Carb counting - what did I do wrong?

[Ljc]

Well done, it's good to hear your going on a DAFNE course , that will help you a lot.

 

[Kaylz]

Hey! Had my appointment with the nurse this morning. I had a breakdown of my hba1c's over the year - 12 months ago it was 107, went down to 73, then 57, and am currently at 56 so quite pleased with that considering where I started from. I'm hoping the carb counting will help to get this down that little bit more.
I've had a couple of bad hypos upon waking; ironically both times was after eating pasta (and after having my sugars only 1-2 higher after 4 hours! Yay!) and then I went low overnight. The lady I saw this morning was a practice nurse rather than the DN (which I was surprised about, I thought I was seeing the DN). I am being referred to the DN care team so they can take me through carb counting/discuss options for doing the DAFNE course.
Meal times are going well, I think I pretty much have "simple" meals nailed now, it's time to start being more adventurous lol 🙂

Well done 🙂 and wow that's fantastic news so happy for you 🙂 x

 

[Sprogladite]

Thank you everyone I really appreciate your support and help through all of this 🙂 I am having more bloods done in 3 months so hopefully I will be reporting another improvement then!

 

[Sprogladite]

Ok guys so I attempted the basal fasting test last night. I had dinner at 7pm, my sugar was 7.2 before and I did my lantus at 11pm as usual. Results follow:

9:00pm - 10.5
10:00pm - 10.6
10:30pm - 10.3
11:00pm - 10.9
1:00am - 8.7
3:00am - 5.3
5:00am - 3.2

Test ended at 5am when I corrected the hypo...

 

[Kaylz]

Ok guys so I attempted the basal fasting test last night. I had dinner at 7pm, my sugar was 7.2 before and I did my lantus at 11pm as usual. Results follow:

9:00pm - 10.5
10:00pm - 10.6
10:30pm - 10.3
11:00pm - 10.9
1:00am - 8.7
3:00am - 5.3
5:00am - 3.2

Test ended at 5am when I corrected the hypo...

Sorry to hear you had to give up because of a hypo, hope your not feeling too bad today hun x

 

[Sprogladite]

Just tired and a bit of a headache, could be worse 🙂 I'm thinking I might be doing too much. If I'm going hypo in the early hours and my liver is dumping glucose it would explain a lot - I always feel terrible in the mornings and my sugar level rises a lot on my way to work, if it's coz I've hypo'd an hour or two before waking and my liver has glucosed me up then that would explain a lot. I'll do the test again next weekend and see if I get similar results. I had to call the test off last weekend too because of a hypo!

 

[Kaylz]

Just tired and a bit of a headache, could be worse 🙂 I'm thinking I might be doing too much. If I'm going hypo in the early hours and my liver is dumping glucose it would explain a lot - I always feel terrible in the mornings and my sugar level rises a lot on my way to work, if it's coz I've hypo'd an hour or two before waking and my liver has glucosed me up then that would explain a lot. I'll do the test again next weekend and see if I get similar results. I had to call the test off last weekend too because of a hypo!

Damn your hypo's girl lol, I tested my lunch today 5.3 before, 2 hours later - 8.4, 4 hours later - 6.7, not sure if it's a true reflection on the effects of lunch or the cat getting ill again mid test , test meal out again huh lol x

 

[DropShot]

I suggest reading "The Case Against Sugar" by Gary Taubes. It is the most informative read on why we get obese and diabetes that I have seen in 40 years of study on the subject

 

[silentsquirrel]

I suggest reading "The Case Against Sugar" by Gary Taubes. It is the most informative read on why we get obese and diabetes that I have seen in 40 years of study on the subject

Hi Dropshot, welcome to the forum! You might like to introduce yourself in your own thread in the Newbies section - what type of diabetes do you have?
Your comment isn't really relevant to this thread, as Sprogladite has Type 1, not Type 2.

 

[Sprogladite]

I suggest reading "The Case Against Sugar" by Gary Taubes. It is the most informative read on why we get obese and diabetes that I have seen in 40 years of study on the subject

Whilst I appreciate the sentiment, this is completely irrelevant to me. I am not obese, and never have been. There is a significant difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune condition. Type 2 is largely regarded as a metabolic disorder, although I believe this is currently being examined as to whether it should be reclassified as autoimmune. They are two separate conditions, and require separate care. The lumping together of type 1 and type 2 diabetics is one of my major 'red flag' triggers...can you tell? Lol. But I won't be reading the book. I have enough research gumpf to be getting on with for my own condition!

 

[Kaylz]

Whilst I appreciate the sentiment, this is completely irrelevant to me. I am not obese, and never have been. There is a significant difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune condition. Type 2 is largely regarded as a metabolic disorder, although I believe this is currently being examined as to whether it should be reclassified as autoimmune. They are two separate conditions, and require separate care. The lumping together of type 1 and type 2 diabetics is one of my major 'red flag' triggers...can you tell? Lol. But I won't be reading the book. I have enough research gumpf to be getting on with for my own condition!

I neglected to reply to that comment as it really wound me up x

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Ok guys so I attempted the basal fasting test last night. I had dinner at 7pm, my sugar was 7.2 before and I did my lantus at 11pm as usual. Results follow:

9:00pm - 10.5
10:00pm - 10.6
10:30pm - 10.3
11:00pm - 10.9
1:00am - 8.7
3:00am - 5.3
5:00am - 3.2

Test ended at 5am when I corrected the hypo...

Hmmmm... Interesting @Sprogladite - and could have been my own results back in the day!

Your evening meal dose looks pretty good and you were close(ish) to where you started by the time the meal dose had finished, a little higher perhaps, but not a disaster by any means.

The 'perfect' version of those overnight results might have seen you drop to the mid-high 6's at 3am and then probablt flattened off or even raised a little by 5am. But you kept on dropping right down into hypo territory. 😱

It might be good to see if this pattern repeats before making any changes.

But...

My own experience was that when I took Lantus at bedtime, as was suggested to me, the mini-peak that Lantus has in its activity profile (around 5 hours after injecting) tended to co-incide with the point overnight when my cortisol production naturally dips and my BGs were likely to be lowest.

When I changed my Lantus dose to breakfast time I found I had lots less trouble with overnight lows. I just needed to keep an eye on post-breakfast levels a bit more as my Lantus dose took a while to get going.

Hope you find some answers for your puzzle soon!

 

[Sprogladite]

I neglected to reply to that comment as it really wound me up x

Lol me too, I try to abide by the 'if you have nothing nice to say' rule but sometimes something just needs to be said!!

Hmmmm... Interesting @Sprogladite - and could have been my own results back in the day!

Your evening meal dose looks pretty good and you were close(ish) to where you started by the time the meal dose had finished, a little higher perhaps, but not a disaster by any means.

The 'perfect' version of those overnight results might have seen you drop to the mid-high 6's at 3am and then probablt flattened off or even raised a little by 5am. But you kept on dropping right down into hypo territory. 😱

It might be good to see if this pattern repeats before making any changes.

But...

My own experience was that when I took Lantus at bedtime, as was suggested to me, the mini-peak that Lantus has in its activity profile (around 5 hours after injecting) tended to co-incide with the point overnight when my cortisol production naturally dips and my BGs were likely to be lowest.

When I changed my Lantus dose to breakfast time I found I had lots less trouble with overnight lows. I just needed to keep an eye on post-breakfast levels a bit more as my Lantus dose took a while to get going.

Hope you find some answers for your puzzle soon!

Thank you! I have noticed since doing this that I have been having a lot of hypos first thing in the morning (last couple of days have been in the low 2's). In my previous attempt at the basal test I had a hypo then too - perhaps I am having a similar situation to you. I will do the test once more just to make sure, and go from there. If I go into another hypo on the next test, I will give some serious thought to switching to morning and then retesting before fiddling with the dosage. I'll keep you posted! 🙂

 

[Kaylz]

@Sprogladite how's things going you've been very quiet the past few days hope everything is ok 🙂 x

 

[Sprogladite]

@Sprogladite how's things going you've been very quiet the past few days hope everything is ok 🙂 x

Yes all good thanks! I've come to the conclusion my ratio is definitely 1.4:10 and I seem to be fine with 100g portions of cooked pasta but if I go more than that I run into trouble. I've been having a lot of hypos either in the middle of the night or upon waking up so I suspect my basal isn't right. I'm going to repeat the fasting basal on Saturday just so I can say I've tried it a few times with the same results, and then will likely try switching that to the mornings and retesting. I've also had a letter through for being referred to the DN care team, I just need to call and make an appointment 🙂 BGs have been much more stable in the day, haven't been flinging between too low to too high and back again which is nice! Just need to get the basal spot on and I think we will be in a good place! 🙂 x

 

[Sprogladite]

I'm struggling with thinking up different things for lunch, I seem to be stuck on soup lol. So if anyone has any suggestions feel free to chime in!

 

[Kaylz]

I'm struggling with thinking up different things for lunch, I seem to be stuck on soup lol. So if anyone has any suggestions feel free to chime in!

I generally have a sandwich for lunch, try a chicken salad or something along those lines, I had my first hypo yesterday x

 

[Sprogladite]

I generally have a sandwich for lunch, try a chicken salad or something along those lines, I had my first hypo yesterday x

I haven't braved bread yet...lol. Maybe I will try that one next! Oh dear, how bad was the hypo? I still remember my first one, it was a shocking experience! I hope it wasn't too bad!

 

[Kaylz]

I haven't braved bread yet...lol. Maybe I will try that one next! Oh dear, how bad was the hypo? I still remember my first one, it was a shocking experience! I hope it wasn't too bad!

I don't want to put you off bread but I had a roll for my lunch yesterday it was sitting at 3 so had 3 jelly sweets, 3.8, had another one - 3.7 so had another - 6.6 then shot up to 12.3 by tea got down to 7.5 for bed though, felt awful the headache was so bad and I felt so tired - first time I've gotten to sleep so quick since starting insulin, think I should have just went with 4 sweets in a go then maybe I would have been high enough I will know to try that first next time, I'm the opposite to you I haven't plucked up the courage to try pasta yet haha x

 

[BBarb]

They say you can get some high protein rolls in Lidl, but as we haven't got a Lidl within sensible driving range from here I haven't tried them. We have Bergen bread which is supposed to be better than most but I haven't tried using it as a sandwich as yet, just one slice of toast in a morning.