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Type 1 Carb counting.

P

paulmgsmith

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hey everyone!

Just had my consultation today, and after 27 years of living with type 1 diabetes, they’ve finally convinced me to start carb counting – using a new app called Sugar Snap.

The app itself seems pretty decent so far, but one thing they didn’t really explain is how to turn the carb count into an actual insulin dose. Does that make sense?

So I’m reaching out to this amazing community – does anyone have experience with Sugar Snap, or can you recommend another app or method that helps calculate how many units of insulin to take based on your carb intake?

As always, I’m really grateful for any help, advice, or support you can share.

Paul Smith
 
usually the DSN / Consultant / Diabetic dietician would give you an insulin to carb ratio to start with. based on blood sugars pre/post meal they could be adjusted. for me insulin to carb ratio changed a fair bit. what the dietician i spoke to originally did was to get me to count the carbs and simply mark the carbs for the first week before discussing insulin to carb ratio to try, then followed up at frequent intervals to try another ratio (which was also guided) to see if it led to better or worse control. It would be netcarbs divided by your given insulin to carb ratio. were you given info on avoiding counting certain food eg lettuce in salad whilst counting onions or the likes of?
 
ps you may want to ask about DAFNE course if havent already you can find some info on the the following website: https://dafne.nhs.uk/
 
paulmgsmith said:
The app itself seems pretty decent so far, but one thing they didn’t really explain is how to turn the carb count into an actual insulin dose. Does that make sense?
Click to expand...
Whatever app you use, it can only advise you on dosing after you told it what your ratios are.
Some people need 1 unit of insulin for 20 grams of carbs, others need 1 unit for 2 grams of carbs, and those ratios usually are different depending on time of day.

I don't have experience with carb counting apps, but if you start carb counting, it makes sense to log the carbs you eat together with the insulin you took, and your blood glucose before and after.
This will tell you if your dose for this amount of carbs was correct, too much, or too little.

And based on those logs, you and your team can work out your ratios.
 
forgot to mention earlier they can change with exercise too eg if exercising maybe possible to reduce further (that was introduced for me a few weeks down the line). eg 25% reduction upto 50% depending on activity alongside length of activity. i had logged activites alongside time of, eg short stroll 30 mins was considered low whereas swimming they thought (based on cgm readings .. as moderate).

something else to consider depending on which country your in carbs maybe reported differently good example is UK its netcarbs which is listed (carbs-fibre). whereas if USA they would list totalcarbs, inclusive of carbs which dont really digest (fibre).
 

Thank you for your reply with all the relevant information, sadly no all they done was tell me what app to download and send me on my way, it’s only when I got home and actually opened the app I realised that the amount of carbs I’m eating doesn’t really mean anything to me, I have tried reaching out to my team so hopefully they can fill in the blanks with the information needed but thanks once again for your comment
 

Thank you for your reply and comments. The app is called sugar snap and it’s actually really helpful, they also gave me an app called my life app which your meant to put your carbs and current blood sugar level in and it gives you the does to take as a recommendation however they didn’t explain to me how to workout everything out in the meantime sadly but will get there one day but try the apps if you fancy exploring a little
 
theres the basics: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/carbohydrate-counting.html careful with the insulin to carb ratio, that maybe needed to be adjusted to your particular needs.

I'll look out notes i took whilst spoke to diabetic dietician several times if you like. more or less after a few pointers and basic questions asked was left to self. most dsn's seem to want to put you in control and pass on enough knowledge to let you treat your own condition. This can have many advantages and of course for some people disadvantages.

diary i was told not to include in calculation for breakfast (usually 2 wheatabix 26-28g carbs depends on brand morrisons own variant is 26g). for macronni chese i weighed the cooked pasta then reweighed with sauce in it and had to add a little more (milk/cheese etc contains sugars too). carbs digested convert to sugars.

running a little higher in general is safer than running a lot lower can always do a dose adjustment if necessary later on if still high. or if low can eat some dextrose/jellybabies/lift or whatever else your goto is for quick acting carbs. you can find out how long roughly your type of fast acting insulin is active for which can be handy eg i wouldnt inject if going zzz shortly if i was unsure of dosage given.

some insulin pens have the ability to do half unit doses. speak to dsn regarding correction doses if not already been given info on that.
 

Thanks for sharing that — it’s really helpful to hear your experience laid out like this. You’re totally right about how most DSNs aim to give you the tools to manage your diabetes independently. That approach can be empowering but also a bit daunting at first when you’re still getting used to all the variables.

Interesting about not including the milk in breakfast carb counts — I’ve heard that advice varies between dietitians on that depending on how much milk is used. And weighing out meals like macaroni cheese makes sense, especially with mixed dishes. It’s surprising how much those little extras (like milk, cheese, etc.) can affect the carb content once it’s all combined.

I definitely agree that running slightly high is safer than risking a hypo, especially if you’re unsure about activity levels or food absorption. And yeah — knowing how long your insulin acts for is key. I try to avoid injecting before bed too unless I’m confident in the timing and dose. Still learning as I go, but posts like yours really help.

If you can dig out any old notes and share anything that will also be appreciated and sorry about the delayed response only just got the notification you replied
 
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