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carb confusion!

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D_G

D_G

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Ok so i have been reading lots of posts about people eating low carb to keep their bg levels down but i have been told to the the complete opposite by my health care team like eating lots of long lasting carbs such as pasta, rice and bread.

Also all these people on low or no carb diets, i thought you HAD to eat carbs with every meal otherwise the insulin wont work as it needs carbs to work with?

so utterly confused lol help anyone?

xx
 
Diabetic_gal10 said:
Ok so i have been reading lots of posts about people eating low carb to keep their bg levels down but i have been told to the the complete opposite by my health care team like eating lots of long lasting carbs such as pasta, rice and bread.

Also all these people on low or no carb diets, i thought you HAD to eat carbs with every meal otherwise the insulin wont work as it needs carbs to work with?

so utterly confused lol help anyone?

xx
Click to expand...

Hiya

Carbs are part of a healthy diet for everyone not just diabetics. Everyone needs some sort of carbs. Teams tend to say what they told you as that is the current advice which most people, once they work it out, know it is not quite that simple !!

Unless the teams are top notch and on top of their game they won't know what certain foods actually do to the levels. For example pasta, once eaten will generally spike your levels around 3 to 5 hours after eating by which time your novorapid will have peaked and missed the spike !!

This is why carb counting is so very important. You only give the right amount of insulin to cover the carbs you have eaten.

On mixed insulins (which I hope you are not on) you have to feed the insulin so yes lots of carbs is a good thing as you need to feed it.

On MDI (4 injections) you do not do this. You make the insulin work for you. You have one injection of long acting as a background. You do not have to feed this insulin. In theory you should be able to go without eating for 24 hours and just survive with this background insulin. Doesn't quite work like that in practice mind you. So then every time you eat you count the carbs (only the carbs) and you work out how much novorapid you need to inject to cover those carbs.

Some people have worked out (especially type 2) that with low carbs it is easier to keep their levels down, this is generally the type 2's not on insulin. Type 1's however, can eat anything and just cover it with insulin.

Sounds easy ! You work out though, as you go along what is easy to eat and what is hard and you make your own decisions as to whether you can be bothered to work that extra bit harder for say a pizza (you will probably get a spike maybe 6 hours later if restaurant pizza that is) or a Chinese takeaway again a spike may be up to 8 hours later.

My daughter's favourite is jacket potato with cheese and beans. That is a nightmare meal. If you add fat (cheese) to something it actually makes the whole meal digest slower and then add fibre (beans) into the mix and you are heading for disaster. Apparently 80% can't get that easy meal right.

I hope that explains things a bit better or maybe I have confused you even more 😉
 
Yea u did help thanku!

So when i take my long lasting insulin at 11pm every night i dont have to eat some sort of carb snack with it? bcoz i hate eating when im not hungry i feel like im eating sooo much! and the insulin will still work if i dont eat a little something after taking it?

I did ask the doctor about covering the carbs i eat with the right amount of insulin but he isnt going to let me go on a course or talk to me about counting carbs until about a year!! he has just given me fixed doses to take, and i swear they are too much as i keep constantly going below 4mm about 2 hours after eating ( and i know im eating enough) so i think i need to lower my insulin doses but obvi im not going to do that without advice from the doctor (nxt app 3 months time!)
xx
 
Diabetic_gal10 said:
Yea u did help thanku!

So when i take my long lasting insulin at 11pm every night i dont have to eat some sort of carb snack with it? bcoz i hate eating when im not hungry i feel like im eating sooo much! and the insulin will still work if i dont eat a little something after taking it?

I did ask the doctor about covering the carbs i eat with the right amount of insulin but he isnt going to let me go on a course or talk to me about counting carbs until about a year!! he has just given me fixed doses to take, and i swear they are too much as i keep constantly going below 4mm about 2 hours after eating ( and i know im eating enough) so i think i need to lower my insulin doses but obvi im not going to do that without advice from the doctor (nxt app 3 months time!)
xx
Click to expand...

Ok I can't give you that sort of advice, that needs to come from your dr. However I do think he is not looking after you properly. If I remember rightly you are very newly diagnosed aren't you? I would get on to your DSN or doc tomorrow and say you are going very low lots of times and are worried you are taking too much insulin. Maybe the honeymoon period has now kicked in, it happens alot that you have to cut right back down on insulin.

11 pm is very late for the Lantus or Levemir, who suggested that time? You can change that to a time that suits you, but again talk to your doc about this. We moved from night to morning but I don't suggest you do that yet, you need to know what you are doing and where you are going. There is nothing wrong with doing that injection at say 8 pm and if you do need to eat then you are more than likely wanting to eat then rather than 11 pm.

Get hold of your team. An email address is good to get then you can email your problems and questions, then you can follow up with a phone call and they will have all the info at their fingertips.
 
Yes i am newly diagnosed...a mere 2 weeks ago :( so still very new to this!

Well when i was in hospital i would take my last long lasting insulin at around 10 as i would usualy eat around 6pm, but i suggested the new time of 11 ish as now im bak home i usualy eat my dinner around 7 and so i take my insulin then and eat, then do last injection at 10-11 coz i figured it leaves a nice 3 hour gap for me to check sugars after my dinner.

I have tried to ring the diabetes nurses at the hospital today for some advice about my insulin, i called on and off for nearly an hour and no answer atall very annoyed with this but will try again tomoro.

Thanks for ur advice im so glad i found this forum everyone is so helpful and i feel more suported :D xx
 
I'm off to bed now as I have a hypo daughter who needs dealing with.

You can take both insulins at the same time you know. In theory the long acting shouldn't make any difference to the result two hours after eating. In theory. Only testing will prove either way.

We gave long and short acting (2 injections) at breakfast at the same time. Made not one iota of a difference to results.

Night.
 
Hiya, it is all very confusing isn't it? I remember doing a supermarket shop with my Mum when i was first diagnosed and we didn't know whether to buy things which were low sugar or high sugar!

Did you know that your long acting insulin (basal) is not there to cover food? It's to break down glucose release by your muscles and liver throughout the day and night. I think the dose you take is related to your weight and metabolism, and you might need less on a day when you're going to be more active - your team should advise you on this eventually. You don't need to eat when you take this insulin, and as Adrienne says you can take it at the same time as quick acting if that suits you.

If you are currently taking fixed doses at meals and having lots of hypos then you do need help before your next appointment, and I'm surprised your nurse isn't in contact more often. Mine rang me every few days at first to ask for BG readings and advise me to tweak doses. Unfortunately care isn't the same standard everywhere in the country though, sigh... but keep ringing them to try to get advice, or maybe you could email them or something? they shouldn't just leave you to fend for yourself this early on!
 
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