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Having a snack!

Daveni50

Member
Messages
7
Hi, i have been told i am type 1.5 diabetic and on insulin about a year now and was told 4 x 500g metformin, 3u of novo rapid before breakfast, lunch and dinner and 5u of lantus before bed. I was never told about adjusting insulin levels depending on meal, which i have now learnt from these pages.. (i also have an appointment with a consultant next month) this has helped me to keep my readings between 5.5 - 9, however still unsure, should i take insulin before a snack, weather it be mid morning, afternoon or evening? A snack can send it to 12- 16.. thanks
 

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

What BG numbers are you seeing prior to the snack?
 
For most people a snack that is less than 10g of carbs will not require an insulin response & therefore not raise your BG. But if you are already at 9mmol pre snack you might see a small rise.

Likewise if you are still producing some insulin this may give you more flexibility in carbs. Since your levels are rising to 12-16 this suggests your choice of snack is more than 10g & more than your body can handle by itself.

I was told to try not to snack in between meals because if you have to inject for it you end up stacking insulin & can end up hypo.

For this reason I only snack on low carb options & if I want cake or a chocolate bar I eat it straight after a meal so it can be calculated in that pre meal bolus. That’s a bit hard to do with fixed doses though.
 
I wish I could eat a 10 carb snack and see no insulin rise. Cannot even eat a 5g snack. It wasn’t til I started wearing a Libre 4 years ago that I found snacks were not an option if I wanted to maintain good control. My question would be, do you really need that snack or can you wait til the next meal. Check blood glucose both before and after to monitor affects.
 
Of course not everyone is the same & the healthier option is to make sure you cover your needs at meal times. Yet every evening I find my self reaching for the low carb snacks. A lot of it is to do with habit & it’s good to have options.
 

At times yes!! Lol.. my regular meal time portions and type of food have changed so much recently to try and get levels down, i feel hungry and quite weak sometimes. I also realise i am new to insulin and carb counting, so am hoping it falls into place with experience and some trial and error. i have an appointment next month with a consultant and i believe he will fit me up with a libre..
 
TashT1 said:
Of course not everyone is the same & the healthier option is to make sure you cover your needs at meal times. Yet every evening I find my self reaching for the low carb snacks. A lot of it is to do with habit & it’s good to have options.
Click to expand...

What would you be taking as a low carb snack? (I’m still to learn about carbs and counting them)
 
I would have cheese, cooked meats, salami, olives, cucumber, carrot, Greek yoghurt, pork scratchings, certain crisps like Skips or sensations, peanuts, beef jerky.

There’s loads of stuff you can have. Some will be zero carbs & some you just need to portion control.
 

A good wee selection.. thanks for the suggestions..
 
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