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To low carb or not..Type1.

A

aidanbrown

Member
Messages
13
Location
Chesterfield/Newcastle
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I am a recently diagnosed T1, with being diagnosed on December 23rd. I had high BG levels consistently for my first week, with me not going below 10 once, and then I read about a low carb diet. I have reduced my daily carb intake to approx 100g a day, and have since not gone above 10mmol once.

I really want to stick to this approach, as I am actually really enjoying my food now and never appreciated it as much. However, the diabetic nurses and dietician are telling me to eat normally, despite knowing that I have had much better control since reducing my carbs. I understand that eating normally will make it easier for me to calculate my carb-insulin ratio, but I fear this will damage my control, as I had blurred vision when I was running high and this has now reverted.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
I would continue with low carb too...and then very soon that will be your 'normal' diet.
 
Unless the nurse and dietician can explain exactly why you need carbohydrates in your diet, it sounds like the only thing that needs to change is them.

I'm a recently diagnosed type 1 who low carbs, too. Fortunately, my healthcare team loves it.
 
The lowest I've been so far was 3.2, but i didn't feel bad at all. I have my first meeting with the consultant on Monday, it's going to be tough to try and convince them about the low carbing..
 
aidanbrown said:
The lowest I've been so far was 3.2, but i didn't feel bad at all. I have my first meeting with the consultant on Monday, it's going to be tough to try and convince them about the low carbing..
Click to expand...
I say they are just being cautious and taking it easy to find out your ratios etc, great you didnt feel bad on 3.2 but dont get use to it .. The only thing that may be a concern is miscalculating something while low carbing to make you drop low, i myself made a post about low carbing today as i was going to move onto it, but as i have shown, i am not yet confident nor familiar with all yet so i am cutting carbs before low carbing, if ur getting on fine then well done
 
Just do what suits you. If that's the way to have your levels under control, stick to it. Your diabetes team probably wont like it (its still not accepted by many health care professionals) but if your numbers are good, that's what matters
 
Thanks for all the replies!

I tend to wake up with a level of about 8-11, and 2 hours after breakfast I'm always seeming to drop to about 4-6, so I think I may need to have a few more carbs at breakfast, or reduce my insulin a tad more.

I understand they are being cautious, but I am recording all the carbs I am eating so they should still be able to work out a ratio for me..

I'm so jealous of the cgm !
 
@aidanbrown I can remember when I was diagnosed 15 years ago my sugars were up and down constantly, always taking correction doses etc etc and also the blurred vision! If it's any help the blurred vision will stop, I think it's just a matter of your body adjusting to all the changes it's going through. I was told to eat loads of carbs... Pasta potatoes etc which in turn obviously and unknown to me at the time made it hard to adjust insulin intakes. During my 15 years of being T1 my control has been Okish but due to being very active has also made it a bit more unpredictable but I would certainly advise some kind of exercise even if it's gentle strolls to start with, it does make a big difference. I now eat a lchf diet and although I've had a few problems adapting now works great for me. Maybe let your body adapt to being T1, try and learn by your mistakes and have a good read up on lchf before you do it (there is some great advice on this forum from very knowledgeable members)
I think what I'm trying to say is take it one step at a time, especially in the first few weeks as your ratios may change, let it settle down then decide if lchf is right for you. You're doing the correct thing by carb counting from the start, this in turn will definitely help you in the future should you decide to go lchf.
Good luck :D
 
Have you read Bernstein's Diabetes Solution?
Do you have access to An ereader?
If so, you could have read it cover to cover, by Tuesday.

It would give you plenty of ammo for the anticipated skirmish...

:D
 
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