New to the site- not to diabetes

[Hattonma]

Hi all I am a 35 year old male and have had type 1 for the last 30 years. I am desperately trying to get my levels consistently within an acceptable rate and I really hope this forum will help me and give me a sense of motivation and accountability

My story is as follows:

Overall my control has been steady throughout my life. It has never been exceptionally high or low and has never caused me to not be able to manage it.

Having said that my usual hba1c is always on the higher side and I am desperate to bring it down. My last recording today was 10.4 which was so disappointing but not unexpected

I went on dafne a couple of years ago and it really revolutionised my management and I really try to keep to the principles. I have done a lot of work getting my background right and I actually think I am there or thereabouts.

My biggest issue right now is evening meals and nights. On the whole breakfasts and lunches consist of the same and I can usually manage that OK. My problem then starts

I usually have a snack on way home and sometimes correct and other times leave it to be done with meal. I just then seem to guess tea and under score my carbs. I don't usually eat till 7.30-8.30 and sometimes have a snack before bed so counting and monitoring is tough.. I always wake up to sugars between 10-15 but because of the time of my tea and bed I struggle to get an accurate blood sugar so it's all a guess.

For evening meals potatoes and pasta just cause me a minefield of problems in terms of counting

So as a start I need to cut the snacks out at least till I get a picture what is happening. I intend trying to post my daily readings on here. That might make me ensure I record them all instead of adhoc

I seriously want to crack this and now is the time to do it

Any help and support is much appreciated

 

[Hirstygirl]

Hi Hattonma, welcome to the forum
Don't be too hard on yourself, we all know only to well that diabetes is an ongoing daily battle, well done for realising where things need to change . Just a thought, do you keep a food diary at all? After dafne I continued and still am keeping a diary I find it most helpful and it is handy to know exactly how many carbs eaten, ratios, correction dose etc for each day

 

[Juicyj]

Hey Hatton, I can sympathise completely with your evening situation, I too have a snack late afternoon and then on top of my tea it can send my BG skyrocket, however I always try and leave a 3 hour window before bed so I can correct then and wake up at a decent level.

What do you snack on ? How about trying olives, cheese/ham something low carb so the injecting isn't an issue ? Also try doing a set meal each night until you get your levels right again ? Have you thought that your carb to insulin ratio may need adjusting for your evening meal also ? I tend to be less sensitive to insulin in the evening so have upped my ratio to compensate, this may need a tweak ? Have you also spoken to your DSN/Consultant to review this with them, always worth a call, they are there to help.

Try not to stress too much, you have the right mental attitude, it's just getting your insulin perfectly matched to your carb requirements, it will get better

 

[himtoo]

Hi @Hattonma
welcome to the forum
@Juicyj has it pretty much spot on with her advice-- I especially like the idea of trying the exact same evening meal for a few days and adjusting doses to see if you can crack the riddle.

btw - do you have a set of scales at home to weigh your food ?

 

[novorapidboi26]

It seem like you are pretty much there already, you just need a wee bit more discipline with the snack on the way home and the counting of your carbs for the evening meal.....

could your evening meal be brought forward to allow your pre bed results time to settle...

 

[steve_p6]

Few things I have found useful.

1. Carbs and Cals App to help on the counting.

2. Cut the problem carbs out from dinner for a while while you get a clearer picture. You can reintroduce later if not a fan of low carb.

3. Get a Freestyle Libre for a few weeks and get a proper 24 hr view of what is happening with the BGs

 

[noblehead]

I usually have a snack on way home and sometimes correct and other times leave it to be done with meal. I just then seem to guess tea and under score my carbs. I don't usually eat till 7.30-8.30 and sometimes have a snack before bed so counting and monitoring is tough.. I always wake up to sugars between 10-15 but because of the time of my tea and bed I struggle to get an accurate blood sugar so it's all a guess.

Welcome to the forum @Hattonma

Why do you guess the carb content of your evening meal, it takes no time to weigh foods like potato's and pasta using a cheap set of kitchen scales, if you just took the time to carb count you would then be able to give the appropriate amount of insulin and go to bed and wake on much better bg levels.

To give you an example, I eat porridge oats 6 mornings out of 7 but I still weigh the oats out before bolusing otherwise I might add too much or too little and end up with high/low postprandial bg levels, just take the time to weigh your food and you will reap the rewards.

 

[kelp84]

I had a friend that was trying to be healthy with smoothies ... So at the weekend she would chop up all the ingredients and put them in plastic food bags ready for when she was busy in the week
Maybe you could try this for a few days? Measure out your pasta or rice or potatoes into food bags that are say 30g carbs then when you are busy after work you can grab one and you will know how much it is?

 

[Hattonma]

Hi guys. Firstly i want to say a big thank you to everybody that has replied to me it means a lot. So today has been a reasonable day in terms of my recordings. I am currently waiting to test before bed as i didn't eat till 7. I have read all of your suggestions and am particularly interesting in taking some of them forward.

One thing i do need to do is record all my tests. I have a range of apps but just never seem to record them. Again it come down to me just pushing myself a bit more. Weighing my food is also interesting. I weigh my breakfast cereal every day but when it comes to my tea i just dont do it. I think i see a plate of food and just think i dont know where to start. This is something i will start addressing however. I will try all the different things suggested though.

So tomorrow i will record my results. I purposefully haven't snacked tonight but like the idea of getting something that is carb free to snack on. Earlier on after work i had a sausage roll to pas my train journey home. I looked up the carbs and had my insulin there and then. So i wait with anticipation right now

Thanks everyone

 

[Hattonma]

Ok so my day ended with a disappointing 15 blood sugar result. What was worse is that I was so focused on that and correcting I totally forgot my long acting and woke up at 17. That was a proper schoolboy error and I am so disappointed as I now have to spend the day correcting.l

 

[Hattonma]

Forgot to add that tonight I will be eating at inlaws and when I usually get there it is all plated up. I will use the carbs ad cal app but I find it difficult to use the pictures.
Yesterday's results
Pre breakfast -12
Pre lunch 4.7
Pre snack/ evening meal 7
Pre bed 15

 

[Robinredbreast]

Forgot to add that tonight I will be eating at inlaws and when I usually get there it is all plated up. I will use the carbs ad cal app but I find it difficult to use the pictures.
Yesterday's results
Pre breakfast -12
Pre lunch 4.7
Pre snack/ evening meal 7
Pre bed 15

Hi, ask before the dinner is served if you can weigh your own food, ie potatoes, rice or pasta and tell them you need to weigh the food to make sure you take the correct amount of Insulin. Also my ratio's of Insulin to carbs has altered. over the past couple of years and I have never snacked ( unless hypo) as the food would send my BS soaring. It will tbe a bit of trial and error and tweaking, but you will get there, just take one day at a time, good luck and enjoy your meal.

 

[noblehead]

Forgot to add that tonight I will be eating at inlaws and when I usually get there it is all plated up. I will use the carbs ad cal app but I find it difficult to use the pictures.

They'll always be occasions where we have to guesstimate, but I find it's always best to underestimate the carb content and correct later if necessary.

Back to your evening meal, if you make your meals from scratch then there's a good app available that may help you work out the carb content, the app is called Cook and Count.

 

[Hattonma]

Hi thanks guys. Well the food was already plated and was homemade lasagne. I used the carbs and cal book. Anyway the result was an increase in levels.

I am starting to wonder if my evening doseage is correct. Currently I am on 1.5 ratio. I did try a 2:1 ratio a few months back but it sent me straight to hypo.

I will see how I get on and if no improvement in will test by having a basic tea where I can easily carb count. That will give me a better indication

 

[Hattonma]

Morning all. So a slight victory in that I woke this morning to an 8. I gave myself a correction of 1 with my breakfast to try and bring me down to 5 so let's see. I have found that in a morning I tend to be sensitive to insulin and I am conscious of going hypo. I shouldn't but since when does that matter lol

 

[Hattonma]

Ok so just done a check while on train. Sugar 3 *** an hour after breakfast. Here is a breakdown as suggestions welcome

Pre breakfast 8
Breakfast 30g cereal- weighed, 2 slices of toast.
Total 60 carbs
6 units of insulin plus 1 correction
Total units 7(obviously lol)
Suggestions???