PaulAshby
Well-Known Member
I've got background retinopathy, but have had it a while and get tested every year, trust me I understand the fear of complications but I couldn't live happily without carbs
I'm fairly attached to my eyes and toes so prefer to not eat carbs if at all possible.
Absolutely, I do spike a lot to be honest, I know it's not ideal but I just love the bad stuff too much so do a lot of BG testing.I used to check my blood glucose at 06:30 every morning and then eat my cereal (cornflakes or hoops etc). I could drive to work within the 2 hour (driving) time limit for retesting and was happy that I was usually within range at this point. Then, I got a Libre and it showed that I was getting a massive glucose spike into the mid teens in that 2 hour period and coming back down to acceptable levels at the 2 hr mark.
Injecting more insulin just sends me hypo mid morning, injecting earlier before eating didn't have much affect. Slower burning carbs like porridge don't give me the spike and I know how to manage a breakfast croissant.
If you can do the carbs and get away with it then all well and good but we are all different.
This made me giggle a bit tbh. I have on many an occasion weighed up my right toenail against a cookie & the cookie won. However as a T2 I have to largely ignore cookies despite how lovely they are. Plus I hate needles more than I love cookies & the thought of jabbing myself repeatedly on a daily basis makes me want to vom.I don't understand this Anticarb mentality, I love eating cereal, bread, pasta cakes and biscuits.
I've been type one for 57 years now and had my right toenail removed am 10 stone and love the fact that insulin allows me to do this.
Enjoy yourselves but control that diabetic monster.
Cheers all.
I've got background retinopathy, but have had it a while and get tested every year, trust me I understand the fear of complications but I couldn't live happily without carbs
So could you live happily without your eyesight?
Genuine question.. It seems a bit counter intuitive to me but blindness has always been my greatest fear so a huge motivator.
I don't know that's why I asked.Is Paul really saying that?
Is Paul really saying that?, I don't think so. I think it's about weighing up the risk and being prepared to take it or not rather than an absolute choice between one outcome and another. The odds are that most diabetics can eat carbs or have retinopathy without going blind. Having said that, personally I minimise all risks in the best way I can. It's a bit like a smoker I guess, they carry on smoking not because they could 'happily live with cancer or no limbs' but because they have decided upon a risk they can live with.
So could you live happily without your eyesight?
Genuine question.. It seems a bit counter intuitive to me but blindness has always been my greatest fear so a huge motivator.[/QUOTE
My DN said exactly the same not accepting I was LADA. A year later she said I needed to go onto insulin!I apologize if my previous post was insensitive. I was referring only to the way it has been described by the diabetic nurses I have heard about, to type 2 diabetics I know.
The relative risks of fat and carbohydrate in the development of sight-threatening retinopathy can differ between between people. If someone is diagnosed late in life with type 2 diabetes, fairly soon after they develop the disease, they are likely to have little underlying damage in the blood vessels of the retina and a low carb diet may prevent future damage from hyperglycaemia. However, with somebody who has been diagnosed early in life with type 1 diabetes, has been diabetic for many years and has already got underlying vessel damage in the retina, it might be preferable for them to be slightly hyperglycaemic than to have a blood lipid profile which increases the risk of maculopathy. (Maculopathy is a bigger cause of sight loss than proliferative retinopathy.)I'm fairly attached to my eyes and toes so prefer to not eat carbs if at all possible.
Could you enlarge on that a bit, do you mean lipids rather than glucose lead to maculopathy?it might be preferable for them to be slightly hyperglycaemic than to have a blood lipid profile which increases the risk of maculopathy.
No, I'm saying that both are considered to be risk factors for diabetic maculopathy and that it's possible that moderately good glycaemic control with an ideal lipid profile might give an overall lower risk of sight-loss than perfect glycaemic control with a less than ideal lipid profile. The evidence is quite hazy and some of it is contradictory and a lot more research is needed - so I'm not saying that this is definitely the case. My point is that we can't assume that a low carb diet would be better for someone who is not overweight and may already have some underlying retinal damage.Could you enlarge on that a bit, do you mean lipids rather than glucose lead to maculopathy?
I was told I had background retinopathy after my first check. A year of low carbing later it had gone away.No, I'm saying that both are considered to be risk factors for diabetic maculopathy and that it's possible that moderately good glycaemic control with an ideal lipid profile might give an overall lower risk of sight-loss than perfect glycaemic control with a less than ideal lipid profile. The evidence is quite hazy and some of it is contradictory and a lot more research is needed - so I'm not saying that this is definitely the case. My point is that we can't assume that a low carb diet would be better for someone who is not overweight and may already have some underlying retinal damage.
I'm type 1 but matching insulin to carbs to avoid big spikes followed by big drops is stressful. Lots of carbs just makes me feel hungover - so I don't these days. I miss pasta!
Yeah, get you on that, just been hypo for that reason, might try this no carb thing but don't want to give em up totally.
And herein lies the problem with two distinctly different conditions having the same name and at times the same treatment options.Hi Paul, the way I see it is that the insulin allows us to live first & foremost of course. It is (as we all know) a vital hormone and sometimes I cringe when I hear it described as a last resort or evil personified (I know of course that it is entirely different for a type 2 condition but sometimes no distinction is made and I worry that people are left thinking it's virtually poison in & of itself). Above and beyond that, I personally choose to eat whatever I want in a manner that will (hopefully) keep me healthy. To me that is a diet that does not include very many carbs from the items you mentioned (although I do like a slice of sourdough).Not because of any holier than thou attitude but because I know that cakes & biscuits ain't good for anyone. I tend to stick to a low carb diet, again, not necessarily because I have a vendetta against carbs but I prefer my carbs to come from veg (under or over ground), from the odd slice of decent bread, some beans and so on. I agree that IF I am out and want to indulge in a bowl of pasta, then I can and that is nice. x
@Circuspony have you tried cooking pasta, swilling it under a cold tap then reheating? I’m T2 diet controlled and find that provided I don’t have too big a portion it doesn’t affect my BS too much doing this way.I'm type 1 but matching insulin to carbs to avoid big spikes followed by big drops is stressful. Lots of carbs just makes me feel hungover - so I don't these days. I miss pasta!
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