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T1 and breakfast

RuWo

Member
Messages
12
Hi all, I am a long diagnosed T1 and on an insulin pump for several years now, initially my hba1c dropped quite a lot but now has stagnated somewhat around 62/ 63 (7.8/9 in the old measurement) and i have spent past few months trying to crack down on my basal rates and and carb counting.

I hope this is the right area to post in - I am struggling to find breakfast foods that I can work with and I was wondering what foods do poeple like to have /find easiest to manage for breakfast? If anyone has low/no carb breakfasts too i'd be interested to know what you eat?

For context, I usually have a small breakfast at home before i leave for work - usually cereal or toast as its quick to make/eat. if i have toast then it's shop bought bread with the carbs on the back so i can use that to workout insulin. for cereal the only one i have found so far which i can correctly bolus for is plain rice pops/crispies which i don't think is the healthiest choice, i'd prefer one of the higher fibre breakfast cereals.
Porridge, shreddies, wheetabix, bran flakes all make me rise horrifically later - and I have been experimenting with extended boluses etc but without sucess. i'd prefer not to eat sweet breakfasts like mueseli, dried fruity granola etc and yogurt for breakfast doesn't appeal!

My carb free blood glucose testing days show my basal is generally ok through the morning and I currently have a standard food:insulin ratio of 1unit:15g carbs which works for the rice pops so I don't think that needs changing.

thanks for reading and any ideas for foods would be greatefully recieved!
 
Hello @RuWo Can you tell us how your body responds to carbs in the morning and what sort of blood glucose readings are you getting ?
 
Personally I have to avoid carbs in the morning, am more insulin resistant in the mornings so taking insulin and eating carbs is like dosing with water and I can end up high until lunchtime. Instead I eat a keto porridge recipe now made with coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut fat, egg, cooked on a low heat and served with blueberries and plain yoghurt, (www.dietdoctor.com) I count this as 12g of carb and peak at around 8.5 before leveling down to around 6, 2 hours later, it works for me, either this or bacon, egg and mushrooms. At the end of the day we are all different and I know some t1's who can happily eat weetabix/toast and get no spike, but sadly for me this isn't the case.
 
I tend to wake up slightly too high (partly my fault because if I increase my basal I end up low later in the day and partly because I have a bit of dawn phenomena going on from about 6am), so I either skip breakfast (in favour of white coffee) or I eat frozen berries plus Greek yoghurt (very quick and easy, just pop the berries in the microwave for 1-2 minutes) and only 10-15g carb.

This works well for me . I'm most insulin resistant in the morning, so a small amount if carbs accompanied by a slightly less small amount of insulin ensures my blood sugar is where I want it to be by lunch.

I'm moderately low carb, usually less than 100g per day, though as I carb count I go higher if I want to.
 
Hello!
Sometimes I go for an iced coffee with plant based milk. Bearing in mind we all react differently to coffee, sometimes I spike (usually a teeny tiny spike) and sometimes I don’t.
Another option would be plain yogurt (check labels) and some berries, add chai seeds if you like them.
If you are meaty- eggs, sausages and bacon.
If you have left over dinner from last night that would be a good option to help your breakfast ideas, just reheat.
If you fancy an omelette with any toppings, that is quite easy too.
You can melt cheese into thin pancakes and add toppings to it.
 
thanks Juicyj that might be really useful, I have not thought about insulin resistance - thinking on it now if I've snacked in the morning (office loves cakes and biscuits at 10am!) then my lunch readings are higher even if i have bolused correctly - and I've added jam to toast then its also bit higher again even if i have weighed out the jam used than if its just plain toast. I try not to snack and dont have particularly sweet breakfasts. I will look at the keto porridge - would you make a big batch to last a few days or in the evening for the next morning?
 
thanks helensaramay - I too have to bolus for high protein - in certain foods only though!

MeiChanski - coffee is essential for breakfast! i do eat meat - if i did that i'd probably have to take it to work and heat and eat there - not sure my co-workers would enjoy my bacon sausage egg breakfasts!
 

Hi @RuWo I make mine fresh every morning, I could cook up a batch but I wouldn't trust my portion size control when serving it up ! It keeps me full all morning, but if I need a snack then I eat a handful of almonds as I keep a tin on my desk at work.
 
I found it impossible to eat a carby breakfast and not spike high, regardless of the amount of insulin I take. So I don't. And I'm very happy with all the LC T2-threads for inspiration.
Carbs later in the day are much easier to dose for for me.
 

Ah, I’d quickly reheat and stuff my face. Unless you invest in a good food insulated container, a lot of keto/ low carb warm breakfasts is mostly egg rolls with whatever fatty meats or veg in it, cheesy hot pockets with filling or cheesy bites. Super markets are selling low carb bread loaves now, maybe you can check those out for a quick sandwich. Unless you are like me that enjoys suffering because you love iced coffee too much even in the cold freezing temperatures.
 
Hi @RuWo, I usually need to counteract the DP or Footonthefloor when I wake up, unless I’ve needed to bolus for a nighttime high in the four hours before waking. The early hours bolus seems to even out the extra required in the morning. At the same time as giving the fotf dose, I pre-bolus for breakfast. I measure and count when I let the cat out.
I eat breakfast when my libre shows that blood glucose is descending, and I have a higher insulin to carb morning ratio than the evening one.
Like you, breakfast is often toast, with marmite and sometimes peanut butter. Variations are dependant on what’s in the fridge, fruit bowl, cupboard: apple and cheese with ryvita etc (and marmite, yes I’m a ‘lover’, fruit with yoghurt and a small amount of raw porridge oats.
I find that pre-bolusing is needed at lunch, too, in fact for all meals.
It doesn’t always go smoothly: after all, trying to box T1 into the framework of the tools we have available is like trying to put the Cosmos into a kaleidoscope!
 
Is breakfast an absolute necessity for you? I rarely bother with it - I may have an 11am brunch if we’re out, but on a weekday I don’t eat until 12-1pm.
 
Hi @RuWo, usually for my breakfast I have a yogurt drink, a yogurt, both under 7 carbs or a small piece of fruit and that does me until lunchtime. Personally I like to have breakfast as it sets me up for the morning, but lately BG's have been rocky and again this morning I had no breakfast, just correction doses.
 
I think the majority of T1 diabetics struggle with having breakfast. The dawn syndrome is a lot of the reasons why where the liver dumps a pile of glucose into your body to kick start you in the morning. We unfortunately don't need it lol. I really love eating poached egg on toast and have found that Asda sells a low carbohydrate bread which is 10g per slice making it at least half of what other breads are. I also have to bolus a little extra in the morning to help.
 
i have ryvita with cheese ,if i have toast or cereal bgs go through the roof im very resistant in the morning fine rest of day .
 
For years I didn't eat breakfast at all because I would just go high. Now that I have a libre and a pump I have worked really hard with a dietitian at my clinic and I can eat either porridge or weetabix for breakfast. I have to have a different basal setting for this though, as basically we have tweaked my basal rate and front loaded the bolus to allow me to do this. I also have horrific dawn phenomenon, which the pump and libre has helped no end. So now I have a large basal rise at 4am, and as long as I remember to take 1 unit when I remove my pump to shower and take my insulin 5 or 10 minutes before breakfast then I am fine. I'm pumping fiasp.
 
thank you all for your help!
I think I am in the mindset of a breakfast setting you up for the day, I can go without but I do get hungry when I remember I have not eaten!

I made a batch of mini veg/ egg fritattas yesterday, added 2 tblsp of flour and a big dollop yogurt and a little milk so not completely carb free but didn't put any cheese in. So far so good, BGs were 4.9@6.20am (ate 3 and bolused a little), 6.7@9.10 and 7.5@now so seeing a bit of a gradual rise but nowhere near what it was with carby breakfast. i'll do a few days of this then look to adjust my morning basal.

I did a 4 day CGM a few years ago as my hospital team wanted to check my dawn phenomonon, but it turned out not to be there during the time i did it. Instead of trying to fix a dawn phenomon we tweaked my basal to the ups I had over the morning and evening. I did get better control and had another drop in hba1c, although my latest hospital team (have had yearly changes in staff at the hospital) say this is chasing the BGs and the basal should be more at a steady constant rate through the day rather than rising at certain times like I had it. Since they said to change my basals though I have been struggling to control the BGs and stagnating on the hba1c. From the fasting-testing i'm tweaking and I can see slowly my basals are going back to the rises.
 
It is useful to hear that others have a problem with this. I have had a few morning lows and find treating them very difficult as what treats a low in the afternoon sends me really high in the morning - I need about 1/3 of the carbs to treat morning lows.
I often skip breakfast, but will occassionally have eggs. Even Greek yoghurt and berries is enough to spike my sugars. Sometimes I eat what remained of dinner cause I eat low carb foods all the time. I can manage tea or coffee with milk without any spikes and don't need to take insulin for it if I'm just having that.
 
I have had a problem with spikes after breakfast, a fairly loaded 78g of carb, and I was taking 8 units of Novorapid. After the spike I would drop to borderline hypo.
I now am fine, my bolus dose is now 6 units,I do not get the spike and avoid the low readings three hours later as well.
I am not about nine weeks since being diagnosed and my insulin doses are now settling to about one unit to twelve grams of carb, was 1:8.
Still learning about dosing, hopefully will get a chance to attend a DFNE course soon.
 
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