can anyone recommend any foods to help me stop spiking after a meal levels then come down okay thanks
blood levels spiking
- Thread starter andrew ferenc
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How long after a meal are you testing eg 1hr, 2hr? Also what insulin do you take with meals, some act faster than others?
Low GI foods will help, see the diet forums here for some ideas, there are lots of people who post here who eat low GI stuff so there should be lots of suggestions there.
Low GI foods will help, see the diet forums here for some ideas, there are lots of people who post here who eat low GI stuff so there should be lots of suggestions there.
Debloubed
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Hi ya, would need a bit more info I think, what foods are causing the spike? Which insulin do you use? do you carb count? There are loads of foods out there which cause little or no movement to your BG but I would imagine, as a type 1, it is your insulin which needs adjustment - having said that, dif foods affect different people! I find certain cereals hard to calculate insulin dosage for but bananas and apples, I barely need any insulin. strange, but true!
2 hours after meals using novarapid
yes i am carb counting
chips cornflakes but to be honest it can be anything really just wanted to try something different and any suggestions would be appreciated got no confidence in my diabetic nurse
yes i am carb counting
chips cornflakes but to be honest it can be anything really just wanted to try something different and any suggestions would be appreciated got no confidence in my diabetic nurse
Debloubed
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well chips and cornflakes are both high carbs, so what about adjusting your ratio's? It could be that your night time ratio neds to be different from your morning and lunchtime ratio? My bolus ratio changes about 4 times a day! Ok, so I'm on a pump but I used to change it on MDI, particularly in the evening, for some reason I needed less insulin before 9pm but more after!
when u say change ratio for these foods do you mean give more insulin? if so will this make me go low later on told by nurse novarapid works for 2/3 hours but have read it can work for up to 5 hours is this correct
Hi Andew
Out of all the available analogue bolus insulins, Novorapid (name is misleading) is probably the slowest in onset and also lasts the longest whereas Humalog and Apidra get to work a bit quicker and their action lasts for about 3.5 - 4hrs. Novorapid is ok for normal carb meals - 30-40g but anything higher in carb, it will struggle a bit to work but because more of it is needed, it starts to have a knock on effect on bg levels 4hrs after it has been injected. The answer I think is for you to either change bolus insulins or eat smaller carb meals.
I have a feeling that yr dsn hasn't explained to you yet about calculating yr bolus insulin using a ratio? All of us using insulin need to be able to inject enough bolus for the food we eat so that we can all have bg levels within healthy targets and using a ratio for example helps people calculate their insulin better than using just 'guesswork'. People start to use the ratio of 1u for every 10g carb to begin with and then by testing bg levels, see if their calculation gives them the desired bg levels that they need to get, if it doesn't they then have to adjust the ratio. It's common for people to need more bolus insulin in the morning, than they do later in the day but everyone is different so you'll have to find out for yourself. I've done a few posts explaining ratios without trying to make it complicated so have a read and also look at Noblehead's posts. Phoenix has also posted some really good links regarding carb counting and using ratios.
Out of all the available analogue bolus insulins, Novorapid (name is misleading) is probably the slowest in onset and also lasts the longest whereas Humalog and Apidra get to work a bit quicker and their action lasts for about 3.5 - 4hrs. Novorapid is ok for normal carb meals - 30-40g but anything higher in carb, it will struggle a bit to work but because more of it is needed, it starts to have a knock on effect on bg levels 4hrs after it has been injected. The answer I think is for you to either change bolus insulins or eat smaller carb meals.
I have a feeling that yr dsn hasn't explained to you yet about calculating yr bolus insulin using a ratio? All of us using insulin need to be able to inject enough bolus for the food we eat so that we can all have bg levels within healthy targets and using a ratio for example helps people calculate their insulin better than using just 'guesswork'. People start to use the ratio of 1u for every 10g carb to begin with and then by testing bg levels, see if their calculation gives them the desired bg levels that they need to get, if it doesn't they then have to adjust the ratio. It's common for people to need more bolus insulin in the morning, than they do later in the day but everyone is different so you'll have to find out for yourself. I've done a few posts explaining ratios without trying to make it complicated so have a read and also look at Noblehead's posts. Phoenix has also posted some really good links regarding carb counting and using ratios.
just had cornflakes and a few chocolate stars was 7.4 had 4 units of novarapid 2 hours later now 16.2 what do you suggest
will post my level again when i test in another 2 hours
will post my level again when i test in another 2 hours
andrew ferenc said:
How much carb did the cornflakes + milk and the chocolate stars equal? Obviously from yr msg, the 4u of Novorapid was not enough bolus although chocolate usually sends bg levels up (although it contains fat as well).
With a bg level of 7.4mmol before you eat, you are looking to try and get yr bg levels 2hrs later to be about 9 or 10mmol and not 16. Try next time to use a ratio of 1 unit to 7gms carb so that you are lower 2hrs later. Ideally you should try to be 7 or 6 before you eat but then no higher than 9 or 10 two hrs later. If you are lower than 8, then you will need to eat a small snack depending on just how low you have dropped - 5-10gms carb biccie does the trick.
At the moment dont eat anymore food until yr bg levels start to drop down to 5 and depending on what time this happens, look at the clock and work out the time you injected the Novo and whether its coming to the end of its action. If you look at some of my posts I've posted about correction factors and how to use targets to calculate them.
At the moment dont eat anymore food until yr bg levels start to drop down to 5 and depending on what time this happens, look at the clock and work out the time you injected the Novo and whether its coming to the end of its action. If you look at some of my posts I've posted about correction factors and how to use targets to calculate them.
andrew ferenc said:
Have a look at
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18366#p167104
Most people find that 1u bolus will make their bg level drop by 2 or 3mmol as a correction, but often people over correct (not deliberately though, it's more that they dont use targets to correct to or know how to). I've got no idea what your ideal TDD of insulin will need to be but until you eventually find it yourself by adjusting yr bolus insulin upwards or downwards, so that good levels can be achieved, use a sensible target of 8 to correct to and work on 1u will drop you by 2mmol
andrew ferenc said:
Its taken Novo about 4hrs to make you drop back to 3.9 which is now a bit low so you need to eat some sort of lunch and bolus again with the Novo. Because you are low drink a bit of lucozade just to lift yr levels up a touch to 6 or 7 (50ml) or eat a couple of sweets before you eat yr lunch.
thankyou for taking time to help me i feel your input is very good and hopefully will get some good results i will keep posting my readings and hopefully you wont get to bored thanks again for your help andrew
Debloubed
Well-Known Member
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- 828
- Type of diabetes
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- Dislikes
- When people say 'Pacific' instead of 'Specific' :-)
andrew ferenc said:
Hi, I see you have stacks of fab advice already, but to answer your question, what ratio of insulin to carbs do you use, ie: is it 1 unit of insulin to 10g carbs or 0.75 units to 10g, so on and so forth. Carb counting is crucial to make these ratio's work properly. For example, you say you had 40g carbs with your cornflakes, milk etc. on a 1-10 ratio you would bolus 4 units of Novorapid. But perhaps your ratio should be 1.5-10, so you should be bolusing 6 units - for example!! all these are hypothetical, you need to discuss with your DN re: carb counting and ratio's. How did you learn to carb count? did you do DAFNE or INSIGHT or similar?
only info on carb counting i have recieved was from diabetic dietician i use information on food packets and books given to me by the diabetic clinic been weighing food and have kept a diary of meals how much insulin given etc
just been struggling with readings after 2 hours
also put under impression that novarapid was only in the body for 1to 2 hours
as i have previously said have no confidence in the diabetic nurse
the twist to all this is it is my 9 year old son who is diabetic andstops with me for 5 days and then is mum for 9 days i have not been told when is appointments are at the hospital so do not get to have any input to is treatment i take it very seriously and am trying to get good readings i feel i have learnt more today than in the last 4 years
just been struggling with readings after 2 hours
also put under impression that novarapid was only in the body for 1to 2 hours
as i have previously said have no confidence in the diabetic nurse
the twist to all this is it is my 9 year old son who is diabetic andstops with me for 5 days and then is mum for 9 days i have not been told when is appointments are at the hospital so do not get to have any input to is treatment i take it very seriously and am trying to get good readings i feel i have learnt more today than in the last 4 years
