• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Time to reduce my carb intake


As you say slip, i think i do need to make an appointment with them to discuss various options. and choices, also maybe to book appointment with dietician. i have had a good read regarding insulin pumps and they do seem to suit my lifestyle and work. whether the NHS will fund it, is another matter, our local health authority have threatened to cut the A&E and maternity units at north devon hospital meaning a 2 hour drive to exeter for many north devonians!! so fingers crossed
 
I found that the less carbs I ate, the less basal and bolus I needed - they seem to go hand in hand for me and I am still on a roughly 50:50 split. I didn't go low-carb overnight, but worked my way down over several months so I could absorb the changes over that time. You don't need to go very low-carb - find a level you are happy with and you will probably find the law of smaller numbers will give you fewer highs and lows.
 
Mattinnes74 said:
If i can lower my daily bolus (lantus) injection, by lowering my carb intake. would this reduce the number of hypos or 'almost hypos' i might have during my evenings work?
Click to expand...

Your confusing the two insulin, lantus is your basal insulin and your bolus insulin is one you take before eating.

To determine if your basal (lantus) insulin is set too high you would need to do a basal test, this means testing your bg levels 4 hours after your previous meal and then missing the next meal and bolus dose, during this period you would test your bg levels hourly and adjust your basal dose going from the results, so if you hypo'd during the basal test then it's most likely your basal insulin is set too high.

Although the following is for pump users it explains how to do a basal test throughout a 24 hour period:

http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007
 
Last edited:
sorry, yes , i always got them confused, (not physically thankfully), i meant basal. thats very helpful. i guess if testing in the evening at work, i should choose an average night, with average physical activity, as a slow night compared to a hectic night will produce wildly varying results.
 

I don't know if you have the book Think Like a Pancreas but it's a great read and covers things like basal testing, the following is from the author of the book and explains why getting the basal dose right is the foundation to good bg control:

http://integrateddiabetes.com/basal-testing/
 
thanks, i will have a look on amazon. sounds good. can i ask you guys.... i've often had raised eyebrows at me when i tell dr's , nurses that i developed type 1 at the age of 34. (they thought it was type 2 at firs , put me on metaformin etc to no avail). they say type 1 is usually hereditary or you are born with it. is it possible i caused this myself by (a fairly unhealthy, but not ridiculous) diet, or could it have been (what i've read is possible), a bad cold or flu, which knocked out my insulin creating ability??
 
They say it's 20% hereditary and then you need a couple of other factors to set it off... virus, stress etc.
 
I was 27 at diagnosis, and yes I was thought to be T2 for a short while - a month at most, I went down hill rapidly whilst on metformin, and was quickly put on insulin and deemed T1 then, I only had a GAD(?) test later for a clinic trial to confirm T1.

Can't say my diet pre-diag was the best but better than some! At the time the doc did ask if I had been ill with a virus or some other condition prior to diabetes but I couldn't pin point anything, and there's no known history of it in my family (may be the milkmans?!)
 

That's not true. Recent research, exported here, shows that Type 1 occurs across the whole range of ages rather than being generally diagnosed in childhood.

It's 20% genetic, 80% environmental. Even with identical twins, if one twin has Type 1 the other only has a 50% of developing it.

So no, you didn't cause it and it's not your fault
 
Super weirdly, my uncle (no blood relation) got diagnosed the same year as me! He was 36 and I was 1.5 years old..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…