How many carbs do you have a day?

[Autumn93]

Hello,

So I am newly diagnosed ( last month) & I know everybody is different but how many grams of carbs do you have a day?
When I was first diagnosed early May I was told to take 4 units of fast acting every time I ate now I’ve been told to do the 1 unit per 10grams Of carbs & it’s making me feel really over whelmed to eat anything with a lot of carbs in I’m only small 7 stone 10 and I’m normally a grazer don’t eat big meals but even snacking on fruit now is obviously carb counting for a treat we were having a Nando’s and a wrap & chips were 10units & I think because I was used to only 4 Units it really made me not want to have it all.
Id just like to know how every body else deals with it I do eat healthy a lot but love the bad foods Every now & again too. Thankyou

 

[Antje77]

So I am newly diagnosed ( last month) & I know everybody is different but how many grams of carbs do you have a day?

I think it ranges between 50 and 180 or so for me, it varies a lot.
I assume you were diagnosed with T1. It would be helpful if you mention that in your post, as we have a lot of low carbing T2 members not on insulin.

It takes time to adjust to having a diagnosis like diabetes, and it takes time to find your way with all that comes with it. Wish you all the best!

 

[sleepster]

I used to have 1 unit of insulin for 10 grams of carbs and recently changed to 1 unit for 6 grams of carbs (on the advice of my new consultant and my basal was decreased a fair bit, not advising anyone else to change their doses so much!) and the number of units I was having with each meal jumped quite a bit and it was scary, I was worried I was going to be hypo after every meal but I got over it and now it's fine, no hypos.
I don't restrict my carbs to a particular amount but I'm looking at ways to reduce how many I do eat. I've never been advised to reduce or restrict my carbs but I feel like I probably eat too many.

 

[Rokaab]

The amounts of carbs I have per day varies quite a bit, some times it can be just over 100, other days it can be double that, or somewhere in between. Those cookies were staring at me earlier, so I had to eat one
Carb counting and working out how much insulin you need will become second nature You will need to work with your diabetic team to get your ratios sorted, but do note they can be different at different times of the day (mine are)

 

[Daibell]

I typically have 160gm/day. Don't worry about high mealtime carb shots when having a high carb meal occasionally. As long as your weight stays in a good range then all is OK. Your post highlights why I think starting people on fixed meal-time carbs doses and then leaving them like that for weeks/months before a training course is both silly and dangerous by GPs/DNs.

 

[CelalDari]

Hello,

So I am newly diagnosed ( last month) & I know everybody is different but how many grams of carbs do you have a day?
When I was first diagnosed early May I was told to take 4 units of fast acting every time I ate now I’ve been told to do the 1 unit per 10grams Of carbs & it’s making me feel really over whelmed to eat anything with a lot of carbs in I’m only small 7 stone 10 and I’m normally a grazer don’t eat big meals but even snacking on fruit now is obviously carb counting for a treat we were having a Nando’s and a wrap & chips were 10units & I think because I was used to only 4 Units it really made me not want to have it all.
Id just like to know how every body else deals with it I do eat healthy a lot but love the bad foods Every now & again too. Thankyou

According to many different sources your basal/background insulin should make up 40-50% of your daily therefore meaning your bolus should make up 50-60% of your daily total intake. Here’s the link if you want to read about it: https://integrateddiabetes.com/Articles/insu/basal insulin for friends with diabetes.pdf

As for how much I take? It varies greatly. Some days I take 12 units for 120g carbs while other days I take as much as 33 units for 330g (usually happens if I eat a large meal followed by a dessert). I am newly diagnosed as well, just about 2 months in. At first I was focused on healthy eating and totally avoiding carbs but I realised it wasn’t realistic. I’m doing a balanced healthy diet at the moment, I still eat moderate carbs with a variety of vegetables but I occasionally have high carb foods like doughnuts or a cookie.

Using the general guidance given by diabetes clinics, I should be having 140g of carbs but it’s really not set in stone. There are people who do low carb diets <130g and very low carb diets <50g while there are also people who eat whatever and don’t really care. Even before my diagnosis I was eating quite healthy food so I didn’t find it hard controlling myself

 

[Rokaab]

According to many different sources your basal/background insulin should make up 40-50% of your daily therefore meaning your bolus should make up 50-60% of your daily total intake. Here’s the link if you want to read about it: https://integrateddiabetes.com/Articles/insu/basal insulin for friends with diabetes.pdf

Do note this does not apply to many, and I really wouldn't be basing anything on it - I go between 25% and just under 40% of my daily insulin being the basal - normally around the 30-35% mark. The one time my clinic insisted on me getting closer to a 50/50 ratio (and I was too naive to know any different) I only tried it for a few days cos I had to stop due to hypos (and I hadn't got close to 50/50 yet - was going up slowly).

Edit: Give how much basal I have, and what my carb ratios are, on 50/50 I'd only be allowed 60 carbs a day! Whilst I'm not high carb, I'm certainly having more than that.

 

[Antje77]

According to many different sources your basal/background insulin should make up 40-50% of your daily

Even though we find great indidual differences, like @Rokaab pointed out, those guidelines aren't bad as a rule of thumb for a starting point to work from
For me, my basal usually makes for about 70% of my total insulin (depending on food choices, time of month, activity level etc.), so the other way around from Rokaab. Still, if you find you can't get it right, it may be worth it to see if there's a very big difference in the amount of basal and bolus you take.

we were having a Nando’s and a wrap & chips were 10units & I think because I was used to only 4 Units it really made me not want to have it all.

I can imagine how injecting 10 units felt scary. For me it helped a lot to test often to see if the dose was right. In this case, I might have opted to take a bit less than the required 10 units and test multiple times after the meal. If it would have made me go high, I would know the advice to take more insulin for that meal was right, and I wouldn't mind doing that next time.

 

[jamesfitz]

Typically have around 200 grams of carbs and inject one unit per 10g.

for evening meals i typically inject 8 just before i eat then another 2/3 units 2 hours laters as my blood sugar tends to spike at like 10/11 pm otherwise

 

[ert]

Up to 30 grams of carbs. But I do eat a lot of chocolate some days so, even though it's dark chocolate, it's higher.