[knottnest]

Hi I'm Jayne and have been diabetic for past 44yrs. My breakthrough was after attending a week long intensive DAFNE course (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating). The diabetes educators helped me find my unique basal rate/s, my correction ratio, my carbs ratio etc which can be dependent on different times of day and activity levels. Strongly recommend all diabetics to attend if they can or research this regime approach which originates from Germany! We are all unique and therefore need to do our own research to find out bout our own diabetic ups and downs which can be tiring! With support of medical staff, our own questioning and good fortune it's an interesting journey! Jayne

[dano]

Jayne;

Welcome to the Forum! Thanks for the information!

[splix]

I've read a bit from diabetics foremost from the US. They tend to count carbs and try to pinpoint their own carb/insulin ratio. As you must take into account the last 2 days intake of carbs and workout and then try to guess your medical status it seems like a shot in the dark to get it right. If you live a "normal" life, eat and drink as you did before getting T1, how could you ever get a right number? I know that the Germans LOVE to get things into charts, but are it manageable without going crazy? Many people in this forum and others also tip newly diagnosed diabetics to read Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution, in it your read: "counting carbs is an inexact science, even when food has a nutrition label. For restaurant meals and other unlabeled foods, he says, dosing insulin to match carbohydrates is a matter of even greater guesswork."

I got T1 in dec-10, since then I've gone through my honeymoon period and into "real" state. My first and only advice from my doctor was “live as you used to”. So when I think back of these last months and what I’ve done, what I've ate and what exercise I've accomplished, I doze accordingly to common sense and I’m still hitting decent figures. My first A1c taken in the beginning of April was spot on. What I'm sure of is, if I had tried to doze with a carb/insulin chart I would most certainly overdose my insulin while drinking a “real “Coke. I mean, every time you're about to get a cold, the body reacts long before the symptoms shows, making your blood sugar go up even though your following your charts and well calculated numbers.

So I ask you people that do count, doesn't it get tiring, always trying to count carbs, rethink your past days exercise and worrying if you’re getting sick? To worry is also going to mess up your counting as your BG will rise.

[knottnest]

Each to their own- I work full time and have a very busy home and social life so don't have time to sit and pontificate over my BG's however knowledge for some gives power to self. Everyone is different. DAFNE helped me answer queries I had guessed at.for years. No-one is claiming it to be the panacea for diabetes but it helped me a little. I was diagnosed at age 4 yrs (44yrs ago) and want to continue enjoying my life to the full.

[leont]

Originally Posted by splix

As you must take into account the last 2 days intake of carbs and workout and then try to guess your medical status it seems like a shot in the dark to get it right. If you live a "normal" life, eat and drink as you did before getting T1, how could you ever get a right number?

I may have misunderstood your question but I'm not sure if your understanding is correct? Are you able to get on a DAFNE course at all? If so, why not give it a go - it can't hurt.

[2005terryw]

I'm on this course for a week in august thanks for the advice

[splix]

Originally Posted by leont

I may have misunderstood your question but I'm not sure if your understanding is correct? Are you able to get on a DAFNE course at all? If so, why not give it a go - it can't hurt.

It's like when people try to lose weight. The basic is, consume less then you spend on exercise. You could try Atkins, GI, LCHF and all the "programs" there is. What you end up with is the same basic principle, I try to apply the same with my diabetes. But instead of following a schedule or program, I listen to my body and make the changes accordingly. I'm sure this course helps a bunch of people, and if you live in the US and try to cut costs for insulin and such it might be an even better idea. But, as I live in a country with free medical and my insulin intake is not through the roof (around 30 units a day in total) I can't see what I would benefit from this program. And as all study shows, it's hard to keep programs such as GI, Atkins, and DAFNE if you don't change everything about your lifestyle to comply. I have T1, I'm not going to let it rule my day or life.