Question about insulin doses

[chl0ejasmine]

Hi everyone,

I was diangosed with T1 almost 3 years ago, and my team sort of failed to properly teach me about diabetes etc. I sort of learnt myself in a way.
I have always been worried about my appearance and weight - and I worry that eating carbs will lead me to gain weight because of the higher insulin doses.
So on a typical day I eat:

Breakfast: Granola with yoghurt or Porridge
Lunch: Chicken salad with mixed veggies, avocado etc
Dinner: Usually a piece of meat and vegetables

I am so so self concious and always scared to step on the scales.
Is my diet healthy? Does eating carbs cause weight gain? Would a low carb high fat diet be worse or better?

Thank you in advance xxx

 

[Charles Robin]

Hi chl0ejasmine, welcome to the forum. My personal view is that low carb is by far the healthiest way for someone with diabetes to eat, because it makes blood sugar control easier to manage. Head over to the low carb section of the site, and you'll find plenty of people who have lost weight by eating low carb high fat. I have been low carbing for just over a year, and my weight is pretty much what it was before I started at 11 stone 7 (healthy weight as I'm a 5'11" male). The important thing to remember is that every cell in your body needs insulin to process the fuel in your body, so it's vital to keep up with your injections.

 

[Spiker]

Your diet looks pretty healthy as well as low carb. You're aware of the link between excess carbs and insulin and putting on weight. So you are frankly well ahead of many or most diabetics. I don't think you have anything to worry about, given that.

And looking at your picture I really don't think you have anything to worry about. I presume you are the pretty one on the right and not that jug eared clown on the left? ;-)

 

[Spiker]

You have a healthy diet, relatively low carb. You understand the link between excessive carbs & insulin and gaining weight. You look great in your photo. You really have nothing to worry about, you are doing fine.

 

[chl0ejasmine]

@Spiker @Charles Robin

Thank you both! I'm getting help in the next few weeks to deal with how I feel about my body image and hopefully then, I won't worry about my diet and insulin in take. I take between 20-23 units including both my Lantus and Novorapid and that feels like a lot to me! Is it??

I wish I could eat less carbs in the morning, but every time I've tried I just end up with a high.

 

[Spiker]

You're welcome Chloe.

20 - 23 units Total Daily Dose is not high at all. It's not the lowest low-carbest ever but it's on the low side.

If you need to eat carbs (= take bolus insulin) in the morning to avoid a high that suggests that your basal dose may be wrong and your bolus ratio may be wrong too. You might want to split that Lantus to twice daily for example.

 

[chl0ejasmine]

@Spiker Its weird - I can take 4 units for granola and yoghurt, and 4 units for an omelette and when I check my blood sugar before I have lunch, its always more stable with the granola? I eat at 6:45 then have lunch at 12:45 - is the long gap a contributing factor? I'd just love to have omelettes without it being high at lunch!

 

[amar1921]

It's normal daily insulin dose, I am on 30-35. When I just was diagnosed I was on low carb diet, but I was kinda underweighted and right now I eat everything and just count all carbs and sugars are pretty good. If you want to lose weight, physical activity is also very important and regular exercise would help you a lot

 

[noblehead]

@Spiker @Charles Robin

Thank you both! I'm getting help in the next few weeks to deal with how I feel about my body image and hopefully then, I won't worry about my diet and insulin in take. I take between 20-23 units including both my Lantus and Novorapid and that feels like a lot to me! Is it??

I wish I could eat less carbs in the morning, but every time I've tried I just end up with a high.

20-30 units of insulin a day isn't a lot by any means, your diet looks fine if your happy with it, carbs don't cause weight gain provided you eat them in moderation.

 

[Daibell]

Yes, that total insulin dose is quite normal. A small question I might have is whether the yogurt is no aded sugar and whether the granola is low sugar (most granolas are heavy with sugar)?

 

[chl0ejasmine]

Hi all, thanks for the replies. I am a healthy weight 5'4 and 8st 5, im going to try increase my exercise, I think my worries are rooted more in self esteem problems. I'm glad you guys all think it's ok though!

@Daibell Hi! I have Lizi's Granola which is slow releasing and low GI and low sugar with Organic Greek yoghurt. It seems to work better for my levels than porridge does, or even an omelette

 

[Mrsass]

Hi hun, your diet sounds great if that works for you n bg's are good then keep on going with it!
I used to have terribly low self esteem so if you ever want someone to talk to feel free to message me, but spiker was right your pic is lovely! x

 

[himtoo]

@Spiker Its weird - I can take 4 units for granola and yoghurt, and 4 units for an omelette and when I check my blood sugar before I have lunch, its always more stable with the granola? I eat at 6:45 then have lunch at 12:45 - is the long gap a contributing factor? I'd just love to have omelettes without it being high at lunch!

Hi Chl0ejasmine
I picked up on the fact that you get less stable results from an omelette ( no carbs) to granola & yoghurt.
i would try conducting an experiment on a day when you are not in work and do everything the same as you have been doing but test at hourly intervals to see more accurately what your BG is doing and if the rise is happening close to the tail end of the novorapid dose or if it is a spike soon after eating.

once you know the result you can adjust the amount of novorapid if required.

this message is the same for anything you consume -- eat to your meter !!
and ask for more test strips too if you need them

and your pic looks great too

 

[Mrsass]

 

[Spiker]

@Spiker Its weird - I can take 4 units for granola and yoghurt, and 4 units for an omelette and when I check my blood sugar before I have lunch, its always more stable with the granola? I eat at 6:45 then have lunch at 12:45 - is the long gap a contributing factor? I'd just love to have omelettes without it being high at lunch!

That is kind of weird, though everyone's different. What's going into the omelette? Just eggs? Any sauces or accompaniments? Quantities? Eggs normally are ultra low carb and very "low GI" because they are mostly protein and fat.

Sometimes people just have a high blood sugar reaction to foods that are specific to them, though I have never heard of this with eggs before.
It's possible that the 6 hour gap between breakfast and lunch - not a problem - may be exposing a problem with your basal insulin dose. What time do you take the Lantus, and how much?

 

[LucySW]

@Spiker Its weird - I can take 4 units for granola and yoghurt, and 4 units for an omelette and when I check my blood sugar before I have lunch, its always more stable with the granola? I eat at 6:45 then have lunch at 12:45 - is the long gap a contributing factor? I'd just love to have omelettes without it being high at lunch!

There must be another reason for it Chloe , because eggs just don't contain carbs, while granola has to. Perhaps you need a bit more info. Perhaps for a couple of days, test at 1, 1.5, 2 hrs after starting breakfast, so you can see what is actually happening. Then tackle the basal?

 

[chl0ejasmine]

I think I will try that at the weekend maybe and check hourly my levels as I love omelette with bacon or cheese. I have no sauces with it too. I take 8 units of lantus usually at 10pm every night

@Spiker @LucySW

 

[chl0ejasmine]

Thank you @Mrsass and @himtoo as well for your support and advice ️xx

 

[noblehead]

There must be another reason for it Chloe , because eggs just don't contain carbs, while granola has to. Perhaps you need a bit more info. Perhaps for a couple of days, test at 1, 1.5, 2 hrs after starting breakfast, so you can see what is actually happening. Then tackle the basal?

No not really Lucy, both protein and fat take a while to convert to glucose in the absence of carbs, for a cheese omelette/bacon & eggs breakfast I need to bolus 4 units of insulin in a split-dose otherwise my bg would be high before lunch, to compare my usual breakfast of porridge oats with seeds, berries, milk & yogurt I just need an extra 1 unit of insulin on top of the 4 I'd bolus for an omelette, it doesn't make sense but that is the way it is........

 

[chl0ejasmine]

No not really Lucy, both protein and fat take a while to convert to glucose in the absence of carbs, for a cheese omelette/bacon & eggs breakfast I need to bolus 4 units of insulin in a split-dose otherwise my bg would be high before lunch, to compare my usual breakfast of porridge oats with seeds, berries, milk & yogurt I just need an extra 1 unit of insulin on top of the 4 I'd bolus for an omelette, it doesn't make sense but that is the way it is........

This is what happens to me - I give about 4 units, the same amount of units I give with granola. Yet with the omelette I'll be higher than I would have if I ate the granola! So weird..