Skip to main content
search
Tag

Diabetic Specialist Nurse

My New Insulin Regime 2 – Slowly Getting There

By Health, LifeNo Comments

I’m still trying to get my new insulin regime sorted. I need to increase the dose of my long acting insulin (Lantus) and get the Insulin to Carbs ratio right at tea time.

Recently I’ve got so tired of high blood sugars and felt like I’m not getting anywhere. When I feel this way, I remind myself to just take another step forward, keep going and keep trying. I will get there. Here’s my new self-adjusted insulin regime:

my-new-insulin-regime-2-August-2018

My New Insulin Regime 2

I will write a more substantial blog post soon.

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner

Share on Social Media:
Saturday 25 August 2018

My New Insulin Regime

By Health, LifeNo Comments

I had an an appointment with my Diabetic Specialist Nurse at the start of this week. She looked over my blood sugars and insulin since January. The upshot is that I’ve not been taking enough long acting insulin (Lantus) and been taking too much rapid acting insulin (Novorapid).

I have huge morning peaks that look like mountains on my Freestyle Libre Reader (read more about the Freestyle Libre here). Possibly the dawn phenomenon?

I’m counting my carbs using the Carbs & Cals App. But I’m awaiting an appointment with a Dietitian to get some advice, help and support around my Insulin to Carbs Ratios. In the meantime my Diabetic Specialist Nurse started me on a new insulin regime.

It’s been tweaked a few times by Diabetic Specialist Nurses based on BM readings before meals and two hours after meals. At one point my BM reached 26.6 mmol/L, I had been told that I’m not allowed to bolus any rapid acting insulin, so I went on a two hour walk to bring it down.

This week I’ve been cranky, not slept well and even had some significant cognitive fatigue all caused by high blood sugars.

Here is my new/current insulin regime:

my-new-insulin-regime-1-August-2018

My New Insulin Regime.

Let’s hope this latest tweak leads to lower blood sugars and eliminates the morning peaks.

Blog soon,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner

Share on Social Media:
Friday 17 August 2018

Health Tech Review: TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare

By Health, Reviews2 Comments
TEE2-glucose-meter-by-spirit-healthcare

Image of the TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare. Image From & Copyright © Spirit Healthcare.

 I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic for a decade. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with diabetes here.

I’ve used various glucose meters, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. Around 6 months ago I was switched TEE2 Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare by my GP. Here are the Pros and Cons of the TEE2 Glucose Meter:

Pros

  • It’s easy to use.
  • It meets the latest coding standards.
  • No coding is required.
  • The customer support is brilliant and really responsive. You can telephone a freephone number: 0800 881 5423 or email info@spirit-healthcare.co.uk
  • The meter shows trends data.
  • Apparently the testing strips are cheaper for the NHS to buy.

Cons

  • The meter and its accessories look and feel cheap. For example the zip off the pouch came off in my hand during my first week of use.
  • It’s around the average size of other meters on the market. But my previous meter was much smaller, making it feel big to me.
  • The screen isn’t colour like my previous meter.
  • The date is set in the American-style format: Month-Date, with no option to switch to UK formatting.
  • No automatic changing of time. You have to manually change time on the meter when clocks go forwards and backwards.
  • The meter has no connectivity to smartphones. It would have been great to have Bluetooth connectivity that put meter readings into a smartphone App.
  • The desktop software just wouldn’t work on my iMac. This meant that I would have to go back to recording results using pen and paper in a logbook. No logbook was provided. This again felt like going backwards, as my previous meter did connect to my computer and download test results and trends data to my iMac.

Although the pros and cons for this meter are equal in number, overall this meter has felt like going backwards for me. The TEE2 Glucose Meter feels really limited when compared to my previous meter and other meters on the market right now.

I really wanted to like the TEE2 Glucose Meter and for it to improve my diabetic self-care. But it hasn’t done this. Instead it’s given me more to remember to do (writing results in logbook).

If you have a choice on which Glucose Meter you use, my advice would be to do your research and choose one that is more sophisticated than the TEE2 Glucose Meter. If you don’t have a choice and have been put on the TEE2 Glucose Meter by your GP or Diabetic Specialist Consultant/Nurse my advice would be not to have too high hopes or expectations for it.

Blog soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:
Monday 1 May 2017
×