Confused about T1

[happydog]

My husband has been seriously ill in hospital having contracted an infection after a minor procedure in hospital. Currently he is in a surgical ward with two other people who have T1 diabetes and one who has to have a foot and in the other case a leg removed due to diabetes. During my visits I have noticed that they get their insulin injection and then seem to eat things that are high in carbohydrates mashed potatoes, chips etc and biscuits sweets, fizzy sweet drinks and crisps. Do people with Type 1 not have to be careful about what they eat if they have had insulin? Sorry for this ignorant question but it would like to know the answer. I hope that no T1s are offended.

 

[stephknits]

It's a good question, happy dog. In theory you can eat what you like and cover any carbs with insulin. In practice, it is not so simple and is very much down to individual choice. As you have probably read on here, insulin ratios can vary due to all sorts of things, like time of day, month, weather, exercise, current blood DD sugar etc so covering the carbs can be quite a balancing act. Therefore, for me it is a question of weighing up whether the carbs are worth it. Is a custard cream offered round at tea break worth it? No. Is a homemade cakes for someone s birthday worth it - probably.
The course that Type 1 s go on is called DAFNE which stands for Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating .

 

[stephknits]

Sorry, meant to put all the best to your husband for a speedy recovery ☺️

 

[Ljc]

Sorry to hear that your husband has contracted an infection. I h
ope he is being well looked after there and makes a swift recovery.
It must be so worrying for you.
Xxx

 

[khskel]

......that and the fact that hospital catering is really D friendly.

 

[Robin]

If I eat loads of fast acting carb, OK, I can cover for them with insulin and be back down to normal levels four hours later ....but in the meantime, I will have had a massive spike in my sugars. So I tend to avoid them, precisely to try and prevent developing the sort of complications that'll see me in hospital with a leg off. (When type 1s are told they can eat normally, it means, a normal healthy diet, not a crisp and pop fuelled one)
All the best for a speedy recovery for your husband.

 

[Bloden]

If I eat loads of fast acting carb, OK, I can cover for them with insulin and be back down to normal levels four hours later ....but in the meantime, I will have had a massive spike in my sugars. So I tend to avoid them, precisely to try and prevent developing the sort of complications that'll see me in hospital with a leg off. (When type 1s are told they can eat normally, it means, a normal healthy diet, not a crisp and pop fuelled one)
All the best for a speedy recovery for your husband.

Same here. I can only have half a white bagel otherwise my BG spikes, but I can eat a whole wholemeal bagel no problem. Same goes for spuds: mash, no; boiled newbies with skin left on, yes. It's individual choice at the end of the day - I don't want the hi-GI spikes, so I eat lo-/med-GI (depending on the time of day as well!).

I hope your husband's back home asap, Happydog.

 

[Kaylz]

Same goes for spuds: mash, no; boiled newbies with skin left on, yes.

Same for me haha 🙂 x

 

[happydog]

I have learnt new things today, thank you for your replies and also for your good wishes for my husband. He is being moved to a smaller hospital today so I hope that all will be well. It was a bit scary seeing the people who had lost a foot and a leg and made me even more determined to try to keep control of my diabetes. Enjoy the sunshine today 🙂

 

[Matt Cycle]

The way I look at Type 1 is my insulin producing beta cells have all been killed off and I basically have to now do their job for them by injecting insulin. There is no issue with insulin resistance in T1 (not in mine anyway) so it's a case of matching the insulin to the carbs (bolus) plus some for the background level (basal). Sounds simple but in reality it's anything but. 🙄 Yes you can eat what you want when you want but I've found to maintain reasonable levels moderation and balance is probably best. I don't deny myself anything - apart from full sugar drinks and sugary sweets but do have a balanced diet.

 

[Northerner]

I found out early on that if I overload myself with carbs the larger doses of insulin I then require become less predictable and accurate in matching the carbs - so, for example, I might have 5 units for 50g of carbs in a meal, but if I was to have 150g of carbs then I would need more than 15 units and my levels would probably go to pot anyway!

Exactly 9 years ago today I was sampling exactly the type of food you have described - they'd give me an injection, not knowing what I was going to eat, then I'd devour a huge plate of mash, chips, rice etc. My levels would rocket up to the upper 20s and eventually drop back down again. It would horrify me now! 😱

I hope your husband recovers well, and soon {{{HUGS}}}

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

Hospital food is notoriously carb rich. I was shocked when I was in hospital when first diagnosed and I asked what was safe for me to eat off the menu and was told it was all diabetic friendly, even the steamed pudding and custard! I have several carb free meals a week and there are things (mostly the things I love!) I have to avoid due to massive spikes.
I hope your husband is better and home soon.

 

[Amberzak]

I'm a big carb eater. Love my potatoes. And I can have mash, as long as its with vegetables and such.

I do eat chocolate. More regularly than I'd care to admit honestly.

However I can't tolerate sugary drinks or juices like orange juice (except of course when it's weather like this and my sugars are low).

As Matt said, there's (usually) no or little insulin resistance so the insulin works quite quickly, so for some of us eating carbs is okay.

I've also found, through some experimentation (after something was mentioned on here) that I can eat crisps but others can't. My spikes are usually stress related but there are some type ones where stress doesn't really affect their sugars as much.

So I think it's dependent on the person.

Another factor is that today has been very very hot. When I was on multiple injections (less so now I'm on the pump and can reduce my background) I had big problems with constant hypos in weather like this and actually found myself sipping orange juice all day. So the sweet sugary drink you saw then drinking and the sweets they were having could have been to treat hypos (I know last time I was in hospital I would hypo every single day because they took control of my insulin and wouldn't let me change it).

So could be they are just being unhealthy. Could be there's nothing else to eat. Or could be that they actually needed the sugars for that reason.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

I will eat chocolate and crisps but only when I work nights, as they don't spike me if I eat them at 2am but they do if I eat them at 2pm

 

[Kaylz]

I still eat boiled potatoes, chocolate, biscuits, bread and rolls, nature valley bars, Belgian chocolate eclairs, but I eat plenty veg, meat or fish along with the usual stuff, seems to work for me so not going to stop after all I am 'normal' like everyone else (kinda haha) x