A little bit scared to start

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Emzi

Emzi

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Im really wanting to start carb counting, i bought a book and ive pretty much got my levels ok the only problem thats kinda stopping me at the moment is im worried i wont give myself enough insulin.

Im currently taking 15 novo in the morning, 15 novo for lunch and 30 novo for Dinner followed by 34 Levemir at night and by following the ratio of 1:10 if i have a meal that comes to 50g carbs then i only inject 5 units... is that right? surely thats going to make me go high if im use to having 30 units at dinner then suddenly switch to 5 😱

Am i understanding it correctly? Sorry i really want to get a hang of this so it becomes more naturally to me im just abit scared and my Diabetes team to be fair are a little pants.

Thanks Guys
 
Hi Emzi im in same boat but without the insulin, I started about 2 weeks ago bought myself a book and sat through a course on tuesday and heard loads about it , i was really scared and still am my other half aint helping me alot if he dont understand it he dont bother kinda thing but i think im doing ok , I wish you luck x
 
Northerner said:
Hi Emma, 1 unit for 10g is just a starting point to finding out your ratios. Have a look at this page - it gives you a more precise way of working out your personal ratio:

http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_control_tips/carb_factor.php

(novolog=novorapid, lente= levemir)
Click to expand...

Ah thanks for that!! By the calculations of my insulin intake my ratio should be 1 unit for 5g which i suppose will give me more insulin.

Well fingers crossed im gunna start it soon.
I bought a carb, protein, fat and calorie counter book from an australian womens weekly publisher.......anyone heard of it and is it any good to use?

Thanks

And thanks Steff im gunna give it a go 🙂
 
Emma, it might take some adjusting at first, but you will quickly get to understand things and after a while it becomes second nature. Australian Women's Weekly have a very good reputation - I have several cookbooks by them! Good luck, and let us know if you have any problems. Remember to write everything down so you can spot patterns.
 
Good luck with your new routine. Anything new is a little worrying at first, but everyone here is very helpful.
 
When you start carb counting try signing up for a trial of weightlossresources.co.uk (I think you can have a 3 day trial for free still). I joined the site when I started pumping, it's great because you can search their database and find what you've eaten, and when you add it to your daily food sheet it gives you a nutritional breakdown, inc carbs.

It'll even tell you non-branded stuff too, and IME makes some pretty good estimates of random stuff like "a medium banana" etc.

(And if anyone knows of a free, similar programme/site to use, let me know! I'd be VERY interested...)
 
If you think 1:10 isn't going to be enough for you. What you could do is for a few days write down what foods you are eating and the current doses and you can find what sort of dose works.

For example you find out that for breakfast you taking 15 units of novorapid and you are eating 75g carbohydrate usually. then that would work your ratio out at more like 1 unit to 5g. So you could work out for different meals what your usual dose covers and go fromt here.

alternatively you can use the 500 formula. So you divide 500 by your total dose.

Workign out your carb ratios does also depend on your basal being near enough correct. If your basal is wrong you aren't going to be able to work out good ratios.

Just to say that lente and levemir aren't the same insulin.

Good luck with it, i hope you can get support from your dietician and DSN whilst trying to start this
 
Northerner said:
Hi Emma, 1 unit for 10g is just a starting point to finding out your ratios. Have a look at this page - it gives you a more precise way of working out your personal ratio:

http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_control_tips/carb_factor.php

(novolog=novorapid, lente= levemir)
Click to expand...

Hi Emzi, yes, as Northe says, it is a strting point - I'm the other way, and need 1 unit of insulin per 20gr carbs. thanks for the link Northe, as I think I need to re-calculate again!
 
Ive done the 500 formula and it works out at 1 unit for every 5g carbs so im trying it this dinner time ive had some pasta and chicken and my blood was 6.2 (after hypo) and i injected based on the carbs and it worked out at 15 units instead of my normal 30 units so going to test in an hour which is 2hr post dinner to see what its like - oohh scary!!!

Im not liking all the hypos at the moment so i know now my bloods are stablising im on far too much insulin for what im eating so its a case of wait and see, ill report back in an hour 🙂
 
Emzi said:
Ive done the 500 formula and it works out at 1 unit for every 5g carbs so im trying it this dinner time ive had some pasta and chicken and my blood was 6.2 (after hypo) and i injected based on the carbs and it worked out at 15 units instead of my normal 30 units so going to test in an hour which is 2hr post dinner to see what its like - oohh scary!!!

Im not liking all the hypos at the moment so i know now my bloods are stablising im on far too much insulin for what im eating so its a case of wait and see, ill report back in an hour 🙂
Click to expand...

Good luck!
 
Emzi said:
Ive done the 500 formula and it works out at 1 unit for every 5g carbs so im trying it this dinner time ive had some pasta and chicken and my blood was 6.2 (after hypo) and i injected based on the carbs and it worked out at 15 units instead of my normal 30 units so going to test in an hour which is 2hr post dinner to see what its like - oohh scary!!!

Im not liking all the hypos at the moment so i know now my bloods are stablising im on far too much insulin for what im eating so its a case of wait and see, ill report back in an hour 🙂
Click to expand...

Yes, good luck. Being more sensitive to insulin than first thought, and other factors have affected a few of us on here. It takes a little while and effort, but I'm sure things will improve for you and you can always go back to your DSN if not. 🙂

OOps, didn;t realize I'd sent the one below.
 
Last edited:
2 Hour post dinner BS was ............... 7.3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so 6.2 before i ate chicken and pasta, had 15 units which is half what i normally have and my blood is 7.3 🙂 I think thats pretty good, i know its VERY early days because i have only done it one sitting and not even a full day but to me its a huge step in the right direction :D
 
Emzi said:
2 Hour post dinner BS was ............... 7.3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so 6.2 before i ate chicken and pasta, had 15 units which is half what i normally have and my blood is 7.3 🙂 I think thats pretty good, i know its VERY early days because i have only done it one sitting and not even a full day but to me its a huge step in the right direction :D
Click to expand...

That's excellent Emma!🙂
 
That's great! sounds like it's going in the right direction 🙂
 
Hi Emma,

Sounds like you're a natural well done so far!
Hopefully carb counting will help you tighten up your control a wee bit, but, well I don't have to tell you, it's a game!🙄🙂

Cheers

Rossi
 
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