Newbie question having a go

[Wifeypage]

I’m new to insulin etc. Usually weetabix or porridge I’m starving about 1.5-2 hrs after.

I was looking up high protein cereals and compared it to my wheat biscuits. The left is the high protein granola and right 2 Tesco wheat biscuits doesn’t include the 180ml skimmed milk I have with it.



I know the granola is higher fats calories sugars etc but it’s a lot higher proteins so my way of thinking is it would keep me fuller for longer. Granola served with FF Greek yoghurt which also contains high proteins and fruit?



Am I being thick

 

[Ralph-YK]

What BG levels are you getting after your breakfast? Have you considered eggs, or bacon? Or even a full English breakfast?

 

[Ralph-YK]

Hang on, how long have you been on insulin? Are you just starting to get the does right? I believe when you are first taking insulin you've to be carefully chaning your carbohyrdate input. Once you've got your does and ratios worked out, then you'd look to adjusting foods.

 

[Wifeypage]

What BG levels are you getting after your breakfast? Have you considered eggs, or bacon? Or even a full English breakfast?

it’s still early days but usually between 8-13. I’m just finding alternatives and easy quick ones overnight oats etc x

 

[Wifeypage]

Hang on, how long have you been on insulin? Are you just starting to get the does right? I believe when you are first taking insulin you've to be carefully chaning your carbohyrdate input. Once you've got your does and ratios worked out, then you'd look to adjusting foods.

started Friday with humulin I 6units before breakfast. On Tuesday when my other insulin is in I’ll also have the rapid novo 2 units before breakfast as 2 units before dinner plus metformin 500g before bed. just trying t be prepared etc. I’m not seeing a dietician or diabetes nurse again until December as there are no appointments etc so just researching

 

[Bexlee]

I used to eat wheatabix and it really spiked my levels and tasted bland to awful so I now have 70g Morrison’s nut and seed granola and a pot of kavag yoghurt (about 43g carbs in total) with 6 units insulin it’s tasty and keeps me stable. I go up from around 6 to 7.5 and back down to 5.5-6 within 2 hours. I’m not really a breakfast person but I enjoy that.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

I’m new to insulin etc. Usually weetabix or porridge I’m starving about 1.5-2 hrs after.

I was looking up high protein cereals and compared it to my wheat biscuits. The left is the high protein granola and right 2 Tesco wheat biscuits doesn’t include the 180ml skimmed milk I have with it.



I know the granola is higher fats calories sugars etc but it’s a lot higher proteins so my way of thinking is it would keep me fuller for longer. Granola served with FF Greek yoghurt which also contains high proteins and fruit?



Am I being thick

The fats, calories, and sugars are irrelevant (unless you need to lose weight, then you might need to consider the calories) - so far as diabetes is concerned it's the total carbohydrates you want to look at, and the two labels you've shown are almost identical in carb content, one says 25.5g and the other says 25.4g.

If you've only just been diagnosed with type 1 and put on insulin you shouldn't be making big changes to what you eat (so I wouldn't move to bacon & eggs or a full English breakfast instead of cereal at the moment if cereal is what you normally eat - it might be better in the long term, but only once you're used to changing your own insulin doses) - but a change from 25.5g carbs to 25.4g carbs is about as miniscule a change as you can get, so changing from Weetabix to Granola shouldn't make any difference to your insulin needs at all - so if you want to try the Granola I'd go for it!

I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're taking Metformin though, if you're type 1? That's normally given to people with type 2.

 

[Wifeypage]

The fats, calories, and sugars are irrelevant (unless you need to lose weight, then you might need to consider the calories) - so far as diabetes is concerned it's the total carbohydrates you want to look at, and the two labels you've shown are almost identical in carb content, one says 25.5g and the other says 25.4g.

If you've only just been diagnosed with type 1 and put on insulin you shouldn't be making big changes to what you eat (so I wouldn't move to bacon & eggs or a full English breakfast instead of cereal at the moment if cereal is what you normally eat - it might be better in the long term, but only once you're used to changing your own insulin doses) - but a change from 25.5g carbs to 25.4g carbs is about as miniscule a change as you can get, so changing from Weetabix to Granola shouldn't make any difference to your insulin needs at all - so if you want to try the Granola I'd go for it!

I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're taking Metformin though, if you're type 1? That's normally given to people with type 2.

this is what I thought with the differences. They told me to carry on taking my one metformin. I’m LADA diabetes 1.5. When I finally speak with someone then I can ask this and more. Thankyou

 

[Kaylz]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're taking Metformin though, if you're type 1? That's normally given to people with type 2

I have seen in Facebook groups quite a few Type 1's prescribed Metformin but generally its quite far into their diagnosis and they've become slightly insulin resistant for some reason xx

 

[Ljc]

Hello. As you are new to insulin it is not wise to make any drastic changes to what you are already eating as it could cause unpleasant hypo’s,so I too advise not going for low carb meals atm, once you have been shown how to carb count and adjust your Novorapid accordingly it’s different.

When we first go onto insulin they don’t know what ratios we need as we are all different in this respect , they also don’t want to bring our levels down too quickly as that causes some unpleasant symptoms , so initially our units are their best guess, though they do have a formula Togo by. so much tweeking will be needed, which is why I do not understand why they are leaving you so long between appointments.
Initially they should be keeping in close contact with you to advise on any problems, changes of units etc etc, this could be by phone , email as well as hospital appointments, so if this is not happening, you need to be proactive and give them a shove,imo it’s really not on leaving you like this.

 

[Drummer]

For controlling hunger a low carb diet is wonderfully effective.
I only need to eat twice a day, and sometimes realise that I have become distracted and missed a meal. It might be something to think about or at least read up on as having to deal with being starving hungry but if you find you need to inject and then wait, it must be no fun at all.

 

[Kaylz]

@Drummer while yes you are correct a very low carb diet can be quite troublesome in a Type 1 or insulin dependant Type 2 in regards to insulin dosing, while you are still producing some insulin to deal with the fats and proteins turning to glucose we aren't so would quite possibly still need to dose but with different timings so that could cause a lot of hypo's or highs while trying to work it out xx

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Yes, it would be dangerous for a type 1 to change to a low carb diet when we're first put on insulin and told what doses to take, as the doses we're given assume we have carbs in our diet. Later, once we know what we're doing with the insulin, we can of course choose to eat high or low or no carb or miss meals or whatever, but we need to know how to adjust our own doses first.