Living with Diabetes

Author: kathleen

  • DLife — it’s in reruns already

    My decision not to tape DLife anymore has been validated (though I will admit, if I get a DVR with a second tuner I might try it again).

    They are rerunning their first show already. And it’s only been one for 2 months? Sad.

  • Sleep linked to diabetes

    I’m quite sure that my long term sleep problems have contributed to my diabetes.

    The good news, is that I show on my CPAP machine about 7 1/2 hours of sleep. Unfortunately it hasn’t seemed to help.

    Long or Short Sleep Time May Be Associated With Diabetes

    Sleep duration of six hours or less or nine hours or more is associated with increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), according to the results of a cross-sectional study published in the April 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

  • Infections

    One of the “fun” things about being so glucose sensitive, is that whenever my blood sugar is off, I get some kind of weird infection. That is also true of whenever I come off of antibotics, so add the two together, and I have a lovely cold sore — first one I have ever had.

    ARGH!

  • Good news!

    I got my graduation packet today, and I have filled everything out that I know how to fill out. I’m going to take it to school tomorrow, and once I have all the rest of the information I need, I’m going to fill it out, make copies, and then mail it after school.

    It needs to be return receipt.

    Oh, and in case you don’t know — I should be finishing a Master of Science from the University of North Texas, majoring in Computer Education and Congitive Studies.

    Basically an education degree, though we focus on using technology.

  • On vial 2

    I’m not real happy with this insulin at this point, but I AM a guinea pig, and I’m not real sure it is a problem.

    BUT I’ve had to up my carb ratios from 10-1 to 8-1 and from 9-1 to 7-1. I’ve also had to up my correction factor from 32 to 26.

    I’ve also had to increase all my basal rates by .1 units.

    That all means I’m taking more insulin. Like I said though, I’m not sure it is a problem, since I’m comparing Apples to Oranges. In other words, the reason that this insulin takes more insulin, is that it is not quite as effective as Novolog.

    Note: don’t take this gospel, your mileage may indeed vary, but it does show that all insulins are not quite equal.

    It does seem to work faster in the long run though, which I think is a good thing.

    Other good things: Sites last much longer. A good thing, since I am sending more insulin through the site.

  • Blood glucose monitors may be off

    I honestly think most of the issue is user error, but then I’ve only use the One Touch Ultra Meters a few times and weren’t happy with how they operated then.

    Diabetes In Control – LifeScan Announces Worldwide Correction Concerning Certain Blood Glucose Meters

    Items for the Week: LifeScan Announces Worldwide Correction Concerning Certain Blood Glucose Meters

  • Islet Cells

    Required reading for anyone who gets excited over islet cell research.

    He does an excellent job of explaining all the issues and is very readible.

    Dr. Andy: Living pancreatic islet cell donation

    Living pancreatic islet cell donation

  • Basal Rates

    I finally broke down and changed my basal rates by 0.05 every time period.

    I just am not getting the control with the Apidra that I had with the Novolog.

    I’ve tweaked slowly — first thing I did was to back down the IOB to 3.0 hours — 3.5 worked fine with Novalog.

    Then I tweaked the carb ratios, dropping them. I can see what is happening with carb ratios the easiest.

    Then I dropped correction factor, but I’m actually seeing an increase in blood sugar during periods when I should have very little insulin in my system.

    So now I’ve increased the basal rates.

  • Day 6

    My sites seem to be lasting longer with Apidra. My site usually starts itching a bit on day two, and this one hasn’t been. I’m going to try 3 days with this one and see how it goes.

    I definately use more insulin with Apidra, and I’m having trouble getting things set right.

    I’m not sure if it is the Apridra though, or the external stress I’m going through.

  • Day 3

    After three days on Apidra I can start commenting intelligently.

    It doesn’t seem to really do anything for the first hour, but appears
    to be gone within 3 hours. I’ve got my IOB (Animas 1250) set to 3
    hours, and that seems to work best.

    I had site reactions with humalog, and could always feel large boluses
    go in with Novolog but I don’t seem to feel Apidra.

    At first I thought I was going to have to change my basals, but things
    smoothed out pretty quickly — changing the IOB to 3 did the most
    good.

    Also another good lesson — remember to change things one at a time!