Diagnosed T1 at 53 that's not funny

[Elderman]

Hi all,

Bit of a shock I had 18 months ago, confirmed T1 diabetes at 53. No tablets for me, box of Novomix 30, needles and meter etc and of I went into sunset with a voice ringing in my ears. Cut out sugar and fat eat plenty of carb and you'll be ok and don't forget to exercise.
So here I am 18 months on form a slim 34 waist up to a 42 waist, BS swing from 18.6 down to 3.7, 50 units of insulin a day, is that good or bad I ask. I'm told dosen't matter keep taking the carb etc and you'll be ok (or dead I think).
So finally the light bulb when off in my brain, check internet. So here I am and hello to every body.

Reason I'm T1 8 years ago I had hodgkin's disease (cancer) after high dose's of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, steroids and other weird and so called wonder drugs that the NHS decided to pump into me. By the way the side effects were sort of glossed over. Anyway net result parts of me have stopped working or have packed up and gone on hoilday.

Question planty, answers not many. That's were I hope you come in.

 

[sugarless sue]

'Eat plenty of carbs' is not something we would recommend!!! :shock:

Diabetes is the inability to process carbs properly so why this advice is given is anyone's guess.

As a type 1 on insulin you obviously have to eat some carbs to stop your self hypoing but...the more carbs you eat the more insulin you need and the more weight you put on causing insulin resistance which causes you to need more insulin etc etc. A vicious circle !!

Reducing your carb intake carefully and frequent testing to see what the different foods do to your blood sugar levels means that you could lose weight,reduce the amount of insulin you require and get better control of your blood sugars.

Just to add....below is the advice we give to new type 2's. Some of this could be of use to you see what you think.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Sue/Ken.

 

[Richard157]

Hello Elderman, welcome! That is a rough go you had with cancer. I hope it is in remission now. Your blood sugar is unstable, do you use both slow and fast acting insulins, in separate vials? If you count carbs and let the number of carbs you eat determine your insulin dosages, then your control will improve very much. That is the way type 1 diabetics handle their control in the states. It works well for me. I have been type 1 for 64 years and I am very healthy.

By limiting myself to 130-150g of carbs each day, I need about 19 units of fast acting insulin (bolus insulin). I need 1 unit of bolus for every 6 carbs I eat. I also use 15 units of slow acting insulin (basal insulin). That is a total of 34 units per day. The basal/bolus control gives me stable blood sugar levels most of the time.

Maybe you can take the DAFNE course and learn about basal/bolus and carb counting. You can also research those topics on the web for a good overview.

Richard