Type 1 Carb addiction

bulkbiker

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19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I am type 1

My previous diabetic nurse said that but my current one seems to think my diet is the root cause of all my issues. It’s not just diabetes it’s ruining, it’s just the fact it’s very unhealthy and I am close to being overweight. And my diet is just sugar and nothing else. I want to be healthy

I think many T1's here would disagree with your nurse that your diet is the "root cause of T1 diabetes"

Your diet may not be helping your blood glucose control that is true but root cause... no.

If you really want to overcome your addiction then I'm afraid it's going to take a lot of effort.

Are there any zero carb foods that you like that you could focus on for a month. Bacon and eggs say or juicy steaks?
Eat zero carb food you love for a week then extend it to 2 and then 3 and 4 and see if that helps.

Don't have any of the rubbish you are addicted to in the house.

You should see improved blood sugar control too which will help the process and your insulin requirements could also drop.
 

ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
I think many T1's here would disagree with your nurse that your diet is the "root cause of T1 diabetes"

Your diet may not be helping your blood glucose control that is true but root cause... no.

If you really want to overcome your addiction then I'm afraid it's going to take a lot of effort.

Are there any zero carb foods that you like that you could focus on for a month. Bacon and eggs say or juicy steaks?
Eat zero carb food you love for a week then extend it to 2 and then 3 and 4 and see if that helps.

Don't have any of the rubbish you are addicted to in the house.

You should see improved blood sugar control too which will help the process and your insulin requirements could also drop.
I really like tuna. And carrots. Apartment carrots aren’t the healthiest cause they have sugar ??
I guess I could try but I know I will be craving for Victoria sponge
 

bulkbiker

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Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I really like tuna. And carrots. Apartment carrots aren’t the healthiest cause they have sugar ??
I guess I could try but I know I will be craving for Victoria sponge

Cravings will reduce over time..but unfortunately food addictions are the hardest as we all have to eat.
However carrots are a lot better than cake...
I was a bread addict and had to cut it out completely.. as a T2 I found it easier as I knew what it was doing to me health wise ..
 
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ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
Cravings will reduce over time..but unfortunately food addictions are the hardest as we all have to eat.
However carrots are a lot better than cake...
I was a bread addict and had to cut it out completely.. as a T2 I found it easier as I knew what it as doing to me health wise ..
I hope so. It’s like this burning urge inside me to get junk food and takeaway. I love burgers and cheese and chicken nuggets and chocolate ugh I hate it
 

Beating-My-Betes

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
I try so hard to eat healthy but I always go back to eating carbs. My body craves for carbs all the time, I am definitely addicted to it. I waste so much money a month on takeaways and junk food. I eat until I get uncomfortably full. if I go shopping and buy crisps with 20 packets inside and a cake, I’d finish it all in one day. I don’t really hear much about carb addiction but it is seriously bothering my life. What can I do? I have this urge always for carbs.
Today I ate coco pops and then shepherds pie and now I’m contemplating going to my local corner shop to buy a big packet of Doritos. Yesterday I did the same and bought chocolate digestives as well as a big packet of cheese and onion crisps. My diet doesn’t include any vegetables or fruits. I drink 2 litre water though. When I try to eat healthier it never lasts. There are vegetables and fruits that I like eating but nothing gives me the high feeling that carbs do. When I don’t get it, I become irritated and very depressed. Maybe it’s a mental health thing because it makes me feel less empty inside. But if I’m watching something interesting, I can’t seem to watch it without junk food. I’m type 1

I've underlined what I think are the really pertinent points. This is not to shame you, but to trace a path through your post that leads to a couple of conclusions that you've already worked out for yourself, i.e that this form of eating is compulsive and driven by a need to get 'high' (a.k.a numb out). From many years of experience using food in the very same way, I understand that "high feeling" as an illusion, that ultimately comes crashing down into a haze of "down"; that is, until the next fix.

This doesn't seem like carb addiction (You don't seem to be craving steamed-rice or bananas), but a junk-food addiction. Generally speaking, the carbs in these 'foods' are there merely to give a physical form to a glut of highly inflammatory, fractioned seed-oils and various chemical concoctions, designed by scientists with funding in the millions (billions) to ensure extreme palatability, with low satiability; the effect of which is an emptiness that keeps craving that same intense hit, and leads to "once you pop, you can't stop"-isms (They even tell us we're gonna get hooked, before we start).

For a very interesting (and extremely infuriating) exposition on the lengths the 'food' industry will go to exploit out biological drives and keep us hooked on these food-like products, read "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite", by David Kessler.

There are spikes involved here, but the dopamine spike is the one to really be concerned about. The Hyper-palatability of these foods gives us experiences so explosive that after a while start to negatively impact our experiences of normal and natural foods. This dopamine rubber-banding effect is similar among any substances or behaviours that elicit supernormal dopamine response. Eventually, it can lead to down-regulation of dopamine receptor sites, and are general non-hijacked life can start to feel very mundane and joyless. Combine that with all the dopamine hits we get from out current daily lives and it's not too hard to see why so many people are identifying with a state of ongoing emptiness known as anhedonia.

Here is a good primer on why we are so susceptible to these issues. I'll caveat this by saying that the doctor is plant-based and works at the True-North Fasting Centre. As such, he frames some of this, and his suggested solutions within a plant-based framework. If that's of no interest to you, then ignore that aspect. The rest of the information will still be useful:


He also has longer talks and interviews, if you search his name on Youtube. And there's also a book, under the same name.
Stephen Guyenet is someone else who has spent a long time looking into food and human biological behaviour. Here are some articles that might be of interest:

https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/Food rewardå

He also has a book: "The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat" - Stephen J. Guyenet.

---------
---------


Ultimately, it might take a bit of effort to work out whether your current pattern of eating is fuelled by needing to numb out non-related issues or whether it's just as a response to the issues bought on by that way of eating (A nasty cycle, I know). This is something that hopefully you can slowly set about discovering. The good news is that with consistent efforts, it becomes easier to break that cycle, at which point it might be clearer the extent to which external issues are at the wheel.

And yes, your taste-buds can be re-sensitised to normal, natural foods.

Counselling is good advice, but it might not be something that's easily accessible for you. From my own experience in counselling, I found my therapist was nothing more than a sounding-board reflecting my own thoughts back at me (The occasional prompt, when I fell silent). Maybe all you need is to find someone neutral and dispassionate, with whom you can just bounce-around ideas. And maybe you'll find that here, or elsewhere online.

Either way, just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and get up, dust yourself down and continue after each fall. You only fail when you no longer bother to get back up :)

All the best!
 
Last edited:

ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
I've underlined what I think are the really pertinent points. This is not to shame you, but to trace a path through your post that leads to a couple of conclusions that you've already worked out for yourself, i.e that this form of eating is compulsive and driven by a need to get 'high' (a.k.a numb out). From many years of experience using food in the very same way, I understand that "high feeling" as an illusion, that ultimately comes crashing down into a haze of "down"; that is, until the next fix.

This doesn't seem like carb addiction (You don't seem to be craving steamed-rice or bananas), but a junk-food addiction. Generally speaking, the carbs in these 'foods' are there merely to give a physical form to a glut of highly inflammatory, fractioned seed-oils and various chemical concoctions, designed by scientists with funding in the millions (billions) to ensure extreme palatability, with low satiability; the effect of which is an emptiness that keeps craving that same intense hit, and leads to "once you pop, you can't stop"-isms (They even tell us we're gonna get hooked, before we start).

For a very interesting (and extremely infuriating) exposition on the lengths the 'food' industry will go to exploit out biological drives and keep us hooked on these food-like products, read "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite", by David Kessler.

There are spikes involved here, but the dopamine spike is the one to really be concerned about. The Hyper-palatability of these foods gives us experiences so explosive that after a while start to negatively impact our experiences of normal and natural foods. This dopamine rubber-banding effect is similar among any substances or behaviours that elicit supernormal dopamine response. Eventually, it can lead to down-regulation of dopamine receptor sites, and are general non-hijacked life can start to feel very mundane and joyless. Combine that with all the dopamine hits we get from out current daily lives and it's not too hard to see why so many people are identifying with a state of ongoing emptiness known as anhedonia.

Here is a good primer on why we are so susceptible to these issues. I'll caveat this by saying that the doctor is plant-based and works at the True-North Fasting Centre. As such, he frames some of this, and his suggested solutions within a plant-based framework. If that's of no interest to you, then ignore that aspect. The rest of the information will still be useful:


He also has longer talks and interviews, if you search his name on Youtube. And there's also a book, under the same name.
Stephen Guyenet is someone else who has spent a long time looking into food and human biological behaviour. Here are some articles that might be of interest:

https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/Food rewardå

He also has a book: "The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat" - Stephen J. Guyenet.

---------
---------


Ultimately, it might take a bit of effort to work out whether your current pattern of eating is fuelled by needing to numb out non-related issues or whether it's just as a response to the issues bought on by that way of eating (A nasty cycle, I know). This is something that hopefully you can slowly set about discovering. The good news is that with consistent efforts, it becomes easier to break that cycle, at which point it might be clearer the extent to which external issues are at the wheel.

Counselling is good advice, but it might not be something that's easily accessible for you. From my own experience in counselling, I found my therapist was nothing more than a sounding-board reflecting my own thoughts back at me (The occasional prompt, when I fell silent). Maybe all you need is to find someone neutral and dispassionate, with whom you can just bounce-around ideas. And maybe you'll find that here, or elsewhere online.

Either way, just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and get up, dust yourself down and continue after each fall. You only fail when you no longer bother to get back up :)

All the best!
Wow thanks so much for this detailed answer, I highly appreciate it :) I understand why it’s so addicting it’s stopping it that is hard. I do crave for pasta and rice sometimes but it’s harder to get and junk food is just much more accessible and I don’t need to make it. Cause I like rice and pasta done especially how I like it and I can’t be bothered to cook. Junk food I can just get it in 2 mins and I don’t have to wait longer and deal with the sadness I have when I’m not eating.
I ate coco pops 20 mins ago and I’m already craving for pizza. And I think later I will go and buy it. If I don’t get it, I won’t be able to relax and concentre on anything.
 
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bulkbiker

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Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I hope so. It’s like this burning urge inside me to get junk food and takeaway. I love burgers and cheese and chicken nuggets and chocolate ugh I hate it
Well the burgers would be fine just not the rest of the junk that comes with them? Could that be a possible solution?
 

NicoleC1971

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Messages
3,451
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Pump
I try so hard to eat healthy but I always go back to eating carbs. My body craves for carbs all the time, I am definitely addicted to it. I waste so much money a month on takeaways and junk food. I eat until I get uncomfortably full. if I go shopping and buy crisps with 20 packets inside and a cake, I’d finish it all in one day. I don’t really hear much about carb addiction but it is seriously bothering my life. What can I do? I have this urge always for carbs.
Today I ate coco pops and then shepherds pie and now I’m contemplating going to my local corner shop to buy a big packet of Doritos. Yesterday I did the same and bought chocolate digestives as well as a big packet of cheese and onion crisps. My diet doesn’t include any vegetables or fruits. I drink 2 litre water though. When I try to eat healthier it never lasts. There are vegetables and fruits that I like eating but nothing gives me the high feeling that carbs do. When I don’t get it, I become irritated and very depressed. Maybe it’s a mental health thing because it makes me feel less empty inside. But if I’m watching something interesting, I can’t seem to watch it without junk food. And if I have something delicious, I have to find something to watch.
I’m type 1
Your post reminds me of myself about 20-30 years ago ! Just being type 1 can get you into an obsession with carbs given the need to count them then if you think about hypos causing extreme carb craving then add in our carb centric society which advocates frequent meals and snacks then it is hardly surprising we're often destined to become addicted with the majority of people then suffering from some form of metabolic problem be that type 2, heart disease and/or obesity as a result. Only a minority are natural skinnies who never develop these problems. We are also told that as type 1s we can eat this kind of a diet provided we dose properly for it yet I've always found this pretty tricky with so many more variables than is implied by a carb: bolus and basal ratio.
My experience was that I binged on carbs and felt utterly convinced that if I could eat this way without consequence then nothing else mattered. I got psychological and chemical help which began with an anti depressant and gradually found that I didn't get such a pleasure hit from the food anymore i.e the drugs stopped working and I stopped associating pleasure (dopemaine hit from carbs) with happiness (seratonin) with the latter being longer lasting and less harmful to my health and self-esteem. It is very hard with food but having realised you've got a problem (an addiction to something which is encouraged and culturally very acceptable) don't use the label addiction as a reason not to do something about a behaviour which is harming you. I found this guy's videos quite stark in their message but he's walked the talk at least and is a medical doctor so could be useful to you. Now my personal policy on carbs is to be low carb without being keto (30g or less per meal and the only thing I am now addicted to is being fit and coffee).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4Mk7vArjSYBa1VKv9-chA
 

Beating-My-Betes

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
Wow thanks so much for this detailed answer, I highly appreciate it :) I understand why it’s so addicting it’s stopping it that is hard. I do crave for pasta and rice sometimes but it’s harder to get and junk food is just much more accessible and I don’t need to make it. Cause I like rice and pasta done especially how I like it and I can’t be bothered to cook. Junk food I can just get it in 2 mins and I don’t have to wait longer and deal with the sadness I have when I’m not eating.
I ate coco pops 20 mins ago and I’m already craving for pizza. And I think later I will go and buy it. If I don’t get it, I won’t be able to relax and concentre on anything.

You're welcome!

Coco Pops is a very refined food. It packs a ton of calories into a very small space, while getting rid of much of what helps signal satiety. If you'd eaten a plate of potatoes or a few bananas, you wouldn't be craving anything; at least, not physically.
You, like me, seem to be someone who still wants to keep carbs in our life. There are ways to achieve that, especially as you are Type I.

Have you tried just sitting 'within' the craving? This is a way of employing mindfulness as a tool to give a clearer frame to your experience. Maybe try it. When you next start to crave, just sit in silence, close you eyes and take a few calming breaths. From there, observe what you are experiencing. From there, ask yourself questions as if you are trying to get to know the essence of the feeling, that you might later explain it to somebody else:

- Where do you feel the craving?
- Is the feeling static, or do you feel it moving through different areas?
- What physical sensations accompany the cravings?
- Does the strength of the cravings rise, and then fall?
- How long do the cravings last?

Etc.. You may find that your experience is similar to many others who find that cravings are fleeting, and will disappear if they aren't acted upon. They may/will return, but eventually if you stop acknowledging them as imperatives you must act on, they will, in most case, get the message and find someone else to bother ;)

Also, try to rig your life in a way that the good things are far more accessible than the bad. This can be achieved by making a rule that there will be no junk food in the house. It son't stop you going out to buy it when you need to, but on many occasions you will find yourself not being bothered. You might also try responding to a craving that you can't sit with, by eating something healthy. If you are thinking about cake, have a handful of home-made trail-mix (raisins, nuts & seeds) or a handful of fruit...and a glass of water. And lastly, use batch-cooking as a way of ensuring you have healthy options at hand. Take one day a week (Or 2 weeks, if you have a large freezer) and just prepare large batches of your favourite healthy meals, then freeze them. Then just make sure to always leave one out to defrost for the next day. At that point, all yo'll have to do is re-heat in the microwave.
 

ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
Your post reminds me of myself about 20-30 years ago ! Just being type 1 can get you into an obsession with carbs given the need to count them then if you think about hypos causing extreme carb craving then add in our carb centric society which advocates frequent meals and snacks then it is hardly surprising we're often destined to become addicted with the majority of people then suffering from some form of metabolic problem be that type 2, heart disease and/or obesity as a result. Only a minority are natural skinnies who never develop these problems. We are also told that as type 1s we can eat this kind of a diet provided we dose properly for it yet I've always found this pretty tricky with so many more variables than is implied by a carb: bolus and basal ratio.
My experience was that I binged on carbs and felt utterly convinced that if I could eat this way without consequence then nothing else mattered. I got psychological and chemical help which began with an anti depressant and gradually found that I didn't get such a pleasure hit from the food anymore i.e the drugs stopped working and I stopped associating pleasure (dopemaine hit from carbs) with happiness (seratonin) with the latter being longer lasting and less harmful to my health and self-esteem. It is very hard with food but having realised you've got a problem (an addiction to something which is encouraged and culturally very acceptable) don't use the label addiction as a reason not to do something about a behaviour which is harming you. I found this guy's videos quite stark in their message but he's walked the talk at least and is a medical doctor so could be useful to you. Now my personal policy on carbs is to be low carb without being keto (30g or less per meal and the only thing I am now addicted to is being fit and coffee).
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk4Mk7vArjSYBa1VKv9-chA
Honestly I feel super jealous of all of you...
I’ve had drug addicts tell me their carb addiction was much much harder to beat than their drug addiction.
And as a child (I was diagnosed at 1) my mum would give me so much carbs and now I’m 20, it’s extremely difficult to break out of the cycle.
 

NicoleC1971

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3,451
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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But you are a T1 right? (would be really helpful if you completed your profile).

According to many T1's here carbs are fine if accompanied by the correct insulin dose.
Personally I disagree but is it just your insulin management that is at fault here rather than your carb addiction?
If I am reading the OPs post correctly I believe there's a psychological and physiological element here. Type 1 s like me can find it very hard to balance carbs and insulin if our carb consumption is out of control. Having to correctly dose a binge means having to face up to what you're stuffing in and that is truly uncomfortable so often we can be less than rational even if we know we will make ourselves ill, more at risk of complications. There's a high incidence of eating disorders with type 1s due to the nature of this beast!
 

NicoleC1971

BANNED
Messages
3,451
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Honestly I feel super jealous of all of you...
I’ve had drug addicts tell me their carb addiction was much much harder to beat than their drug addiction.
And as a child (I was diagnosed at 1) my mum would give me so much carbs and now I’m 20, it’s extremely difficult to break out of the cycle.
I get it and I've been there. It is a thing for type 1s who are taught that they 'need' carbs and encouraged to eat them to avoid hypos. When you try to avoid them your body can feel like it is going low when it is not just because you've got used to higher sugars.
It remains true that you're going to have to find a first step IF you want to change this pattern. I am in no position to preach about this because it took me a few years to be ready to do this and you may need help from an eating disorders specialist. As you've found this isn't about finding low carb subs for your favourite foods but more about changing your relationship with these kind of foods. I truly hope you can find a way that works for you given that my own period of carb addiction probably contributed to my losing some sight in my early 30s (also 20 years post type 1 diagnosis). Happy to offer any further support that I can if any of this is hitting home with you?
 

ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
You're welcome!

Coco Pops is a very refined food. It packs a ton of calories into a very small space, while getting rid of much of what helps signal satiety. If you'd eaten a plate of potatoes or a few bananas, you wouldn't be craving anything; at least, not physically.
You, like me, seem to be someone who still wants to keep carbs in our life. There are ways to achieve that, especially as you are Type I.

Have you tried just sitting 'within' the craving? This is a way of employing mindfulness as a tool to give a clearer frame to your experience. Maybe try it. When you next start to crave, just sit in silence, close you eyes and take a few calming breaths. From there, observe what you are experiencing. From there, ask yourself questions as if you are trying to get to know the essence of the feeling, that you might later explain it to somebody else:

- Where do you feel the craving?
- Is the feeling static, or do you feel it moving through different areas?
- What physical sensations accompany the cravings?
- Does the strength of the cravings rise, and then fall?
- How long do the cravings last?

Etc.. You may find that your experience is similar to many others who find that cravings are fleeting, and will disappear if they aren't acted upon. They may/will return, but eventually if you stop acknowledging them as imperatives you must act on, they will, in most case, get the message and find someone else to bother ;)

Also, try to rig your life in a way that the good things are far more accessible than the bad. This can be achieved by making a rule that there will be no junk food in the house. It son't stop you going out to buy it when you need to, but on many occasions you will find yourself not being bothered. You might also try responding to a craving that you can't sit with, by eating something healthy. If you are thinking about cake, have a handful of home-made trail-mix (raisins, nuts & seeds) or a handful of fruit...and a glass of water. And lastly, use batch-cooking as a way of ensuring you have healthy options at hand. Take one day a week (Or 2 weeks, if you have a large freezer) and just prepare large batches of your favourite healthy meals, then freeze them. Then just make sure to always leave one out to defrost for the next day. At that point, all yo'll have to do is re-heat in the microwave.
I don’t have many favourite healthy meals. I only like tuna but I can’t eat that everyday. And nothing hits right then a sugary breakfast. If I was to eat a banana in the morning it would have to be 4. I have to eat a lot lot lot more of healthy things to become satisfied. But for me a bowl of cereal just does the trick.

I’m sorry you probably feel like nothing you’re saying is getting to me but It is. But it is honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do...

I’ve even tried allowing myself to have a sugary breakfast and healthy meals after but it doesn’t last long. I even bought my favourite fruits (grapes oranges apples) but they would stay in my fridge past the expiry date. Yet I could finish a whole cake by myself in 10 mins.

I feel like the only way I could break out of this sugar addiction is by a miracle.

I have made a big difference though because I never used to drink water, I would get my water from drinking tea and cereal and whatever. And just last year I started drinking 2l water everyday before water tasted so bland and I couldn’t have water without it being mixed with something sweet like juice. But one day I woke up and i just started wanting to drink. So I need that day to come for me with healthy food but that could take decades.

Wirh healthy food it’s not a matter of feeling full because when I eat eggs for example it does take away the hunger but it does not satisfy me. And to be fair I hate this universe and I hate how empty I feel on a daily basis so I mean can you blame me for being so attached to food.

I have terrible anxiety in public so I avoid it at all costs but my cravings are sooo extreme that I suck it up and go and buy junk food. And I can feel the judgement all around me by the public
 

ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
If I am reading the OPs post correctly I believe there's a psychological and physiological element here. Type 1 s like me can find it very hard to balance carbs and insulin if our carb consumption is out of control. Having to correctly dose a binge means having to face up to what you're stuffing in and that is truly uncomfortable so often we can be less than rational even if we know we will make ourselves ill, more at risk of complications. There's a high incidence of eating disorders with type 1s due to the nature of this beast!
I took almost every anti depressant and not a single one helped my cravings
 

ariaxo

Well-Known Member
Messages
194
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
I get it and I've been there. It is a thing for type 1s who are taught that they 'need' carbs and encouraged to eat them to avoid hypos. When you try to avoid them your body can feel like it is going low when it is not just because you've got used to higher sugars.
It remains true that you're going to have to find a first step IF you want to change this pattern. I am in no position to preach about this because it took me a few years to be ready to do this and you may need help from an eating disorders specialist. As you've found this isn't about finding low carb subs for your favourite foods but more about changing your relationship with these kind of foods. I truly hope you can find a way that works for you given that my own period of carb addiction probably contributed to my losing some sight in my early 30s (also 20 years post type 1 diagnosis). Happy to offer any further support that I can if any of this is hitting home with you?
My eyesight has gotten worse too. I used to have 20/20 vision but it’s blurry now. I’ve been to the hospital a couple of times cause of my blood sugars. I have been told I’m close to getting my limbs cut off, and my eyesight gone and that I could be in intense pain and that doesn’t worry me as much as I want it to. I think about how the food gives me immediate satisfaction and not about the long term consequences.

maybe I do need to speak to a professional about it because I’ve done everything now. and if that doesn’t work I’m not gonna try again. Cause when I go on a healthy diet and then at some point, I go back to my old habits, I get ****** off because I could’ve been happy by eating what I wanted and it was all for nothing. Thanks I wish I become like you
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,213
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Honestly I feel super jealous of all of you...
I’ve had drug addicts tell me their carb addiction was much much harder to beat than their drug addiction.
And as a child (I was diagnosed at 1) my mum would give me so much carbs and now I’m 20, it’s extremely difficult to break out of the cycle.

Hi,

I don't feel the cycle should be laid squarely with your mum. The information from HCPs i overheard given to mine was, "oh, if he's going low here. Give him more carbs. Low at night. Snack before bed."
There was never any mention of adjusting insulin. There were only so many sandwiches I can eat..
"Do you need something to eat?" Seemed to be the answer to "everything."

As I became an independent adult & moved out. On visits to my mum (like you do.) she wouldn't let me leave the house without "something." It's also part of an inherrent caring nature as a parent too.
Of course I carry hypo stuff, but It would take 15 minutes (seemed like it.) talking her down from the breadbin.

It's what she was told back in the early days. Old habits die hard. These days she has Alzthiemers. It still sticks.
 
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Beating-My-Betes

Well-Known Member
Messages
653
So I need that day to come for me with healthy food but that could take decades.

I've only quoted this part, as I'd just be repeating myself to deal with the other parts. And no, I'm not being dismissive of your struggle (I am nearly thirty years older than you, and have been dealing with this for most of my life). It's just I think that you have everything you need to take the first small-steps (and they should be small) on your journey.

One important point to realise about habits is they take time to form. And while I'm not suggesting that it'll take the next twenty years for you to deal with those you've already formed, I think it's important to acknowledge how strongly dependent on these dopamine hits you are. You have literally carved new neural pathways in your brain, based on the rewards from these behaviours.

The key is to move consciously, but this time very consciously seek to form new habits and new neural pathways based on new behaviours that you have chosen for yourself.

The silver-lining to this is that you can very clearly explain the process. It's not as though you are falling into subconscious behaviours. You seem to be very cognisant of the patterns that are at work. It's time to try to play them at their own game. Try looking for ways to outwit these cravings, using knowledge about yourself. Start with battles you can win i.e If you want nothing more than cereal in the morning then that might be the last thing to try to tackle. Maybe at the end of the day, when you've indulged those cravings, you might find is the moment to eat something healthy. It might seem counter-intuitive to prefer a healthy dinner than breakfast, but like I said, it's about becoming stronger with every win, before tackling your biggest issues. But if you can manage to eat a healthier meal at night, then you will sleep better, the effect of which, over time, will make your mornings better etc.

Remember: Take small steps, make small changes and keep stacking up those small wins.

All the best
 

NicoleC1971

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My eyesight has gotten worse too. I used to have 20/20 vision but it’s blurry now. I’ve been to the hospital a couple of times cause of my blood sugars. I have been told I’m close to getting my limbs cut off, and my eyesight gone and that I could be in intense pain and that doesn’t worry me as much as I want it to. I think about how the food gives me immediate satisfaction and not about the long term consequences.

maybe I do need to speak to a professional about it because I’ve done everything now. and if that doesn’t work I’m not gonna try again. Cause when I go on a healthy diet and then at some point, I go back to my old habits, I get ****** off because I could’ve been happy by eating what I wanted and it was all for nothing. Thanks I wish I become like you
You are 20 and of course you're not going to be scared by threats of amputation , blndness and dialysis! I don't know why they try with those scare tactics. They are being drama queens but then so are you by stating that 'nothing works' and you won't ever try healthy diets again because you have fallen off the wagon a few times.
The hope should be that you will fail less and less but I think you do need someone to talk things through with and being type 1 may o who open up a few doors as the consequences of your eating behaviours are more serious. Please ask because you are not the only type 1 young adult to be in this position and it sounds as if you live in the US? (or somewhere with access to healthcare )?
Another person that I came across is Dr Jody Stanislaw (type 1). She is in Colorado and does free consultations.
https://www.instagram.com/type1.dr.jody.nd/?hl=en
 

NicoleC1971

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ps I'd like to add that all of us type 1s slip up all the time. I certainly do with chocolate but enjoy eating it for pleasure now rather than it being a compulsion so its not such a stress as it once was.