A few people think carb counting works. Many do not. In your first post you said you were giving up but in the details you said what you were giving up on was carb counting. Dr Edelman of TCYOD says he does not carb count. To start with carb counting is extremely hard to do accurately with what one eats day after day. Studies have shown that after extensive training the accuracy is lost very soon for the simplest of calculations. So giving up on carb counting is a step forward. You said and what I read into what you said is that your family carb counts and profess carb counting. The other give up was checking the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor, which according to āsugar surfingā, a new book by Dr. Ponder, 50 glances a day. Thatās why Iām so interested in getting an Apple watch. Itās hard to remember to check it. Iām glad when I do and correct early. I seem to check when I feel a symptom or something draws my attention to my chronic illness that nobody around me pays attention to. Graphs and stuff and that new book and the expected way the bionic pancreas will work have convinced me to keep trying to pre bolus. I had given up on that because of frequent mistakes resulting in insulin reactions. But I might interpret your āgiving upā, which sounds like my trying, as focusing on real life, not the fantasy of carb counting.
I feel for you. I had the same experience for years - delaying or altogether skipping you name it. Try Afrezza from Sanofi, it changed my life. Basically you get to a point where you donāt even bother to ātitrateā - you know how much to take and it has such a forgiveness, you just need to get close! I am telling you its been a Godsend - A1c back to fricken pre-diabetic levels. Good luck, mike.
Am interested in this so what is the alternative people do? Am on a pump. Much better than when I was fixed dose mdi. Just curious.
Instead of carb count you look at the meal and remember how a dose of insulin worked last time. And you try a dose that worked before or you modify a dose that had problems.
If carb counting doesnāt work stop carb counting. Use the more intuitive approach and donāt beat yourself up. Then check blood sugar an hour or two after for dosing a correction with insulin or food.
How many carbs in a huge steak. None but you need insulin.
Thank you. A bit like sugar surfing plus looking at protein and fat? Itās how I used to manage on fixed doses just own intuition really I still do that now as I donāt ever do exact amount pump says and I know some meals/foods are absorpded more quickly etc. Thanks.
Thatās pretty much the golden ruleā¦ I also assign ācarb countsā to things (that I make up myself with no factual basis) based on the results of these previous experimentsā¦
Keeping track and using own knowledge is key?
For me thatās accurateā¦ I still take notes every day, by hand, every time I see an unexpected result, etcā¦ I donāt think any technology will ever outweigh paying close attention to what works for you and what doesnāt and adjusting accordingly
Iām not sure which alternative you are talking about @Jo_Aff. @AARON10 ranges through several topics.
The point I got from āSugar Surfingā wasnāt necessarily to totally give up on it but not to take it so seriously! I believe this is discussed in a chapter called āFalse Idolsā which I think is a decent way to think about it. I get decent results by sort of āballparkingā stuff, āwell, thatās heap of food, maybe 60G of carbsā¦ā rather than obsessing about how many carbs are in ketchup (which is a trick question since, of course, in Chicago, we use mustard!!).
If you get pretty close, +/- 10-15G of carbs isnāt a huge difference which can be very adequately managed by practicing other āSugar Surfingā techniques of correcting quickly when BG starts to move rapidly one way or another. Not always but you have an idea, āhmm, maybe that was more than 85G of carbsā¦ā and anticipating a correction bolus at 45 minutes or an hour into it, that keeps your BG from wiping out as extremely as it might if one followed the standard directive to wait 2 or 3 or 4 hours to test BG again. This is totally individualized and has to be checked. One person might need 4 units to keep a leash on their burrito and another might need 8 or even 10, which also depends on the burritoā¦
I found Robin Arzon, an ultramarathoner in New York on YouTube with type one for three or four years. She said, and she had all the D technology, that taking care of D was trial and error, try things and see what works. I loved that comment. I guess it is easier to understand when one has the technology. In the long long ago times āworkedā meant felt better. And that metric is too subjective. Sounded like she micro carved well too putting mandarin tangerines in her bra.
For me personally, Iām not talking about a lengthy break; for me I have to stop and breathe for a day, maybe two, once in awhile or else I totally burn out for a much longer period of time. Iāve tried many, many things to help me cope with the feelings of burn-out and stress and keep me on track. I have a daily routine, I have hobbies, I have people I can lean on and talk to, I write my blog. But once in a a while I just need a short break to breathe easyā¦and maybe even cry out the stress.
Itās not the healthiest way to deal with the negative things in diabetes, I know, but everyone has their coping mechanisms, everyone is different.
The point is to not totally burn out, donāt give up. 
Hi thought there maybe some new alternative to carb counting that I didnāt know about.
Thereās an app that you take a picture of a plate of food Iāve been told.
Treating diabetes is like playing jazz. Be well versed in all the rules, like carb counting, so that you can break them with confidence. Improvisation is the diabeticās best friend!
This is what have been doing for last 19 years. One Endo is ok with it other just says do as pump says 
@Jo_Aff, your one doc is unfamiliar with the diabetes definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result!
There is an AP that can look at your plate and give you a cab. Count? I am a sloppy carb counter but do my best. Yes,it is hard when around people who over eat. Luckily I am very active so this helps.
Hi Terry4 I mean have been using own intuition and interpretation for last 19yrs as most of that was on fixed dose insulin which I used to tweak a little. Now on pump I still use own intution but am told to just do as pump says. Think will also go back to old way of writing everything down.
I think itās very helpful to use carb counting to dose insulin. Knowing a good insulin to carb ratio that gets you in the right neighborhood BG-wise is useful. Also knowing a a good correction ratio makes life easier. The point I was trying to make is that diabetes varies from meal to meal and day to day. Once you know your bodyās rules, knowing when to adjust doses based on your intuition and experience is what makes insulin dosing an art.
Writing stuff down can be a pain but itās the one thing that can help untangle some of the chaos. I always benefit when I do this. Good luck.