Hello everyone! I just found tudiabetes.com, and felt the need to become connected. I turned 50 just last month, and started on the OmniPod 9 days later. I was diagnosed withType1 three years ago, and still feel like I’m an infant when it comes to the new lifestyle. Sometimes (when my BG is good) I feel like I’ve got it all under control, and others - like the dreaded condition is controlling me.
My biggest challenge is figuring out how to eat approximately normally (w/o diabetes). I had it pretty well down before the pump - could handle pizza, small amounts of pasta & the occasional McDonalds - with my Lantus & Humalog. Now - it’s a mystery. Seems I’m always, always high. I can’t figure out how the Extended Bolus works. But…I’ve got a brain, and there are plenty of books out there - so eventually I’ll get it.
Anyone else on the OmniPod? What’s the deal with these occulsions? The first Pod I wore had saline, and everything went fine. I was literally high from the possibilities of NO MORE NEEDLES! Then, when I went “live” - the first two pods malfunctioned in the first two hours. One was a Pod Error - next was an occulsion. I’ve had three of these occulsions within the past 2 1/2 weeks! That’s going to get VERY expensive over time. These pods go for $34.50/each.
When I’m eating low carb & on a timed schedule - everythings fine. But my life doesn’t work that way very often. So, I’m running avg daily BG between 170 - 220. That’s just too high. Any tricks that can be shared would be very, very welcome.
BTW - with the holidays coming up - how does everyone handle things. I love to cook & bake. In fact - I was the family member who used to make the candies & cookies for everyone. I took last year off, and it just didn’t feel like Christmas. This year, I’d like to do something - but not sure how to even begin to figure out carb counts for homemade goodies. Any ideas?
Thanks for reading this, and I hope to hear from some of you - seems like this might be a great venue to converse with like-minded folks, and hopefully make some new friends.
Here’s how you figure out carb counts for EVERYTHING you cook.
Download LifeForm software from http://www.lifeform.com. You can try it free for a month and then buy it for $29. I liked it so much I bought it after two days.
Lifeform has a huge database of foods, but what I like about it is that it is very easy to add a recipe of my own and when I do that, it will tell me exactly how much carb, protein, etc is in a portion. It’s easy to use one recipe as the base for another, too.
I also invested in an electronic food scale which I bought at a cookware store. It reads in ounces or grams and you can put a plate or cup on the scale, press the button to zero it out, and then put the food on the plate to get the right weight.
When I started weighing and measuring the stuff I ate and checking it out in LifeForm, I quickly learned that portion sizes given on products usually aren’t what a normal person considers a portion size. I got a much better idea of how many carbs I was really eating, and that makes it a lot easier to match carbs to insulin.
I have been on the Omnipod for just over two weeks now and have had no problems. Have you tried calling customer service at Omnipod?
Sounds like either you are off on carbs you are eating or your insulin:carb ratios. We use www.calorieking.com to easily calculate carbs in almost any type of food. You can use it free on the web or buy software to run on your computer.
In terms of holiday recipes, I have seen software where you can enter the recipe you are cooking and it will calculate all of the nutrition facts (just like the label) Here are several sites I found by googling “recipe nutrition information”
Hi Rhonda! Congrats.I have been a type 1 for 22 years and I am still on injections.But in the spring next year I see my endo about going on the pump.I am reading alot about it now.They say that you shouldn’t expect perfection at the start.There is still alot of tweaking to do.You will learn through trial and error just like when you first became a diabetic.For cooking and baking I use Splenda.It doesn’t lose its sweetness after prolonged temperatures.I am very excited about the pump.I just wish the Canadian Government covered it for adults.It is covered for children under 18.It is a little biased.
