No, carbs have never been mentioned to me before. I was only told about scaring after 7 years of just using my legs and the scar stopped the insulin working properly. I’ve only just thought about the pump and have only been advised by my dad (not a doc but has 30+ years experiance with type 1)
No, I’m not angry I put those thoughts behind me and am thankful for what I do have nowand also thankful to have lived this long.
I had a doctor in 2003 or 2004 tell me that the pump is “last year”. We have Lantus now that lasts all day long, so we don’t need pumps anymore. Needless to say, he practices medicine outside of the United States now.
1. To limit your carb intake, or follow a low carb diet?
No, since there was not really something to limit. See, I was diagnosed when I was in elementary school and had pretty normal eating habits, so there was no reason for telling me to eat less carbs. As a type I diabetic I had to take insulin shots for my meals anyway. I got a plan on when to eat how much of what, though. Due to that I couldn’t really eat more carbs than the amount included in my plan. Some years later, with a different insulin, it was more up to me and that’s what it’s still like.
So, I sure got to know that it was all about carbs! I was told to eat e.g. veggies if I wanted anything between meals. I mean… you have to know which kinds of food require insulin shots and which do not, don’t you?
2. To limit your intake of fast acting carbs?
Yes and no. As I said, I was a kid with good/fitting enough eating habits, and of couse I was still a kid. And as I grew older, there was not so much supervision anymore. I was, however, told the difference between these kinds of carbs and what would be the better choice for different situations.
3. To rotate sites to avoid scar tissue?.
Yes. For the time I was still young, they would even check if I actually did rotate sites.
I should go back to rotating more frequent, I’ve become a little lazy.
4. To not use a pump because your control was too poor, or too good?
No, not like that. I never wanted a pump, so that’s not really my topic anyway. What we (me and some fellow diabetics) were told was that a pump could help you to get a better control. And there is no reason for not having a pump if your control is too good. Though, you shouldn’t get one if your control is way too bad because you couldn’t handle it. But if it it too poor for a pump, then you should consider another hospital stay until you are able to handle it…
When I had my coma last September, I wasn’t allowed to have my pump, and they put me on Lantus and Novolog. As long as my eating was strictly controlled, I did OK (which in that context means my BGs weren’t going up, but were only slowly going down), but as soon as I got home, and was on my own, it was not such smooth sledding. I had 2 hypos in one week, and lots of highs. It wasn’t until I got back on my pump that my BGs started getting into reasonable control again. I was (almost) never so happy as when I got my pump back again!
How to be angry? Where to stop? When the mainstream advice is still low fat/high carb? My national diabetes association’s official advice is to ‘include starchy carbohydrate with every meal’. I get so mad when I see that. You couldn’t make it up if you tried!
I know I should stop doing this but I have a bad habit of picking up diabetes cookbooks when I’m in the library. Every single one of them pushes low fat. I don’t have a problem with low fat per se and I think everybody can agree that broccoli is better for you, diabetic or not, than deep-fried white bread with syrup on top. I don’t have a problem with low fat low carb recipes in a diabetes cookbook. But they are all friggin low fat HIGH carb. It makes me want to throw them out of the window. Bah.
I pacified myself by picking up a low-carb cookbook.
I am so pleased that you did get back on your pump, Natalie. I feel certain you will never again have a hospital visit with a coma, or even a bad hypo. Pumping is great, but there are doctors who do not agree with that. Even with all my experience I do not think I could have great control without my pump.
You’re absolutely right, Richard. One thing I learned is not to let the doctor brush me off when I’m in serious trouble. Which I hope never happens again – I learned that I simply cannot omit insulin, and the pump helps by insisting on delivering that basal, whether I ask it to or not! And I learned that I cannot be reckless with carbs, much as I would like to. Lots of carbs + no insulin = deep doo-doo! I wish it weren’t that way and it has been VERY hard to accept that, but there it is. Some people make the emotional part of diabetes seem easy, but I suspect it’s not easy for anyone.
Yes Natalie, don’t let those people fool you. I like to be a positive and encouraging diabetic, so I will motivate others. I do have my problems though, but I do not advertise them. So far, those problems have been minor. I have been very lucky.
Thanks Anne, that is a very good reply!