Can't handle hi fibre

[Gaz77]

Hi, I've was diagnosed t1 about a year ago, I've had serious problems with brown bread and other hi fibre produce which affected me anyway ( side effect of spins bifida, I've had since birth) and now been insulin dependant has made my life unbearable to the point of taking an overdose a few weeks ago, I'm in my parents for the past week and eating homemade whitebread ( by my mother) and generally not much fibre and carbs although not overdoing it, my "problems" (bowels) have got back to normal after the worst year of my life but I read that high carbs especially white bread causes complications, is there anything I can do or any advice anyone can give me to deal with the carbs ( maybe too many I'm not sure) as I'd prefer to have a life for 5 more years rather than 20 ( im 41 in june)of misery trying to deal with the fibre diet that diabetics are supposed to eat, and am i predisposing myself to complications, amputation etcI'd really appreciate any advice as I'm still in a bad place and I'd like to get better, thanks for any advice and apologize for the rant

 

[catapillar]

You're type 1, there is no "diabetic diet" for people with type 1. The leading national course for type 1 diabetics is Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating. With emphasis on the normal eating. There's no requirement to eat brown bread or brown rice or wholemeal pasta. There is no "supposed to eat" anything for people with type 1. The DAFNE course teaches matching your insulin doses to the carbs you eat, so if you're carb counting and eating whit bread that shouldn't be a problem. Some people may prefer wholemeal because they can be slower release carbs, so less of a spike. But the spike from simple carbs like white bread can be managed with pre bolusing.

If you aren't carb counting there's a free online version of the DAFNE course from the NHS - www.bertieonline.org.uk

 

[Gaz77]

Thank you so much for that, no one ( nurses, doctor) has said that to me, apart from eat brown bread, porridge hi fibre etc, I thought I was going mad, I really really appreciate it, take care

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Hi, I've was diagnosed t1 about a year ago, I've had serious problems with brown bread and other hi fibre produce which affected me anyway ( side effect of spins bifida, I've had since birth) and now been insulin dependant has made my life unbearable to the point of taking an overdose a few weeks ago, I'm in my parents for the past week and eating homemade whitebread ( by my mother) and generally not much fibre and carbs although not overdoing it, my "problems" (bowels) have got back to normal after the worst year of my life but I read that high carbs especially white bread causes complications, is there anything I can do or any advice anyone can give me to deal with the carbs ( maybe too many I'm not sure) as I'd prefer to have a life for 5 more years rather than 20 ( im 41 in june)of misery trying to deal with the fibre diet that diabetics are supposed to eat, and am i predisposing myself to complications, amputation etcI'd really appreciate any advice as I'm still in a bad place and I'd like to get better, thanks for any advice and apologize for the rant

Hi @Gaz77 I utterly sympathise with the rant and admire you for helping yourself in this way. As the forum shows there are several kinds of diabetes and even within each type, no two people will fare identically. I personally never had any treatment for Type 1 (1959 - 2013) other than a fast acting insulin mixed with a slow and a fixed carbohydrate diet (at least from 1966) of 245 grams a day. However, many treatments are now suggested. What I will say is that the key aim is balanced control. After blood glucose meters were brought in in the late 1970s, it was possible to monitor how the body reacted to illness, stress or any other adrenalised situation, but particularly to carbohydrates and insulin doses. If my blood sugar ran too high for long, I would suffer from a runny nose, diarrhoea, vomiting, dry skin, irritability, lethargy, blurred vision, ketosis, nausea, excessive urination and of course thirst. Many of these symptoms, if left unchecked, can cause complications. I started passing proteins in urine in 1973, had retinopathy which was operated on from 1979 -1983 and Charcot foot from 2013. In theory, according to a Staff Nurse, who looked after me from 1978-1983 in King's College Hospital, I was not expected to survive much longer. She told me this at a wedding at which I was singing in 2005! The reason I survived against expectations was because of tight control from 1983 onwards. On many occasions my 3 month average blood sugar reading (HbA1C) was 6.4 which is not far of a non-diabetic's. There is a tendency to panic when readings of above 7.0 occur, since that is what most diabetologists tell patients to aim for, but in any person, after eating carbohydrates, their blood sugar will go up to about 10.0 and then come down once their own insulin has been involved.
I presume you are under professional care and that the diabetic clinic have put you on at least one type of insulin. What diet have they suggested? DAFNE (Dose Adjusted For Normal Eating), or what? They should be able to help you get somewhere approaching balanced, since this is crucial. Once that is in place, many diabetics fend off serious complications for years. I certainly slowed down kidney disease, only requiring a transplant (pancreas at the same time) in 2013. I felt so much better most of the time from 1983 onwards, but would only feel really unwell if my BS readings were affected by illness or shock (Bank letter, car accident, public speech etc.) or I had gout and cellulitis due to very poor kidney function in the final 3 years.
If you don't get satisfactory support from your team, this forum is outstanding, although like most, I am not medically qualified and can only tell it as I knew it. Some things remain constant, regardless of fashion in treatments. I hope you succeed and begin to enjoy life.

 

[Gaz77]

Hi, thank you for responding to me, I'm on 12 lantus daily and 2 apidra before each meal, it had been working OK bit it is the bowel problems that have ruined my life but only on the last few days I've cit out most hi fibre and eating white bread and for the past week since, things Haven 80% better although now I'm getting more hypos which I don't understand so I put lantus back to 10 now 8 and 2*2 apidra and things seem to be working out well, thank you again

 

[Rokaab]

Thank you so much for that, no one ( nurses, doctor) has said that to me, apart from eat brown bread, porridge hi fibre etc, I thought I was going mad, I really really appreciate it, take care

I think the hi-fibre thing is just what they advise everyone to eat - for diabetics it doesn't really make a difference whether it's hi-fibre or not