Diabetes Diabetes enough ! Lets talk about hair baby.

I know I have not been a regular Blogger or anything. But I thought today that Diabetes actually sucks and it seems to effect you in many ways I don't even know about let alone other people.

After looking at YouTube and Pinterest I thought hell lets think about some thing totally different we think about the Big D as much as I want to these days so let me do something else.

I recently had my hair cut and even for these no hairdresser skilled hands I have noticed that I can do different styles so I am going to try challenge myself (even if just for my enjoyment) to make my hair into something different every day and post the pictures. I have also decided that just like Diabetes I am going to post both the good and bad day style cause really you can't tell me that any one has perfect hair every day.

If there is any one out there who wants to join in the different hairstyle every day challenge feel free to join me to make it easier I will post the picture daily on my Facebook page as well as update the blog.

Just for the love of all things I am not going to talk about any thing DIABETES. Hair , Hair products, ways to make my hair look better , Like my hair , hate my hair but for now please don't say that your hair has been falling out since your diagnosis.

Love everyone that bothers to read this blog when I get around to writing it.

Stay healthy

Kim

Covering the ears, clipped on one side (cause a girl can't work seriously with a crazy piece of hair in her face.) You will notice also my favorite gloss.

I tried to make the side swoosh bigger and I tucked the hair behind my ears.Going for a meeting at my sons school in the centre of Boksburg so this will fit right in.

World Diabetes Day - 14 November

A quick history lesson - World Diabetes Day is celebrated on the 14 November which is the birthday of Frederick Banting, whose work with Charles Best led to the discovery of insulin in 1921.The day was created in 2006 to support a campaign for a United Nations Resolution of Diabetes as a response to the growing global diabetes pandemic.

Well I have made it through another year to see in World Diabetes Day. I know I have not posted any blog posts for ages but I am alright and living, surviving , fighting and putting my worrior pose on everyday, I hope all Diabetics are achieving and celebrating all victories how ever small they may be.

It came to my attention lately that some of my family members, friends or acquantinces don't really know what Type 1 diabetes is. There is so many blurred ideas and confusion between Type 1 , Type 2 , Type 1.5 ect. I was thinking does my cousin or in law even clearly know what Type 1 Diabetes is. They might know I am Diabetic but I don't go around offering any information about my disease regularly, I just carry on like I am as normal as possible. This little picture might clear a few things up in a brief way.

I was diagnosed at 10 years old and it is an Auto Immune Disease meaning the body attacked part of my pancreas so it does not produce insulin anymore like normal humans do. It was not caused by eating too much of anything or bad lifestyle choices or being over weight. It has no cure and injecting insulin is the only way to stay alive.

This world Diabetes day I want to thank my Family. You should know who you are. My husband is my number 1 Diabetes Supporter as well as my children for being the biggest motivation to keep on trying and keep on doing the best I can. Thank you to all you special people.

Lets try be stronger this World Diabetes Day , lets start by celebrating the small things you do right. I will never forget reading somewhere that a fellow Diabetic found victory in being able to throw the remains of a dounut out the car window when her child had had enough of it and even though it smelt so divine she managed to man up and kept her Sugars stable. Lets try and find inspiration from ourselves by giving us a pat on the back for all the small things next thing we know this continual self encouragement might lead to a bigger victory Umm maybe a better A1C result. 

This is the year I will be stronger, braver , kinder and unstoppable. This year I will be fierce.

Glucose Meter- Fora Diamond Mini Review

Before I get down to the nitty gritty of a review I would just like to say that it feels like I have a new "car". My previous "car" don't get me wrong was a very trusted and reliable brand but it did not go very fast and it required far more petrol than this new "car."

The Fora Diamond Mini Review

Appearance 

The Fora mini is mini,slick and quite funky looking. It comes in the not so funky generic black meter case which has been branded by Discovery Health. Granted the material does look like it will last a bit longer than the last one. The elastic that holds this all in place is a bit tight and annoying especially around the lancet device and the test strips but it does hold it in place.

Testing

My fingers are thanking me ever so much , there is no more squeezing to get a large enough drop of blood as the drop that is needed is tiny. I have tried to get an error during testing, I tried 1/2 a drop, a very big drop and there was never any error.

I takes an outstanding 4 seconds to get your reading. When the reading shows there is a smiley or sad emoji next to it, I think that this should be something that you can opt to have showing or disable it. I rather like it but there are sometimes you think oh I don't want a Sad face so I wont test silly I know but the mind is a strange thing.(My Son challenged me to get all the days reading with a smiley face) It might be a nice idea for Kids, but as I said if it reduces testing in any way rather leave it off.

 The information shown on the meter is easily readable and I like the back light for those crazy 2 am readings. The lancet devise was surprisingly nice (or was it now that I had a new lancet inserted?) It also has an attachment for Alternative testing sites such as your palm or arm. I did read on their site that there are many reasons /occasions when they don't recommend using an alternative site so I am not so keen to try. I have since reverted back to my other lancet devise only because of the cases elastic issue and my other pricker is smaller.

The blood test using the same blood was slightly higher than the reading on my previous devise but after looking in to it I believe it is probably more accurate due to it being newer technology. (I think the best way to test this is to go to a Lab get them to test and you test and then you can compare the accuracy if I get this done I will update the post)

The Bluetooth/App and Charging

First I like not having a battery, the charging time is very short and it keeps it's charge for literally forever.

The App and Bluetooth -  - Although there is both an Android and an IOS App, I could never get the Android App to work. The App works well on Apple devices though , I use my Ipad. When Searching for the App on the App Store make sure to select the search option for Iphone as well as I could not find it when it was searching only for Ipad. The App has graphs, diaries and % accomplished pie charts. It could have looked a lot prettier but it is functional.

The pairing up via bluetooth with the meter and the App is effortless and works well.

It does not let me export the information or save to the cloud. I did request them to contact me on their website about this but no reply has been received yet.

Overall - Keep the meter - It is fast, accurate and easy to read the screen.
Only keep the lancet devise if you can make yourself a new meter case (any avid sewers out there or when is something like Myabetic coming to SA). The App is nice but I am not too inspired to look at it daily maybe once a week. Would be far nicer if I could figure out the exporting of the Data.

Sidebar - When I  got this meter Dr X told me I had to run my readings slightly higher to reduce the hypo unawareness. - Then he gave me a meter that red every test higher (go figure)


PS -  The usual spiel -  I got no financial reward or any other reward from writing this review.

Carb Counting and how to get started.

Carb Counting

First things first remember that the formula for this again is not going to be magic and work immediately you are going to have to put in a lot of work to figure this all out but once you do figure this out you will have far better flexibility in your diet and far better Blood Glucose control.

What you need (Ingredients for success)

1. You need to first of all down load a carb counting app. I have tried a few and have found that MYFITNESSPAL  is one of the better apps for Carb counting Android APP link APPLE APP LINK Here you can add a recipe, as well as add your food (there is plenty of South African brands) 
2. A scale I have a small electronic one but you can get a simple Weight Less type one as well. Don't worry I don't carry this around in my handbag on occasions that you have not weighted your food you get better at making an educated guess. It even has a name SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) counting. Use your weighting tools at home so that you will get better at SWAG counting.
3. Plenty of Blood Glucose Test Strips (You are going to need a lot to start.)
4. A calculator or a calculator APP ( it does not need to be fancy)
5. Hand cream for the lancet attacked fingers. Hint Try and rotate your fingers used. This is my method I am left handed so Right is odd and Left is even (that helps me remember) On Monday you will look at the date if it is an Odd number I will be use my Right hand each day go through each finger and on Saturday and Sunday use you 2 favorite fingers. If Even I use the Left Hand.

Formula Time  

Once you have all of the above you now need to work out your Insulin Carb Ratio there are 2 steps

1. The usual calculation for insulin you require is your weight (KG) x 0.55 = total daily insulin.

           E.G 70 kg x 0.55 = 40 units (Short and long acting insulin)

      You can use this formula to check or add up what you are currently taking as your total daily     insulin dose.

      2. The next part I used a formula that is most often given out. Personally if it works first time for you , you are very lucky. It is called the 500 Rule - They are assuming that the amount of carbs you eat plus the amount of glycogen your liver secretes is equal to 500g not always the case but this is where you start.

• Add up all the insulin you take each day (or use the formula in step one to calculate this)  (include both the short acting as well as the long acting insulin)  Insulin before breakfast, lunch and Supper as well as your Long acting insulin at bedtime. EG 40 units total
• Do the sum 500 / 40 = 12.50 ( Round it off to 13)
• This means that for every 13g of carbohydrate you are going to need 1 unit of insulin.

This is what you will start with. Write this down so you don't forget this number.

The next step is very important . You need to work out your insulin correction factor.
 A formula again 100/TDI (40 units) = 2.5
 so in our on going example 100/40 = 2.5 this means that 1 unit of insulin lowers your blood sugar by between 2 and 3. So if your blood sugar is 7.5 and you want it to be 5.5. (7.5-5.5 =2  therefore you need to take 1 unit of insulin to reduce your blood sugar by 2 mmol/l. NB This is used if your BS is high or low if it is low -(minus) the dose if it is high +(Plus) to the dose

To summarize you now know that for every  x grams of carbohydrate you eat you need 1 unit of insulin. You also know that if your blood sugar is not in a good range you need to take 1 unit of insulin to lower your blood glucose by X mmol/l.

(Word of warning this is where you start the process that comes next is to get it right. You need to make this testing phase your priority in the next week)

When you are ready you will need to use your MYFITNESSPAL app and your scale.Often you will be able to find the carb count per serving on the packaging you can use that but putting the info into the app first of all adds it up for you and you can copy previous meals to todays diary. Often you will eat the same thing for breakfast and you will soon know what insulin to take for this meal. Maybe you want to get a notepad to jot important information down. The beginning is tough but it gets easier and the rewards are great.

I am ready to count and experiment.

If you want to have a bowl of Bran Flakes you need to search for this on MYFITNESSPAL you can change the serving size and everything once you have found what you are looking for.

40g ALL Bran Flakes - 26g Carbs
0.5 Cup of 2 % Milk -  6g Carb

Total Carbs - for breakfast all added up is 33g

Now Mr Example guy thinks his Insulin Carb Ratio is 13g so he will do the sum 33/13 = 2.5 so he will inject 3 units of insulin.

You might be like me and see this and say hell no then drop or up the ratio straight away (say down 4 )in Mr Example guy's case he will then do 33/9 = 3.6  and take 4units

Before I did this I had been eating bran flakes for Breakfast as a diabetic for 30 years so I must have certainly known roughly what to inject.

I would certainly do the formula above but your first calculation try and stick to something you eat often and sort of know what dose works for it then you can say I usally inject 4 units for those all bran flakes so 33/8 = 4.125  so the new factor to try is 8.

You have now worked out the insulin to cover the carbs you are eating, now you need to test your BS if in range you will inject the amount you worked out above Mr Example Guy will inject 4 units.If he tests and his BS is 7.5 and he wants it to be 5.5. 7.5-5.5 = 2 x0.5= 1unit this will be added to the 4 units so he will take 5 units. If it is 3.5 and he wants it to be 5.5 (3.5-5.5=2x0.5 = -1 unit - reduce your insulin by 1 unit.

TOTAL CALCULATION

CARBS /insulin carb ratio = units insulin to cover carbs (33/9=4)
BS reading - required BS = BS variance x 1/mmmol/l 1 unit insulin reduces by (7.5-5.5 x 1/2(0.5)=1)
Carb calculation = 4 + correction dose 1 (if high) - correction dose (if low)= 5 units

Now you will have to test 2 hours after each meal to check if the ratio is correct if you are high you will have to lower the ratio so If Mr Example tests 2 hours later and it is high next time he should try lowering the ratio so if the 9 factor did not work he would next time use 8.
33/8=4 that works out the same so make it 7 33/7=5. If you are low you need to increase the ratio 33/10 = 3 try 10.

Eventually you will get it correct.

To complicate matters even more you might have different ratios for different times of the day. You will find that there is sometimes a certain time in the day when your hormones and your liver decide to dump a load of glycogen for a lot of people it is in the morning (see articles on the dawn phenomenon) so the ratio will need to be lower in the morning than at lunch time and night time. Remember also that exercise can change this and if you are going to exercise you need to reduce your insulin or eat more carbs (that you don't inject for.)

These sheets might help you:

My Formulas

3 Day Glucose Log Sheet                                                               

Remember these 12 points.

1. Starting is the hardest part.

It's getting past that initial 'I can't do it,The first days and weeks are the hardest. Anyone can change.

2. Know what you're counting.

Count total carbohydrate grams not only the sugars.

3. Your meter is your best friend.

"The only way you can really know what your blood sugar is doing is if you have a reading. Checking before a meal and about two hours after the first bite shows you how what you eat affects your blood glucose.

4. Try an app.

Use an app like MyFitnessPal for carb counting and reviewing data in chart form. "It is probably the most valuable free thing that any person with diabetes can possess.

5. Read the nutrition information.

"Look at labels to check out the carbs, the calories, and the fiber content," says Walker. Other nutrition facts you might want to consider: total and saturated fat grams and sodium.

6. Some things are out of your control.

You can eat the same meal at two different times, and your blood sugar might be different each time.

7. Plan ahead.

"When we go out to eat at a regular restaurant, you kind of have an idea of what you are going to order,You can then use the app to determine carb amounts

8. To fine-tune mealtime insulin, check after you eat.

Finishing a meal isn't when dealing with a meal ends," Checking before you eat and two hours after the first bite of food can tell you how well you "matched" your insulin dose to the meal, so you can adjust in the future as needed.

9. Go easy on yourself.

Don't punish yourself if your sugars aren't perfect

10. Your carb needs may change.

Additional exercise or the desire to lose weight may require a change in your eating plan. "Your diabetes changes over time, so you have to continually change your diet

11. Learn from your mistakes.

Don't waste time beating yourself up over mistakes "The more time you spend tearing yourself down, the less time you spend learning from it."

12. You'll get the hang of it.

"If you do it long enough, it becomes habit,It's like breathing. It becomes second nature.

Happy CarbCounting

Kim

Oooops

Hi

Any one who received my last post via E-mail would not have seen the embedded table that was on the website with the Exercise formulas on it.

Please click on this link if you would like to view this.

The whole post

That is a pain in the butt.

Kim

You learn something new in dealing with Diabetes every day.

Part 1

Here are a few things I have learnt while I have been away from this blog:

• Exercise is good for a Diabetic or anyone really we could spend so much time doing close to nothing physical every day. 

• Exercising is not always easy for a Diabetic , a Non Diabetic can just decide I am going to exercise , get into exercise gear and go work out. Us as Diabetics need to calculate, plan, calculate again and still sometimes we do not get it right.Here are some scenarios : Decide it is time to do a workout , get dressed into top selling workout gear , find any other equipment you might need (this all seems very regular) time now to test your blood sugar before the workout that you are now fully prepared to take. Here then can come your first curve ball Scenario # 1 too high over 13.9 /250 and they recommend NOT to exercise due to the possibility you might have ketones and then are at risk of Ketoacidosis. Workout on hold. Scenario # 2 Under 5.6/100 and they recommend you need to now go and eat a fast acting 15g carb snack (But I am trying to loose weight here ???) Another step to take before you can start that workout. That is just a few immediate hiccups.

• I love a good formula but be careful this is just a guideline, no two Diabetics are the same so  the formula does not always apply and a lot of tweaking needs to be done to get YOUR formula. These are 2 exercised related formulas I love and am now in the process of tweaking.    

The first one is perhaps your better option it is always better to reduce the insulin rather than to feed the insulin. I have this printed out and stuck to the the cover of my iPad along with my carb ratio for the different meals of the day.

• I have also found that it helps a lot to log your readings and other Diabetes related information, but to find a good App is next to impossible that was of course until recently. In the US they have just bought out a product called One Drop this is a subscription service for a meter and unlimited test strips. How does this help me in South Africa? They have also bought out an App that is so amazingly cute and functional all in one. There was some issues with Android (I believe the dev. team is working on it.)but I loved it so much that I now carry my iPad around for logging stuff . So do yourself a favor and load the One Drop App this valentines day you can set your goals and it even has some nice hearts that show your progress. I have a bit of a fear of failure issue but as my dear husband pointed out to me this app can easily be a case of "Bull S**t In Bull S**t out" so in other words log every reading good or bad this can help in so many ways - You see a trend of highs and you start analyzing am I stressed , could I be getting sick, am I eating badly. Someone said recently that there are studies that show people that log their readings even if they aren't really doing anything with the info they subconsciously start making some form of change to achieve better readings.  

       

  There is tons more I have learnt recently so I will make this a 2 part post so don't forget to stay linked.

In closing it will soon be Valentines day and I want to share a link to a Diabetes Daily article called 5 great Valentines Day Gifts for people with Diabetes. I really like the 4th idea. This costs no money but would be a great and supporting way of showing your love for your PWD.

5 Great Valentines Day Gifts for people with Diabetes.

Have a Love filled February.

Kim

The Fit with Diabetes Challenge

The Fit with Diabetes challenge

I am learning so much I wish I knew years ago on the Fit With Diabetes challenge. Sorry about no blog posts at present. But please go check out http://thefitblog.com/ you will learn so much I can guarantee it. It is worth so much more to your health and management than my stories, so if you go check it out and better still start it my goal has been achieved.

Helps that this fit and fantastic looking lady is a Type 1 Diabetic as well.

 You can do the challenge in your own time just start at Day Number 1 and go from there. Hell I would even recommend this to non diabetics that want to get into shape. #Justkeepmoving