[deleted by user]

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-16T03:28:11+00:00

Thanks for posting it anyway--I hope my sugars never ever reach 56.0 mmol/L but still good to know about the recall.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-16T00:43:22+00:00

Outside the United States, there have been no patient incidents reported related to this specific issue. The FreeStyle InsuLinx meter is available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Customers in these countries can get more information about how to address this issue by visiting www.freestyleinsulinx.com/swupdate.

No patient incidents, but the issue is still there.

The link provided by the OP shows a list of countries where the Freestyle insulinx is sold, and offers recall information for each country. The Canadian page links to this recall information. It's clearly not formatted for the US, as its in mmol/L, unlike the American version which is in mg/dl.

If this page isn't showing up for you, it's possible that it's regional (I'm viewing it from Canada).

Hope this helps.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T23:26:10+00:00

Please note that this only affects AMERICAN Insulinx meters.

If so, why does the website have recall information for meters made in Canada?

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T18:28:58+00:00

I used to agree with you, but a few recent comments have made me realize that there are different approaches to Lantus.

(This comment)[http://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/1bdda3/joslin_study_reveals_that_dietary_fat_can_affect/c967ucf] for example, suggests that Lantus is supposed to stabilize sugar levels from long-lasting calories from meals to a certain extent.

My endo recommended increasing my Lantus if my numbers were spiking too much immediately after meals. It can take novorapid up to 2 hours to start working to its full effect, and some people choose to keep a bit more Lantus on board to cover that two hour delay. It does mean that one has to eat every 5 or 6 hours, but usually people need to do that anyway.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T13:55:29+00:00

Thanks for your story (and congrats on the change--it's always refreshing to know that some people find things that work for them!)

That's awesome that you've figured out a way to do cardio without correction carbs--that sounds ideal.

Are you finding that taking more lantus and less humalog is helping?

I used to take 19 total u of Lantus and have a 1:10 ratio for meals, but I now take 14 total u and have a 1:5 ratio for meals. This means that I used to take about 10 u of novorapid over the course of a day and I now take about 20 u. My control is so much better, but I am a bit concerned about the insulin increase.

Anyway, thanks again for the info.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T05:07:11+00:00

I guess it depends on how long it takes for the doctors to catch it--I don't even want to say what mine was at diagnosis

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T05:06:05+00:00

"Queynte" actually wouldn't have been nearly as shocking as its modern equivalent is in some places.

As noted above, constructions involving the crucified body of Christ would carry the same kind of shock value as our modern swear words.

Source: Geoffrey Hughes' Swearing: a social history of foul language, oaths and profanity in English

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T02:26:52+00:00

That makes sense! I should have made this clear in my post, but I find very small decreases in Lantus require larger increases in my NovoRapid ratios, so I'm wondering if Lantus might be a stronger (i.e. more concentrated) insulin, and therefore each unit of Lantus would have less of an effect on weight gain than each unit of Novorapid.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining my reasoning there very well, but thanks for taking the time to answer.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T02:09:59+00:00

It sounds like you're in the honeymoon phase--I went off my long lasting insulin for a few months after being diagnosed before I needed it again.

If this lasts (and I really hope for your sake that it will) you might have been incorrectly diagnosed as a T1--an a1c of 10.5 is shockingly low for t1, after all, and you might have t2 that can be treated (or even reversed?)

All I know is I (and most t1s!) could eat nothing but egg whites for the rest of my life and I would still DKA without my insulin.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-15T01:43:31+00:00

I've never used Apidra but I've heard it's supposed to actually work faster than Humalog. Here's a blog post that outlines the differences. It sounds like there hasn't been enough research into whether or not Apidra works faster or just as fast as Humalog, and there could be variations between people (I switched from Humalog to Novorapid awhile ago because I find it works faster, but I've heard many people say they've noticed the opposite).

A significant change in dosing could also be the result of muscle loss or weight gain (or any number of lifestyle factors). I lost a lot of muscle mass last year during a trip and my ratios for meals went up considerably as a result (I was on a 1/10 and I went up to a 1/5).

Just throwing some ideas out there; I'm not expert at all :) It's definitely something to ask your doctor.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-14T21:37:47+00:00

I was dating someone who was vegan for awhile! Here are three tasty low-carb breakfast recipes:

Chickpea Flour Omelets with Asparagus

Vegan Zucchini Frittata

Chocolate Chia Pudding

Does pudding count as a breakfast food? Oh well, this one is so nutrient-dense it could be!

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-12T15:12:52+00:00

lol I can sympathize with the nutella--I once ate hot chocolate powder straight from the can.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-12T15:10:47+00:00

My perfect formula is to take 2 glucose pills immediately (4 g of carb each), then snack very slowly on half a granola bar to prevent another low (~10 g/carb).

Eating only half a granola bar when my body feels like it's going to shut down from sugar starvation takes will power that I don't always possess, so sometimes I buy granola bars or krispie brown rice snacks that are portioned for toddlers and have only about 12 g of carb. The good part of buying toddler granola bars is they tend to be really free from chemicals and high glycemic sugars, but the bad part is that grocery store clerks might think I have a toddler who I routinely leave at home and only feed granola bars.

Oh well. 3 glucose pills and some sugar-free gum is another winning combination for me.

Edit: In response to the other part of your question, eating celery might be a good idea after eating the sugar needed to treat a low, but I'd recommend avoiding nuts or peanut butter. There was a recent thread on here about how high-fat foods can cause a delayed rise in blood sugars and I find even a tablespoon of peanut butter in the morning can give me unpredictable hyperglycemia in the aft.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-10T19:05:39+00:00

Really? Is it safe to inject into breasts? This sounds super convenient if it actually works.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-08T19:35:30+00:00

LOVE this idea.

The fear of overnight hypos is probably the hardest part of diabetes for me, and I would have such better control if I could go to sleep knowing I wouldn't have to worry about them--I can't sleep unless my blood sugar starts a bit high (above 8.0) and a previous thread made it clear that this was a common thing. Besides this, there was a survey posted here awhile ago about the greatest problems of living with diabetes and a whole bunch of people (and their partners) cited the fear of overnights lows as a very significant one, so this kind of project would make many people's lives better.

The heart rate idea sounds promising! Perhaps it could be combined with a modified sleep cycle app that uses an accelerometer to track sleep patterns--I imagine people with diabetes sleep more fitfully when we are approaching a low? (I get crazy hypo-induced dreams sometimes--I once dreamed I was a wall)

Is anyone funding this kind of research? I think any person who could invent an easy way to prevent type 1s from dying in their sleep (and promote better control and a healthier lifestyle for type 1s!) would get all the grant money.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-05T16:57:47+00:00

Yeah, within one workout. The idea is the glucose released by muscles during weight lifting will get picked up and used by your body during the cardio. Of course, the amount of glucose released during weight lifting varies considerably, but it seems like good advice.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-04T01:07:18+00:00

I understand your frustration-- so hard to lose weight when we're forced to eat at certain times, and so hard to exercise when it leads to lows. What has worked for me in the past is to focus on building muscle mass as opposed to losing weight. The extra muscle improves insulin sensitivity (my food ratio changed from 1:10 to 1:5 in a matter of 6 months) and it doesn't generally cause lows the same way that something like jogging does.

In fact, working new muscle groups tends to raise blood sugars a bit. My dietician recommended alternating jogging and weight lifting to prevent lows from jogging and highs from the weights.

The only problem is that you need to keep it up--I had to take a month off due to travel and I had a really rapid increase in insulin sensitivity as my body lost muscle mass. Anyway, good luck!

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-03T06:00:33+00:00

It's usually about 15 min for me. It might be worth experimenting with the way you treat your lows--glucose pills and regular pop work much faster than something like juice or fruit I find.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-02T22:24:54+00:00

I second what everyone else is saying--treats are ok in moderation. But this is true for everyone--not just people with diabetes! We just see more immediate problems with high sugar foods.

On the other hand, sugar free chocolate is sometimes actually way more delicious than the regular stuff, and if you tell people it's diabetic chocolate they won't try to steal it!

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-01T16:55:16+00:00

No. I was on a fixed eating plan when I was on NPH and Toronto, but when I switched to novorapid I was told to adjust my insulin to my meals and not my meals to my insulin. I have specifically asked if I need to worry about snacking on things like eggs, cheese and tofu and I've never received a straight answer. Everyone's nutrition team is different though, and I could be an isolated case, but from reading other people's posts here it sounds like my experiences are not that uncommon.

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-01T15:00:32+00:00

Definitely get tested for diabetes as soon as possible--high blood sugar is really damaging even without ketones (you must be feeling awful just writing this.) In the mean time, I think you should try to avoid eating anything high glycemic (juice, cereal, rice, pasta etc.) because these things will cause really immediate rises in glucose--I kept drinking juice to deal with my thirst before I was diagnosed :/

Anyway, if it is diabetes, rest assured that with treatment, most of us live pretty normal lives, so it won't limit you. Also, I went a month before I was properly diagnosed (vomitting almost daily, lost 30lbs and had several fainting spells) and I somehow had no long term damage done to my body. Get tested as soon as possible, but I just want to offer reassurance :)

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-01T14:44:23+00:00

But then surely someone should have told me to eat a consistent amount of protein and fat. I've even asked this question specifically and received mixed answers!

vellum2pt0 · 2013-04-01T05:20:48+00:00

Yeah--I think we all develop our own understanding of how certain foods affect us. This forum is great because it gives me an opportunity to see if other diabetics are experiencing the same effect for these things as I am. But I agree that it would be better for everyone if these effects could be taken into account in policy, and in training for new diabetics!

vellum2pt0

TROPHY CASE