I was thinking how sweet it would be to eat 10 grams of carb for lunch w/o a bolus. Not that we take shots, but it would save the whole programing bolus step. Of course the basal would be set for such a thing. Is it possible to do for even 1 meal a day, or am I dreaming again?
I haven't been able to eat 10 grams of carb w/o a bolus since Day 1.
Yeah, I guess you're right. My bs was 81 at lunchtime and I ate about 7 carbs w/o a bolus. 2 hrs later my bs was 122. Pretty painless experiment, but basal-only looks like a no-go. Since I freaked out from my high/lows a couple of weeks ago, I started Dr. B's law of small numbers again. I've really been HAPPY. No yo-yo bs swings. I'm not asking much... I just want to stop seeing 200 on my meter AT ALL.
A few observations. First, everybody needs bolus, although under Dr. B you will likely find your basal/bolus ratio quite high, mine is 75/25. Dr. B actually "invented" the basal/bolus regime in 1972.
Second, you may need to bolus for protein and volume as much as for carbs. I eat lots of protein and have to bolus for half the protein as carbs. And if you eat volume, you need to bolus for that,even if your meal contains no carbs or protein (the Chinese restaurant effect)
I would not recommend one meal a day, that is too much time fasting. Although you may not feel hungry, it is probably better to eat a little something.
Thanks bsc for those observations. Very interesting about your b/b ratio of 75. I'll have to check mine and maybe tweak a little. I want to get back to Dr. B's book, but haven't had the time lately. Does he recommend the 75/25? And your protein/volume explanation must be the reason that yesterday, after declaring I had seen 200 in my rear view mirror, I landed in 200 land mid afternoon after my plain yogurt/chopped veggie salad. Oh well, every day's a new day!
Fresh start,
Cindy
Do you still bolus at the time of your protein only meal and check two hours later or do you change the time of the bolus or duration using square bolus (if you pump)?
The reason I ask is I just had primarily protein only meal (5 g carbs for me, which I covered with a unit) and my blood sugar stayed level at my pre-meal reading for two hours and then suddenly just increased by 30. I've checked my basal rate recently so that likely isn't an issue, and wasn't sure what was up (or who to ask!) until I read this.
Building on bsc's observations above, your rise at 2 hours may well have been due to the glucose from protein hitting your blood stream. I't takes some time for this conversion to take place, hence the 2 hr.lag. Many people find they have to account for this when they go low carb. There is a group here called TAGers United (TAG stands for Total Available Glucose) which discusses techniques for taking this into account and thus improving your control.
Hi Cindy. Yes I have been functioning mostly on my basal rate for the past 3 or 4 weeks. No bolus for breakfast or lunch. I generally eat about 5 -10 carbs for meals but it is usully veggies. Sometimes when I eat a lot of beef, I have to bolus for the protein. I had to start cranking my basal rates downward recently because I was having a lot of lows. I do have to take a teeny bit of insulin bolus with dinner but only .1 or .2 units. Totally not following my insulin to carb ratio. I have been on the low carb diet since April with very little weight loss success but boy have my blood sugars been great!
Nico, I don't usually have a protein only meal. When I'm on task, it will have veggie carbs. I have had your 2 hr rise after protein only and I think BadMoonT2 nails it. I'm going to check out the TAGers United.
Den, you are absolutely AMAZING!!! Wow! you are REALLY going lo carb! I love Dr. B, but when I was strict about it, I dropped too much weight. His answer to this was to eat more protein, but ZOWIE! I was already eating so much protein that my cholesterol skyrocketed. I have learned here that that can settle down after 6 mos, but that time I abandoned my strict diet for those two reasons. You people are all inspiring me to get strict again. Thanks