My diabetes, a few questions & Hello...I'm new!

[nathansdiary]

Hello everyone, I have just found this forum and am glad as I need quite a bit of advice. I have been diabetic for 15-16 years now and am feeling really quite lost. I am currently on a drive to get everything back in check as things have not been right for quite a long time now. I am type 1 and use Novorapid 3 times daily and Lantus at night. I am also taking Simvastatin & Ezetemibe for my cholesterol.

I find I have alot of problems in keeping my sugars steady no matter how carefully i try to manage them. I regularly get very high sugars and it really gets me down, especially when I have been so good with my efforts. To give an example, somedays I will have a nice healthy reading of say 6 before lunch, I always eat healthy balanced meals and lunch will normally be something like cous cous, wholemeal rice (with veg etc like a savoury rice) or a wholemeal sandwhich. About 2 hours later i will have a reading of something like 16. Now i know the obvious thing would be you are not taking enough insulin. The thing is though the next day I can do exactly the same thing, the same routine and i will be completely within range (6-8 ish). I Also have days where it is the complete opposite where i end up going hypo maybe 30mins after lunch.

My diatbetic nurse keeps going on that I am obviously eating the wrong thing or not taking the right insulin dose but I don't know how I am meant to get it right. I wondered if maybe I should start a food diary and post it on here with insulin doses and readings and see if any of you peeps could help or offer some guidance. The problem I have is that with my sugars being very irregular i like to keep a close eye on them and that gets me in trouble with the doctor for using too many test strips.

An average days food would be like this.

Breakfast - Wholemeal toast with lowfat olive spread & fruit.
Lunch - Cous cous/savoury wholemeal rice/sandwhich/pasta & fruit after
Dinner - Lean meat, veg and potatos/pasta/rice
Snacks - fruit/rice cakes
I am good with fruit as I know which ones are richer and leave them for breakfast and tend to stick to things like apples later in the day.

 

[hanadr]

What do you call "healthy blanced meals?
Reading your food diary, I noticed it's high in carbohydrates.Are you following advice from a dietician?
they often advise Higher carbs than most of us can handle. then agi, you are in charge of your portion sizes.
I would suggest (as afellow diabetic, NOT a medic) that you cut your carbohyrate intake. You can do this by reducing portions or by reducing the carb rich foods you eat, Sugars definitely cause the sort of problems you describe.
I wouldn't dare eat fruit cake, for example. It's made with sugar.
So know what's in your food and keep checking. You also need tto go back to your care teamand ask for help in meal plans, because if you keep running high, you are storing up trouble.
It depends on how seriously you want to take tthis. Read the carbs threads here and decide

 

[fergus]

Hi Nathan

Welcome aboard the forum. As hanadr says, take a look at some of the carbs threads for a variety of opinions on what a healthy balanced diet actually consists of.
From your daily diet, it looks as if you follow the traditional dietary advice still given to diabetics. You'll find a growing constituency of heretics who question it here, but please look around and ask as many questions as you like.

Good to have you on board.

All the best,

fergus

 

[fergus]

Well said, Eddie

All the best,

fergus

 

[timo2]

i will have a reading of something like 16. Now i know the obvious thing would be you are not taking enough insulin. The thing is though the next day I can do exactly the same thing, the same routine and i will be completely within range (6-8 ish). I Also have days where it is the complete opposite where i end up going hypo maybe 30mins after lunch.

Hello nathan,

This erratic absorption could be down to tired injection sites. Are your sites particularly lumpy?
I'm sure you've already heard the usual advice about rotating injection sites.
It's also important to use a fresh needle each time you inject, in order to minimize any
subcutaneous fat scarring.
(A clean needle leaves a clean wound, clean wounds heal quicker and leave less scar tissue)

Regards,
timo.

Lipodystrophy

 

[nathansdiary]

Thanks for the help so far, I will certainly look at the whole carb issue as I do keep getting told that carbs are important, eat carbs every meal blah blah.

I will start a food diary on monday and see what happens, i must admit i will struggle with the lack of bread. Wholemeal bread is one of my fave foods ha ha, that and wholemeal pasta. looks like it may have to be an occasional thing as more of a treat. I am happy to focus on veg, meat etc a bit more. As silly as it sounds I had not thought of the fact that diabetics have trouble with carbs, I have always been conditioned that sugar is bad not carbs but that does make sense to think about it.

 

[TROUBR]

I know you said you have been at this a long time but I was wondering if you had been on the DAFNE course? I hear it is very good and may help you with matching your insulin to you carbs and activity (I am currently waiting to go on it). I know that a lot of people hear are low carb fans and I am new at this however my diet is currently not dissimilar from what you have listed and my figures are usually within range in the 2 hours after eating, except for the snacks which I am trying to avoid) I am carefull about my portion sizes now though. Have you looked at any activity you may be doing - that may be causing the variances day to day.

Louise

 

[lionrampant]

Thanks for the help so far, I will certainly look at the whole carb issue as I do keep getting told that carbs are important, eat carbs every meal blah blah.

The debate on high-carb low-carb is just that, a debate. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the condition, so just remember there are always other possibilities.