Type 1 conundrum. ??????

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A couple of weeks ago, I was challenged to sprint up our drive, which is about 30 degrees uphill and about 100m long up to the road. I'd been for a good walk earlier but managed to do it in about 40 seconds, then again in less than 30, which amazed me. I'm not sure what I'd eaten or drunk but I'm not sure I could do it again. Ever.
Plus, it sent my BS up later.

We're using a free piece of software called Si Diary which, once we (well, girlfriend) fathomed out how it worked, it's giving us a good insight into how my control is. She has sweated blood inputting everything and it's paying dividends. We have a folder full of graphs and tables to show the nurse so there's no excuses now.

Rob
 
good luck robster with nursy ! and did you do the 2nd 100m in 30 secs cos it was down hill ??😉
 
>am64 ROFL. :D

No, it was uphill all the way. But I did feel slightly nauseous for the rest of the evening :(

I'll update later with a feast of enlightenment.

Rob
 
Been and come back.

We showed nursey all the pretty graphs and numbers and she decided we were being too obsessive about it and need to ease back on the testing and the exercise. So we both told her that it was necessary and we were going to keep on doing it.
She didn't really know much about the finer details such as how to stop the random highs and lows so she's referring me to the big hospital where they have a greater throughput of patients and more experience.
When we said I had a jelly baby whilst walking and an hour after my BS had risen by 6mmom/l she suggested the JB may have caused it. We both suggested that a JB alone would not cause such a rise.
She did mention a pump as a possible solution, so I'll be reading a few of the pumper threads to see some of the pros and cons in case I'm offered one.

But she did suspect the liver may be causing some of the highs, which is still on my list of suspects.

Rob
 
I don't accept this 'too obsessive' verdict. You are accounting for all your tests as well as using exercise to try and improve your levels. You are currently looking for patterns so you need to see the consequences of many different actions. Once you have learned what it is possible to learn, then you can reduce your testing because you will have greater understanding of how YOUR body works. This can't be learned any other way, and you've got this for life, so it really is hugely important in my opinion. I do wish they could understand all this - some people lacking in confidence would be made to feel very bad by being told such things!😡

I hope you get a better response and better guidance at the hospital Rob.
 
Thanks. We stood our ground well. As happens in GP surgeries, they have the cost at the back of their mind at all times.
As an aside, I found a carrier bag of old bits this morning containing some old pens and meters.
I have my 1st Novopen (the shiny st.steel one) with some Insulatard still in it. It may be slightly out of date by now. 06/2005 expiry.
My blue and burgundy humapen mk.1
A Onetouch Ultra
And a BM Glucotrend circa 1852 with coal-fired boiler. With some test strips.

If anyone's starting a museum, I'll gladly donate them.

Rob
 
:D Excellent poem. :D

It does feel a bit like that when you look back.

The smell of the insulatard is terrible too. All I can liken to is germolene but twice as strong. It's in a 3ml penfill so I must have had one way before in the 1.5ml size. Maybe I'm older than I thought 😱

Rob
 
Did the Glucotrend look like this? 😱

glucotrend.jpg


or even older?
 
correct me if im wrong but i thought T1 were always dealt with by the hospital ?
 
> Northerner. That's the fella. Comes in a nice green vinyl case. Mmmm. lovely. I think it took a couple of weeks to give a result and needed calibrating every couple of hours.

>am64. Depends which authority you're under. I've been with a couple of surgeries and several hospitals. I suppose the trusts like to devolve responsibility to local diabetic nurses if they can. If the hospital seem to be on the ball, I may request to go there instead. I think I had the choice when I moved here but decided that local was easier.

Rob
 
Hi Rob, sounds like you're doing the right thing, hope you reduce the extremes soon.

AM I'm not dealt with by the hospital, our local surgery is quite a diabetic care specialty I think one of the founders is/was heavily involved in a hospital & diabetic research/stuff in the eighties in London Town. I'm well chuffed!

Rob I do understand what Nursey says about obsessive, although it is entirely personnel, I guess she/he didn't have the answers and a lot of testing can depress you more and make you end up chasing your tail. I'm not saying I agree with her/him just I can see both sides.

Also well done on the walking/exercise, I rarely do much but knacker myself in the garden at the weekend, when I mostly eat biscuits and drink lucozade!

Cheers

Rossi 🙂
 
Hi Rossi

Tbh, we think we're being a bit obsessive too but for years, I've always wanted a real-time BG meter that shows the full response through 24 hours. Given the right feedback, I could get the insulin spot on.

What we're doing is about as close as I can get to that but we've been thinking that we'll concentrate on the couple of problem areas and ease off on the rest. I have found it interesting though to see where it goes up and down at times I would never have tested. If I showed the doctors the standard 4 a day, they'd be thrilled, but they wouldn't see the swings either side.

When I had the little bit of laser treatment it gave me a kick up the backside to take care of myself for once instead of guessing and hoping. Bit dramatic but it really is the first time in 30 odd years that I've bothered to get anything better than near enough.

Also found out that my last HbA1c was 7.8 which was down from the 8. something it was last year. I want to get sub-7 if I can. Then it's back on the cheesecakes and beer !! :D (I wish 🙄)

Rob
 
Rob, can't remember if it's been asked, but would it be possible for you to get a CGMS for a few days?
 
What's a CGMS ? :confused:
 
Robster65 said:
What's a CGMS ? :confused:
Click to expand...

It's a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System - measures your ups and downs every few seconds over a period of days. I think you then have to take them back to the hospital and they download the data and spot trends, although they may have some more modern ones like the Yanks have that show it real-time (Dexcom is popular in the US, it seems). I believe they use interstitial fluid rather than capillary blood, so not directly translatable to meters, but still shows the graph of your levels.

Ask at the hospital 🙂
 
Flippin Nora !!! 😱

It's my dream machine ! A long time ago (about 8 years) I tested an under-graduate at work and found him to be about 9 mmol/l. He went to doctors. He was type 1. Hoorah.
He had to do an engineering project for his final year and we came up with a continous BG monitor that used. You've guessed it. Interstitial fluid. It was hyperthetical because the technique was in its infancy at the time and didn't really work.

But I always thought that it was the one thing that would make control so easy. I would be surprised if there is one in North Wales anywhere. The local B&Qs don't have the same range as the more urban ones so I'm guessing the NHS (GIG Cymru) has a similar approach.

Thanks for the heads up. I shall investigate and mention it at the hospital. If they laugh, I'll know the answer.

Rob
 
I was just doing some googling about them and they really are advancing. I had no idea they were about and seem to have been for many years.

Just goes to show what you miss. I used to be a member of the BDA, diabetesUK as it is now where I used to keep abreast of new developments. I feel like I've been in a cave since the mid-90s 😱

Thank you all for your comments. I'm off to bed shortly to play BG roulette. latest test was 4.7 so I've had a tracker bar and may indulge in a hobnob yet.
Last night's gambit was 2 hobnobs which left me hypo at 2ish. I reckon we'll be fine tonight.

Hope we all have a good night's sleep. 🙂

Rob
 
We're using a free piece of software called Si Diary which, once we (well, girlfriend) fathomed out how it worked, it's giving us a good insight into how my control is. She has sweated blood inputting everything and it's paying dividends. We have a folder full of graphs and tables to show the nurse so there's no excuses now
Click to expand...
If you use the paid for version you can download your meter to sidiary. I've just checked the cost and its gone up a lot since I bought it (20€ for a 12 month licence subscription and 50€ outright. I find it invaluable.
They will also sell you a meter cable but I use a one touch and got mine free from lifescan.

Cgms are brilliant, I've just borrowed one for a couple of weeks. I suspected that I was having hypos at night but when I woke up and checked my levels were always fine (I admit to being far more scared of high glucose levels than low)The CGMS showed that I was going hypo over night but very briefly, my body self corrected it . (I assume my liver kicked in)

As the CMS tests the interstitial fluid it lags behind the capilliary reading . I had one night when I woke up sweating, I tested with my meter and it was at 6.5mmol but the CGMS indicated that levels were falling, it then alarmed at sub 3.5mmol. ... this of course had already happened and was the reason for the sweating. It then showed the glucose level climbing again. One night I was shocked to discover it went down twice once at 3am which I had woken for but also at 6am, the second one I didn't wake at all for (and didn't hear the alarm)
It gave me the confidence to reduce my carb ratio for dinner significantly from 1:11 to 1:15 ... I was a bit scared of doing that as I thought I'd end up high. I changed it and ended up with a totally flat profile overnight🙂
Overall, It gave me a great insight as to what my glucose levels do.
I'm in rural France so can't tell you if you can get one from your local hospital.
(mine was funded by a local diabetes charity)
This link shows what CGMS systems may be like in a few years.
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9662-implanted-wireless-glucose-sensor-lasts-520-days&catid=1&Itemid=8
 
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