Type 1 for 18 years still needing advice!

linda_b · Jan 20, 2011

Hi guys,

I have been a type 1 since i was 5 years old i'm now 23 and am at that stage where i want to get it fully under control.
When i was first diagnosed i regulary visited the hospital but my doctor was so horrible to me every time i went that it made me not want to go anymore and almost scared to go. I'm not going to lie i haven't managed it well, but recently one of my very best friends. friends died whilst in a diabetic coma and my friend told me he couldn't go through it again and that i need to start looking after myself and what he said really hit home. My point is I have no where to start for the first 10 years of my condition i was shouted and yelled at that i've never really had any understanding of how to treat it.
Do i need a low carb/high carb diet. All i seem to no is sugar is a no go!
Any advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks

Linda x

ams162 · Jan 20, 2011

hello linda
get in contact with ur DSN tell her what u have told us most are understanding especially when they hear u want to turn it around. my sons DSN is fab and i couldnt have got to where we have without her help and support. our consultant wasnt as friendly and i always felt judged by him but hes not the one who had to live with or cope with these things day in day out and i knew we were doing our very best to get dylans levels to an acceptable level so didnt take too much notice

as for the part about sugar its the carbs u want to watch ask to go on a carb counting course (dafne) which helps give a better understanding of what is entailed its not about cutting them out but about counting them and dosing ur insulin accordingly

well done on the turn around in how u want to deal with it all get some help and u will be well on the way

anna marie

cugila · Jan 20, 2011

Linda.
Sometimes it pays to go back to basics as even some really long term (30 yr) diabetics have found. If things are going wrong then you need to fix it.........no reflection on you, just you may not have been given good advice.

Whilst I agree with anna marie in most things, where I differ, is in that reducing carbohydrates can allow you to reduce medication, in your case obviously Insulin. That has to be a good thing. Now you can adjust your dose to cover the foods you eat and that is the way of many, their choice. It might be yours but there are other ways.

The DAFNE course would be a good option for you at this point.

As for diet.......it isn't a choice of low carbs or high carbs as some would have you believe. Just some people eat more carbs than others yet can still have great Bg numbers. It's a balance which YOU have to work out what is best for YOU. One persons high carbs is anothers low carbs..confusing !

So......basics. Have a read here, much in there might already be known to you, maybe not. It may help you gain better control AND reduced medication. That is all we are trying to do........help you become a well controlled Diabetic......

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Ken / Sue.

noblehead · Jan 20, 2011

Hi Linda,

You really need to speak with your diabetes nurse and ask for guidance on how to carb count and match your insulin to suit, enrolling on a carb counting course such as DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating) would be beneficial and would help you understand insulin/carb ratios.

Carbohydrates are a essential part of a healthy balanced diet, but some of us have found that a small reduction in our daily intake has help us manage our blood glucose better, to what extent you reduce the carbs is based entirely on your own experience but rest assured there is no need whatsoever to go as far as low carbing (50g of carbs or less) being a type 1 on insulin. As I said a carb counting course will provide you with the tools to manage your diabetes well and maintain good blood glucose control, take a look at the following site for a basic understanding of counting carbs and matching insulin.

http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/prevent ... proach.htm

Nigel

jopar · Jan 20, 2011

So sorry to hear that you've lost a friend...

Your endeavours to start looking after yourself can start right now, with starting taking your blood glucose levels and note the foods and amounts you are eating... If you haven't been to clinic for a while you will probably need referring by your GP, book an appointment with your GP and ensure that they refer you to the hospital clinic and not the sugery DSN..

Don't be worried about seeing the DSN as they won't be judgemnetal but will do the best to help you moved forward into better control.. Take your dairy with you so that they can see what is going on this will enable them to give you more help and advice..

Getting into the routine of managing your diabetes can be a struggle exspecially if you starting out with carb counting but it does get easier and it all becomes part of your daily routine...

I would also suggest that you invest in either Think like a pancreas or Using Insulin both these books are very good at explaining the in's and out's concerning control and working with your insulin to gain good control.. Oh and don't forget the Carb counting book so you can identify the amount of carbs in your foods you'll eating... Gems is very good as it fits into the pocket/handbag..

Take Care, don't forget to ask all the questions you need, and don't think that a question is too silly to be asked, as no question is a silly question if you don't know the answer after all we only know the answers because we asked the question ourselves..

the_anticarb · Feb 2, 2011

Hiya - basically you can either reduce your carbs, or increase your insulin to exactly match your carbs, or some combination of the two.
If you're on a fast acting insulin, this will work to metabolise both fast acting and slower acting carbs so I think the old advice to diabetics to avoid sugar is out of date now, that's more an approach for people who can still produce some insulin but not enough so they need to make sure they are not releasing too much into their blood sugar too quick.
Just remember all carbs, even really healthy stuff like wholemeal bread, convert to sugar in the blood eventually.
I used to low carb, now I am using novorapid to match my insulin to my carb intake, on both approaches i have acheived low Hba1cs so I can say from experience that both approaches work, it's up to you which you prefer. I lost a lot of weight low carbing (which I needed to as I was overweight) but found the diet too restrictive in the end, although I was pretty much cutting out all starchy foods which is more than a lot of people do. Now my diet is more carby, but I'm having to manage it more closely with a lot of testing and there's more margin for error with hypos (which I rarely had with low carb). So there's pros and cons to both, and some would advocate a moderate carb approach.
Best bet go to see your DSN and ask to be put on a dafne course....although dafne do espouse the 'eat what you want and match the insulin to the carbs' approach.

levana · Feb 3, 2011

Hi Linda,
I am new to this forum, this is actually my first post
What you write seem familiar to me. I have type 1 diabetes 20 years now, and a few years ago had a diabetic coma myself. I recovered, but my cognitive abilities have been somehow affected: I forget things much more quickly, and it is harder for me to concentrate. This is, naturally, not so very good for my sugar level control. My days are quite crazy now, going form very low sugar levels to very high ones

I think I know what can help me, and perhaps it can help you too: to become more aware of our condition. Diabetes requires constant monitoring of so many activities during the day: physical exercise the food we eat, the insulin we take...you can never forget you have diabetes. You have to take it into account all the time, in everything you do, and it is so hard to do that.

I have always found it difficult to live my life yet constantly keep my diabetes in mind. I had better times before, now my sugar levels are really horrible. I am even ashamed to say how horrible they are...0.2 to 20 is not unusual for me these days. I read here people who complain their sugar levels are higher than 7.8 two hours after meals, and I wish I could be worried about such wonderful levels!

So, as a first step I have joined this forum. Just for sharing thoughts, I guess. Bring these issues to the foreground of my mind rather than repress them. I hope this would help me. Perhaps it could help you too

noblehead · Feb 3, 2011

Welcome to the forum levana!

Nigel

daisy1 · Feb 3, 2011

Hi levana and welcome to the forum I'm sure your experience will be very useful to us and hopefully we can teach you a thing or two as well.

levana · Feb 5, 2011

Thanks

Type 1 for 18 years still needing advice!

linda_b

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levana

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Type 1 for 18 years still needing advice!

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