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Does your pump not have adjustments for illness, periods, exercise etc @trophywench ? If so could you not set one of those to -20% or whatever the adjustment is for afternoon cake and press that health setting every time you have afternoon cake? Save you some maths.
 
Well I could Lucy that's very true but not looking for an easier way cos I can manage simple maths 999/1,000 - the major fly in the ointment is actually remembering to reduce the bolus then in the first place!

This exchange just reminded me of saying to Consultant whilst still on MDI that my ratio at that time of day was 1:11 (it's contracted slightly since) and him responding with a fairly unthoughtful and friendly 'Oooh, doesn't that get a bit confusing?' at which I burst out laughing and told him 'No, dunno about you but I learned up to my 12 times table in junior school - and it's still in there!' by which time we were both giggling.
 
Hi Emma. Just wondering how you are getting on and what you have decided to do?
 
rebrascora said:
Hi Emma. Just wondering how you are getting on and what you have decided to do?
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Hello Barbara, you must have a 6th sense! I doing dreadful if I’m honest. I’ve been trying really hard to introduce a bit more food with a little insulin, but I’m getting myself in a mess. Had a disastrous cinema trip with the family yesterday. I feel like I just ruin everybody’s fun. Everybody’s sick of me… I’m sick of me! Don’t want to be this person I’ve turned into anymore.Christmas is coming and it fills me with dread. We are going on a family holiday (3 families in one house) I’m secretly hoping it gets cancelled because of restrictions. How awful is that? My kids needs this holiday and they need me, but at the minute I’m totally useless to everybody, I just can’t sort myself out. Depression is a selfish condition, I’ve lost the ability to put others first, but there is literally nothing I can do about it… sorry you asked a simple question and get a very heavy answer. Thanks for asking how I am it means a lot xx
 
Very sad to read that @EmmaL76 Is it solely the diabetes that’s making you feel like this or are there other factors too? If you want to, do feel free to rant, rage and moan here.

*big hugs*
 
Oh Emma. I am so sorry! Big (((HUGS))) I had hoped that since we hadn't heard from you, you were muddling along or perhaps couldn't bring yourself to eat some carbs and use the insulin.
Can you give us details of specific incidences, so we can see if we can help you figure it out.
 
Inka said:
Very sad to read that @EmmaL76 Is it solely the diabetes that’s making you feel like this or are there other factors too? If you want to, do feel free to rant, rage and moan here.

*big hugs*
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I’m not really sure anymore. It hard to distinguish the anxiety from the diabetes symptoms.I feel unwell most of the time. Spaced out, simple tasks take huge effort and I’m exhausted. Every which way I try to control my sugars doesn’t seem to work well for me. I’ve had issues in the past with depression but I was just getting over it then I got diabetes. All the tests I had at the beginning and being told I may have every type of cancer and still now even a professor of diabetes doesn’t know what to make of me when I had stupidly pinned all my hopes on him, left me feeling worse that ever. I’m stuck. That’s how I feel. Thankyou so much for the hugs xx
 
rebrascora said:
Oh Emma. I am so sorry! Big (((HUGS))) I had hoped that since we hadn't heard from you, you were muddling along or perhaps couldn't bring yourself to eat some carbs and use the insulin.
Can you give us details of specific incidences, so we can see if we can help you figure it out.
Click to expand...
More hugs!! Thankyou x
Well at the cinema when we sat down I was 4.2. So pinched a couple of my sons fries, literally 2 or 3. I went up to 5 ish so had a couple of units of novo and for the first time in a long while a had 4/5 Chocolate buttons and half a handful of popcorn. Left It half an hour, scanned, check again in 10 mins, this went on for half hour so was just about to go toilet to finger prick and it came on again. 15 and straight arrow up. Didnt want to take more novo as id hardly eaten anything and was worried about a crash. I sat through the film feeling awful, I should of took more insulin as I was still high 3 hours later. I’ve had trouble with my eating habits for most of my life. My relationship with food is getting worse, it’s like being punished even though I know it’s what I have to do. Mentally it’s exhausting me. I know I must sound silly to other people who can just get on with it but somethings just not working out for me, mind or body … I don’t know xx
 
Could it be due to the Covid booster you had the day before that made your blood glucose more unstable.
 
I can see how frustrating and upsetting that would be and that does seem an extreme response to those relatively few carbs but I do wonder if the Libre is perhaps not working for you or exaggerating things as it often does for many of us. Did you prebolus the 2 units and if so, by how long and did you do an air shot to check the needle wasn't clogged. Just wondering if you did the insulin shot in the darkened cinema, if it didn't work for some reason. Also are you taking any basal insulin? What had you eaten earlier in the day and had you had any insulin with that. On a low carb diet I will release glucose from protein into my blood about 2 hours after eating and will continue to release for a further few hours, so just wondering if you might have had some protein release from a previous meal just as those chocolate buttons and popcorn were hitting your system.

I think it might be best to do some experimenting in a more controlled environment (ie at home) where you are able to double check any potentially rogue Libre results with finger pricks and also probably select slower release carbs, although I can entirely understand you wanting to just be part of the cinema experience in that situation and full marks to you for giving it a go.
I wonder if the anxiety around eating is also pushing your levels up. I should also say that in the early days of my diabetes diagnosis and starting on insulin, levels going up to mid teens was perfectly normal, but they did usually come down again by the next meal, but then I didn't have Libre then to worry too much about it. I think it can be quite tempting to do corrections when you see Libre levels rising in these early stages and end up on a rollercoaster. Checking your levels during the film suggests that it is feeding your anxiety and we all know that stress and anxiety push your levels higher.

I really can understand how this is impacting your life and the lives of your family members so adversely and I really think you need a lot more support with it from your medical professionals. To me, a really good DSN like the one who took my DAFNE course would be the key to helping you by going through your daily food diary and readings each day for a week. Definitely push for a DAFNE "in person" course or whatever your local equivalent is. You need much more in depth help to get on top of it. In the meantime keep experimenting and keep good records.
 
EmmaL76 said:
I’m not really sure anymore. It hard to distinguish the anxiety from the diabetes symptoms.I feel unwell most of the time. Spaced out, simple tasks take huge effort and I’m exhausted. Every which way I try to control my sugars doesn’t seem to work well for me. I’ve had issues in the past with depression but I was just getting over it then I got diabetes. All the tests I had at the beginning and being told I may have every type of cancer and still now even a professor of diabetes doesn’t know what to make of me when I had stupidly pinned all my hopes on him, left me feeling worse that ever. I’m stuck. That’s how I feel. Thankyou so much for the hugs xx
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First of all - forget the professor! It doesn’t matter how renowned he is. Nobody knows everything, and I’m sure his intention wasn’t to upset you. Summarise his words to yourself in a nicer way - he isn’t sure what kind of diabetes you have. Now, if it’s the ‘unknown’ bit of that that’s freaking you out, don’t let it. You’ve made an effort to get a diagnosis. There hasn’t been enough evidence or consensus to give you a definite answer yet. It may well be you get an answer in the future. Just put this out of your mind for now,

The spaced out feeling could be partly due to depression, but it could also be due to mental fatigue (worrying about your type) and from not eating properly. The brain runs on glucose. You need adequate carbs and adequate food. It seems to me you’ve alighted on the ‘Type 2 way’ of limiting carbs and, because of your personal feelings, that appeals. But it’s not necessary and it’s clearly not benefitting you. I know you’ve said you’ve tried to eat more but are struggling to balance the food with insulin. That’s what we can help you with hopefully.

In your case, I’d say you’d be best almost ‘eating to the insulin’. Choose the number of units of bolus you need to cover a reasonable amount of carbs, and make sure your meal adds up to those carbs. To do this for breakfast and lunch is fairly simple. You might want to do the same for the evening meal to start with, then add a little more flexibility. So, for example, you’d know you always have 3 units of insulin for breakfast and eat 45g carbs (I’ve made these figures up). Every day inject your 3 units and eat the right amount of carbs. That is, don’t choose your breakfast and then work out your insulin, know your insulin and eat to it. This removes a level of stress.

As someone who had an eating disorder myself, years ago, believe me when I say that I get it *hugs* You need to be firm, you need routine for food, and you need to stop punishing yourself and waiting for yourself to fail so you can punish yourself again. Only you can step out of this cycle - but it most definitely can be stepped out of. The relief when you do so is enormous. You’ll get your brain back and your joy back. XX
 
Another thing to add re your cinema experience is that I find the cinema means I need a basal increase of approx 70% (I have a pump). First I thought I was imagining it, but no - if I sat and watched a film and ate nothing my blood sugar would go up. Weird, but I think it’s partly the relaxed inactivity, partly the time of day (usually afternoon when I wouldn’t be sitting if I was at home), and I also wonder if it’s the darkness too - like it makes my body put out different hormones. I don’t know but it’s a definite thing I notice, so perhaps that contributed to your high.

Also, as I’ve probably said before, restricting carbs/food too much causes insulin resistance and an ‘intolerance’ to carbs. Therefore you eat a tiny, moderate amount of carbs - and get a big rise. That is not the fault of the food and it’s not reason to punish yourself or deprive yourself. All it shows is that a very restricted diet causes insulin resistance. The answer is to eat a reasonable diet every day and then your body won’t add on this insulin resistance.

So, those two things probably contributed to your high. Most importantly @EmmaL76 it can be sorted. You’ll be able to enjoy the cinema again and snack too. You ate a tiny amount - it’s not your fault. X
 
I’m sorry for my late reply. As usual I am extremely grateful for your input. I’m sorry I haven’t answered your questions, and I know your trying to help me so much. When I’m thinking a little clearer, I’m sure I will be back with more questions and my usual silly stuff xx
 
trophywench said:
I entirely agree with both Barbara and Inka on this occasion. It has taken me YEARS to find out that whilst 1u to 10g suits me at most mealtimes, if I decide to eat cake with my mid afternoon cuppa that reduces to approx 1u to 8g - if I take 1u to 10g with that, I'll be hypo before dinner at 6.30 ish. My meter and pump are
fairly old tech. and can only accept ONE insulin to carb ratio, so I have to 'manually' subtract 20% of the food bolus for this once it has calculated it. (for manually I mean using mental arithmetic and physically adjusting it with the 'down' button before pressing the 'deliver' button)
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@trophywench I don't want to derail this thread, but you can actually have five different ratios on the Combo. See my post here https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/combo-and-insulin-to-carb-ratios.97181/
 
EmmaL76 said:
More hugs!! Thankyou x
Well at the cinema when we sat down I was 4.2. So pinched a couple of my sons fries, literally 2 or 3. I went up to 5 ish so had a couple of units of novo and for the first time in a long while a had 4/5 Chocolate buttons and half a handful of popcorn. Left It half an hour, scanned, check again in 10 mins, this went on for half hour so was just about to go toilet to finger prick and it came on again. 15 and straight arrow up. Didnt want to take more novo as id hardly eaten anything and was worried about a crash. I sat through the film feeling awful, I should of took more insulin as I was still high 3 hours later. I’ve had trouble with my eating habits for most of my life. My relationship with food is getting worse, it’s like being punished even though I know it’s what I have to do. Mentally it’s exhausting me. I know I must sound silly to other people who can just get on with it but somethings just not working out for me, mind or body … I don’t know xx
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You poor thing. All the unknowns on top of a history of disordered eating and depression, it's no wonder you feel so shocking. Does your Trust have any mental health help available to you? I only ask because I was referred to a psychiatrist after my T1 diagnosis earlier this year as I have a long history of disordered eating. I see him once a month and while I am still obsessive over it, it REALLY helps to talk through the issues.

I put myself on a very low carb diet after diagnosis and it made me feel horrendous. I know it works for some people, but I just lost more weight that I couldn't afford to lose - I was already 15kg under the lowest ideal weight for my height. But I understand how scary it is to "just eat the carbs" - - - and how hard it is to "just get on with it" or feel like you should "just get on with it" - - - please remember that it's NOT that simple and you're not at fault for feeling this way. None of this is your fault.
 
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