Hi guys! I’m new here! But, I’ve had type 1 since I was 18 months old. (almost 19 years now), and I was diagnosed with Celiac when I was just 2 years old.
I’m hoping for some support and information! I was in the hospital for 4 days back in April with ketoacidosis. That’s the first time, since I was about 4 yrs. old. I guess the stress of college is catching up with me? Plus I was on NPH since I was diagnosed (37 units in the morning mixed with 7 units of R and then 5 R at supper and 13 N at bedtime.) Now I’m on Lantus (50 units in the AM) and 6 units of R at breakfast, 8R at lunch and supper. I really want to switch over to the pump. More specifically the One Touch PING!!! But I’m really concerned with the counting carbs since I have celiac. A lot of the bread mixes and such that we buy don’t have calorie or carb counts on them…just for the dry portion. Plus, I haven’t had to count carbs before while being on insulin. I guess that was a plus of NPH…Too bad my body built up a resistance to it.
So, I was wondering if anyone could ease my mind by letting me know how it is with counting carbs and being on the pump!
If you eat the same thing most of the time it is extremely easy once you figure out what one pc of bread is, etc… Carb counting isn’t as hard as it sounds. You have the things you know and some things you make an educated guess for. And then you have the “normal stuff” you eat fairly often, that you can adjust until it works right.
The pump has been a blessing for me. It is just so much more flexible than MDI. You can eat what and when you want to eat. The background or basal insulin can be calibrated to your body so you stay in range when you don’t eat. Personally I have gone as much as 20 hours fasting and still been in range. Of course other times I have screwed up the carb count and been 300 or 40 after 4 hours . But I had those problems more often on MDI.
I also like having one “shot” or in my case insertion every 3-4 days instead of 5 a day.
Hey Amy! Welcome!
I am a year into T1, and about a month into a gluten-free diet. While I am not on the pump, I have learned how to do the carb counting thing, which I’m know you will figure out with a little practice. I don’t eat bread, but I have found a great line of tortillas from Food for Life, which I think has bread too. They have carb counts on their products.
Check out www.diabetesmine.vom -a great blog written by Amy Tenedrich who is T1 and has Celiac (and she posts on TU sometimes too)
Also, look under Groups on TU and you’ll find one for Celiac. You might want to join that one, plus the one for pumpers?
Good luck! You’ll get the swing of things (as best as possible with T1) in no time!
Learning to count carbs will give you much better control in matching carbs to insulin, with or without a pump, so you should start doing this now. It’s not hard at all. There are many on-line carb counters that will give you the carbs of most any food & the book Calorie King is wonderful. Have your doctor help you calculate your carb:insulin ratio before you get your pump because this how your insulin doses should be figured.
I’m on Regular, too. Not many of us are. I also have rapid acting (Apidra) to correct highs quickly. Has your endo suggested a rapid acting insulin? Why were you on NPH? Most people don’t use this.
When I was diagnosed back in 1990, NPH was “the best on the market.” and i’ve had my fair share of Endos that haven’t helped me at all, and have just kept me on NPH, even though my A1C’s were never uner 9.
When I was in the hospital with DKA in April the doc switched me over to lantus. since april i’ve gained a lot of weight. (i hear it’s a side affect of lantus, and i’ve been eating a lot more with all of the lows i’ve been getting.)
My endo has never suggested a rapid acting insulin! But then again I just got a new endo in June! I go back to see her next week–and I really want to get going with a pump!!! I think it would help with the extreme lows that i’ve been getting.
One of the things that bothers me is that I’ve been on the same scale for insulin since i was diagnosed. except now i’m on lantus. but nothing changes. there’s no sliding scale. so i’m still taking the same amounts of R whither i am 45 or 245. that doesn’t make much sense to me!
It’s a releif to hear that there are others with celiac and T1! I’ve had diabetes and celiac pretty much my whole life, and it’s great to hear that carb counting isn’t as bad as i thought it was going to be!
So, what do you do for the homemade meals? I mean I make a lot of my own things and share them with my family. I guess I’m just confused with the combination of foods together. Tonight for instance I had GF pasta with chicken mushrooms and alfredo sauce. It was all combined. I know about the carb counts on containers-but do you just have to guess when it comes to the homemade meals?
Thanks for the group info. I’ve already joined the group for T1’s with celiac!
thanks so much for the info! I’m just really uneasy with counting carbs…I shouldn’t be I’ve been diabetic and had celiac pretty much my whole life! And I’m a foods and nutrition major at school, so i shouldn’t be so easily intimidated by it at all!! It’s all new to me, considering I’ve pretty much been on the same insulin doses since I was little. (obviously it’s been changed with growth, etc). I just switched over to lantus in april after i spent 4 days in the hospital with DKA. I was switched over to lantus and i’m still on regular 3x/day. I don’t have to count carbs with this…and i didn’t have to with NPH either. I’m just a little confused. I guess it would be easier if I had a ratio given to me to use, huh?
Anything new is intimidating. And it is hard to change the habits we develop when we are little. It will take work, but the pay off is feeling better, and living longer. Pretty good investment!
Promise you, it’s no biggie to count carbs. Nothing to be intimidated about. Hey, just do it & don’t overthink it:)
You do need to count carbs with Regular & should have been with NPH also. Sorry that you have a doctor who’s so behind the times that he/she hasn’t encouraged you to.
A ratio of carbs to insulin requires that you count carbs & that’s what the ratio is. For X number of carbs, you take X units of insulin. Without this, you’re shooting, excuse the pun, in the dark & your BG will be all over the place.
Pump or MDIs, the goal is to match carbs to food, so you’ll be healthier by having better control.
Google “carb counters.” There are many on-line carb counters & also buy a copy of Calorie King. Buy a scale so you’ll know weights. You enter the individual ingredients of meals you make & then add up the total carbs. Easy.
Check out the EatSmart scale. It has 999 preprogrammed foods in categories of veggies, fruit, meat, dairy, nuts, etc. You put the ingredient, like broccoli, on the scale. You put it the code for broccoli (raw or cooked) from the booklet that comes with the scale. The EatSmart scale tells you much the food weighs & the carb count (also other nutritional info).
Or, there are recipe conversion sites. You enter all the ingredients of something you’re cooking & the number of portions that recipe makes. It breaks down carbs, fats, calories for you by portion.
Here’s a recipe conversion site. Just list the ingredients & it figures it for you. Has to be in amounts: 1 cup, 1 TBS, etc. If an ingredient isn’t in the database, you’ll have to look that up elsewhere.
That’s the first time, since I was about 4 yrs. old. I guess the stress of college is catching up with me? Plus I was on NPH since I was diagnosed (37 units in the morning mixed with 7 units of R and then 5 R at supper and 13 N at bedtime.) Now I’m on Lantus (50 units in the AM) and 6 units of R at breakfast, 8R at lunch and supper. I really want to switch over to the pump. More specifically the One Touch PING!!! But I’m really concerned with the counting carbs since I have celiac. A lot of the bread mixes and such that we buy don’t have calorie or carb counts on them…just for the dry portion. 
