Pasta hypos advice

[sg295]

Hi everyone,

Hope you’ve all had a good Christmas.

No matter what I do, I cannot seem to get on top of hypos from eating pasta.

If I pre bolus, it’s a disaster - guaranteed hypo within 1-2 hours of eating it.
Split doses are also not a guarantee and don’t always seem to work.
I then thought I’d try bolusing just after eating it. This did seem to work for a bit but I have now just had a hypo (which I have treated) from doing that too.

I’m just sick of it, pasta is one of my favourite foods and now I feel like I just can’t eat it anymore because of these damn hypos. Any other food is fine (except rice can also be a bit of a tricky one so I often bolus after a meal and this has worked well).

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Lily123]

I used to hypo after eating pasta but I found by undercounting the carbs slightly I do still drop quite a bit but I avoid the hypo. Merry Christmas!

 

[sg295]

I used to hypo after eating pasta but I found by undercounting the carbs slightly I do still drop quite a bit but I avoid the hypo. Merry Christmas!

Ok brilliant, I’ll try doing that then, thank you! As for bolusing do you do prebolus, split dose, or after eating? Just want to try and find the best technique as it’s definitely not agreeing with me at the moment! Merry Christmas 🙂

 

[Lily123]

Ok brilliant, I’ll try doing that then, thank you! As for bolusing do you do prebolus, split dose, or after eating? Just want to try and find the best technique as it’s definitely not agreeing with me at the moment! Merry Christmas 🙂

I do prebolus, I’ve never tried injecting after. Like today when according to the libre my numbers were dropping incredibly fast so then I realised I forgot to eat pudding so oops

 

[sg295]

I do prebolus, I’ve never tried injecting after. Like today when according to the libre my numbers were dropping incredibly fast so then I realised I forgot to eat pudding so oops

Ok brilliant thank you, I generally try to prebolus, it’s mainly just for the more difficult foods for me like pasta and sometimes rice that I tried injecting after so it had a bit of chance to rise first to see if that worked. It generally works but today was a no no! So yes I will try and slightly undercount the carbs to see if that works thank you! Oh I can’t honestly say I’ve ever had that happen, mainly because I love a good pudding so don’t think I would forget to eat it haha! 🙂

 

[Lily123]

Ok brilliant thank you, I generally try to prebolus, it’s mainly just for the more difficult foods for me like pasta and sometimes rice that I tried injecting after so it had a bit of chance to rise first to see if that worked. It generally works but today was a no no! So yes I will try and slightly undercount the carbs to see if that works thank you! Oh I can’t honestly say I’ve ever had that happen, mainly because I love a good pudding so don’t think I would forget to eat it haha! 🙂

I am a bit forgetful at Christmas. The trouble with pasta and rice is that the insulin tends to kick in before the food does. This causes a hypo but then when you treat the hypo causes a big spike as a combination of pasta and hypo treatment

 

[sg295]

I am a bit forgetful at Christmas. The trouble with pasta and rice is that the insulin tends to kick in before the food does. This causes a hypo but then when you treat the hypo causes a big spike as a combination of pasta and hypo treatment

That’s fair enough, far too much else to think about at Christmas! Yes I guess because they’re quite carby but they’re slower release than other foods! Yes I find it can often then send me higher than I’d like later on in the evening. I would just like to get on top of it as I do like pasta but I’m currently contemplating giving it up because of this so would be nice to sort it out!

 

[Lily123]

That’s fair enough, far too much else to think about at Christmas! Yes I guess because they’re quite carby but they’re slower release than other foods! Yes I find it can often then send me higher than I’d like later on in the evening. I would just like to get on top of it as I do like pasta but I’m currently contemplating giving it up because of this so would be nice to sort it out!

Pasta is my favourite food so trying to work out what works is important for me. Another food you may find trouble with is pizza

 

[sg295]

Pasta is my favourite food so trying to work out what works is important for me. Another food you may find trouble with is pizza

Yes I love pasta too so would definitely be a shame to have to give it up but currently feel a little bit like I have to if I can’t sort out the hypos! Yes pizza isn’t generally all that problematic for me, if anything it just doesn’t respond to the insulin quite as well, meaning I sit a bit higher than I’d like as it doesn’t come down as much but doesn’t usually cause hypos luckily!

 

[Lily123]

Yes I love pasta too so would definitely be a shame to have to give it up but currently feel a little bit like I have to if I can’t sort out the hypos! Yes pizza isn’t generally all that problematic for me, if anything it just doesn’t respond to the insulin quite as well, meaning I sit a bit higher than I’d like as it doesn’t come down as much but doesn’t usually cause hypos luckily!

That’s good that it doesn’t cause hypos for you!

 

[Lucyr]

Have you tried taking less insulin for pasta if your current ratio keeps sending you hypo?

 

[sg295]

That’s good that it doesn’t cause hypos for you!

Yes I’m grateful for that as I do love pizza too! My biggest issue is definitely pasta and rice can also be a bit problematic at times but pasta is deffo the worst offender!

 

[sg295]

Have you tried taking less insulin for pasta if your current ratio keeps sending you hypo?

Hi yes I am thinking maybe I need a lower ratio for pasta?

So maybe reduce my ratio down by say 5g or so?

 

[Lucyr]

I’d just reduce the dose till I found a dose that worked then calculate the ratio, or just use that dose if you always eat same portion of pasta. The other option is, how confident are you at carb counting? Are you sure you’re calculating correctly? What weight of pasta do you have and how many carbs do you calculate it as.

 

[sg295]

I’d just reduce the dose till I found a dose that worked then calculate the ratio, or just use that dose if you always eat same portion of pasta. The other option is, how confident are you at carb counting? Are you sure you’re calculating correctly? What weight of pasta do you have and how many carbs do you calculate it as.

Ok great thank you! I use the carbs and cals app on my phone so I find the type of pasta I’m eating, type in the weight of the pasta (I always weigh it so I’m not guessing) and it tells me how many carbs is in it so I definitely take all the steps to ensure my counting is as accurate as possible. I think I potentially just need a lower dose for pasta than for other foods as you and @Lily123 have suggested

 

[helli]

I find it depends what I have with the pasta.
Usually, I have a cheesy sauce and the fat greatly delays the absorption of the carbs for hours.
I find I need to split the bolus and take the second one after about 3 hours.

But if I have a tomato sauce (with less fat), the second bolus needs to be after an hour.

 

[sg295]

I find it depends what I have with the pasta.
Usually, I have a cheesy sauce and the fat greatly delays the absorption of the carbs for hours.
I find I need to split the bolus and take the second one after about 3 hours.

But if I have a tomato sauce (with less fat), the second bolus needs to be after an hour.

Ok that’s great, thank you for that!
Think it might require a bit more trial and error until I get it right (only diagnosed in May so still very much in the learning phase!)
Thanks for your help 🙂