency.
At the time it summed up Diabetes, and now it has stuck.
Perhaps he might develop his own

Yes, good idea. A checklist that always stick to his mind wherever he goes. We established 5 things...Pen, needle, alcohol swap, Libre reader + snacks

 

[Mom of Type 1]

Sometimes, I see that his sugar level has reached optimal value before dinner. Lets say at around 4pm, it reached 6.4. Dinner around 7pm. Between 4pm to 7pm, I see the level went slightly up but he did not eat anything at all. Is this normal ?

 

[rebrascora]

BG levels go up and down throughout the day and night in response to lots of different factors.... there are 42 known factors, so slight rises and falls are absolutely normal, even when you haven't eaten anything but if you see a regular trend of his levels rising every or most afternoons by more than a couple of mmols, then it may be that his basal insulin isn't holding him steady and the dose may need some slight adjustment, depending upon which basal insulin he uses, but I really would not worry about it rising a few mmols this so early on in his diagnosis. It takes time for the body to get used to these new regimes and adjusting things too soon can cause instability.

 

[Mom of Type 1]

I read somewhere that if BG went up, the ketones will go up. How do you measure ketones ?

 

[rebrascora]

If BG levels go up to mid teens and persistently remain there as oppose to just a meal spike, then it is a good idea to have a means of testing for ketones and the cheapest option is a tub of Ketostix which you dip in your urine. Here in the UK they are about £5 for a pot of 50 but I am not sure how that translates to Malaysian currency.

I have been thinking quite a lot about your situation and I do wonder if your son might be better off with a BG meter and test strips rather than continuing with Libre. The test strips should work out cheaper if you get a basic BG meter that doesn't have expensive test strips. A BG meter is more reliable than Libre and is what we all revert back to if there is a problem with Libre or we feel that the Libre is not reflecting our true BG levels. ie It says we are hypo when we don't feel hypo or it shows our levels much higher than they actually are..... or it falls off or gets knocked off which can so easily happen.
If I had the choice of only one or the other, much as I absolutely love Libre and it makes my life a lot easier, the BG meter is more reliable and therefore with my sensible head on, it should be what I would choose to keep myself safe.

I would be interested to hear what others here think if they were in this situation?? I am just very uncomfortable about your son not having a BG meter and the financial drain to your family of having to try to fund both that and Libre plus his insulin and ketone strips etc must be very significant. I worry that we were keen for your son to get Libre without realising that you might be in this situation where it was one or the other and the thought of your son potentially being left even just overnight or over a weekend without any means of testing if his Libre failed, is really concerning me.

 

[Inka]

I agree @rebrascora Although I do think a Libre might be useful early on to help get basal right, particularly overnight. But if you can only get the Libre without the alarms, then you might find it cheaper and easier for your son to use a meter and fingerprick @Mom of Type 1 It depends how compliant your son is with testing.