First Question, and first post

Type 1 and LADA
1

Hi…

My name is Kari, and I’m from Pittsburgh. I’ve never known anyone in my family to have diabetes, but I was sure thrown for a loop when I started to date a wonderful man who became my husband, who happens to have Type 1 Diabetes. We’ve been living together for the past four years, and he switched from manual injections to the MedTronic insulin pump 2 years ago. Now, for my question.

For the past four years that I’ve been living with my DH, I’ve noticed a lot of things about both of our diets. I fully understand that he as a diabetic, with such severe diabetes, needs to eat on a regular schedule, and especially when his sugar gets too low, but he grew up in a family that ate EVERY meal together, no matter if it was just a snack, or a real meal, unlike mine who would eat maybe 2 meals together a day. My DH gets very frustrated when I don’t feel like eating when he’s ready to eat. I have offered numerous times to sit with him and maybe snack on something, but it doesn’t seem like it’s enough of a deal for him.

My own weight has skyrocketed because I am trying to keep up with his eating schedule. (He’s a grazer…more happy to eat 6-8 small meals a day instead of 3 big ones) He’s guarenteed to eat once every 4 hours without fail.

My question is, has anyone else delt with this before, and how did you handle it? I work as a Paramedic and a Fire Fighter, and I’m constantly on the road, but I find myself trying not to eat when I know it’s between 2 and 3 hours to the end of my shift, because I know the hubby will want to bond over dinner when I get home. I don’t want anyone to think that I am at my wits end or anything, because it’s not at that point yet, and I know further that when he vents his frustration, it’s the low BGM that’s talking, not him.

Any one who can give any advice is welcome, thank you.

2

hi, Kari, welcome here. This is a problem I’ve not seen written about here before. It must be very frustrating. I think with today’s families, it is actually unusual if the family sits down together even once a day for a meal together. Your schedule is naturally a little erratic. I know I’d be packing it on too, if I had to eat that many times a day. I hope you guys can work something out.

3

From what I can gather, he’s been doing this ever since he was diagnosed. He had one of those diabetic horror stories where he went from 280lbs to 140 in a little over a year…on a 6’4" frame. When he recovered from the DKA, they wanted him to try and put on a bit of weight, and I think that he just never stopped eating that way. I think it’s almost like telling someone that they can eat whatever they want for a few years, then all of a sudden saying they have to eat in a completely different way. Unfortunately, not only is he T1D, he’s also severely insulin resistant, so I think that has a lot to do with his highs and lows.

His Endo. is also at a loss for ideas. I feel like my only recourse is to allter my eating habits to suit his…grazing througout the day instead of larger meals…