dirty word on here I'd presume , but "snacks"

[Jaylee]

I also had to snack (including a bedtime snack) though on DIY mix twice a day man-made insulins (S&I) - I used to change my dosage based on what I was doing and eating, but reducing it drastically wasn't ever really in scope and the snacks were required because of the absorption curve shape (relatively very long). I guess an alternative would be to reduce dose (such that the snack carbs were not needed) and accept going very high immediately after meal times and then gradually coming down to normal range ready for the next meal. I think it was likely better to avoid those highs and to have had to fill in the gaps with many digestive biscuits and chocolate bars (in my case anyway!)

Sounds about right.

Back then, the only monitoring was peeing in a tube. Then the sticks.
But I knew a hypo when it hit me.
I couldn’t go on a bike ride without what felt like a weeks shopping in tow…
I prefer to eat after activity, not during.

Sing for my supper, so to speak?

 

[penelopedevereux]

but what amount of units do you take for a mid morning / afternoon snack , if any ?, or do we even have snacks ?

I make up a fruit or veg box, eg pineapple or melon chunks or slices of carrot, celery etc and you can always add some nuts

 

[penelopedevereux]

I make up a fruit or veg box, eg pineapple or melon chunks or slices of carrot, celery etc and you can always add some nuts

 

[hayley_rh]

I do find I need to snack during the day most days. Breakfast at 6.30am, lunch at 12.30pm and dinner at 6pm.. the gaps are too long for me to not feel hungry inbetween..

So generally I'll have a snack at ahout 10am and 3.15pm to fill those gaps, but do try not to eat after 7pm..

Snacks vary depending on what's in the cupboard though. Today is food shop day so it's likely to be peanut butter on toast mid morning and a handful of peanuts this afternoon as dinner will be later due to food shop.

With regards to insulin... I will just have insulin depending on the insulin:carb ratio as normal, as it seems to work for me. Then there's the fat/protein rise later on to deal with... always interesting!

 

[rover44]

Hi everyone, when I was diagnosed back in 2016 the advice I was given was if the snack was 10g or less of carbs I didn't need insulin cover as my basal would mop it up. I was working as a pub cleaner until a couple of years ago and I'd have a coffee with a biscuit or alpen light bar midmorning / afternoon. Now I'm retired I still have a drink but wether I have a snack depends what I'm doing and where my BS is at. Today is the weekly shop so a drink and snack beforehand as I'll be driving aswell.

 

[Deleted member 527103]

For occlusions, it's usually as simple as wiggling the tubing to get insulin slowing smoothly and then resuming delivery.

Not all pumps have tubing to wiggle.
I have only experienced occlusions on my patch pump (never had the issue on my tube pump). I have no choice but to do a set change - the pump alarms (you can’t ignore it).
Unrelated to exercise (because I usually suspend my basal) but I carry a syringe and insulin vial for short trips out in case this happens.

 

[cookdabooks]

That's interesting re amylin, I must admit that while I do snack it's only if I've been active (which is normally most of the time) - I don't tend to get particularly hungry if I've not been doing much (including not being hungry for main meals, let alone snacks). For example, in the last week with the cold weather and lots of work on I've not been out much and therefore haven't been eating all that much. This may be partially down to blood glucose level and the fact that if I don't exercise it tends to run a bit higher/I have to actively do reasonably large corrections. OTOH I may have a cold brewing, which also means I'm not hungry.

Really interesting comments regarding satiety. I've found that since developing T1 I rarely feel hungry - irrespective of BG levels.

 

[Finnlee]

Not all pumps have tubing to wiggle.
I have only experienced occlusions on my patch pump (never had the issue on my tube pump). I have no choice but to do a set change - the pump alarms (you can’t ignore it).

Ah, yes. I didn't think about occlusions on patch pumps.

I've only had a tubed pump and never had any issues beyond a handful of occlusions over the last year. They all cleared up with a little wiggle.

 

[username3]

I love snacks.

Today I had some halloumi and bacon and half a pear.

Fruit and veg are also great snacks because they are gentle on my blood sugars. Although, no bananas.

It's nice to have some grapes with gouda cheese. Or cherries and dark chocolate. I tend to avoid very carby snacks because I don't like the effects felt after eating but will have the occasional cereal bar.

 

[Old’un]

I am normally very active and find that along with large amounts of exercise snacks are essential. If I ate larger meals to try and avoid snacking I would have very high spikes in my blood glucose levels. If I don’t need the carbohydrate and feel like having a snack then I will eat a few nuts or some raw vegetables. A stick or two of celery, a carrot or even some Brussels sprouts (yes, I do eat them raw!)

I would definitely avoid eating anything extra that required additional insulin as I find this is a recipe for unwanted weight gain. I used to have to snack in the early days of my diagnosis as there were not the amazing management techniques that are available today. It was two injections of Rapitard a day with glass syringes and blunt needles and boiling urine in a test tube using Clinitest tablets that were full of caustic soda. How times have changed!

 

[CheeseSeaker]

After 50 years of T1 - switched to a Fully Closed Loop (completely automated insulin delivery)

Its not perfect - high carb meals still need a bit of 'at time' or 'pre-bolus', and Pizza still needs extended carbs - otherwise I can snack when I want and the loop does its thing - surreal to be able to eat after 50 years of 'having to eat' to head off a low, or pre-guess what I'll eat.

Initially I lost weight - didn't need to snack to cater for lows, so carb intake went down - now I've stabilised and eat when hungry, trust me its odd after all that time - not perfect by any means as sometimes I get cannula fails and insulin resistance (from Lyumjev) which send me high, but a huge step forward and less stress to deal with.

The future for T1s looks quite promising, the DIY system is very fiddly to set up and you need to be a techie to get it working and understood, BUT its definitely the future, and that looks really good for everyone - plug-and-play-pancreas *(almost)* is coming in the next few years