• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Pick n mix

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
B

Blair39

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
My son has been asking if he’ll ever be allowed to eat a pick n mix for a treat again. He hasn’t had sweeties or candy like this since being diagnosed last year, but I don’t like him feeling restricted or deprived.
A pick n mix would never be my choice for a treat!!!! But he seems persistent with this request, so I was wondering how much additional insulin would you recommend? He wouldn’t be eating more than a handful at one time...the amount of sugar involved makes me nervous!!
Might I add...we are planning a trip to the cinema and I think this is what is playing on his mind. He’d like a pick n mix treat at the cinema.
 
Blair39 said:
My son has been asking if he’ll ever be allowed to eat a pick n mix for a treat again. He hasn’t had sweeties or candy like this since being diagnosed last year, but I don’t like him feeling restricted or deprived.
A pick n mix would never be my choice for a treat!!!! But he seems persistent with this request, so I was wondering how much additional insulin would you recommend? He wouldn’t be eating more than a handful at one time...the amount of sugar involved makes me nervous!!
Might I add...we are planning a trip to the cinema and I think this is what is playing on his mind. He’d like a pick n mix treat at the cinema.
Click to expand...
We can't advise on insulin needed as it will depend very much on his own personal sensitivity to it - we're all different in that respect and you learn through experience. I don't see anything wrong with the occasional treat - moderation is the key so it's not too much and not too regular 🙂 I've found that if I overdo it then my consequent high levels make me feel a bit sick so am now naturally careful. The key is to experiment and see how he reacts 🙂
 
If I'm having a treat like that that I know will rapidly raise my BG, I just make sure I leave a reasonable amount of time between the dose and eating, based on the experimentation I've done over the years.

Sometimes a carefully timed treat like that has less effect than a 'regular' meal when I just do 'what normally works'. Diabetes is always one for confounding expectations!
 
3 cola bottle sweets = 10g carb
Other sweets you usually get in a pick n mix are similar, it's roughly 2 large ones or 4 small ones or 3 medium ones per 10g. That's a very rough guide, but gives you an idea of what to expect. Do you have Carbs and Cals? Available as a book or as an app on Android and iOS, full of useful info like this. Includes pictures of various sweets of this kind!

If your son eats more than a handful or two at once though, you might find his ratios don't work any more and he'll need a correction dose later. Just try to keep a close eye on things.
 
My daughter gets things like this as dessert so the rest of the food helps slow down her spike and she’s had her insulin and then had her main meal and then had the sweets. Or we give her a couple just before swimming or something when her body will be working hard. We don’t stop her eating anything it’s all about portion size and timing. She’s less interested in eating sweets though now, I think her tastes have changed.
 
Does your lad mix with other children who have diabetes. He might be feeling very isolated. If you can find some kind of group for him to talk to (is there a children's Diabetes UK forum that is safe?). It would help him so much if he could talk to others who have to restrict their 'treats' and not feel too much of the why me. It could stop a later rebellion especially if all his friends are not diabetic.
 
@Blair39 - I don't know where you are in the UK, but at one of our local-ish hospitals, there is a fabulous group for young people of all ages, their siblings and their parents. The camaraderie of both young people, but also the parents is great to see. They do all sorts of things.

There is also another group, run by some of the parents mentioned above, focusing on activity and sport. They have tennis tournaments, sports days, football, touch rugby, netball, trampolining - yes. All sort! I was astonoshed by the numbers thay have for the sports groups. Not because I thought T1 wouldin any way limit activities, but more the number of young T1 (and siblings) there actually around these parts.

There's also things like Camp Charnwood, where young people go camping (who'd have thought, eh?), without most of the parents (some will go as helpers), but with doctors and DSNs around, so they are extremely safe, and again they have the opportunity is casual circumstances to encounter others similar to themselves and to do really very "normal" things.

Of course, at those events, most parents also get a little break, but can rest easy knowing their young person is being well cared for.
 
Last edited:
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top