Type 1 and low carb -how low do you go?

To add to my previous post, fried foods, pizza, chicken skin, dairy etc spike me and it takes forever to come back down. Mono/ plant fats have a far lesser effect. However if I have a meal with VLC and low fat I spike and don't come back down. Any of this normal?

Kristin251 said:

How to do you know how much to bolus and then don't you go low later?
Morning is always worst for me

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Lots of practice ! For cycling I need 2 units to make it to work without spiking before breakfast.

For running if i'm going on a long slow one > 12 km's I only need 1 unit , for shorter faster runs I need ~ 3 units. This keeps me flat lining and and the dreaded DP / Exercise combination at bay.

Wurst said:

Surprisingly I don't see much difference in my HBA1C results between low and higher carb. The last one was 4.7 (during low carbing) and prior to that 4.9 (higher carb intake).

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Mine seems to remain fairly consistent between LC and HC.

Kristin251 said:

To add to my previous post, fried foods, pizza, chicken skin, dairy etc spike me and it takes forever to come back down. Mono/ plant fats have a far lesser effect. However if I have a meal with VLC and low fat I spike and don't come back down. Any of this normal?

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For things like Pizza and fried foods that are HFHC, they tend to require way more insulin than you use as per the carb counts on the items. As I mentioned earlier in the topic, more than twice as much for me.

VLCLF though - what sort of foods are you talking about? Dressing free salads? Pure protein? I know that pure protein does have an effect (although I couldn't class it as an immediate spike, but a very clear lump) but I'm not sure what else?

If you are considering dressing free salad in your list that causes spikes, then there's what's described by Bernstein as the Chinese Meal effect. http://kickincarbclutter.blogspot.co.uk/2007/09/chinese-restaurant-effect.html This may be the reason.

I'm talking about a piece of chicken or a burger, no additional fat or carbs. It's festival season and very hard to find any kind of veggies so I usually bring a bag but would love to just eat a burger or hot dog but have no idea when to bolus without testing over and over.

I've been running extremely low the last few days. Today I woke up at 60 and ate my turkey lettuce wrap with mustard and mayo with a slice of avocado and it took o ear a HF hour to get to 77. Yesterday I didn't bolus at all until dinner and 78 was the highest I got. We did do lots of hard work though. Last week I WAY over ate delishous chicken ,was at a festival and it took three full days to get back to normal with lots of skipping lunch or BF and extra insulin.

And when I was talking pizza I just meant the toppings. I haven't eaten grains in years and I forget to mention that. Fatty pork sausages do the same thing.

Wurst said:

Lots of practice ! For cycling I need 2 units to make it to work without spiking before breakfast.

For running if i'm going on a long slow one > 12 km's I only need 1 unit , for shorter faster runs I need ~ 3 units. This keeps me flat lining and and the dreaded DP / Exercise combination at bay.

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I've only been type 1 and insulin for 2 years so lots of challenges until recently. For now I think I'll stick to my slow walks until I'm up for a new diabetic challenge. I do miss yoga a lot so I will be pondering this. Do you bolus before or after ?

A piece of chicken is VLC, LF, but I wouldn't consider a burger to be so. It's typically just LC as most of them are 20% fat. You also have to be a bit careful with them as many burgers contain 6-8g of carbs, as do hot dog sausages (obviously dependent on size). Typically for me, I can bolus 5-10 mins before eating them and then I'll stay flat.

tim2000s said:

A piece of chicken is VLC, LF, but I wouldn't consider a burger to be so. It's typically just LC as most of them are 20% fat. You also have to be a bit careful with them as many burgers contain 6-8g of carbs, as do hot dog sausages (obviously dependent on size). Typically for me, I can bolus 5-10 mins before eating them and then I'll stay flat.

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The burgers and hot dogs I eat at home have no carbs and are 100% grass fed. I wouldn t eat a burger that wasn't hand packed because they're always over cooked if frozen. I would opt for chicken or all beef hot dog. It's kind of strange as most of the sausages here are very low carb unless it's got some kind of fruity thing like spinach mango or Apple. I have rarely seen any with loads of fillers.
I suppose I could just bolus at the start and hope for the best. Haha. Or I could tuck a dog from home in my bag along with my veggies. That would be safest.

Sometimes I just want some snacky protein like chicken wings but can't seem to get it right.

alaska said:

Do you find that protein and/or fat raise your sugar levels?

My experience is that:

• Protein leads to an upwards rise between 3 and 5 hours after eating.
• Fat more gradually increases sugar levels over a period of up to 8 hours after eating.

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Me too. Its not as simple as cutting out carbs and sugar drops. There are swings and roundabouts

GVA2 said:

Me too. Its not as simple as cutting out carbs and sugar drops. There are swings and roundabouts

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No-one said it was. Both of the above need much less insulin, and but in order to understand the changes that are caused by changing your energy source, you still need to test as much as ever.

alaska said:

Hi Wurst, I'm still in awe of your blood sugar control. Can I ask at what age were you diagnosed with type 1?

I was diagnosed aged 11 and I wonder whether I literally can achieve such super control or not.

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Hi Alaska, I was diagnosed at 39 and coming up to 5 years with T1. I don't see why you can't aim for a lower HB1AC, what was your last result? Alot of people on this forum discourage tight control as you supposedly lose hypo awareness , but mine is still fully intact :-0
For me exercise is the key , last week I was on holiday in Spain with little motivation for exercise and tight BS control became much harder to achieve.

alaska said:

This does make sense. Type 1 is much faster in development (ie shorter honeymoon period) the younger you get it.

A 2 yr old with type 1 will have a very short honeymoon period. An 11 yr old may have a honeymoon period anywhere between 6-24 months perhaps. A 39 yr old -especially if well controlled- can see a honeymoon period last several years.

I imagine the amazing control you get is thanks to a number of factors:

• Low carb
• Strong management
• Strong dedication to exercise
• Being LADA diagnosed within the last 5 years

I think it would be possible to get my HbA1c lower than it is now 5.8% (40 mmol/mol) but I expect any figure below 5.5% (31 mmol/mol) will start to get exponentially harder to achieve without going hypo.

I'm guessing that the longer you keep going with these great numbers, the longer your small but still significant insulin production will be maintained.

I think you're doing amazing and are an inspiration to other people with LADA and type 1.

Ed

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Thanks Ed. Interesting comments. Your HbA1c is really good , if you're not comfortable with going lower then I wouldn't try it. What type are you ?

I only partially low carb these days. After diagnosis I followed a strict < 30 gram per day of carbs diet for over 3 years. If I don't exercise then I really have trouble with fine control and BS get more unpredictable. I'm lucky enough to be able to cycle to work ~ 30 km per day and this really helps.