Main meals and snacks - timing

[broccoliSK]

Hi everyone. I'm currently following the 'standard' meal plan for diabetics - breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack before bed. However I'm finding this to not be enough as I often get very hungry between meals and my BG goes down as well. Has anyone experienced this? And is it a good idea to snack more often or take bigger snacks? I'm concerned about needlessly running up my BG.

Dave

 

[Jaylee]

Hi Dave,

What insulin regime are you on..?

 

[broccoliSK]

@Jaylee I take bolus insulin before the three main meals (humulin r) and 10 units of basal (lantus) before bed. I hope that answers your question as I'm still new to this and not sure what exactly is meant by an insulin regime (English isn't my native language).

 

[azure]

Do you take set amounts of meal time insulin @broccoliSK or do you adjust the amount depending on what you're going to eat?

If your blood sugar drops low between meals/snacks, then yes, you should eat enough to get it back up into range.

 

[broccoliSK]

@azure I adjust depending on what I'm going to eat since I react very differently to rice and similar amounts of potatoes for example. I also should mention that my postprandial BG is often below 6. Am I controlling my diabetes too tightly? From what I read my postprandial BG should be below 8 so I'm well within the range and maybe that's why my BG tends to fall so often between meals.

 

[azure]

Then you have two options - aim for a slightly higher postprandial number, or keep things as they are but eat a snack to keep your blood sugar up. To me, it sounds like you might need slightly less insulin than you're having (or slightly more carbs in your meal) but if you're not sure, get advice from your nurse or doctor.

If you don't already have a half unit pen, then getting one will help you adjust your meal time insulin amount more easily.

Yes, different carbs can have a different affect on your blood sugar. As long as you know what works for you, then that's ok.

You say English isn't your first language, but you write it well If you're able to understand enough, you could buy the book Think Like A Pancreas. It's very, very popular with Type 1s and has a lot of information in. I'm not sure if it's available in any other languages except English, but you could look.

 

[Kristin251]

It sounds to me like you might be taking a little too much insulin and are feeding it. When I'm dropping I get very hungry which is good so I know to test but I'd rather not drop and take a bit less insulin. I would severely struggle without my half unit pen. I wish I had one for lantus. I really need it. I can keep my bs between 75-105 most of the time. I don't think 6 is unreasonable as long as you're not dropping too low. Then you could adjust insulin to a little less.

Best to talk to your team an dof course test test test

 

[broccoliSK]

@azure @Kristin251 Thank you for your advice, I'll try and experiment a bit with the amount of carbs I eat and how much insulin I use. Unfortunately I don't have a half-unit pen yet but I'll mention this to my doctor to see if she'd recommend it. Also, azure, I've heard of the book you mentioned before and I'm definitely planning on getting it ASAP. I feel like there's so much to learn, it's crazy.