Diabetic Type 1 Tips needed

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piratepatch
piratepatch Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been diabetic type 1 over 30 years. I am looking for any tips and suggestions for someone with diabetes. Weight loss has been difficult.

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  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    I would see if any of the area hospitals have a Diabetic Education class. Also, see if your health insurance plan covers a consult with a Registered Dietician.
  • piratepatch
    piratepatch Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you for the suggestion. Great idea about the insurance!
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    Have you read the book, Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution? He's a T1D and doctor who's goal is to minimize insulin needs and BG swings. His aim is normal BG swings for all diabetics, and not just "diabetic normal" which is often too high.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Definitely tell your endo that you want to lose weight -insulin doses may need to decrease as you lose weight (due to improved insulin sensitivity. I needed to lower my basal 5-10% for every 10ish lbs lost).

    Remember that it's all CICO, even when we have to increase our CI because of a low BG. What I like to do is allocate 100 calories each day as a "hypo treatment bank" (assuming your calorie goal isn't already at the 1200 minimum). If I don't use those calories for low treatment, they get rolled over to the next day, and if I don't eat those calories by the end of the week (Sunday-ish) I might then use those "banked" calories for an extra treat that day.

    The food scale is my best friend. I know exactly what my portions are, which makes carb counting and calorie tracking a lot easier (my BG is much more controlled compared to if I had to WAG everything).
  • MagicalGiraffe
    MagicalGiraffe Posts: 102 Member
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    Hypo treatment bank is important, and try to be mindful when having a hypo as well. A symptom I get during my hypos is the munchies, I will want to just keep eating until I feel normal and this can blow my calories. I have dedicated hypo food, 2 chocolate rice cakes as an example, and just accept I'm going to feel like *kitten* for the next half hour whilst I creep back up.

    I always feel my sugars are better when I'm weighing all food since I know exactly how many carbs I'm eating.

    To mirror what's said above, I also needed to adjust my basal as I lost weight. I think this was also affected by the introduction of exercise (light exercise- walking note often and swimming).

    Do you have any questions specifically? Anything you struggle with? I've only been diabetic for 5 years from a late adolescent and the one thing I've always struggled with is dawn phenomenon (I increase my ratio for mornings now to try help) and protein based meals. No idea how to work it out for a low carb meal since my sugars still rise because of the protein, why it does this I don't actually understand and I have no clue how to calculate it and end up dose correcting instead..
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
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    MagicalGiraffe wrote: »
    Do you have any questions specifically? Anything you struggle with? I've only been diabetic for 5 years from a late adolescent and the one thing I've always struggled with is dawn phenomenon (I increase my ratio for mornings now to try help) and protein based meals. No idea how to work it out for a low carb meal since my sugars still rise because of the protein, why it does this I don't actually understand and I have no clue how to calculate it and end up dose correcting instead..

    I found the fat-protein-unit method to be really helpful for low-carb high-protein meals (are you pumping or on MDI?), or I do my lazy method: count 33% of the protein as carbs and deliver the insulin to cover the protein over a 3-4ish hour wave (it works out closely to what the fat-protein-unit method would suggest for protein).
  • piratepatch
    piratepatch Posts: 4 Member
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    Hello

    I pump and have never heard of this method. I think it would be very useful, I do wave my boluses now due to slow digestion. I do think I struggle with low blood sugar over eating and having a snack before bed which leaves my sugar high in the morning. I feel like I start the morning out with a big amount insulin first thing.
  • MagicalGiraffe
    MagicalGiraffe Posts: 102 Member
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    abatonfan wrote: »
    MagicalGiraffe wrote: »
    Do you have any questions specifically? Anything you struggle with? I've only been diabetic for 5 years from a late adolescent and the one thing I've always struggled with is dawn phenomenon (I increase my ratio for mornings now to try help) and protein based meals. No idea how to work it out for a low carb meal since my sugars still rise because of the protein, why it does this I don't actually understand and I have no clue how to calculate it and end up dose correcting instead..

    I found the fat-protein-unit method to be really helpful for low-carb high-protein meals (are you pumping or on MDI?), or I do my lazy method: count 33% of the protein as carbs and deliver the insulin to cover the protein over a 3-4ish hour wave (it works out closely to what the fat-protein-unit method would suggest for protein).

    MDI, its hard to get a pump on the NHS in the UK. They go to really badly managed diabetics (I've been hospitalised for DKA and had a night seizure but that doesn't count apparently) or they go to children which is fair. I'll try the 33% method and just keep a close monitor on it to see if I need to up it from that or reduce. Depends what time of day it is as well really.

    I'm jealous of your pumps! I pay for the healthcare through taxes and I know I get out way more than I put in but pumps seem to be the way to go for stable sugars.
  • piratepatch
    piratepatch Posts: 4 Member
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    Yes I'm 39 and have been on a pump since 21. It's the best ever. Many Americans choose this, much better control. Some have sensors which can show your sugar every two minutes. Very neat!
  • sainttiffany
    sainttiffany Posts: 7 Member
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    Visiting a dietician was the best decision I ever made with my endo. I've been diabetic for 17 years and although I was dosing/planning correctly, there was lots of room for improvement. We talked about general nutrition, but also things that specifically would work for me. Then we did a week do continuous fluctuations monitoring (I use a regular blood sugar machine on a normal day) to see how my food journal effected my body. That was the coolest thing: to see how my body specifically spiked with different meals. Very educational. And covered by my insurance, thank god!
  • julienurse
    julienurse Posts: 5 Member
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    Definitely get to your area diabetes center or diabetes educators. Bring records written down with pre/post meals and food records with carb counts. You'll get the most for your money that way.

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