Is low carb useful for diabetes type 1?

[becca59]

@Trishhh Do I feel hungry in the evening? No, I have a good meal in the afternoon. I am retired so after clearing up we sit down and I am not expending energy. Eating would be just for the sake of it. I am hungry at breakfast, though three days a week I manage to swim before hand. Always stick to my 10 carb fruit and yoghurt mix and that sustains me til my meal. In truth I realised I was eating far too much unnecessarily.

 

[eventhorizon]

I'm type one and tend to eat a lower carb diet. Generally under 100g / day. I also try to keep my eating times between 13:00 and 19:00. I'm not a breakfast person so find skipping this meal the easiest. Also a big carby breakfast would set me off on a blood sugar roller coaster for the rest of the day.

 

[ElenaP]

I first learned about intermitted fasting from Dr.Michael Mosley's books years ago. He also has a website. I do my intermitted fasting in the mornings, but only if I wake with good blood glucose readings. But not every day. To start with, have at least 12-hrs between last eating in the evening, and first food the following day.

 

[In Response]

@ElenaP and @eventhorizon I appreciate we are all different but I am interested in how you manage dawn phenomenon/FoTF with intermittent fasting and no breakfast?
I find my BG continues to rise in the mornings until I eat so eating as early as possible reduces this rise.
Intensive exercise (more than an amble around the shops or local park) reduces this but it is not possible every day.

 

[ElenaP]

@ElenaP and @eventhorizon I appreciate we are all different but I am interested in how you manage dawn phenomenon/FoTF with intermittent fasting and no breakfast?
I find my BG continues to rise in the mornings until I eat so eating as early as possible reduces this rise.
Intensive exercise (more than an amble around the shops or local park) reduces this but it is not possible every day.

I inject for the dawn phenomenon when I have my morning coffee.

 

[In Response]

I inject for the dawn phenomenon when I have my morning coffee.

Do you inject for the rise you have seen or the rise that you expect to continue?
I have an insulin pump so my basal is increased to manage DP as it happens ad then back down to normal at around breakfast time. If I did not eat breakfast, I would need that basal increase for longer because my DP rise lasts until I eat.

 

[eventhorizon]

DP has never been predictable for me. A lot would depend on the previous days and nights activities. Moderate or heavy exercise the previous day or night would eliminate DP as would drinking wine or sprits. Also not getting a good night's sleep dealing with acting up kids would normally stop any DP or foot on the floor.

Simply adjusting my pump to increase basel in the early hours would result in a hypo as much as it fixed DP. The only way I found was manual corrections once I could see a definite rise.

Now I just let the closed loop sort it out. Works near 100%.

 

[ElenaP]

Do you inject for the rise you have seen or the rise that you expect to continue?
I have an insulin pump so my basal is increased to manage DP as it happens ad then back down to normal at around breakfast time. If I did not eat breakfast, I would need that basal increase for longer because my DP rise lasts until I eat.

With the rise starts as soon as I have a foot on the floor. Say, I see a reading of 5 as soon as I wake up, then I nip to the loo and when I get back to the bedroom reading can be 6.6. Often I'm optimistic, and wait for the pump to add more insulin but it very rarely happens, and readings are going up. Therefore, when I go downstairs to make some coffee, I tend to add a correction doze. Sometimes correcting from the pump but more often with a pen because I find that the injecting with a pen works faster. (I have no idea why that would be.) If I do not add a correction dose, my readings can be 11-12 after black coffee.

 

[Trishhh]

@EllieM

Thank you for your kind words, Ellie. It's so encouraging to see that anyone can be healthy and happy after having any long term condition.

I feel scared when he just eyes the carbs he eats because he has had really bad episodes of hypo in the worst moments throughout the years. Now, it's the retinopathy that's scaring the life out of me. There are so many worries in both our minds lately as so many bad things seem to be happening all at the same time.

I'm glad to know many people can see pretty well after having laser treatment and are able to keep their driving licence, still, it's hanging over our heads right now. A few days ago he struggled to drive at night. We can't stop thinking about how he would go to work if he loses his license as he works far from any public transport and in the winter it's dark for so many hours. Everything has been a worry lately.

Anyway, I suppose I'll start doing what I can, which is looking after my own mental health, and, if he sees any improvement in myself, he might want to try the same, as someone here suggested. Fingers crossed.

 

[Fenn]

Hi, My “official” self imposed window to eat is 11am to 7pm, I effectively skip breakfast. However I usually go to about 1:30 pm before breaking the fast as it’s easy and I believe the longer the fast the more it benefits, occasionally I only eat my evening meal, I have done one 40 hour fast so far. I honestly thought fasters were insane before I tried it, it’s absolutely brilliant, it took me just a few days of trying it to start feeling great, and if I eat less often, I inject less often, I spend less money, I spend less time preparing and eating meal, there’s no down side apart from hunger but that gets way less as you get used to it. Suits me, may not suit everyone my dietician hates it lol


edit: this was in response to earlier question, I tried to quote the question but I can’t figure it out, sorry if this seems out of context to this current thread.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

A few days ago he struggled to drive at night

Although blood sugar levels can affect vision, for example running high can cause blurred vision, there is one other thought. At the age of 58 I was told I would have to wear driving glasses and that they would be anti-glare. They certainly help! There are also wrap-round tinted glasses available for night driving.

 

[LSwifeofT1D]

Hi I have been eating 20g or lower each day since September 15th, I woke at 1am to pee which was unusual for me, tested bg at 24, so decided I needed to try and fix my erratic numbers, I haven’t eaten many carbs for years and years but decided lowish carb wasn’t enough, I would go from hypo to in the 20s and yo-yo up and down, my libre chart looked like the alps, I tried everything from timing to dosing to correcting, they all worked! But they all worked too well or not well enough so the rollercoaster continued.

I also discovered intermittent fasting, When I say discovered, I knew about it for ages but considered it bananas, I have found it life changing! Very low carb and IF now mean my numbers are flat, I still get a bump in the morning from my dawn phenom but I correct it with very little insulin, my Insulin has gone from needing around 60 units a day (levemir/novorapid) to 10, I don’t spike, some meals I don’t even bother injecting for as my basal seems to cover it, I think because my 1 or 2 units for My meal is low I don’t or can’t over or under shoot very far, the timing is less important, my libre line just wobbles.

I am very strict with both keto and IF, I never cheat, even over Christmas, I have no idea why but I find it very very easy to stick to, of course not so easy at first but now it’s a doddle, I am 53, before September I felt 63, now I feel 43, it’s incredible.

Best of luck to him and well done you for trying to help

Hi how do you intermittently fast please? Could you explain your routine to me? Many thanks

 

[Fenn]

Hi how do you intermittently fast please? Could you explain your routine to me? Many thanks

Hi, sure, couldnt be more simple. I don’t eat before 11am or after 7pm. I am often at work and busy around 11am and/or I’m not hungry so I often won’t eat until lunchtime or even evening time so I often just eat once a day but the golden rules are 11-7 or 16:8 as it’s called.

 

[Trishhh]

@Fenn

Thank you for explaining how you do your intermittent fasting. I found it a bit sad to get hungry and not eat for whatever reason, but what works for you, works for you.

My husband goes really long hours without food, maybe that's the way he found to avoid hyper, but he also doesn't check his BG regularly and frequently ends up having hypos, then he eats sugary food until it gets too high again. It's a vicious circle that I no longer know what to think of. I suppose I'll have to learn how to stop worrying about it.

 

[Trishhh]

Although blood sugar levels can affect vision, for example running high can cause blurred vision, there is one other thought. At the age of 58 I was told I would have to wear driving glasses and that they would be anti-glare. They certainly help! There are also wrap-round tinted glasses available for night driving.

Thank you for the suggestion. What are driving glasses? I bought some glasses with yellow lenses to wear over mine, as I have difficulty driving at night in country lanes due to astigmatism. The oncoming traffic is so close that the beams make it hard for me to see properly.

He had never had the same issue, though. He said he couldn't focus. It was less than ten days after laser, though, so hopefully, it wasn't permanent. We have to try again yet. Fingers crossed

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Thank you for the suggestion. What are driving glasses? I bought some glasses with yellow lenses to wear over mine, as I have difficulty driving at night in country lanes due to astigmatism. The oncoming traffic is so close that the beams make it hard for me to see properly.

He had never had the same issue, though. He said he couldn't focus. It was less than ten days after laser, though, so hopefully, it wasn't permanent. We have to try again yet. Fingers crossed

"Driving glasses" in this case means that that my long-distance vision was border line and therefore would need glasses to help. In 2021 I was told I did't need them any more! Having had retinopathy and bouts of laser treatment, I can certainly say that I had blurred vision which improved. I hope your husband is similarly fortunate!