any diabetic posties out there

[bedrock]

hi ya all .iam a diabetic postman just gone on insulin instead of tablets ,im having a heck of a job getting the insulin dose right .im ok on my day off or on leave ,but when im on delivery i just cannot get the dose correct ,i suppose my body is burning the insulin off a lot faster with the walking.i would like to hear from any posties who have had a simular problem and if hey did how they got it sorted . a.t.b.bedrock

[POSTMAN]

Will move this to Blue Shirts forum as it gets more traffic.

[Darren Bent]

I think you should see the specialist for diabetic, as he/she might be able to give you better guideline how to handle it.

I don't know how much you do in injection. Let say a normal day (Non working) every 6 hours three times a day. You might need to change it perhaps every 5 hours 3/4 times a day on working day.

But again I don't know about diabetic.

[mazza111]

This isn't really one to be messed around with. Speak to your dietician/specialist about this. Would also be tempted to keep test machine in pocket just in case. Diabetes is a serious illness and really shouldn't be taken lightly.

[stokes11eg]

:sad when you see your dietician, or at your next big hospital appt, let them know what your daily routine is down to the nth degree! including eating ,excersie patterns etc,they can then adjust your insulin levels accordingly. Usually, when you first start taking insulin, you should be monutored quite closely for a number of months, as it is not an exact science. Good luck!

[adb2aber]

I'm a type 1 diabetic in a MC.

Your body needs less insulin during exercise, having more will result in being hypo (the presence of insulin in your bloodstream inhibits the release of stored sugar in your cells like would happen in someone without diabetes, essentially your body pulls all the sugar out your blood and doesn't use any of the stuff in your cell already, not very good)

What insulins are you on? Twice a day mixed insulins or more times single insulins?

Depending on which you use you'll need to make adjustments to your dosage - as someone on Humalog and Lantus I reduce my Humalog (short term insulin) if I'm going to be very physically active - DSA, portering etc - by around 30%. I also keep my meter with me at work and will test every couple of hours if I feel fine and more often if feeling a bit off.

The first aiders apparently aren't allowed to give us sugars as counts as them giving medication which is a big no-no. They can however tell the canteen to give you food or raid the vending machines. If hypo go and see a first aider and they should tell your manager you're going to go and sit in the canteen for 15-20min to recover and allow the sugar to work its way into your system. If out on a walk I couldn't say what you do, personally I'd find a bench and sit down for 20min. Any H&S reps want to comment? You might be wise to let your DOM or whatever know too. Carry around a good supply of sugar with you, I typically have a pack of dextro tablets or two and a cereal bar.

Obviously if you are hyper then you should inject more the next day (increase it by maybe 1 or 2 units unless you're excessively high) and see how that takes you. It can take a few weeks to get to a typical dose and unexpected changes can play hell with your control but keep a record of your insulin, food and activity and you'll be able to look back on it and see where it worked fine, where it needs improvement and what you can do about it.

I would thoroughly recommend seeing your diabetes team - your local hospital will have a full complement of related staff, find out the number for the diabetes nurses, get yourself booked in and give them a call if you have trouble.

Also find out if there is a DAFNE (http://www.dafne.uk.com/) or equivalent course being run in your area and get your name down on the waiting list for it, it will help a lot. Note the list on the website doesn't cover them all, enquire of your local diabetes team for local schemes.

PM me if you want any further info