New Type 1 Member

Hi There,

I'm in my late 20's and have been diabetic for almost 25 years now.  While I don't have to deal with some of the "new diabetes" issues that a lot of people are dealing with, I am dealing with the frustration of "changing diabetes" as I get older.

Is there anyone else here in a similar situation?

Thanks Jeannie,

Do you know if most people on here are from Canada or the U.S.?  I'm from Canada. 

Also, I'm a female....I forgot to put that in my first post.

B.

It was the bloodsugar comparability I was wondering about.  I think the insulin doses are the same between the U.S. and Canada.  I was in an Emergency Room in Hawaii last year because of what seemed to be food poisoning, and the doctors had no idea how to interpret the bloodsugar measurements I was giving them.  It was like we were speaking different languages.

I'm from Manitoba.....right above North Dakota.

A bakery?!  Wow!  You must be very self-controlled.  I work in an office building with a lot of people who are really very health-conscious, so it's not usually too bad.

Thanks for the replies.

B.

Hi there....I'm Canadian,(Ontario), female, not quite 40 yrs. old and Type1 for 21 months (diagnosed a Type 2 for 1.5 years prior). Glad to meet ya (if not for the reason, as Jeannie says

I've got a chart beside my computer with the conversions of US measurement (mg/dL - milligrams per decilitre) and what most everyone else uses as a measurement (mmol/L - millimoles per litre) to help me understand what I read on the net. I did find it on the net and printed it off but I can't remember where I got it. I'm sure it's not too hard to find if you do a search.

Here's the calculation: multiply the glucose value in mg/dL by the conversion factor of 0.05551.
Example: 110 mg/dL x 0.05551= 6.6 mmol/L
Or you can use the easier but less precise way of dividing the mg/dL value by 18 to get the equivalent number in mmol/L.
Example: 110 divided by 18= 6.1

Hope this helps some

Mornin', B....I think I'm liking Levemir more than Lantus. With Lantus... I always had high bedtime levels, I found that it stung no matter where I injected or how slowly, suffered lows almost daily, but it was only 1 injection a day. With Levemir... I have high morning numbers and inject twice a day (12Us @7:30AM & 7:30PM) but, there's no sting.

My Educator told me that, because it's new (only got it here in Canada this year), they're still finding out a lot about it. For instance, they thought it would be a measured 1:1 dose when switching from Lantus but, they've since discovered that it works better with 2 shots per day and also that most switchers from Lantus or NPH find they need more Levemir; higher doses. Also, Levemir has sent me into a low low in the middle of the night the two times I had an alcoholic drink in the evening, despite my trying to avoid it by overcompensating with food. I decided a few years ago to just not drink (it never really agreed with me), and the few times I've had alcohol since Rx'd Diabetic, the effects made me feel "wierd" and on Levemir go low.

I've been trying since my Type 1 diagnosis to achieve some kind of "maintenance level" of my blood sugars but haven't been able to so far. The one thing I give myself Kudos for is keeping my weight almost exactly at 110lbs (where I want to be). Since Rx'd, I've not missed logging: a single gram of food, glucose check, insulin injection, etc., all in an effort to understand what I could possibly alter in my regimen to get better control. I've been working with my team on an almost weekly basis for a year and a half; tweaking and changing insulin, doses, meal plans, ratios, everything. The best I've done is just these past couple of weeks, I haven't had a low and my levels during the day are good. Just wish I weren't so sick today and yesterday. Gotta chest cold and morning levels have been really high (had a 26.4 the other day :-( Oh well, c'est la vie! Such is life sometimes and we just have to move forward, right?

Sorry for the long post