Continual Complications

Hi. Most of us have had to change our diet and lifestyle following diagnosis and it comes very hard. I also love bread and pasta but now eat them less often and in smaller quantities e.g. I have thinner slices of bread and have a low-GI loaf or multigrain bread. So, have a look at the daily meals and I would go down to 50gm or at least less than 100gm of carbs for a few weeks. My wife who doesn't have diabetes but has been overweight has been low-carbing for 1 week at a time over a few months and lost a lot of weight. You would need to watch the insulin you inject and reduce it if necessary to avoid hypos, so take care with that. Don't forget something like egg and bacon for breakfast is fine, so are proteins including cheese. Nuts make a good snack; I also have blueberries. I hope this helps a bit. Good luck.

Ok, rice llrispies can be good for some people with stomach problems... When they are told by consultant to eat low fibre... Apart from those persons that are told to eat low fibre then sorry, they are not a particularly good choice of cereal. A measured portion of porridge would be better.. Or bacon and egg. Porridge will fill you up more than rice krispies.

Your insulin will drop when you eat less carbs.

You ought to try and test after meals too... So you can adjust your doses as dafne would have advised you...

I dont know the reason for your highr quantitys of insulin, but if you cut your carbs, do proper testing before and after meals and during the night too... Then you would be heading in the right direction.

Everybody is individual for their dosages... Just because yours are higher than others on here.. We may all be thin, really, really active. And low carb... I am concerned that I cam't tell you why yours are high, but if you are not active, if you're not working etc then this could equate to a lot of your needs for extra insulin. Its not for you to get hung up about... Its important to jabe the insulin that your body needs.

How active are you in a period of 24 hours?

What does your gp suggest you do about pain? I would think to be honest that he would be telling you to be as active as you possibly can....even if its leg exercises whilst sitting down.....

For my pain in my legs... Mine comes when I sit down.. When I walk or do anything other than sitting down, my pain lessens significantly...

Do you work?

Has your gp considered sciatica for your groin pains?

If you are in the main.. Sat on a settee or lying in bed for most of time, then you are more likely to think yourself hungry. If you are pretty much housebound.. Then 170g carbs a day is a lot.

I cant help with low carb recipes or plans.. But there are loads of free recipes for low carbohydrates around on websites... Excellent ones here.

You havent been gun-ho on this webdite into trying to change your habits of eating.... You appear quite reticent to change from what your postings have said about your food habits...

Get Dr Bernsteins book, do take on board what people have tried to say about changing the foods you eat.. We cant fillthis posting with recipes, as there are loads here already and we will just be duplicating our effortts and could poosibly be wasting our time if the only things you are going to eat are what you've told us in this posting and others you have done.

You wont be able to help other diabetics if you cant help yourself...

If you look at the many websites on the internet about carbohydrate, insulin and weigtgain...... you should be able to realise what you are doing wrong. http://www.diabetes-diet.org.uk/carbs-weight.html

If you get a smaller dinner plate, you can trick the brain into thinking that you are full up because the dinner plate is full instead of looking half empty. Cut back greatly on the amount of carb that you eat (potatoes, rice, pizza) and replace it with more vegetables. Your weight will slowly drop, you will feel better in yourself and you will start to need less insulin.

megan2002 said:

Why do you think I need so much insulin ?

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I did say before but maybe it got lost.... Sometimes a T1 can get insulin resistance like a T2. I certainly have it. Maybe that's what has happened for you too. It's more common if you're overweight (I think!)... And it means your body needs more and more insulin to deal with the same amount of carbohydrates. Metformin is often prescribed as it helps increase your sensitivity to insulin and thus, you don't need so much. I'm T1 and was on 80units of Lantus like you and I also take Humalog that was a higher than average dose in terms of the units:carbs ratio. The more insulin you use, the more weight you put on. And the more weight you put on, the more insulin you require and the insulin resistance gets worse. It's a vicious circle!

The only way I managed to reduce my insulin levels was to try going on Victoza which is a drug licensed for T2s but not T1s. It was right for me and my personal circumstances due to many other difficulties and complications and it is certainly not without its drawbacks. Plus I was lucky enough to have a consultant and a GP willing to prescribe it for me. It did allow me to lose some weight and also reduce my insulin levels. (I lost 2stone initially and am still losing it. Went from obese to just 'overweight'. Reduced Lantus from 80 to 56 and my Humalog ratio reduced.)

I am NOT suggesting you go on this. I am just explaining how I did it. There are potentially other ways you can help yourself before doing something that drastic, like other people in the thread have said, trying to cut out carbohydrates for example... That would be a very good start. Getting your weight down will naturally mean you require less insulin and it will improve the insulin resistance. It's a matter of starting the vicious circle turning in the other direction....

It's not easy though. It takes a lot of commitment and effort. It's good you're asking for help!

I have been type 1 for 40 years, I too take lantus but only 18 units at night, and novorapid before meals at a dose of 8 units ea time, no weight issues though and I am female, but I have never heard of such high intake of lantus etc

megan2002 said:

I take on board all comments and replies and can you assure you I am trying to fix this and get my life back however I am sure you will agree it is not an easy road.
It is amazing to hear so many different views on diabetes from specialists and diabetics.
I am booking my weekly shop order now and would appreciate some quick ideas for snacks and meals.

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snacks; hard boiled eggs,-apple cheese & walnuts,-rice cakes and org. peanut butter,-popcorn with a bit of butter,-cold mixed bean salad,- hummus & wholemeal pitta,-yogurt & berries,-grapefruit-pears,-prawn cocktail,-celery sticks & peanut butter,-24g bag of no-salt crisps,-a small hamburger no bun using quality steak mince,- a can of mackerel or sardines,- grapefruit,-cottage cheese,-a leafy salad with olive oil & apple cider vinegar,- cold baked chicken,- unsalted pistachio nuts-- ok hope it's enough to get started with-- and you are right, it is really hard esp.when one finds out that medications of any sort don't give us license to eat whatever we want or what we are used to, we just want a magic pill that allows us to be ' normal' again in what we can eat, i think the most important thing to learn in this part of the battle is not what to eat or not but to eat what satiates us & it's usually protein and -small- frequent ' meals ' to keep ones glucose levels fairly steady, so we don't get ravenous & reach for quick fix carbs & i find sweet potatoes with a bit of butter/fat to slow it down some, as a good carb choice when you really crave a carb -- hoping for a stem cell fix in the near future... :thumbup:

Dropping to under 100 carbs is a good start..you can only drop your insulin according to ant bg resilults going downward...
Have your bgs started to lower?