Off the rails!

[jessie]

Hi,
I've not been on the forum for a few weeks, despite all the great advice I think I became a little complacent. I have been Type 1 since April this year and have been controllng my BS very well, nearly always between 5 and 8...until recently. I feel I am slipping back in to my old / normal lifestyle. I found my new diet so easy at first but have started to crave things massively, especially chocolate! If I am offered food / alcohol that I know I shouldn't be having too much of I find it impossible to say no, and once I start on something I seem to spiral out of control. I have no will power even though I know how serious the long term side effects can be. I feel like the majority of my friends don't understand how important my diet is and say things like 'just this once won't harm' which to me is a green light to binge! Although slim I have always been weak willed when it comes to food and am one of those people who thinks about eating 99.9% of the time. How can I get back on track?! Thanks :wink:

 

[greenmonkey]

Jessie - you sound just like me!

I've been Type 1 for about three years now. I've ALWAYS struggled to control my BS, and I think I've had about two months in all that time when I've kept it below 15. That is shocking, I know.

I'm OK if I can kick the 'bad' food for a few days. I seem not to crave it..... then someone will offer me something - and, like you, I have little will power - and it'll all spiral out of control.... and then I'll just start buying chocolate, etc. I'm slim too, and I eat a healthy diet - when I sort myself out. Don't get me wrong, its not just the food that has caused such terrible control. Stress, etc also plays a role. When stressed, my BS rockets and I get ravenously hungry.... and I turn to junk food. All a catch-22, I guess.

I've had problems with insulin and so on lately. My BS has been appauling and I'm sick of going to the loo about ten times every night. Lord knows what damage I've done in such a short space of time. I'm in my early twenties and in ten years time I don't want to be wishing I'd done everything differently.

I'm the same in that I think about food ALL the time! I have found though, if I stick to a low carb diet - fresh veg and fruit, I can kick the cravings. Its also useful to keep yourself active. If I'm bored, etc, I think about food more. At the moment, I'm not active and I'm stressed....so I've got myself into a state! There's no excuse though. Today, I'm starting over!

Try and avoid the rubbish people offer you. In the brief times I've sorted my diet and exercise, I have felt so good. I've watched other people scoff McDonald's and other such junk food and felt really proud that I don't have the desire for all that. I reckon the key is a low-carb diet (which will be hard at first - I had terrible cravings, but they lasted only a couple of days) and keeping active. You don't have to cut out everything 'bad for you' obviously, but you will find you desire it less. I got to the point where I would feel ill if junk food was on offer to me. It reminded me of how awful I would feel after eating it. That's why I'm annoyed I'm back in the loop.

Today, I'm on fish, vegetables and fruit....and I'm off to the gym.

 

[jessie]

Hi both, thanks for your helpful reponses. Greenmonkey I hope your fish/veg/fruit/gym routine is going well! I'm glad I'm not alone here, I guess even the most saintly of diabetics have 'naughty days'!

I have cut down on my carbs but still find I need a little, eg a slice of Weight Watchers toast here and there or a small handful of brown pasta with my evening meal...I'm definately going to try and eat less of them though and see if my cravings go away. And I am in desperate need of some exercise so maybe an after dinner walk will stop me thinking about after dinner chocolate! And I need to try not to eat when I'm not hungry, I have always done this so it's a hard habit to break, I've heard rating your hunger from 1-10 can help, if you're between 1-4 don't snack, 5-10 do snack, or something...

Sarah, I have had trouble carb counting - because my body is still producing a little of it's own insulin I never know how much I need to take with my meal. I take a background inulin (Lantus) once a day and then Novo Rapid 3 times a day before I eat. I am only on tiny amounts of insulin (between 1-3 normally) so even a half unit can make the differnce to me having a hypo or not. I guess when this stops (honeymoon period like you mentioned) it will be easier to judge how much insulin I need to take in relation to how many carbs I am eating. Do you guys weigh all of your food to work this out? Can you reccommend any good carb counting books?

I guess this is a lifestyle that will take some time to get used to...habit and routine is the way to self control, and a little help from each other on this forum.

Thanks again - low carb here I come.

PS: Greenmonkey have you looked at http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk? If you have the patience to keep up a food diary it could be a good way to control cravings - I might give it a go!

 

[greenmonkey]

Hey Jessie - thanks for the link....

I failed unfortunately. I'm tucking into a box of Quality Streets as I write. Still, when it comes to meals I have been good and stuck to mostly vegetables/fish/chicken and that kind of stuff. I've got such a bad sweet tooth however!

I find if I exercise before meals, and drink a couple of glasses of water before eating, I don't need to eat as much. Trust me if you start exercising and eating things such as the above (not the sweets), you won't be craving stuff that could harm you! I don't carb. count - I haven't the patience. I take Novorapid with meals also. Bit more than you - but your time will come!

This forum is great for advice and finding people who have shared similar struggles, but in the end, you're on your own with the whole thing and you have to find out how best you as an individual can cope with Type 1. Aside from it costing me my job, its not such a pain and its only ever improved my lifestyle. I go to the gym a lot, and I walk everywhere now. The only downside is that I seem to go through periods where I just have to eat chocolate and sweets....and there's nothing that will stop me! You don't sound like you're doing too bad. I know you're in the 'honeymoon' period, but to have attained between 5-8 in BS levels after you were diagnosed, is a great start. I was in the 20s for ages after diagnosis, and still, 3 years later, my meter registers 'HI' all too often.

The odd cake and bag of sweets won't kill you. Just inject enough to cover it - you can only do that through trial and error. I went to a specialist appointment a couple of months ago where they offered to put me on a DAFNE course - something to do with carb counting and insulin. I declined. Maybe ask about it? It would be useful if you did want to scoff the odd cake. Although saying that, I think you're like me in that once you start, one biscuit isn't enough, you have to eat the whole packet?! Then another!

Anyway, keep in touch with how you get on. I will start properly tomorrow!....

 

[ChocFish]

Hi Jessie

there is not much that I can add to the excellent advice that you have already been given, its true though it does help if you can find things to detract yourself from thinking about food, I used to be grossly obese and was forever thinking about food.

Another suggestion, talk to your friends, tell them how serious your diabetes is, what it can do to you, etc, get them onto your side, they will support you and might not offer you the wrong food or lead you astray.

All the best

Karen

 

[willogs]

Hi Jessie

I am in exactly the same position as you ( I think I have replied to your posts before), I only have 2 novorapid injections a day 3 units with lunch and 5 with tea. I can't carb count either because one day I am fine and next day High/low depending on nothing? I have been like this for 8 months. It is really getting me down as I never know how each day is going to be. Had an appointment at the DSN and consultant yesterday who are both very good but explained that there is not much we can do at the moment apart from ensuring that my highs are not prolonged and my lows are treated. At least I know it is not only me this is happening to, because sometimes it feels like a pretty lonely place.

 

[willogs]

Just wondering if Jessie is about and how you are getting on?

 

[jessie]

Hi - sorry I don't get the chance to access the internet very often.

Willogs I have decided this week to stop punishing myself and feeling so guilty when I slip up...this is all new to us and a massive change to lifestyle, as greenmonkey said it is all about trial and error, especially in the early days. The negative feelings of guilt are what tend to send me spriralling out of control...I think. I feel like I am getting on a little better but living like a saint just isn't me so I'm just going to do my best and try and chill out a little bit. I do find that on the days when I am controlling my levels well I feel so much more positive and happy, then on the days where I've eaten the wrong thing and sent my BS high I feel really cross with myself which puts me in a bad mood. This is my incentive to try and behave! Yesterday I went to visit a client where they had a canteen with lots of lovely food on offer, there were sandwiches and salad but I simply couldn't say no to the meatballs (in rich tomatoey sugary sauce) and a handful of chips. A few hours later when my levels had shot up I felt SO annoyed with myself. If something is in front of me I'm just so tempted - I think it's an addiction! I definatley need to take a leaf out of greenmonkeys book and get to the gym...I keep saying that :|

 

[willogs]

I am still only having 3 units with lunch and 5 with tea. What are your sugars like at the mo?. On wed I had the same amounts of insulin and all readings were between 10-20 then next day with similar types of food I had 2 hypos. It drives me mad not knowing what is going to happen next.

 

[jessie]

Hi Willogs,

Maybe I'm quite lucky in that I can usually tell what is making my levels go up, although my hypos tend to be really random. Today is a bad day, but I know exactly what I've done wrong :? It must be frustrating for you, do you think your pancreas suddenly has spurts of working / not working?! This is all very confusing but I'm sure it will make more sense in time. Take care. x

 

[shadwell]

Jessie, my heart goes out to you and reading your post makes me remember being in exactly the same position as yourself just a couple of years ago. I hope what follows doesn't sound too evangelical, but your story sounds so familiar and I just wanted you to know there is hope!

I had been a binge eater for most of my life and when I was diagnosed with T2 a couple of years ago, I couldn't break out of the cycle of bingeing on all the things I knew I should be keeping away from - chocolate, crisps, biscuits, fast food, it all got eaten. I'd try and be good periodically and stay away from 'bad' food but I always gave in to the cravings which were so strong, even though I knew deep down that I was slowly killing myself. I remember being a bit of a mess, stressed, emotional, bursting into tears for no reason, not sleeping properly, no energy and all the while my BS levels were out of control. It wasn't helped by my GP telling me I needed to eat 14 portions of carbs a day! I thought I was a complete failure and despaired at ever getting myself sorted out as I had no willpower.

About a year ago, things came to a head and I was feeling so ill that I could happily have lay down and died. Then two things happened which have changed my life. Firstly, I was given a book called Potatoes Not Prozac by Dr Kathleen Des Maison. I'm not normally one for diet or self-help books but this one really is different. It explains how eating loads of sweet stuff/junk affects your brain and body chemistry so those cravings just perpetuate themselves and you have little chance of resiting them. You DO NOT lack willpower, it is your body and brain chemistry sabotaging you! It tells you what things to eat to maintain a good body/brain chemistry balance and make those cravings go away. It's not as restrictive as Bernstein and you still have to make the effort to eat healthily, but the difference is that after just a few days, those cravings DO go away. It's not a short term fix, it's a healthy eating plan for life but it is worth it. With the help of what I learned by reading this book and a low-carb eating plan, my BS is now near normal and I haven't eaten anything sweet/junky for over a year, nor do I have any desire to. All I would say is if you can get hold of a copy of the book, please read it and try it, you don't have anything to lose except the cravings!

Good luck whatever happens!