Countin carbs in a Salad

[James B]

Whilst this ought be the most depression question I’ve ever asked! I’m planning on having a chicken tikka salad for lunch with some beans and a pita bread. Am I correct in only counting the pita bread? I spoke to the diabetic team at my hospital today and they’ve said not to bother counting the carbs in kidney beans as they digest a lot lower in the digestive tract and as I’m not a vegetarian I don’t need to worry about this. I’ve been experiencing a lot of lows recently and they believe that my basal insulin is way to high and dropped me to 20 units they think I’m in the honeymoon phase but that it won’t last. Has anyonE experienced the honeymoon phase? How long did it last is there anything I could do to repair these T cells so it lasts a long time? Thanks 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Yeah - just the Pita. same as if you had a slice of ordinary bread with it.

Why not find out for yourself whether your Basal dose is too high? Cos there's a way! Basal insulin doesn't stay the same dose for all that long anyway, usually a few months at a time though even way after any honeymoon period is over and done with.

Here's how : https://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

 

[James B]

Yeah - just the Pita. same as if you had a slice of ordinary bread with it.

Why not find out for yourself whether your Basal dose is too high? Cos there's a way! Basal insulin doesn't stay the same dose for all that long anyway, usually a few months at a time though even way after any honeymoon period is over and done with.

Here's how : https://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

That webpage has made me confident it’s to high. I woke up at 6.7% at 8am and haven’t eaten yet and it’s 7.4% so that’s not 10% of the waking up level as the page says it peaks after an hour! I think it will really help taking it down some units 4 units might be to much but I can work it out now. Thanks Jenny

 

[trophywench]

??? The page says what peaks after an hour? It doesn't say that! (I knew it didn't but I have just double checked)

 

[James B]

Unless I’m interpreting it incorrectly? Just to go back to the no insulin with salad say I’m making a chilli with peppers and jalapeños and kidney beans beef/pork mince That again would be no insulin unless having it with rice?

 

[James B]

This was under a section named what is basal insulin for so I’d assume it’s referring to basal injections not bolus

 

[Inka]

Unless I’m interpreting it incorrectly? Just to go back to the no insulin with salad say I’m making a chilli with peppers and jalapeños and kidney beans beef/pork mince That again would be no insulin unless having it with rice?

It would depend how many beans were in it for me. Do you have a half unit pen? I can’t remember if you said. I make a veggie chilli with kidney beans so have more beans, but if you’re talking about a sprinkle of beans you might be able to ignore them. Of course, you might then find the protein in the pork has an effect on your blood sugar causing a later rise if you don’t have any rice. I find eating moderate amounts of carbs makes control easier as then you don’t have to worry about counting the protein. So I’d have a moderate portion of rice, preferably whole grain or basmati not white sticky rice.

You asked about what helped your remaining beta cells last longer. I asked my consultant that when I was diagnosed and she said insulin and good control. My honeymoon lasted a few years. I couldn’t put an exact number on it because it was hard to pick out exactly what was happening and the fade was gradual.

 

[Kaylz]

Honeymoon is a completely individual thing, some don't even experience it at all, I personally had a honeymoon lasting 2 years on very low doses of insulin but believe me it came to a VERY abrupt end indeed xx

 

[brisr949]

Honeymoon is a completely individual thing, some don't even experience it at all, I personally had a honeymoon lasting 2 years on very low doses of insulin but believe me it came to a VERY abrupt end indeed xx

Mine ended abruptly too but my honeymoon period was about a year.

Adam

 

[trophywench]

James - if you look at the graphs for Lantus and Levemir, you will see that 'an hour or two' is and was always an under estimate - Lantus is nearer 4-5 ish hours in truth, Levemir varies but without knowing the dose a person is on per kg, can't be guessed. (Wonder why we didn't just say 'several' hours when we wrote that? LOL) (incidentally, myself and a chap who used to be another Admin on the website, wrote it the best part of 20 years ago now!)

 

[Kaylz]

Mine ended abruptly too but my honeymoon period was about a year.

Adam

pretty sure mines ended at one of the worst times possible....over Christmas and new year! 🙄 then had my worst hba1c since diagnosis lol xx

 

[SB2015]

I had a long honeymoon period after diagnosis, and I found that towards the end the few beta cells left were a bit fickle. They would go on strike, so I needed more insulin, then after a bit of a rest decide to pay again. Through out the time I was on pens I used half unit ones. It enabled me to make adjustments to my doses which were very small anyway.

With regard to the beans. If I was having a meal where they were my main carbs, I would count them but halve the carbs. I also split the dose and have some with the meal and then the other half about an hour later (if I remembered!) I generally found they were a bit of a pest, but I like them too much to avoid them.

I also tried meals with no carbs but found then I needed to work out the grams of protein and would have needed my own insulin : protein ratios. There isn’t space in my head for that as well as all the carb info, so I went back to including some carbs at each meal. That way your body goes for the easy option and you can ignore the protein