Newly Diagnosed Type 1 after DKA...

[Aidan Brown]

I was just last week diagnosed T1 diabetic following a spell in hospital after having DKA.
I am a 21 year old male, and have lost 3 stone as a result of this, and I am really worried about how to put this weight back on.

My BG levels in the morning are good, between 4 and 7 at the moment. However, following breakfast, something such as muesli, which I know is high in carbs, my BG goes above 10 and remains above 10 for the remainder of the day, despite me having no more significant carbs until my evening meal.

I had virtually no carbs at breakfast today, but my BG level rose from 5.1 in the morning to 11.8, and I have no idea why this is the case?

I am currently on 5 injections a day, with 4 units of Levemir in the morning and at night, and 4 units of NovoRapid before meals.

I'm really worried about how I will put weight on again, what I can eat as I have read that a LCHF diet is much better,and so would appreciate any help off anybody!!

 

[Lynn Davies]

Hi and welcome Aidan - I am new to all this as well but I feel sure you will slowly put the weight back on as you start to eat more food.

 

[Robin]

Hello, Aiden, and welcome to the club nobody wants to join!
When you get up in the morning, often your liver starts to throw extra glucose out into your system to help prepare you for the coming day. (This is often referred to as the Dawn Phenomenon, or Feet hit the Floor syndrome). The other thing is that your body will convert fat and protein to glucose, albeit more slowly. So thats why your blood glucose rises even with no carb consumption.
It's very early days for you at the moment, and there're a lot to take in. I assume you've been put on fixed amounts of insulin at mealtimes at the moment? When you get a bit further down the line, your diabetes team ought to teach you how to carb count and match your Novorapid insulin doses to what you're eating.
A lot of us find that lowering carb intake, especially cutting out things like white bread, pasta and rice, helps avoid spikes of high glucose, it still leaves plenty of things to eat! I lost a stone and a half before diagnosis, and I put it back on quite quickly once I'd got my insulin sorted and was on track with dose adjustment.
Have a browse on the forum, especially advice for Newbies, there are some useful books to get hold of, and loads of info on the forum itself.

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forum Aiden 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Welcome to the forum Aiden.
Once you start matching short acting insulin to carbohydrates eaten, you'll gradually put weight back on. Many people find they need relatively more insulin for the same amount of carbohydrates in morning than later in day. However, you're still in honeymoon phase now, when your pancreas will produce insulin irregularly, so it's virtually impossible to get it right all the time. In fact, it's very difficult to get levels right all the time long after honeymoon phase. So, be easy on yourself.

 

[Matt Cycle]

Hello Aidan and welcome to the forum.

 

[Stitch147]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[trophywench]

I was half horrified and half pleased when I lost the weight, thought it might not be a bad thing to be a 10 rather than a 12 if they could just give me something to stop me feeling so utterly c**p - well, I wasn't long out of my teens at the time ....... so I was diagnosed and started on insulin and felt better. OK so I'm stuck with this palaver forever now but HEY! - I'll be slimmer!

A couple of months later, back at work by now - and Size 12 again ......... LOL (buggrit)

 

[Bloden]

Hi Aidan and welcome.🙂 I find a low-GI breakfast flattens out my morning spike (Greek yogurt, a sprinkling of muesli, apple, pear, dried apricot, eg), but we're all different! Good luck working out your diabetes 'quirks'.🙂

As for the weight, mine gradually went back on after I started on insulin, so don't worry about it too much!