Type 1

Char1994 said:

hi everyone I've been diagnosed for a month now. I'm on a m3 insulin pen where I inject my self twice a day, I have to watch what I eat. Can anyone recommend any suggestions to make my life a bit easier. As I find it hard with what to snack on durning the day. Also do they say not to let your blood sugar go below 7 at bed time as there a risk of having a hypo during the night?

Thank you

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As you get used to diabetes, you may want to ask about a basal/bolus regime. It's more injections but it gives you more flexibility both in the times and sizes of your meals.

Do you need carb snacks? When I was on mixed insulin very early in diagnosis, I ate things like apples, digestive biscuits and cheese, toast, cereal bar, glass of milk and an oatcake, etc, depending on how many carbs I needed for that snack.

Yes, do follow the advice you've been given about your bedtime blood sugar. Hypos at night can be harder to spot and aren't very nice. I always used to have a small bedtime snack when I was on mixed insulin. If you're wondering what your blood sugar is doing during the night, you could set an alarm to get up and test around 2am.

My top tip is to keep a routine if you're using mixed insulin.

Are you in the uk @Char1994 ? Is there a reason you are on mixed insulin rather than basal/bolus - would you prefer 2 injections rather than the 4 or 5 required for basal/bolus? Or do you naturally have quite a fixed schedule?

Do you know what quantity of carbs your dose of insulin has been worked out on?

What do you normally eat and what do you like to eat?

The basal bolus regime is where the insulin is broke up into its two functional parts...........the basal dose, which holds your blood sugar steady when you have no food digesting....the glucose it deals with is the slowly released stuff from the liver which goes constantly......ans then the bolus, which is the shorter acting stuff designed specifically for the glucose from digesting foods....

your currently on an insulin that contains both these functions in one dose....

because they are together, you can't adjust one without effecting the other and therefore you are restricted to a fixed amount of carbs a day....

its definitely worth getting some training first before going for a basal/bolus regime, but if the team are there ready to support you, you could start straight away....

It sounds like things haven't been explained to you very much @Char1994 - you will find so much information on this forum so you've found the right place!

I am tagging @daisy1 who has some fab info for new members