When my naturopath suggested I eliminate most carbs from my diet in late April, I was aghast…and pretty sure she just didn’t understand type 1 diabetes at all. But my nature is to research so–albeit warily–I did.
I discovered two things:
the existence of constant glucose monitoring
this forum (while researching CGMs)
I went through the hoops to get the CGM and joined the forum in May. I posted some, but mainly I read (researcher, right? ) And, as I grew more comfortable with assessing the trends on my CGM, I began experimenting with reducing carbs in my diet. I was already on the low end of the typical continuum with between 70 and 85 grams of carb per day, but I took it down incrementally until I was eating between 45 and 60 grams per day.
That did a good job of stabilizing my blood sugars between 80 and 200, but I still spiked to near 200 after meals…so I changed the types of carbs I was eating to mostly vegetables and a little fruit–eliminating grains and beans for the most part. And that eliminated the spikes after meals.
In addition, as my blood sugars stabilized, my adrenals began to work again and my stress resiliency improved so that I could do longer and more vigorous exercise…which led increased muscle tone a few less pounds I am on the road to developing my core strength (remember 3 fractured vertebrae from various horse riding accidents) so that I can ride a bike again
I got my A1c recently…it was 6.9 at the end of April, and now it is 5.4!
My appreciation to this group for your help, and especially @Terry4 for the Flatliners thread, is HUGE!
I’ll be posting a new thread shortly about the Meal Memory app that I have on my iPhone. I can take a picture of my plate and add a few notes and the program pairs that picture with a mealtime and mealtime + 2 hours blood glucose pair. It also shows a CGM trace it gets from the Dexcom Share. Very little to no manual input. This could be useful.
Thanks for sharing the great success @Ahnalira! I’m glad that you found that you can control diabetes. Diabetes can be a wild ride but I think that the tools you are talking about are very useful and translatable, if you can get them. It’s unfortunate that many people in the world can’t get coverage for CGMs, etc. I found the DOC researching pumps in 2008, during the period I’d ordered one but before I got it, I felt like I needed a source of information and have found both information and a lot more through the DOC!
That’s great news, congratulations! I’ve struggled a little with the idea of going very low carb, after 18 yrs gluten free I just didn’t want to give any more thought (or restrictions) to my diet. Plus I’m still trying to gain back weight. I have cut out sugar, not that I ate much but I did like a sweet tea at lunch, no more. My problem is when eat too much fat to try to get enough calories that way I have some bloating so still trying to find a balance that works for me. The fact that you feel so much better and have more energy is great @Ahnalira so I need to keep that in mind as I work on my own diet changes
That’s exactly how I felt @Lilli2 It’s actually turned out to be much easier than I expected…probably because the positive reinforcement is so evident.
Have you considered using a digestive enzyme supplement? I use one called Bio-gest that included bile and HCL…where I used to have difficulty with fat… I no longer do
) And, as I grew more comfortable with assessing the trends on my CGM, I began experimenting with reducing carbs in my diet. I was already on the low end of the typical continuum with between 70 and 85 grams of carb per day, but I took it down incrementally until I was eating between 45 and 60 grams per day.
I am on the road to developing my core strength (remember 3 fractured vertebrae from various horse riding accidents) so that I can ride a bike again 
