Milk?!!!

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Patricia

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Okay well another thread has reminded me that I just wanted to ask about milk. When E is a bit low before bed (eg under 6mmols), one of his favourite things to free carb is milk.

Over and over again we have found that this seems to totally CATAPULT him high by morning. Like into the realm of 14 mmols!

It sounds crazy maybe. We used to think it was McVitties digestives that did this, but then we cut those out and realised we'd kept in the milk and it was STILL sending him high.

Does anyone else find this? Milk seems to be okay if he boluses for it, but if he tries to free carb it, hold on to your hats.

Can this be right?!

(It's semi-skimmed, about 150 mls of it usually)
 
I have to measure any milk I have and bolus accordingly otherwise my readings rocket.
 
I hate to say it but semi-skimmed milk has 5g sugar per 100ml. So hes getting 7.5g sugar without a bolus.
 
Patricia said:
Okay well another thread has reminded me that I just wanted to ask about milk. When E is a bit low before bed (eg under 6mmols), one of his favourite things to free carb is milk.

Over and over again we have found that this seems to totally CATAPULT him high by morning. Like into the realm of 14 mmols!

It sounds crazy maybe. We used to think it was McVitties digestives that did this, but then we cut those out and realised we'd kept in the milk and it was STILL sending him high.

Does anyone else find this? Milk seems to be okay if he boluses for it, but if he tries to free carb it, hold on to your hats.

Can this be right?!

(It's semi-skimmed, about 150 mls of it usually)
Click to expand...

It is generally reckoned that full cream milk ( or even cream itself) is better for diabetics because of the fat content that slows down the absorption of the carbs.
 
Thanks for that Peter! You've just put my mind at rest - someone suggested to me earlier today that milk and a biscuit would be a good idea for Ross as a before bed snack if he's a little low....then I read this thread and started to panic! He had full fat milk so it should keep him going overnight.
We've been dealing with levels all over the place for the last few days and no particular reason why.

Ross weighed himself today - in the five or so weeks since he's been diagnosed he's put on 2.5 stones *WOW*! He doesn't look any different - maybe filled out a little but not that much. It's made me realise just how much weight he'd lost before diagnosis and how he *must* be about to have a big growth spurt - he needs to catch up with his brother who's at least six inches taller!
 
the lactofree semy skimmed has less sugar than ordinary milk
 
Ross was 6.1 before he went to bed. He had about 150ml of full fat milk and one digestive biscuit. He was 9.8 at midnight and woke on 7.9!

So we will definitely be doing milk and a digestive again as it seems to suit him.

I think that's the thing with Type 1 (and probably T2 come to think of it), each of us is unique in how our body metabolises different foods. The best we can do is to try, test and see.

I'm quite curious to know if others have found a big difference between full and semi milk.

H
 
Now that's interesting folks. We never have full fat milk. But it seems like the *last* thing we want is for it to be drawn out further?

Yes -- when we give milk without a bolus, we intend to do so to keep him slightly 'propped up'. Our difficulty is that when we do this, it seem to send him way out of proportion high -- like from 5 to 14!

And I'm feeling certain you are right Heidi -- things seem to react differently with different people.

Alas we used to find milk perfect. But in the last six months, it just seems a big mistake, over and over. I hasten to add -- NOT when we bolus for it -- but when we try to use it as free carb, as a way specifically of keeping him up a little overnight...

Hmm....

(p.s. some weight gain Ross -- wowsa!)
 
Hi Patricia,

Perhaps adjusting the night time basal (if I recall correctly E uses a pump doesn't he?) if he needs to carb up before bed. If he still wants to have something then milk as I recall has five grammes of carbohydrate per one hundred millilitres.

Tom
 
Hi Tom

Yes, he's pumping... The times I'm talking about are the weird one-offs, when he's just too low for sleeping. If he were consistently low at bedtime, absolutely we would adjust the basal. But he's not that predictable alas, and every once in a while it's a little haywire, so he needs some propping up...We try not to use milk because we don't trust it, but he sometimes craves it and it just seems *sensible* because it's a nice slow release... BUT it seems to send him stupidly high?

I was just wondering if others had found this glitch in themselves or their children as well...
 
Perhaps if he were a little too low you could slap on a temp basal? That seems to do the trick for me. That or I suspend the pump for a quarter of an hour. Maybe a few three in the morning tests are required? Get E to do them as it'll be good practise for later on in life perhaps?
 
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