Advice for T1 with very active job

[Sarah_1_2_3]

Hi,

I'm writing on behalf of my husband, who hates comps lol.

He is T1 and has been sine he was a child he is now 29. He has a very active job, he is a farmer and it can vary from chasing cows to sitting in a tractor all day. He is by the clinic told to keep his BS between 6 and 9 for his job. But he find anything below 8 to be an issue. He finds to keep his levels stable thro the day he needs to be at least 8 or spends his day having to stop and have chocolate to prevent a hypo. Yet the clinic dont seem to be able to regiter that his job is very demanding and keep saying to him that he souldnt need to be at the stage of preventing a hypo daily. In which case he nees to alter his insulin accordingly. Yet they dont reccomend his sugar above 9.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do, other that what he is doing already. He is at the stage where the clinic annoy him as they cant understand he doesn sit in an office thor the day and his exercise level can vary considerably.

Sarah x

 

[cugila]

Hi,

I'm writing on behalf of my husband, who hates comps lol.

He is T1 and has been sine he was a child he is now 29. He has a very active job, he is a farmer and it can vary from chasing cows to sitting in a tractor all day. He is by the clinic told to keep his BS between 6 and 9 for his job. But he find anything below 8 to be an issue. He finds to keep his levels stable thro the day he needs to be at least 8 or spends his day having to stop and have chocolate to prevent a hypo.

Instead of Chocolate he should eat little and often to keep his energy levels up and this in turn will tend to stabilise the blood glucose levels. There are many T1's who have stressful, demanding jobs. It's all about the balance. Seems like your man needs to adjust things.

Yet the clinic dont seem to be able to regiter that his job is very demanding and keep saying to him that he souldnt need to be at the stage of preventing a hypo daily. In which case he nees to alter his insulin accordingly. Yet they dont reccomend his sugar above 9.

I agree totally with the Clinic. He should be able to manage the condition better, as above there are many T1's in far more arduous occupations who cope well. It has to be HIS job to adjust food intake/fluids/Insulin etc to stay within those guidelines. HE has to change some things. It's his health that is the priority here, poor health, maybe no job. then where would he be ?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do, other that what he is doing already. He is at the stage where the clinic annoy him as they cant understand he doesn sit in an office thor the day and his exercise level can vary considerably.

I am sure the Clinic understand very well the pressures he may have. What HE has to understand is that Diabetes is ALL about self management. That's what HE needs to do. Change a few things that's all.

 

[jopar]

Hi Sarah

By what you say he sounds a good candidate for an insulin pump..

Does he carb count at all?

The range of 6-9 is a pretty tight range, the 9 is a tad on the high side, but I can see where they are coming from, trying to put you hubby into a position of tight steady control... Which with his job isn't going to be easy at all..

I suspect some of his problems with going below 8mmol/ml is partly that he's been running higher BG's and this has become his personal bottom line and partly due to knowing that below this he going to start to get problems with hypo's..

At the begining I said about an insulin pump, this could give him a lot more flexiability and more able to handle the changing needs of his job, as he can deliver very small amount of insulin indeed.. If he looks at what his regime is now, his background insulin is what one or injections a day, tied to a certain time, it's dificult to change the amount from one day to another but with a pump you can adjust the background delivery very easily, as it only uses quick acting insulin..

You can be more pro-active with an pump than you can with injections, myself being a dog handler which is and can be very physical the pump is fantastic indeed

 

[rgarcha]

Hi,
My advise to you would be, that your husband should try eatting a high carb diet. That why the glucose is released slowly through your system, hence less chance of going hypo. Also adjust his insulin accordingly to the amounts of carbs taken, at each meal, he should know how to do this, if he has diabetes for some time, if he doesnt, we all here to help and advise.

take care.
Rav

 

[Clarky]

I'm having the same problems, but I've only just been diagnosed.

I manage to keep my BG below seven during the day, but have to snack between meals to keep above four. I obviously go above seven after eating, but as long as it's back down after two-three hours, I've been told this is ok. I use cereal bars to snack on which have about 10-15g of carbs per bar and don't generally send me too high. I have alarms set on my phone for when it's time to snack. I find it real hard and was told it'll get better when my honeymoon period is over. But from what you're saying about your husband, maybe it wont get better.

I've also been told chocolate is no good. Apparently that's what they used to teach diabetics. A friend of mine I used to work with always carried a mars bar, he's been diabetic for about 20 yrs. So when I was diagnosed, I did the same, but found it would shoot me far too high, so wasn't really a good solution. I make sure I've always got a full bottle of Lucozade in my tool box for emergencies and I carry cereal bars for snacking on between meals.

 

[Debloubed]

Hi, I think what the clinic are saying is that your hubby should be counting carbs and running his BG levels a bit tighter? I understand your/his frustations that clinics and nurses don't seem to understand but mostly, they have come across all kinds of situations and bottom line, the advice is the same thoroughout - take control and be in control! It must be horrible for your hubby to have to be worried all day long but as others have said, I don't think it's the job that is the issue here it's the kind of control he has. Does he count carbs? Does he adjust his insulin in line with what he eats? In simple terms, if he is always going low then maybe he is injecting too much for the food he is eating? Not as easy as it sounds, I know this! :?

 

[Sarah_1_2_3]

Hi, and thankyou for the replies.

I possibly didnt explain the whole situation. He has a basal insulin at night then a fast acting insulin as and when he eats, depending on how much and what he has eaten. His probelm being that he has lunch for example to suit a regular (or as precdictable as he can imagine) day at work. He then finds if anything unusual happens, such as he needs to be out at the cows, he is verging on a hypo afterwards. Where he then has to up his levels (my appologies he doesnt use chocolate, I thought that, i got told off for saying he did) with glucose tabs which they suggested he use. They have recently changed him to this insulin regieme in a hope that it can be easier for him to alter. His problem still being that he is struggling to predict what hes going to be doing, it is very wide range in exercise level which can change with from one min to the next.

Jopar, I'm not sure what this insulin pump is. Is it similar to what he is on? I did think the range they ask for is quite strict, but I can see why too. What you say about him being used to being at 8 is a good suggestion. Maybe he knows anything less can cause a problem and is afraid to go below it. He says at home his levels are ususally about 7 and he can keep them like this, and the same when hes having a what he calls an easy day doing tractor work.

When I asked him about carbs, he said yes he does use carbs to keep his levels thro the day. Where it works fine unless he has to then go to do somthing more energetic. Should be predicting that hes going to be needing more suagr when he finds out they are away to chase after cows for example? he finds afterwards his levels are lower. As for the suggestion of eating little and often thats not really possible in a working day as he cant just stop for a snack. They have routine times for lunch etc. Since he works from 7am to anything from 7 till 10 in the evening it is hard to stop just anytime. Well so i'm told anyway, I think the job is quite strict with the time is money attitude, as with many farms.

Cugil, my appologies for suggesting he was struggling on his new regieme. We were looking for advice, hence why i posted. I'm sorry if you got irrate about it, i didnt intend to upset anyone.

Thanks for those who replied, we are greatful of the advice x

 

[cugila]

My apologies. I haven't got irate with anybody. It is factual as usual......not sure why you would think that......... :?