No, it doesn’t & why most people take Lantus or Levemir in two doses. Pharm literature says it does, but it doesn’t. Two endos have explained to me why basal taken at bedtime lasts 8 hours.
How many carbs do you usually eat for each meal?
I was asking Sandra about her carbs:)
Doh! sorry.
Sometimes this message software is really confusing.
I usually try and keep them around 30 gms for each of the three meals and usually only have some raw veggies for a snack if needed… I need to up the protein though. Still not eating as much as I should but again I am not much of a meat eater so am trying to find new ways to get it.
Dear Sandra.
If you eat toast for breakfast you definetely need fast acting insulin to avoid a super spike. You may need something like 1 unit of insulin or more per 10 grams of carbs so 1.5 units for 1 toast, 2 for the orange juice and more for any other carbs.
Your 25 units of lantus will only give you 1 unit per hour that’s why you are short. Doubling the Lantus to 50 ( dont you will go low at night) will only give you 2 units per hour assuming 24 hour action. So you can clearly see why Lantus cannot do meals with any amount of carbs.
It may be reasonably conservative to shoot for 90 as a minimum in the begginning to let the body get used to normal BG also a bit of a safety factor for soneone adjusting their dosage or learning the ropes. My body gets unhappy below 70.
Sandra,
I hear you on the meat eating. Before being diagnosed, I was a vegetarian for decades. No way I could continue eating this way & maintain control of my BG. Hope the protein shakes will work for you. I eat a lot of fish because I still have trouble eating red meat. I also eat nuts, but it’s too easy to overdo these.
You could try lowering your carbs some because this helps, especially since you can’t exercise much. I eat the fewest carbs at breakfast because this when my BG shoots up the most. Usually, a protein shake or eggs w/cheese. Protein keeps me from getting hungry & keeps me more stable.
I recently posted some easy low carb recipes on the Tu D food forum, if you want to check these out. I now can’t live without my flaxseed muffins:)
Gerri thanks so much for help. I will definately look at the recipes as I am running out of the same boring ones.
Thanks, that was extremely helpful. I know the doc wasn’t wanting to do the fast acting insulin if not necessary but from what I see with myself and all the things discussed here it seems inevitable if I have any carbs at all.
Dear Sandra.
Your conclusion is 100% correct as you can see from the simplistic math I did before that Lantus alone cannot work out for meals without the fast. Still from a point of view of controlling the hunger it may be best to maximize the Lantus without going any lower than 90 at any time and use the rapid before meals only.to try not to have it go beyond 140 (2 hours after meal). You can shoot for lower as long as it does not make you hungry.
If you can achieve this without weight gain it will be a massive improvement over the past and reduces the probability of damage to the body a lot.
You are on your way to triumphing over diabetes.
Yes, yes, yes…and any other low cal ideas you might have. What else can we snack on besides nuts and veggies and high fat cheese (which i don’t enjoy much without the crackers anyway?) I don’t have trouble with low cal meals, but I am a snacker…
PS Gerri…why do you say Lantus only lasts 8 hours? I have only seen info that says that while it varies with the individual, it tends to last 18+ hours. My endo didn’t want me to split the dose either, when I asked.
Cheese without crackers–boring!
It is cheese, but have you tried making crackers from parmesan cheese? Grated parmesan (not the powdery kind in a shaker container), form & bake in 375 oven on parchment paper for about six minutes, or microwave. They’re really crispy.
Lately, I’ve been snacking on flaxseed muffins, but that doesn’t satisfy if you want something crunchy.
That granola recipe I recently posted can be used to make peanut butter bars. Just add a little almond flour, some unsweetened grated coconut, peanut butter & refigerate. Don’t know if this counts because it’s nuts again:)
Here’s a cracker recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, but everything else I’ve made with golden flaxseed meal has turned out well. It’s practically zero carbs & lots of good Omega 3s.
Mix I cup golden flaxseed meal, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 TBS garlic powder with 1 cup water. Let sit 10-12 min. Either use parchment paper or spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Form into rounds (I think pretty thin would be best) & bake 250 oven for 2-3 hours. Guess you could add other things like poppy or sesame seeds.
I have a great recipe for walnut crackers, but can’t locate it. Will post it later if I can find it.
Not everyone likes it, but I snack on nori–flat seaweed sheets used for sushi. I use nori to make wraps with cream cheese, avocado, cucumber & scallions. Can use lots of different fillings.
Thanks Gerri…I have not tried the parm crackers, but did make the same thing with cheddar…pretty yummy. The flax seed muffins sound wonderful. I have just had my first experience using almond flour, baking for house guests, and it was very successful…although I would have to classify the pumpkin bread as reduced carb, not low. Don’t know that I am advanced enough for the seaweed…doesn’t Dr B recommend that? The flaxseed crackers sound pretty interesting…maybe even add pumpkin or sunflower seeds? I will add flaxseed meal to my grocery list.
Like I said, the meals are not as hard for me as the snacks! (Thank goodness alcohol is low carb.)
Think Dr. B does mention nori. I love sushi, but can’t handle the rice part, so making my own sorta sushi:) Nori is very mild tasting. Easy to get in supermarkets.
If you’ve got Dr. B’s book, his pumpkin pie recipe is delicious. I brought to a friend’s for Thanksgiving & it was gone in two minutes. More like a mousse than dense traditional pie. Even better than regular pumpkin pie. Only thing about that recipe is that I had to double the amount for the crust. Who ever heard of a 6" pie plate!
Pumpkin or sunflower seeds added–great idea!
Found the cracker recipe:
Sesame Crackers
3 cups blanched almond flour
1½ teaspoons sea salt
1 cup sesame seeds (or 1 cup chopped walnuts)
2 eggs, whisked until frothy
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (I’ve used olive oil)
In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, sesame seeds, eggs and oil until well blended
Separate dough into two halves
Line two large (12 x 16) stainless steel baking sheets with parchment paper
Place one half of the dough in the center of each lined sheet
Cut another piece of parchment paper and place it over one of the balls of dough
Roll dough out between the two pieces of parchment paper, until it is ⅛ inch thick and covers the entire baking sheet; remove top paper and repeat process with the other piece of dough
Cut the dough with a knife or pizza cutter into 2 inch squares
Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown
Cool and serve
P.S.–this makes about 90 crackers–a lot!
Gerri…thanks…you may have saved my life!
Hope you like them!
Be sure to get the golden flaxseed meal. The color is better than regular flaxseed. Think the flavor’s a bit lighter also.
I’m glad alcohol is low carb or no carb, too! At least that’s one thing in our favor.
Sorry, didn’t answer your question about Lantus. Basal taken before bed lasts only 8 hours. Basal taken in the morning doesn’t get you through the following night, if you have bad morning highs. Spoke to Dr. Bernstein himself about this & another endo who also has a Ph.D. in biology. Dr. B gave me an involved explanation, but honestly I didn’t understand his answer. Dr. B said all his patients on basal take it in two doses & he does, too.
Basal taken during the day can last 18-20 hours. My fasting numbers were awful. Doctor kept raising my morning Lantus & it didn’t make a difference except that I was having lows during the day. Asked him about taking two doses & he kept citing the Lantus info sheet. Read here about taking two doses because of Lantus not lasting as long as they say it does. I changed it on my own until I got a better endo. New endo agreed that two doses was the thing to do. He said that Lantus’ peaks are unpredictable, which is true of Levemir but that he felt Levemir was more stable. For me, Levemir has been better, but everyone’s different.
Thanks again, Gerri…interesting. I would tend to feel OK about following Dr B’s advice.