Although my A1c is 6.3, I have a lot of trouble with highs and lows. I get so high that I take insulin to lower it, but then it goes too low. I am not perfect on my "diet" but I do try to watch what I eat. I am in the process of switching to gluten-free foods. Can somebody give me some pointers?
What are your peak BGs and what are your lows?
If you’re getting a lot of highs and lows, you might need to adjust your insulin. Track everything - what you eat, how much insulin you take, your bgl’s, exercise etc. That will help determine if you need to change your basal and/or how much you take for carbs. Make small adjustments and track again. Small adjustments over a longer period of time are safer that making big corrrections.
Your CDE should be able to help, too.
Good luck to you!
Are you asking about switching to gluten free foods - or are you interested in determining what one gram of carbohydrate raises you and what one unit of short acting or long acting insulin reduces you?
You could get the book “using insulin” and see if it gives you insight. It is very important to get your basal insulin set right. A low carb diet makes control easier.
If you go gluten free you could try almond and coconut flour. They are much lower carb than wheat and might help your BG.
I am in the process of switching to a gluten-free “diet”. My mom is on it and she says she feels a lot better. She is not diabetic but has health issues. My dad is a diabetic and his sugar has improved a lot.
Do you have this book? and if so, how can I get it. It sounds like a very interesting book to invest in…my email addy is angel_bear_asap@hotmail.com
I think I got my copy from Amazon.
If you are using Humalog to bring yourself down, you can dilute it (or get it diluted). This allows you to give a more finite dose. So, if you dilute 1:3 (which is what we do for my daughter), that gives you a 25% solution. Then when you give 1/2 unit you are really giving 1/8 of a unit. We use syringes with 1/2 unit markings and give by increments of 1/4 units (1/16th).
This works very well for children or adults who need very little. Vets do it all the time as their patients are much smaller. A compounding pharmacy can do it, but we get diluent through our Pharmacy (from Eli Lilly at no charge) and have directions to do it ourselves.
I have found many processed gluten free foods to be high on the glycemic index. I recommend the book The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (NOT low carb per se, but very good for gut issues and people who may have Celiac’s). My T1 daughter had reflux and we started out using this book and it was very helpful. When she went low carb (and with much less gluten than a standard diet, she ate more veggies and very little wheat) she got rid of her nausea/reflux symptoms completely as her A1Cs improved.
The book Anthony mentioned is Using Insulin, Everything You Need for Success With Insulin by John Walsh.
Another good one is Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Managing Diabetes with Insulin by Gary Scheiner.
With highs & lows your insulin doses need some tuning. Do you know your insulin:carb ratio? This is something that changes over time & needs constant tweaking. People tend to have different ratios for different meals. Breakfast is the time when many are most carb sensitive/insulin resistant (or have dawn phenomenon) & have smaller ratios. Lunchtime, when people are more active, usually has larger ratios. Don’t know if you’re experiencing high/lows with every meal.
Knowing your insulin sensitivity factor (ISF) is important for correcting highs so you don’t overdo it.
Timing of insulin is also unique to each person & takes some experimenting. The usual meal bolus of 15 minutes before meals may not work of you.
I don’t eat grains because of the carbs & have found great gluten-free recipes on low carb recipe sites. I use almond flour, golden flaxseed meal & coconut flour as alternatives. They’re high fiber & have healthy omega fats.
Thanks Gerri. I am going to try and get this book. I feel it might be a great help to me. Thanks for the input.