Diabetes Type1

LegacyUser

Just wondering anyone that has type 1 diabetes and what they usually eat? do ye stay away form bread, pastas and potatoes as these usually cause my blood to spike? If i don't eat these sort of foods i tend to be hungry!

CathyMoran

I try and eat porridge in the morning as it helps with my blood sugars. I also eat paninis and pasta salads but then again I am on novorapid and lantus so that I can match my insulin to what I eat - my blood sugars could rise to 10 within a few min of eating but they are down to less than 7 within an hour. What do you mean by a blood sugar spike? Potatoes are dodgy for me though I eat them on occasion but I have to watch my bloods like a hawk. I try and follow a low glycemic index diet.

mike65

Unregistered wrote: »

Just wondering anyone that has type 1 diabetes and what they usually eat? do ye stay away form bread, pastas and potatoes as these usually cause my blood to spike? If i don't eat these sort of foods i tend to be hungry!

I eat lots of brown bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.

http://www.diet-i.com/glycemic-index-rice-potatoes-bread.htm

CathyMoran

mike65 wrote: »

I eat lots of brown bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.

http://www.diet-i.com/glycemic-index-rice-potatoes-bread.htm

Not the OP but can I ask what your blood spike to after a meal - curious, I try my best and my last Hba1c was 5.5 but just wonder if I am doing enough.

mike65

5.5 is damned near perfeckt (as Pop Larkin would say), I whack in about 8 units of Novorapid 20 mins before a meal this seems to be enough for me to keep the post meal spike reasonably suppressed.

Unfortunatly I can't test startch today as I've just had a stirfry the after effects of which are 6.1.

CathyMoran

Thanks for the reassurance - was not eating cho in the evening but was told that it was better for me to do so, just worried that this extra spike will hurt my average. I have to keep my blood sugars OK at the moment as Shane and I will be trying to get a brother or sister for the angel that we lost recently.

With pasta I have virtually none at the begining and then after about 40 min it kicks in so I hit it then...may try injecting a bit before hand just nervous of getting too low.

LegacyUser

Blood Sugar Spike - I mean when my Blood sugar goes high after eating. for example - i had bran flakes and one slice of brown bread the other morning - my sugar was 17 two hours later!!!!! I had taken 6 units of novorapid - then had to take a correction bolus of 5 units - then a while latet I had a hypo. But if i eat the bran flakes on their own or the bread on its own - i tend to be ok'ish! My hba1c was 5.8 the last time. But sometimes the bread makes my sugar go high too. bloody nightmare!

CathyMoran

Owch, I feel your pain. 17 would have me with a serious headache! I think that different peoples bodies react differently and for me being a girl I have to deal with my monthly cycles as well...it was even worse when I was pregnant (but I would do it all again). I do not produce any insulin at all so my insulin requirments would be higher than most - I could take 40-50 units in total in a day. You can get mini-guides to the glycemic index of foods that really help, I know that it is a pain, not only do you have to know the cho of food you have to know the index but it is worth it.

While I was pregnant I had certain targets which were stricter than most but I am sticking to them now apart from the odd lapse of chocolate (which actually does not affect my bloods that badly, but I would not reccomend it).

Congrats on the Hba1c - that is great!

mike65

Unregistered wrote: »

ut if i eat the bran flakes on their own or the bread on its own - i tend to be ok'ish!

I think you know what to do then Eat fewer carbs or take more insulin beforehand.

MUSEIST

tbh i just inject random numbers and eat --see what happens and adjust in future--- dont particularly notice any difference between types of fooods but thats just me:)

robinph

I'm surprised that you'd be getting unexpected high reading that soon after eating things like spuds, I thought they were supposed to be slower release? What else are you putting the spuds with and does that have some high sugar content instead?

I'd also think that dealing with the highs of 17 with more boluses may be the wrong way of attacking the problem. It could be that your basal levels are too low at that particular time of day as well and something needs changing with that doseage instead. It was something along those lines I think that resulted in me being told to take my Lantus twice a day rather than all in the one shot in the evening inoder to actually have that more active when it was really needed during the following day.

Take your bm numbers along to the specialist nurse and get their opinion, or get them to fetch a doctor in as well. I'm certain that things like spuds and pasta should not be causing you a issue like that with weird sugar levels though.

LegacyUser

I discussed the lantus split with my consultant and she said she doesn't see the benefit of that. also - im on 10 units and she said this is perfect! oh well! Also, has anyone ever had avonmore supermilk? I was at a mates this weekend and had some on cornflakes. it said lowfat on the carton so i thought it would be ok. WRONG! My blood sugar went up to 21!!! The highest ever

CathyMoran

I think that the cornflakes might not be the best for you here...I know that it is tough but porridge can be really nice, honest. I am semi-lactose intolerant so cant comment on the milk but I cant see how the fat content would affect your blood sugar.

My highest blood sugar was at diagnosis, it was quite a bit higher (but then again I was VERY ill).

LegacyUser

Im not sure about the cornflakes - when i was in hospital diagnosed they gave me cornflakes and my blood was ok! I duno what it was really that gave the high - was thinking the milk as i never had it before. So this morning I had a bowl of branflakes - 2 hours later blood is 12. I took 3 unts of insulin as my blood was 4.8 before breakfast - a bit lower than usual. Usually id take 4 units with a bowl of branflakes. maybe i ate more than usual. Im looking to do a DAFNE course - maybe i should be measuring my food on a scales to get it EXACTLY right! it such a pain!

CathyMoran

DAFNE is the way to go...I just tend to know but have been a diabetic for 24 years on Friday...Good luck!

robinph

The spliting of the basal Lantus even seemed a bit odd to them when they suggested it for me, but they might have been running out of ideas. I'm on a total of 30 Lantus a day though at the moment, but I was taking more previously when it was just all in one shot a day. That kind of quantity probably gives more chance of things ending up with me being overloaded of the basal at the wrong time of day though than a smaller number of units like 10 would, even though the Lantus is supposedly more even in when it is active over the 24+ hours after taking it.

Sounds like it might require some re-evaluation of how many units you are taking of the bolus at each meal depending on what your eating, but your almost doing that anyway when your givng yourself second boluses after each meal.

Is it always the same meal of the day that causes issues? Is it the same thing your eating at that meal each time? Or is it more random as to when your finding the odd high levels occuring?

LegacyUser

its almost always breakfast. ok this is weird - some mornings i would have a bowl of cereal and a slice of toast - sometimes my blood would go high. last night for example i ate the same - same units of insulin etc but i also had a yogurt! 2 hours later i get a hypo! its so unpredictable.

niamh.brady

Unregistered wrote: »

its almost always breakfast. ok this is weird - some mornings i would have a bowl of cereal and a slice of toast - sometimes my blood would go high. last night for example i ate the same - same units of insulin etc but i also had a yogurt! 2 hours later i get a hypo! its so unpredictable.

Hi there - I think my blood sugar spikes up until recently were similar to yours. I would be ok in the morning (maybe a little high) then I would take cornflakes/special k with skimmed milk and have worked out the carb to insulin ratio that my dietitician suggest (10g carb = 1 unit novorapid). But 1 hour or so later and my sugars would be mid teens (sometimes even worse) and I would be wrecked. I would take the required number of units of novorapid expected to bring my sugars back (1 unit = 3.0 approx drop in blood sugars) but like you I would end up hypo.

I think that I was possibly monitoring my sugars to soon after eating and cornflakes are high enough GI as far as I'm aware for a breakfast. My sugars were probably stabilising when I took the extra dose and brought them down even further.

I am now a complete porridge addict, or when I get bored all bran - they are much easier to predict in blood sugar swings.

Trying to get on DAFNE myself - what hospital are you attending?

LegacyUser

i attend the hospital in ballinasloe - and hopefully will attend dafne in galway. I never worked out insulin to carb ratio - is that hard to do?

BC

I found that taking the same amount on insulin every day for a week and monitoring what happens with different foods etc really helped me to figure out what works and what doesn't. Lots of things affect your sugar levels such as stress, hormones etc so its not as straightforward as just looking at what you eat and a lot of it is trial and error. Don't change your insulin as soon as you see something wrong, try it a couple of times first.

I (try) to follow a low GI diet and have found that it really helps. The insulin/carb ratio doesn't work well enough i find as it doesn't take slow/quick release foods into account. I eat lots of carbs but try to go for ones that don't give me issues. For example i always eat whole grain or granary bread, never white bread or white baps as they give me a spike and then a hypo. I eat brown rice but find that there is no difference between brown & white rice on my sugar levels, i just prefer brown. I eat wholegrain pasta because i find white pasta a nightmare for controlling my sugars. Most breakfast cereals are a problem (don't like porridge!) but cornflakes i find particularly bad.

I'm on lantus (once a day) and novorapid with each meal. I take exactly the same amount every day unless i'm having a meal that is unusally big/small and i can usually manage it well. With the low GI foods its rare that i'd go above 10 after a meal. When i initially started on lantus i was taking it at night but i found that moving it to lunchtime helped a lot and works much better for me.

LegacyUser

BC are your daily blood sugar reading ok? i have found breakfast is usually high for me? eg yesterdsay i had a bowl of all bran and 2 slices of granery bread - blood was 20!! I think there was too much carbs in that sitting. but i think ive finally learned to cut out so much bread, potatoes and rice!

robinph

I wouldn't cut stuff out specifically if you are on a regime where you can change your bolus as and when needed, make the system work to your advantage, not the other way round.

Change the bolus to match whatever your doing rather than change what your eating to match the bolus.

LegacyUser

but when i eat certain foods like bread etc i need to take about 12 units of insulin - my blood goes high like 20 and then cause i take so much insulin for blood sugar to come down i get a hypo. i think its easier to eat a little of it even though i like it plus indian and chinese is the same!

mike65

Certain whole meal breads are a deffo problem, the nice soda brown loafs are particuarly bad.

robinph

The likes of Humalog are supposed to be taken about 15'ish(?) minutes before eating, but it could just be that in your case it works at a different speed and you need to take it at a different time before eating. It definitely sounds as if there some problems with the quantities of insulin that your taking at some point though.

If your getting either hypos or highs then it's not quite right and you need to get some new theories from the team at the hospital as to changes to be made so that your not constantly chasing the sugar levels with more insulin.

LegacyUser

is humalog novorapid? i take novorapid right before i eat - thats what the doctors told me.

mike65

Humalog is a fast acting insulin but not quite as fast as Novorapid but to be honest how fast insuin acts is in part down to the human its going into and where you inject (leg/thigh is slower than stomach)

LegacyUser

ah mike ur in waterford! im from there too but living elsewhere now! anyways i take a few seconds before i eat. if i took it 10-15 mins before i eat id get a hypo so ya i suppose novorapid is pretty fast acting.

BC

Unregistered wrote: »

BC are your daily blood sugar reading ok? i have found breakfast is usually high for me? eg yesterdsay i had a bowl of all bran and 2 slices of granery bread - blood was 20!! I think there was too much carbs in that sitting. but i think ive finally learned to cut out so much bread, potatoes and rice!

Did you take a novorapid or something similar with that breakfast? If I have 2 weetabix with supermilk for breakfast then i usually go up to about 8.5 for a while afterwards but thats as high as it goes. I'd take 6 units of novorapid with that. I find that i balance things more with adjusting the lantus more so that the novorapid if i find problems. I'm on 32 lantus taken at lunchtime every day.

LegacyUser

bc im on only 10 units of lantus a day. i kinds know what Not to eat to keep my sugar under control - like for breakfast just have cereal like all bran or porridge - not bread aswell. i guess its too much carbs in one sitting. that's very good ur blood sugar doesn't really go higher than 8.5 after eating. mine does

LegacyUser

did someone say before it takes longer for insulin to work when you inject in the leg? i injected through my jeans this morning(maybe bad idea) and now my blood sugar is 17. yesterday exact same scenario except i injected straight into my stomack and blood was a perfect 6 after it. i ate same amount of cereal, took same dose of insulin and blood sugar was the same before each breakfast!