Eating late evening

[TonyTruthful]

Hi Fellow T1’s

Need of some help today.

Me = T1 male since Feb this year. Last 2 months I have been very relaxed and not tested, eating the wrong stuff, drinking everyday, fallen off the lorry if you will. I know there’s problem and my sugars were at 17 yesterday morning and 12 this morn and so on. One of the problems I have is that I don’t like taking fast acting insulin to late at night because I am scared of going too low in my sleep and dying basically. (I like a drink most nights.) I spoke to my nurse and they said that when I become more confident with my D I will over come this.

My problem will be tonight when my partner comes home from work at 9pm and will want to eat before going bed around 11pm. I usually just add small amount of Novorapid or just leave it all together. I suppose the options are low carb or not eating at this time – but surely that’s the D controlling me.

Any advice would be extremely appreciated from anyone. Not just T1s.

Tony "in need of help" Truthful

 

[cugila]

Tony. (you did say anyone...... :wink

With numbers such as you quote the Diabetes is already controlling you. What you are doing is not good for your health at all. YOU need to stop being 'relaxed' about things and get back to testing and controlling your Diabetes. That way you will avoid complications. Diabetes is for life, not something you can just switch on and off when you feel like it !

As for eating that late at night, many people do. If it is causing YOU a problem, then eat at normal times. When I used to work shifts I didn't eat with everybody when I got home, that is making them fit in with what I do. I wouldn't have expected or wanted them to wait for me. Very romantic and all that, but definitely NOT good for the digestion as far as they were concerned.

As for Insulin doseage if you do stick with eating at those times, I am sure some of our more knowledgable T1's will be able to help you out with that.

 

[glitterzoe]

Hi I am type 1 and have been for 30 years, I also hate takeing my insulin BUT its not something you want to miss, the reprecutions are VERY VERY bad. The night time insulin is the base line that keeps your bloods controled during the rest of the day, if like me you wake up with low bloods then try moving the night time to the day (PLEASE GET ADVICE FROM YOUR DOCTOR OR DIABETIC NURSE FIRST) if you do this you still must keep the time the same every day, I found this good for me as I now dont have low bloods in a morning. As for falling off the waggon meny diabetics find it over welming at some point in there lives, I my self was silly enough to stop all medication because I was "sick of the injections 4 times a day" this landed me in hospital for meny weeks and it was not a good time at all. This is not a good way to live yopu will find that you will be able to live a "normal" life once you have more control and know all the hints your body can give you about your health (yes even being able to have a drink). all the best for the rest of your life remember "diabetes, for life not just for christmas" :lol:

 

[phoenix]

Tony, you can't alter things just for tonight. No-one can really give you advice to do anything different just for one evening. I would hesitate to say you should take a large amount of rapid before bed when your levels are so unpredictable.
I normally have good control but can still make errors when eating out of normal patterns.On the 2 times I have eaten late during the last couple of weeks I have woken at 2am with levels in the 2s, so I think you're fears (particularly if you are hypo unaware) are justified.
I tfeel that you should eat at your normal time on this occasion, but start thinking about getting things under better control. Get back to testing, and then sort your insulin/carb ratio out. When you're more controlled then you can start to work out the best way of dealing with late meals(if thats a regular thing)
Do a search on basal testing, there's lots of threads on it.
Look at the BDEC online course to give yourself a refresher on how to carb count/insulin adjust .

Knowledge in this case is definitely power, get yourself in control, then you'll have more options.

 

[NickW]

I've never understood the whole "don't let diabetes control you" thing. Diabetes is just one part of life, and for those of us who have it it's as fundamental as the need to breathe or eat or drink. I don't see my need to take in oxygen a few times every minute as "controlling" me, and neither do I see needing to manage my diabetes as "controlling" me.

You've already said yourself what the answers are - don't eat that late, or eat low carb, or inject some insulin. Or don't, and live with the consequences (i.e. the high BG). They are your options, and whichever one you choose is up to you - it's not the diabetes controlling you, it's you choosing an option from a list.

You're an adult, and sometimes adults have to make decisions and do things that they don't want to do, because they're the right thing. That's just life; suck it up, buttercup, and do the right thing!

I mean, will your partner really be bothered if you tell them you can't eat dinner together because it's bad for your health, so you're going to eat earlier but sit and chat with them while they eat instead? Will they kick off if you skip the bread and pasta for the sake of not going blind and keeping both your feet?

If you do decide to eat that late, then inject the insulin! If you're worried about night-time hypos then try injecting less that normal (e.g. if you think you need 10 units, inject 7 or so), but make sure you monitor your blood and see what it does (i.e. test before you eat, before bed, when you wake up). Over the course of a week or two of doing this you'll easily see the trends, and you can see if you need more insulin. This is a way of building up your confidence so you can inject the right amount without worrying about night-time hypos. Personally, I find that if I eat really late I actually need slightly more insulin because you become less insulin sensitive overnight; but this is a personal thing and you need to test and see how it affects you.

Every diabetic needs to take personal responsibility for managing their condition. It sounds like you know what you ought to be doing, which is a great first step; now you actually need to put it into practice. Get back on the wagon today, start testing and recording the results, sort your injections out, sort your diet and exercise out if you need to. These are all easy things to do, it just takes a bit of commitment from you. If you choose not to do this and just let your bloods run high, that's your decision - but don't delude yourself. If you do this, you are still making a conscious decision - you're deciding to sacrifice your health for the sake of an easier short-term life.

Sorry if that comes across as harsh, but you know what you need to do - so just do it!

 

[howie]

stay up an extra hour to give you a good indication on dosage?

i'd be pretty worried waking with numbers like those, also i'd expect to feel pretty rough. at least use 'some' insulin or leave the carbs out.

howie

p.s drink low carb beers, like holsten pills, coors light or one of the czech beers.

 

[TonyTruthful]

I've never understood the whole "don't let diabetes control you" thing. Diabetes is just one part of life, and for those of us who have it it's as fundamental as the need to breathe or eat or drink. I don't see my need to take in oxygen a few times every minute as "controlling" me, and neither do I see needing to manage my diabetes as "controlling" me.

You've already said yourself what the answers are - don't eat that late, or eat low carb, or inject some insulin. Or don't, and live with the consequences (i.e. the high BG). They are your options, and whichever one you choose is up to you - it's not the diabetes controlling you, it's you choosing an option from a list.

You're an adult, and sometimes adults have to make decisions and do things that they don't want to do, because they're the right thing. That's just life; suck it up, buttercup, and do the right thing!

I mean, will your partner really be bothered if you tell them you can't eat dinner together because it's bad for your health, so you're going to eat earlier but sit and chat with them while they eat instead? Will they kick off if you skip the bread and pasta for the sake of not going blind and keeping both your feet?

If you do decide to eat that late, then inject the insulin! If you're worried about night-time hypos then try injecting less that normal (e.g. if you think you need 10 units, inject 7 or so), but make sure you monitor your blood and see what it does (i.e. test before you eat, before bed, when you wake up). Over the course of a week or two of doing this you'll easily see the trends, and you can see if you need more insulin. This is a way of building up your confidence so you can inject the right amount without worrying about night-time hypos. Personally, I find that if I eat really late I actually need slightly more insulin because you become less insulin sensitive overnight; but this is a personal thing and you need to test and see how it affects you.

Every diabetic needs to take personal responsibility for managing their condition. It sounds like you know what you ought to be doing, which is a great first step; now you actually need to put it into practice. Get back on the wagon today, start testing and recording the results, sort your injections out, sort your diet and exercise out if you need to. These are all easy things to do, it just takes a bit of commitment from you. If you choose not to do this and just let your bloods run high, that's your decision - but don't delude yourself. If you do this, you are still making a conscious decision - you're deciding to sacrifice your health for the sake of an easier short-term life.

Sorry if that comes across as harsh, but you know what you need to do - so just do it!

Agreed! I have let myself slip. Think I might have finished the honeymoon period.

Out of interest I had a chippy tea and took 4 units of Novorapid and woke up with a BG of 9.

I need to see my D nurse specialist but taking the time off work is a pain and only just started new job and don't want to be seen as sicky.

I drink larger most days and that raises my bg in the 10s and I think i should taking fast acting with this. But my nurse said it was too soon to be doing this, I'm very confused at the moment.

I'm having a bad D time. I still get embarrassed about it. That prob sounds silly but i just feel inferior and like a leaper and don't like it when people take the **** out of me.

 

[Patch]

I'm having a bad D time. I still get embarrassed about it. That prob sounds silly but i just feel inferior and like a leaper and don't like it when people take the **** out of me.

My mates always take the p**s out of me for my T2. It's a running joke. "Pat's not Diabetic, he's just lazy". I'm quite happy to laugh along wuth them.

I'd rather that than people I don't even know looking at my (lack of) feet... (Won't have to worry about this if I'm blind as well, though).

 

[keeer]

Alcohol lowers your blood suagr anyway. when I've spoken to nurses before they've said "if you plan to drink an excessive ammount, don't do any insulin while your out, get a takeaway afterwoods, then do your background insulin and eat when you get up - always avoid alchopops as they contain sugar and alcohol which **** with your blood sugars in an unpredictable way." They also said there's very little research with regards to diabetes and alcohol.

People are right here though, the sad fact of life is you can't really live the life you once had with type one diabetes (same applies to most illnesses I might add). I guess this is what you describe as the diabetes controlling you. I got into the habbit of eating things like bread before I went to sleep due to having dozens of hypos at night when I was a kid. It's stuck with me for awhile and even know I feel worried.

Low carbs not really an option as the alcohol will make your blood sugar drop, so having a constant fat line all day and then exposing your body to alcohol will make it dip at night (well when you drink really, but your cortisol levels will be higher at night). Just make a plan of action for when you do drink. I used to be really fit and confident and the sad fact is... that life is now gone and the suggestion that I can easily go to a gym and get fit again is fairly unrealistic. The moment you unwillingly add something to your life it takes control. Given the choice of being unfit and being blind though, I'll go with the unfitness everytime.

 

[Celtic.Piskie]

We can't??

I run for an hour every day. I go long boarding, skiing most years, and I am extremely fit, I sled Malamutes, certainly not for the faint hearted lol.
My blood sugars are fine.

It is confusing... there's no doubt about that.
It will be easier once you get out of the honeymoon period, as there's nothing comiong from your pancreas at all.
At the moment, your pancreas is dying. Sometimes it works better than others, so you'll never have the best control in the world, because of the sporadic insulin you get from your pancreas.

It does take a little bit more work. But 'that' life is certainly not gone.

As for your mates, you might be diabetic, but at least your face didn't get smashed by the ugly sewer / your ass doesn't have it's own post-code / your more useful than a windscreen wiper on a goat's ass.

Your mates don't know how to deal with this. They don't know how it's affecting you, and they don't know that you're this worried about it.
They're telling jokes because they want you to see that they don't care.
That they still value you as a friend, and that it doesn't matter .
I know it hurts, but they don't know that. They don't mean it to.... It's just the usual bloke-to-bloke **** taking.
They're just trying to deal with it.
It might help if you explain exactly what's going on... once it becomes normal and boring, they won't care anymore.

As for the novorapid, your nurse is right. You will become more confident, but you do have to deal with it.
If you don't want to take your insulin, then don't. But don't eat at the same time.
Maybe you'll feel safer if there's a bottle of lucozade next to the bed.
Maybe comprimise... have a lower carb meal with a lower than normal dose, but some.

Either way, you cannot keep those numbers for long.

Good luck.

 

[shotgunkiss]

hey all, im new to the forum and just getting a jist of how this works...
Im type 1, and have been for a coming up to two years... still not got the knack of it, as i have decided to totally ignore it and do the bare minimum i guess to stay out of hospital.
im a huge fan of late night eating... i know its not the best, and the one time ive seen a doc in the last two years they told me never to eat after 6pm. Thing is, although the stuff im grazing on in the evening is generally sweet, im not a totally silly about it.. i inject (either before or after eating), go to sleep, do my lantus, expect to wake up and sugars be cool. For months now the lowest my sugars have been is in the teens... they go up to the thirtys...
Does anyone have any ideas why eating late at night would do this? Also if im injecting for these late night snacks, surely i shouldnt be waking up with them so high?

Reading over this should probs just suck it up and stop stuffing my face!

 

[martinbutt]

I have been a diabetic type 1 for 47 years and I still get problems with eatting late at night.Try to get it right the penalties are great I'm just recovering from heart surgery. But getting on well. If my blood sugars are over 10 at night I tend to boost my insulin by 2 units. Good luck.

 

[shotgunkiss]

Thanks Martin... I hope you're doing ok now x

 

[Debloubed]

hey all, im new to the forum and just getting a jist of how this works...
Im type 1, and have been for a coming up to two years... still not got the knack of it, as i have decided to totally ignore it and do the bare minimum i guess to stay out of hospital.
im a huge fan of late night eating... i know its not the best, and the one time ive seen a doc in the last two years they told me never to eat after 6pm. Thing is, although the stuff im grazing on in the evening is generally sweet, im not a totally silly about it.. i inject (either before or after eating), go to sleep, do my lantus, expect to wake up and sugars be cool. For months now the lowest my sugars have been is in the teens... they go up to the thirtys...
Does anyone have any ideas why eating late at night would do this? Also if im injecting for these late night snacks, surely i shouldnt be waking up with them so high?

Reading over this should probs just suck it up and stop stuffing my face!

Eek, in the 30's?! that scares me just reading this post, let alone how you must feel reading your meter!! if your BG's are not going lower than the teens then you really, really need to get some help with your insulin dosage and/or calculations. Don't mean to sound like your Mum, but please don't just wait til your next appt as with consistent levels that high, you may as well not have been diagnosed?! :shock:
Go back to your DN or Doc and insist on some help!! They get paid to help you :wink: