Good day! I hope that you are all doing very very well.
About a month ago, I concluded the DAFNE course. During the course, with the help of my educators I made several adjustments with regards to my background insulin, my ratios and my carbs intake.
I am still in the process of adjusting my background insulin and my Novorapid ratios so, please, disregard the blood glucose levels that I am about to mention (this is still a work in progress) because, the idea behind this post refers to nutrition and carbohydrates.
Prior DAFNE, I was on an ultra low carbs diet, consisting only of green vegetables and protein (no eggs though).
During my DAFNE course, my nutritionist insisted that I eat at least 30 grams of carbs per meal (which is 90 grams overall per day) referring only to carbs such as bread, yogurt, milk, cereal etc without considering the “hidden carbs” in green vegetables or protein or subtracting dietary fiber.
For the time being, my ratios are 2:1.
I am very slim, former athlete, and my BMI is at the lower side of the healthy range.
On a basis of 2:1 ratio, I need 6u of Novorapid to cover my meal.
If my calculation is correct, each correction unit lowers me by 2 mmols.
Therefore, if I want to have a meal which consists of 30 grams of carbs + 2 units of adjustments then, I need overall 8 units of Novorapid…
Now… that sounds like a lot of insulin to me…
I do it but, I am not happy about it.
So, today morning, I decided to do a basal test because I suspect that my background insulin isn’t enough.
My fasting was 10.8
Pre-lunch was 14.8
It seems to me that my morning Levemir needs adjustment.
If I eat 30 grs carbs for lunch on a 2:1 ratio = 6u
and if each adjustive unit lowers me by 2 mmols, I need some 4 additional units.
A total of 10 u of Novo....and I am not confident to do that... I just cant...
However, (and here is the point of this long post) during the basal test this morning, I realized how much I have missed the benefits of a low carbs diet. For the first time after about a month, I didn’t feel the stress deriving from the possibility of over-injecting, of making a mistake, of the ‘what-if’s in my head…
My God, I had missed that freedom!!
I felt more confident to drive and work and run to the banks without constantly thinking “I wonder what is my Novo doing now” and “why did I just have that dizzy spell? Am I dropping more than I calculated?” and “Did I walk too much? Was the walk too brisk maybe?”
My nutritionist insists that, for the brain, in order to function properly, we need, at least 130 grams of carbs per day. I was on a next-to-nothing carbs since I was diagnosed 3 years ago and my brain was working alright (or so I believe, at least.) I am not advocating that I do not see the nutritional benefits of a greek yogurt or an apple or a glass of milk but, do all these carbs have to be altogether in each meal every single time?
Please, share your thoughts with me and also, please guide me, how many carbs are enough or too many?
Thank you
Josephine.