Hi all,
I'm a T1 diabetic for 8 years and a very new pumper (Animus Ping). I drink a lot of coffee throughout the day and was never afraid to give myself some extra insulin to account for the milk and high BG, but with the pump, I'm more wary of adding extra insulin without knowing if coffee really raises my blood sugar or is it other items.
Any advice would help.
John
Coffee often raises BG. I would test: drink coffee and take no insulin for it for three days. If you see a pattern, you can adjust.
Coffee affects me on and off. I went through a time period where I was taking a full unit for a cup of coffee. Then it changed and I no longer take a dose with coffee.
It sounds like you need to be the lab rat and do an experiment. If your basals are accurate then you need to not drink coffee for 1-3 mornings and then drink coffee (no carbs added) for 1-3 days. this will likely provide you with plenty of data to determine the effect that caffeine has on your BG. Make sure to remove as many variables as possible (do experiment when eating same breakfast, on a work day, when you wake up at approximately the same time, etc.).
Then you may have to run experiment 2 to determine how much insulin you need per (average) cup of Joe (if applicable).
My understanding is that coffee actually inhibits insulin creating insulin resistance to varying degrees. This makes sense to me based on personal experience. I typically have one cup with my morning snack of peanut butter on whole wheat bread. My bolus works fine without coffee. With coffee it is maybe half as effective. I drink mine black and always have. So no milk or sugar to account for. Like the others have said, time to experiment.
I drink one cup of coffee w/ milk each morning and take 1 unit of Humalog to cover it. I also have DP which makes the mornings more difficult for me.
I figured out the 1 unit by experimenting. However, every now and then, as with everything else with D, I will begin to drop from the 1 unit even after I've had the coffee. When that happens, I drink a second cup of coffee w/ milk and it stops the fall.
Our lives are one big science experiment after another. And just when you think you figured it out...it changes again.
For me, coffee raises BG, even without anything added to it (it's the caffeine, I guess). What I did was try out different amounts of coffee and see whether a bolus was required. I typically find that a small cup requires a bolus of 0.5 units, assuming that I have my basal rate set properly.
Hi John F. I need one unit of insulin with my 1 1/2 cup of morning coffee (but no insulin with coffee the rest of the day). I found that later, after that morning insulin, my body seems to realize that no carbs were involved and I go low. Knowing that I'm on course to go low, I always have a small snack two hours after that coffee/insulin to prevent it. Since this is always my morning routine, no problem in remembering the snack -- not about to give up my morning coffee!
I use the instant creamer in my coffee and I do a square wave bolus for it. It can take me hours to finish my coffee in the morning and this works perfect for me. I usually set it for 90 - 120 minutes.
I bolus 1 unit with each cup if coffee in the morning. Nothing in the afternoon. Less insulin resistant then.
I am not sure on the link between coffee and type 1 diabetes.
However, I have read for a person who is type 2 coffee is suppose to be really good at cutting the risk.
It seems organic coffee is best and it has several health benefits.
Like many others in this discussion, I would suggest you try it and chart your results to find out how the coffee will affect you.
Good luck.
My CDE told me I was to cut coffee right out, as a coffee addict from way back I was really upset and he relented and allowed me 2 cups a day (way too few). My bgs rose alarmingly on this regime, so back to coffee and testing. To my amazement my cup of ground strong coffee and milk, no sugar, actually lowered my bgs. I'm T2. I think as other people have suggested you should test to see where you stand.
I also drink coffee all day, and don't bolus anything extra for it. I have it with a small amount of heavy cream (almost no carbs). Maybe my basals are set to account for it ;) I agree with what others said, do some experimenting.
Hi Pastelpainter. Just keep drinking that coffee; you don't have to report every cup!
I did better than that, got rid of the CDE!
Caffeine affects bg differently depending on how much it stimulates the release of adrenaline. Caffeine>adrenal glands>adrenaline>liver dump>bg spike. For some people, the adrenaline release is small, so coffee (no carbs added) is not a bolus situation. Your body will let you know!
I used to think it raised my BG, but I think I was just going rather heavy on the added milk.
I never knew this. I have begin drinking coffee to replace a horrible addiction to Coke Zero. My blood sugars are way up, and I find that I need to bolus more insulin to compensate for it. Blood sugars stayed 90-115 with Coke Zero. 180-190 with coffee. I guess I will go back to Coke Zero for a few days and track.
Thanks for the information!
Wow - thank you all for your feedback and great suggestions! Stay tuned.
Sometimes I bolus 5 carbs for a cup of coffee. Other times, I do nothing. Usually, when I do nothing, I think that I should've bolused for it.
But since everyone's needs are different, I'd suggest measuring your insulin needs based on carbs, not units, and seek advice from others in the same way. If I took a whole unit for every cup, my A1C would improve dramatically, but I might also be dead. YMMV.