This has been my experience also if I eat lots of carbs - the high low rollercoaster. I also stick to around 60-70 g/day and eliminate most of the swinging that way.
I also avoid breads, rice, pasta, white potato and most fruits (although I do well with small apples). As much as I love carbs (born and raised in the South so enough said), the swinging and the fight to get back in range just totally aren't worth it to me.
My experience with small apples has been the same. I buy the small apples that generally come in the bags at the grocery instead of the bigger ones on display. It's just enough to satisfy yet not enough to cause me a problem.
this is only my experience but i truly believe it's not the carbs (or amounts of carbs) but how we match our insulin with the food(s), use the correct ratios, timing, delivery (pump vs. MDI's), etc...I can eat just a low carb 4 gram yogurt and spike. I've been messing around with my basal and the same breakfast that's been spiking me for the last few weeks, this moring did not as I've increased my basal, was 92 2 hours ppls. For lunch today I bolused 3.75 units (the MOST fast acting insulin I have EVER used and the most CARBS I have ever eaten in one meal), it was a Jimmy Dean D-Light canadian bacon, egg, cheese, english muffin sandwich, 30 carbs + 5 grams steamed broccoli, 230 calories (kinda good too, just sayin) and 1 hr was 129, 2 hrs ppl 100. Again, this is more carbs then I've ever eaten at once and my numbers were fine..an english muffin too. For those who say they CAN'T eat carbs...I believe it's that you just haven't been able to match the carbs with the insulin. Easier said then done..but still.
I agree. I think that you only have to be off by a little bit to run way off.
Personally when I say I can't eat lots of carbs I mean that there are factors that I can't control (such as hormones) that make finding the balance between food and insulin so hard that it's not worth the fight to me. It's just simpler with better results for me to eat fewer carbs.
When I was younger, I had stretches of years where I had everything nailed and could eat pretty much anything with predictable results. That's one reason I stayed on MDI so long.
As I've aged, everything seems to be more of a moving target. What works one day may not work the next, even with the exact same routine, foods, ratios and timing. The simpler I keep it, the better shot I have at good results.
yeah, it sucks and takes a lot of work...guess we all do what works best for each of us and keeps us stable and feeling well, ya know. i was thrilled to eat/try that today (was scurred); i've eaten the same d@mn thing for a year..so, thought I'd try it, don't typically eat pre-packaged, wrapped up food..but I bought it, I nuked it for 1 1/2 minutes took my shot, and it worked...encouraged me too to eat more carbs and try more insulin.
I do anywhere from 5-15 carbs per meal. I have eliminated all wheat from my diet, so no bread. But I do make my own version of english muffins and bagels using flaxseed and almond meal. I also have banished almost all fruit, except blueberries about once per week in my almonld pancakes.
I tried some of the suggestions and what I found was that, for me, it is all about the timing of my dose. If I wait 20 -30 minutes after my dose to eat I don't get the spikes. I also tried today eating a piece of string cheese about 10 minutes before my greek yogurt and 1 slice of sprouted rasin bread and that may have helped too ;) Thanks everyone ; ) For now it looks like I can stick to my 130-150 grams of carbs a day, yay!
yeah, that's what I'm finding too. it's not about the 'carbs' or amount of carbs really, i find i can pretty much eat what i want - a piece of bread has no more of an effect on me, really, then any other type of 'carb', it's just timing of the insulin and making sure we have the correct insulin bolus. As AR said, just a few carbs, or insulin (drops, sometimes) off and it can make our numbers go too high, or too low. We are our own science projects sometimes. Glad to hear you've found a viable solution! I also find the more insulin I take, matching that to a higher carb meal, it works better. my body likes the carbs when matched with insulin. Have a cookie..enjoy! :)
I also do better when I'm eating at least 40 carbs per meal. I think part of that has to do with how we balance our basal and bolus insulin. I have a hunch my basal is set a touch low and my carb ratio a touch high. If I eat too few carbs, I'm missing a little bit of the "excess bolus" which corrects my "short basal".
yeah. and in reality, in the real world, 40 grams of carbs per meal is nothing, before we were type 1's or diagnosed, i'm sure we consumed that with just one meal choice...just look at the carbs of say one blueberry muffin and a glass of milk.
Up until last year I was dedicated low carb. I had a lot of medical problems last year and I added carbs back to help make me feel good. My insulin use is up but my last A1C was 6.4 this month and the one before in March of 2011 was 6.4. My walking is way down because of the health issues but if I can maintain 6.4 I think I will continue as is.
Luckily, I pretty much always ate lower carb and healthy, so I have not had to change my food choices too much. The only thing I really had to change was measuring out my exact portions and not nibbling on my children's leftovers ;)
well, me too, i've always been very tiny - thin, petite but also (prior to Dx) never really thought about what i had to eat, i always ate well but, of course, never paid attention to 'carbs'...i ate well, but if I wanted carbs, I ate them. If i wanted a non-fat Chai Latte or blueberry muffin, I had one, never thought about it. Now, it's, of course, another story.
Breakfast=10; lunch=14+trail mix or blueberries or or or; supper 22; total 46.
Only bread that is low carb; but I pinch off a piece of a roll sometimes.
No cereal, no pasta, no processed foods, no grains that go phlooey in my system.
Love blueberries. Love watermelon. Love one bite of pineapple with good things.
Love all the food there is, but I have been unable to stay in the 5s when I have done whole grains. I'm a small person so everything affects my blood glucose. I just stay low numbers, and eat frequently, and I don't go low and don't go high.
I eat between 5-15 carbs per meal depending on the time of day. Breakfast is always pretty low carb and I can handle more in the afternoon. I have had to give up most whole grain carbs. I do get all my fiber from Flaxseed, almond flour , chia seed, etc. I keep my HbA1c in the low 5's.
Woah, neither power bar + banana nor cereal + fruit is low carb! At all. I don't do a low carb diet, but I can't eat either of those things for breakfast. I'm too insulin resistant in the AM. (pregnant type 1 talking)
Yeah, I find apples spike me less than any other fruit, even if I bolus right beforehand.
T2 diet exercise count carbs I am 84 lost 60 pounds kept it off for 17 years...A1C 5.9.
It can be done.
I eat between 100-200 g carbs a day. But I'm pregnant!
Latest A1c 4.9, but usually it's the low 5's.
Agree with others about the role of timing the bolus, and about meals that also contain protein and fat. (I realize that "timing the bolus" advice is moot for T2s not on insulin.)
I exercise, and can definitely get away with more carbs the more I'm exercising.
I can also get away with more junk at night than in the morning, for sure. (I just ate a midafternoon handful of chocolate chips, and we'll have to see how that goes.... second trimester insulin resistance is starting to hit hard.)
There are also certain foods that I seem to have more trouble with than others, regardless of carb count. Oatmeal SUCKS. Alas. I can make my own and measure it and everything and still wind up at 174 1 hr pp. Bagels also suck. I never eat more than half at once, but even that seems hopeless. Double alas. But potatoes don't spike me, particularly. Some of it is definitely individual -- you have to learn how your own body works.