Hey All.
I havnt been on my page for about a year! things have been going bad, so i think its time i searched for some support to get things on track.
I had a horrible year last year! I suffered from a few mental health issues, and was on so many different medications! ofcause this made me not even bother doing my diabetes, id check my levels like once a week, Id rarely take my insulin, id go days even weeks without it, and id eat whatever i want.
I didnt go to my diabetes appointments because of how i was already feeeling i didnt really care.
Now im off all my meds, iv been feeling better within myself i feel that its time i take control and lower my Hba1c!
Im going for my licence which i should have had last year!
the one thing im really looking forward to is the independence. But ofcause My dr wont sign the medical form because of my Hba1c. It was so high the machine wouldnt read it! which means it was more then 15% i need your help to help me get on track. anyone who could give me a good diet plan (low carbs) anyone who can give me any help id appreciate!
I NEED YOUR HELP!
Kelly- Glad to see you are back on TuD. You can get all the support you want here, but you too must work on getting back on track with your D. You say you are off all of your meds., was that your choice or your docs.? Does that include your D meds ? You have to get your insulin doses calculated, both basal and bolus. Also figure out your I:C ratio. Check out the groups and join 1or2 that feature low carb info. I think you should forget about your license until you are able to lower your A1c to a reasonable level. Can you locate a dietician to assist with your eating choices ? As I said we can support you, but you need to do most of the work to achieve your goals.
when i say my meds, i was on a number of anti depressants and mood stablisers which really messed with my head, i can barely remember the beggining of the year and i came to the stage where i didnt know who was anymore and had lost pretty much all my friends. So i descided to go off them.
im still on my shots novomix twice a day.
Hello Kelly, Novomix insulin is designed for an individual with type 2 diabetes. It contains 30% NovoLog and 70% Protaphane. Because of the high amount of basal insulin (the Protaphane) it is not recommendable for type 1. This whole regime of two shots per day is the stoneage of diabetes treatment. Todays medications and treatments are far far superior.
You need to find a good doctor first. Most preferably an endo specialized on diabetes. Then you should switch to a different treatment called bolus basal. In this treatment you will use two different types of insulins. In other words the fixed 30/70 ratio of NovoMix is replaced by dosages appropriate for your individual needs. Most preferably the outcome will look like this:
a) you will use NovoLog as bolus insulin for carbohydrates and corrections of the blood glucose. This insulin is injected when needed. If the blood glucose is too high you can correct it easily.
For example: if I intend to eat 30g of carbs I will have to divide these 30g by the insulin to carb ratio of the current hour. The carb to insulin ratios can be different from person to person and from hour to hour. It takes some time to find the correct ratio. But with little tweaking they can be found. After 1/2 year of tweaking it will be perfect in my experience.
b) use Levemir as basal insulin to cover the basic needs of the body. If the correct dosage of this insulin has been found you can skip a meal if necessary and still your BG will be stable. This insulin should be injected every 12 hours = twice per day. Important: Do not go on one shot per day!
c) learn to count carbohydrates and the mechanics of diabetes treament with the bolus basal approach. Learn to adjust to sports and other physical activities. Reclaim your freedom by stepping out of the cage of musts this NovoMix is creating for you right now. It might be more complicated first but it will pay out.
Recommended books: “Using Insulin” by John Walsh and “Think Like a Pancreas” by Gary Scheiner. Each of them go into detail about calculating your I:C ratio, how to optimize basal insulin, how to do corrections, etc.
d) get a smart phone and manage your diabetes diary online with our Glucosurfer project. It might be too slow in Australia but it is worth a try. This system will also offer a bolus wizard. This wizard will help to calculate the dosage. You just enter the carbohydrates and the system will take the insulin to carb ratio at the current time to make the calculation for you.
thank you very much Holger,
I have just emailed my educator regarding changes to my insulin,
i was once on novorapid and lantus but when things got hard i stopped taking my insulin all together so the endo put me on the mix so i was atleast taking something,
although now i think my Hba1c will lower a lot quicker if i change to another option
