Okay so I’ve been reading alot about how some of you eat low carb diets, and consiquently have reduced your insulin amout. For mee I’m still on 4-5 units per meal prehaps a little more sometimes, is that a bad thing? Only because youu all who seem to have a lower insulin demange have better control? But 2-3 units just doesn’t cover it for me…
Ohh and typical day consists of…
Breakfast - 2 eggs scrambled & slice brown bread
Lunch - Tuna salad sandwhich
Dinner - Veg stir fry with yougurt.
Any suggestions would be appreciated…
i don’t eat low carb, so if i have to take more insulin then so be it. I’m suppose to take 16 units to cover 50 carbs, but then again i take 50 units of lantus. But if i take less lantus i might have to take more humalog, unless my body got used to backing off the lantus (especially if i exercise)
in otherwords you can’t really compare your insulin take to others, it’s to tricky (in a algebraic way)
I don’t eat low carb either, my meal boluses are 12u - 45 grams carbs breakfast, 9u - 45 grams of carbs lunch and dinner. When I was using lantus, I took 30 units on the morning. Now I’m on the pod so no Lantus. Maintain a healthy diet and adjust your insulin to cover each meal. Don’t worry about the insulin, some people need more and some people need less, everyone it’s different and less not necessarily means good control. The important thing is healthy, low fat food, I recommend you to go to a nutritionist it will help you and explain you a lot about food, carbs, counting then for better control and portions. Do exercise or any type of physical activity and YOU WILL FEEL GREAT!!!
since starting the pump i’m only on 9 units of insulin a day, and it seems like i have wayyyy better control its crazy. I don’t think being on more is a bad thing though! everyone is different and our bodies work differently to the requirements we need, you sound like you’re right on track
Sounds like you are eating pretty healthy! I also don’t eat low carb. I like to call what I do moderate carb which means to me I try to pick healthier carb options, not go overboard on overly processed carbs, and do portion control. I usually eat anywhere between 45 and 60g of carb a meal which means I usually take 3.5 to 5.5 units of insulin a meal. I take alot less insulin since going on the pump because I have always been more sensitive to Humalog than to long lasting insulins. It is just how my body works.
There are some folks that do eat low carb and do take less insulin. Here is the thing, not everyone can handle or even wants to eat low carb all the time. I know I can’t, if I eat really low carb I end up binging on foods I never even eat when I am being more moderate! You have to do what works for you and if your doc says OK and your numbers are good, keep doing what you are doing. There are so many factors involved in why your body needs the insulin amounts it does, there is no judgment in that, it is just what your body needs.
Not a low carber here either. I have recently (2 months) started taking symlin, and am trying Apidra (1 week) so some things are changin.Before symlin my ratio was 1:10 so for 50 carbs 5 units. Now with symlin at breakfast and dinner I take 70% of that and at lunch only 50% .
I haven’t worked out the new ratios yet becuase until I decide whether or not Apidra is better for me than Novalog, I don’t want to go to th trouble of resetting my pump.
I won’t know about the Apidra I think untilI go back to the Novalog. The symlin does still seem to be killing the after meal 200+ spike no matter what I ate, so am happy with that…I think the Apidra is doing better–just not sure, but it may be mosre stable for outdoor avtivity in our heat–so not sure yet…
Your meals sound fairly low carb to me - except for the bread which may be a load of starch.
I think what amount of insulin “covers” the carbs needs to be defined by each one of us for ourselves. Does that amount keep one from going above 140 mg/dl at a half hour? at one hour?
Also what covers may change according to the timing of the insulin shot in relation to the carbs eaten. I took an insulin shot in the abdomen, then tested every 5 min. to see when the BG started down. It took a whole 20 minutes. When I then ate 15 gm carbs, 2u “covered” - it prevented my going above 140 mg/dl. a half hour and an hour afterwards. Otherwise, when I took the shot and ate the same 15 gms (same food) immediately, my BG was up to 200 in a half hour.
I think we each have to do the research on our own bodies and find out what “covers” for us. And yes the pump is just great for really keeping the BG down.
Yeaa I think following the low GI is definately going to work best for me… Thank youuu! Ahh I hate feeling hungry too, makes me want to pig out lol. Not good!
Whether the NHS will fund it is another question though. The NICE guidelines stipulate that in order to initiate pump therapy MDI must be seen to have failed and that you have diasabling hypos requiring outside assistance. See www.nice.org.uk/TA151. I suspect that a not insignificant reason for pump therapy not being widely used in the UK is because it’s an expensive treatment option.
Having said that, I have two friends who are maths teachers in a large secondary in the North West and there are three Type 1 pupils on the roll and they are all on pump therapy. But perhaps one reason for them being on pump therapy is to avoid them taking syringes/needles into school knowing what high jinks some kids can get up to…
It would be helpful if you can figure out your insulin to carb ratio… everyone is different, and there’s a fairly wide range of variability.
I am currently around 1:8 in the morning (before 10-11am), and 1:12 the rest of the day. Around the time that AF visits it’s more like 1:6 and 1:10. I don’t eat low carb, I try to eat a fairly balanced diet, and I carb count and take the appropriate amount of insulin to cover it - if I am going to be eating a LOT of carbs (like birthday cake or similar) I’ll try to inject 15-20 minutes before eating, that helps prevent any big spikes… otherwise I just inject right before and I am rarely above 150-160 at an hour, usually in the 100-120 range in two.
But, if it helps you, 2 or 3 units isn’t enough for most things I eat… maybe a smaller snack, but nothing major.
The amount of insulin you take depends on how much your pancreas is making and on how insulin resistant you are. A non insulin resitant diabetic with a totally dead pancreas would need about 0.4 units per Kg of body weight per day. If you are only taking 4-5 units per meal that is nothing enjoy your disease.
I need about 100 units per day. That is really bad news.
I’m on about 4-5 units per meal, Lantus 10, sometimes I skip my lunch dose cause of exercise. I think I’m doing really well, I don’t know many people on 2-3 units, then again. I think if you manage to keep your insulin dose as low as you can, it avoids any weight gain.Exercise is doing my nut in cause I’m still having lows hours later, hypo right now, got the shakes ahhhrgggg
Wow that is great…I do 2-4 units per meal but that is with Symlin added. Not sure how to compare my pump basal to your Lantus but I take 33.15 units of basal Apidra per day.
no low carb here either!! i take the amount of insulin i need. exercise definately lowers you insulin amount. i’d rather exercise than give up my carbs!! you can have good control by eating carbs, you just need to know how to manage the carbs.
