snacks that you dont have to inject for

[daniel warren]

hi guys, iv recently been diagnosed with type 1 and iv got pretty good control on my sugar levels when it comes to main meals and counting carbs but i was wondering if there are any types of snacks i can have to keep my sugar levels from dropping to low that i dont have to inject for.

 

[Ditto]

Hello Daniel, welcome to the forum. 🙂 I have no idea about Type 1, it's a whole other world, I feel us Type 2's have it easy by comparison. I still fail at Type 2 though...

 

[Robin]

Hi Daniel, and welcome.
It depends really on why you want a snack, as to what you could have.
If it's because your blood glucose is dropping, then you need some fast acting carbs, like glucose tablets, jelly babies, or fruit pastilles, and no insulin.
If you're just hungry between meals and didn't want the bother of injecting for a snack/the worry about stacking insulin, etc, something low carb would fit the bill. My 'go to' non-carb snacks tend to be nuts, cheese, ( a chunk of cheddar or a mini babybel) or very dark chocolate.
I see its early days for you, and it sounds like you're doing well. But if you find you're consistently dropping low between meals, you should run it past your diabetes team. It could either be that your mealtime ratios need adjusting downwards, or that your Bolus needs reducing. It's quite usual to have to tweak ratios regularly, I'm ten years in, and I still have to do it!

 

[daniel warren]

Hi Daniel, and welcome.
It depends really on why you want a snack, as to what you could have.
If it's because your blood glucose is dropping, then you need some fast acting carbs, like glucose tablets, jelly babies, or fruit pastilles, and no insulin.
If you're just hungry between meals and didn't want the bother of injecting for a snack/the worry about stacking insulin, etc, something low carb would fit the bill. My 'go to' non-carb snacks tend to be nuts, cheese, ( a chunk of cheddar or a mini babybel) or very dark chocolate.
I see its early days for you, and it sounds like you're doing well. But if you find you're consistently dropping low between meals, you should run it past your diabetes team. It could either be that your mealtime ratios need adjusting downwards, or that your Bolus needs reducing. It's quite usual to have to tweak ratios regularly, I'm ten years in, and I still have to do it!

Thanks robin, to be honest I think the only reason I want to snack is out of fear of my sugars dropping to low, i was only diagnosed two weeks ago when admitted into hospital for being dka, but since I’ve found that my sugars are fine most of the time but I have had a few unexpected drops which would be classed as a hypo even though I really only feel shaky and soon as I check my sugars and have some lucazade to get my sugars back up, but I was kind of looking for snacks which will keep my sugars normal between meals that I don’t have to inject for, and also is it normal for your sugars to drop to 4 or below after a few hours or eating, because I have had a few incidents where I have eaten a decent meal for example a sandwich with a bag of crisps a pork pie and a drink and injected for the amount my accuchek machine has told me to based on my current sugar level and the carbs I’m about to eat for that meal and within 4 hours my sugars have dropped again, is it maybe I need to inject a little less than my machine is telling me or is something wrong

Sorry for the long response I’m just a little worried About having frequent hypos

 

[Northerner]

Thanks robin, to be honest I think the only reason I want to snack is out of fear of my sugars dropping to low, i was only diagnosed two weeks ago when admitted into hospital for being dka, but since I’ve found that my sugars are fine most of the time but I have had a few unexpected drops which would be classed as a hypo even though I really only feel shaky and soon as I check my sugars and have some lucazade to get my sugars back up, but I was kind of looking for snacks which will keep my sugars normal between meals that I don’t have to inject for, and also is it normal for your sugars to drop to 4 or below after a few hours or eating, because I have had a few incidents where I have eaten a decent meal for example a sandwich with a bag of crisps a pork pie and a drink and injected for the amount my accuchek machine has told me to based on my current sugar level and the carbs I’m about to eat for that meal and within 4 hours my sugars have dropped again, is it maybe I need to inject a little less than my machine is telling me or is something wrong

Sorry for the long response I’m just a little worried About having frequent hypos

Very early days for you Daniel, so your body will still be adjusting to the fact that you are now getting a regular supply of insulin when it had previously been starved of it. The doses you are on are relatively crudely calculated in comparison to what a healthy pancreas would be giving out, so try not to think in terms of them being absolutely right for the food you are consuming. There are other factors that can affect the rate at which levels rise or fall, and you will become familiar with them in time, and with experience. The main thing you can do for now is to test regularly - not necessarily just when you feel low, but also in order to find out any patterns that might occur e.g. in relation to the time of day, what in articular you ate, what the weather is like, whether you have been exercising etc. No-one can give you an exact prediction of what will happen as this is a very individual thing and people can react differently, so the key is to test, test, test and find out how things apply to YOU 🙂 I'd suggest testing before and 1, 2 and 4 hours after eating initially. You won't need to do this forever, just whilst you look for those patterns. What insulin are you on? Most mealtime insulins (called 'bolus') can last 3-5 hours in your system, and I find personally that if my levels are nicely in range after 2 hours then I will need to eat something as my levels will otherwise drop much further over the next 2-3 hours.

Non-carb snacks like cheese or nuts are great if your levels are fine, and some people can manage a small snack like an apple or a biscuit (10-15g carbs) without injecting for it. If you are regularly dropping at certain times after eating then your insulin doses are probably too high and you need to discuss with your team how to adjust them - at this stage I would be very wary of relying on the Accuchek telling you what to do.

Finally, do please get hold of a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas. It's not cheap, but it covers all aspects of living with diabetes and will help you with many of the issues you are likely to encounter - it will also introduce you to many other things that you can look out for 🙂

Good luck, and keep asking questions - that's why we're here! 🙂

 

[Ljc]

Hi Daniel welcome to the forum.
Edited as @Northerner explained it so much better than me

 

[daniel warren]

Hi Daniel welcome to the forum.
Edited as @Northerner explained it so much better than me

thank you 🙂

 

[daniel warren]

Very early days for you Daniel, so your body will still be adjusting to the fact that you are now getting a regular supply of insulin when it had previously been starved of it. The doses you are on are relatively crudely calculated in comparison to what a healthy pancreas would be giving out, so try not to think in terms of them being absolutely right for the food you are consuming. There are other factors that can affect the rate at which levels rise or fall, and you will become familiar with them in time, and with experience. The main thing you can do for now is to test regularly - not necessarily just when you feel low, but also in order to find out any patterns that might occur e.g. in relation to the time of day, what in articular you ate, what the weather is like, whether you have been exercising etc. No-one can give you an exact prediction of what will happen as this is a very individual thing and people can react differently, so the key is to test, test, test and find out how things apply to YOU 🙂 I'd suggest testing before and 1, 2 and 4 hours after eating initially. You won't need to do this forever, just whilst you look for those patterns. What insulin are you on? Most mealtime insulins (called 'bolus') can last 3-5 hours in your system, and I find personally that if my levels are nicely in range after 2 hours then I will need to eat something as my levels will otherwise drop much further over the next 2-3 hours.

Non-carb snacks like cheese or nuts are great if your levels are fine, and some people can manage a small snack like an apple or a biscuit (10-15g carbs) without injecting for it. If you are regularly dropping at certain times after eating then your insulin doses are probably too high and you need to discuss with your team how to adjust them - at this stage I would be very wary of relying on the Accuchek telling you what to do.

Finally, do please get hold of a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas. It's not cheap, but it covers all aspects of living with diabetes and will help you with many of the issues you are likely to encounter - it will also introduce you to many other things that you can look out for 🙂

Good luck, and keep asking questions - that's why we're here! 🙂

hi northerner, thank you for the reply, i will look for a copy of that book, i do check my levels every 2 hours at the moment so i can make corrections if i under injected or over injected, i have found most of the time im pretty much ok, but i have had a few incidents where my sugars have gone low and i only ate a few hours before but like you said there are numerous variables that can affect my sugars like being active having a bigger affect than i thought so maybe i should of injected less insulin, but yeah i will keep testing until i start to get more familiar with my levels, i do feel that my normal level range may be higher the standard 4-8 because i tend to feel shaky when my sugars dip beneath 5 and i tend to test whenever i feel abit shaky just to see what my sugars are before drinking any lucazade or eating anything that will raise my sugars quickly, also the insulin im on is novarapid which i think is a bolus and i also have a pen i inject once a day but i cant remember the name of it.

also sometimes i feel abit shaky like my sugars are low but i check and there within the normal range and also above 4, so i dont know if im just being paranoid or if there's a reason i feel shaky even though my sugar levels are normal

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Hi Daniel and welcome 🙂

If you were developing type 1 for a while before you were diagnosed, it's likely that your body is used to your sugars being too high, which is why you feel like you're hypo even when you're not - it's what's called a "false hypo" and it's quite common in new diabetics who are still getting their levels down to normal. In those circumstances I'd have something like a piece of dried fruit, which will raise your blood sugar quickly and hopefully make you feel better, but not a full hypo treatment.

If you find you are dipping below 4 regularly, not after any particular meal but at different times of day, then it's likely you'll need a lower dose of your basal insulin (the one you inject just once a day). We can't advise you about changing doses though, you'll need to discuss this with your DSN (diabetes specialist nurse) or consultant. If you're dropping below 4 after one particular meal you probably need to lower the dose of bolus you have with that meal, but again, until you get used to working this out for yourself, do ask your DSN for advice about this.

In the meanwhile, if you find you want a preventative snack (eg if you're doing something more active than usual and think it might lead to a hypo), I'd eat something like a Hobnob - sugary but under 10g carbs.

 

[Northerner]

hi northerner, thank you for the reply, i will look for a copy of that book, i do check my levels every 2 hours at the moment so i can make corrections if i under injected or over injected, i have found most of the time im pretty much ok, but i have had a few incidents where my sugars have gone low and i only ate a few hours before but like you said there are numerous variables that can affect my sugars like being active having a bigger affect than i thought so maybe i should of injected less insulin, but yeah i will keep testing until i start to get more familiar with my levels, i do feel that my normal level range may be higher the standard 4-8 because i tend to feel shaky when my sugars dip beneath 5 and i tend to test whenever i feel abit shaky just to see what my sugars are before drinking any lucazade or eating anything that will raise my sugars quickly, also the insulin im on is novarapid which i think is a bolus and i also have a pen i inject once a day but i cant remember the name of it.

also sometimes i feel abit shaky like my sugars are low but i check and there within the normal range and also above 4, so i dont know if im just being paranoid or if there's a reason i feel shaky even though my sugar levels are normal

The reasons for you feeling low when you are not really are because before you were diagnosis you would have, unknowingly, been running at higher levels than you are now - your body got used to that, and now reacts when you drop lower than those previously experienced levels 🙂 This will improve over time as your body starts to adapt to the 'new you' 🙂 Between 4-8 is normal for everyone, but you're having to find your way back there now after a period possibly spent in double figures for a while.

Personally, I would try and avoid doing too many corrections if levels are a little on the high side - this can lead to a yo-yo effect of going up and down. Generally, it's better to wait and see how things stand by the time you are ready for your next meal and if still high, add in a bit of a correction then 🙂

 

[Ljc]

hi northerner, thank you for the reply, i will look for a copy of that book, i do check my levels every 2 hours at the moment so i can make corrections if i under injected or over injected, i have found most of the time im pretty much ok, but i have had a few incidents where my sugars have gone low and i only ate a few hours before but like you said there are numerous variables that can affect my sugars like being active having a bigger affect than i thought so maybe i should of injected less insulin, but yeah i will keep testing until i start to get more familiar with my levels, i do feel that my normal level range may be higher the standard 4-8 because i tend to feel shaky when my sugars dip beneath 5 and i tend to test whenever i feel abit shaky just to see what my sugars are before drinking any lucazade or eating anything that will raise my sugars quickly, also the insulin im on is novarapid which i think is a bolus and i also have a pen i inject once a day but i cant remember the name of it.

also sometimes i feel abit shaky like my sugars are low but i check and there within the normal range and also above 4, so i dont know if im just being paranoid or if there's a reason i feel shaky even though my sugar levels are normal

No you’re not being paranoid. , it sounds like you may be experiencing some false hypo’s. These can happen because our BG (blood glucose) was high which our body has got used to, and when our levels drop below what it Should be when we’re actually fine our brain sends out panic signals, a low carb snack may fool our brains, ie thank good s/he’s eaten we’ll be fine now, doesn’t always work though

 

[Ljc]

I must learn to type faster lol.

 

[daniel warren]

Hi Daniel and welcome 🙂

If you were developing type 1 for a while before you were diagnosed, it's likely that your body is used to your sugars being too high, which is why you feel like you're hypo even when you're not - it's what's called a "false hypo" and it's quite common in new diabetics who are still getting their levels down to normal. In those circumstances I'd have something like a piece of dried fruit, which will raise your blood sugar quickly and hopefully make you feel better, but not a full hypo treatment.

If you find you are dipping below 4 regularly, not after any particular meal but at different times of day, then it's likely you'll need a lower dose of your basal insulin (the one you inject just once a day). We can't advise you about changing doses though, you'll need to discuss this with your DSN (diabetes specialist nurse) or consultant. If you're dropping below 4 after one particular meal you probably need to lower the dose of bolus you have with that meal, but again, until you get used to working this out for yourself, do ask your DSN for advice about this.

In the meanwhile, if you find you want a preventative snack (eg if you're doing something more active than usual and think it might lead to a hypo), I'd eat something like a Hobnob - sugary but under 10g carbs.

Hi Juliet, Thankyou for the reply I wasn’t aware that you can have false hypos because your body is still getting used to having regualar insulin, so that has helped take the worry away I was worried it was going to be an on going battle, it doesn’t seem to be after one meal in paticular to be honest it only really happens if I haven’t eaten for a while or have been doing something that I wouldn’t necessarily class as intensive activity like washing my car for example caused my sugars to dip to 3.5 and I didn’t realise it would have such an effect but it’s something I have to get used to and take into account when I work out how much of inject after a meal, I will speak to my dsn at my next appointment, and thankyou for the hob nob suggestion I didn’t realise they were under 10g I thought they were more

 

[daniel warren]

No you’re not being paranoid. , it sounds like you may be experiencing some false hypo’s. These can happen because our BG (blood glucose) was high which our body has got used to, and when our levels drop below what it Should be when we’re actually fine our brain sends out panic signals, a low carb snack may fool our brains, ie thank good s/he’s eaten we’ll be fine now, doesn’t always work though

Thankyou ljc, yeah I think that’s what It may be because iv only been taking insulin for two weeks and sometimes when I haven’t eaten for a few how’s I get abit shaky so I check my sugars and there fine and I was getting a little worried about that and that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a false hypo and a real one

 

[daniel warren]

The reasons for you feeling low when you are not really are because before you were diagnosis you would have, unknowingly, been running at higher levels than you are now - your body got used to that, and now reacts when you drop lower than those previously experienced levels 🙂 This will improve over time as your body starts to adapt to the 'new you' 🙂 Between 4-8 is normal for everyone, but you're having to find your way back there now after a period possibly spent in double figures for a while.

Personally, I would try and avoid doing too many corrections if levels are a little on the high side - this can lead to a yo-yo effect of going up and down. Generally, it's better to wait and see how things stand by the time you are ready for your next meal and if still high, add in a bit of a correction then 🙂

Thank you northerner I was worried about doing to many corrections and it leading to a yo-yo affect so I have been trying to resist injecting if my sugars are around 10 but I don’t like the idea of leaving it if there any higher

 

[Northerner]

Thank you northerner I was worried about doing to many corrections and it leading to a yo-yo affect so I have been trying to resist injecting if my sugars are around 10 but I don’t like the idea of leaving it if there any higher

Having periodically higher numbers for a while won't have any lasting impact, so try not to be too concerned. As long as you have insulin 'circulating' your levels will not remain there too long, and the risk of DKA is minimal - DKA happens when there is a severe lack of insulin. My numbers jumped around a bit for a few months after my diagnosis, but eventually I got a handle on them - you will too, I'm sure 🙂 Try not to be afraid of hypos also, just be prepared to deal with them - make sure you have something sweet and fast-acting within reach at all times, including in the bedroom - you don't want to have to wander around looking for something while your levels are low! 🙂

It can be an anxious time because there is so much to take in, but it sounds to me like you are getting a good understanding of things right from the start 🙂 Bear in mind that it's more of an art than a science and don't beat yourself yup if you get things wrong occasionally - happens to us all! 🙂