new regime

Mini-Mimi

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67
Mimi has been diagnosed now 7 weeks, we was on 2 injections of novomix daily and today it's been changed to one lantus injection at night, 2 units, and then novorapid at each meal time, i think this will allow us to be alot more flexible in what and when she eats but i am worried now about counting carbs, i am scared incase i get it wrong and give her too little/much. do i need to buy scales, is it ok to rough guess at it, what about meals i make from scratch, spag bol, sweet n sour chicken, stews and soups, roasts ect?
i know me being nervous and worried is only natural and i'll fathom it out eventually but in the meantime if any of you seasoned pro's can offer me any tips/advice, they will all be greatly received :D
ps, her DSN worked it out to 25g of carb = 1 unit of novorapid. x
 

leggott

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533
Hi. It will be a bit of trial and error to start with to get the ratios right and 1:25 seems a good starting point. You may well find that the ratios are different at each meal time. I personally do weigh a lot of things, but you don't need to weigh things like yogurts as the pot will have a total value, You find that most foods are labelled and over time you get to know the carb values of different foods. There is an excellent book which I think is so useful, especially when out. it is called 'carbs & cals'. you can also get an iPhone ap for it. It is a visual guide which I have found to be very accurate. Finally, I suggest keeping a food diary so you can see what different types of foods do to bg. I'm sure that overtime you will find the basal/ bolus regime to be a lot more flexible than the mixed insulin and should also allow you to get tighter control. leggott.
 

ams162

Well-Known Member
Messages
572
Type of diabetes
Type 1
hiya
we have been counting carbs for several months and it does get easier, have u done a choice course ifnot ask to go on one it tells u all about carb counting and can be very helpful. me personally i do have scales ones u can zero are particularly helpful then u can put something on a plate work out carbs then zero and put next thing on the plate having said that there are times when we have to estimate such as eating out unless its macdonalds lol as they have all the carb info on the back of the tray lner which is very handy :D good luck sure u will be fine
anna marie
 

Jen&Khaleb

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Not having enough time. Broken sleep.
Hi and hasn't 7 weeks gone quickly. I sometimes think I was lucky that Khaleb was put straight onto basal/bolus and, other than the dose, his regime has always been much the same. I can get away with not being extremely accurate with carb counting. I tend to just round up or down (within 5gms or so) and work on 1:15 except in the morning when it is 1:10. I did need to buy a set of scales and also a book that has a lot of the carb amounts for foods that don't come with a lable. I've also decided that junk food like chicken nuggets etc... must send a different batch for analysis than what is in their packs to make it seem better than it is. I also find that you can't trust the serving size and you really need to weigh and use the carbs/100gm.

All the best settling in to the new regime.
 

Mini-Mimi

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67
i am quite nervous about it and am thinking of staying on the regime she's on, even though it's restrictive, i mean, how do you weigh a stew???? :? :? :?
 

Jen&Khaleb

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Not having enough time. Broken sleep.
To carb count a stew just weigh the potatoes, pasta etc as you put it in the pot so you have the total amount of carbs then weigh the whole thing at the end and divide the amount of carbs by the weight. This then gives you the amount of carbs/gm that you can then multiply by the serving. This works with cakes and anything else. It isn't entirely accurate but close enough that you shouldn't get a big high/low. If you use the same recipes a lot you should only need to work out the carbs the once. Carb counting is a lot better than relying on trial and error alone.

I make porridge all the time and don't need to carb count it anymore. The consistency I use works out that there is 10gm carb for every 100gm.

I probably should have mentioned I have a calculator sitting with my scales :lol:
 

leggott

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Messages
533
Honestly, you do get the hang of it and it really is straightforward. Once you've made a stew then note the carb value so when you make it again, you won't need to weigh everything. Also do take a look at that book I mentioned. ' Carbs and Cals'. - it is a godsend. I would never go back to the mixed insulin and we carb counted on this regime as well, but just found it so restrictive. leggott
 

Mini-Mimi

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Messages
67
leggott said:
Honestly, you do get the hang of it and it really is straightforward. Once you've made a stew then note the carb value so when you make it again, you won't need to weigh everything. Also do take a look at that book I mentioned. ' Carbs and Cals'. - it is a godsend. I would never go back to the mixed insulin and we carb counted on this regime as well, but just found it so restrictive. leggott
went to buy it yesterday from waterstones, but i have to order it. i know the sooner i start, the sooner i get used to it but at the moment, like when we was 1st diagnosed, it all seems so daunting and i worry about mistakes, her levels are pretty stable and i just worry about them going too high :(