Confusing because you said, “I would think that since non-diabetics can eat whatever they want and their pancreas will compensate with insulin does to match, we could do the same?”
I sure don’t think that an occassional pizza or fries causes harm, since you’ve figured out how to bolus for it. Correcting after a miscalculation, depending how high, isn’t as good. I’ll never be able to figure out pizza!
Wait, this is the woman profiled on Oprah’s Type 2-focused show a few months ago!!! On the clips that aired during the show, this woman admitted that she didn’t always take good care of herself.
The fact is that we use (NEED) insulin to cover what we eat, regardless of what it is we’re eating. If I eat nothing but tofu and lettuce, I’m still going to need insulin to cover the carbs. To say that by eating pizza or cake, we’re increasing our chances of complications is not a complete thought. It should say that by eating pizza or cake, and not taking the correct amount of insulin and/or monitoring post-prandial BG, we increase our chances of complications like amputations. Sure, by eating pizza and cake, we’ll gain weight, which can lead to insulin resistance, which is not good.
The entire point of the rapid-acting insulins and pumps, etc. is to mimic (as close as possible) the normal pancreatic response to food. We all know that it is not an exact science, but if we’re smart and diligent, we can reduce our risks of complications.
Living with T1 was hard enough before that horribly misleading train-wreck of a show that Oprah did on diabetes. I’ve spent more time correcting mis-information from that show …
Maybe I didn’t explain myself well – my friend pointedly told me that if I eat pizza, candy, etc. I can not rely on insulin to properly process the BG spike. I think Gerri makes great points above, that injected insulin doesn’t act as natural insulin and high BG even for a short time can cause damage in some. And who knows which some?
I’ve been in denial about this concept because I love sweets, bread and pasta. I’ve tried bolusing for the extra carbs but I’m constantly in the 200’s. And I’m sensitve to insulin so when I try to correct I’m goin down. It’s time for me to face REALITY. With all of you as my witnesses, I surrender to Dr. B! (or a slightly modifed version thereof).
Add to this the fact that test results show my arteries have the thickening of a 95 year old (I’m only 56). And I’m a relatively new T1 LADA (diagnosed 2007 and caused by 27 year undiagnosed hepatitis C infection from 1982 blood transfusion).
Speaking of tests, if anyone wants to see how their arteries are fairing the CIMT is a fairly inexpensive, non intrusive method. It measures thickening of the carotid artery which can also predict the condition of the rest of your plumbing. It’s a useful preventative test so insurance doesn’t cover it. Here’s some info:
http://www.uchospitals.edu/specialties/heart/services/arteriovision/
As always, I enjoy reading about other’s experiences. Thanks!
Is your friend a diabetic? This is like the second time you’ve posted something, that a friend has given you misinformation and or bad advise. Everyone’s body is different My last A1C was 6.4 and continues to go lower, and I eat what I want. The best diabetic gets spikes, it doesn’t mean your doing something wrong. Some foods just effect us differently. Pizza is one of those difficult foods because of the protein and fats. This is why you must test!! Stay away from people who give unwanted and nonfactual advice. Diabetes is too complex, and so many people try to simplify this disease… It really bothers me.
Oprah’s Dr. Oz misinformation show. This poor woman is being used as a cautionary tale far & wide.
My friend’s mom died of D complications while she cared for her the last 5 years so is intimately familiar with the D situation. Mom suddenly went blind, lost her toes and finally died of gangrene infection in legs. Friend is worried about me.
I’m glad you can eat what you want, I guess some people can but not me.
So sorry to hear that… My condolence. I’m just trying to say that, diabetes is more than just staying away from junk food. It is the balance between extreme high and low sugars, regardless of what we eat. In addition to that, medications, preexisting health issues, etc., make us all unique. But to make a sweeping generalized statements with no medical training (and even then…), does not help anyone.
I’ve gone through a lot when I temporarily lost my vision. My mother witnessed this. My mother is also a retired nurse aid, who happens to be type 2. Do you think my mother would pick up my diabetes magazines and read them? She feels she knows all about diabetes cause she seen it in the hospital. Yet she is crying aches and pains from all the lipid medications. My mother eats carb’d filled treats almost every day. Yet she says she knows about diabetes?
You can only help someone who is ready for the help. Yet at the same time, you can’t help anyone if all you know is based on perception. There is a difference between what you read, perceive, and what you experience (from both ends of the stick)…
i am all confused now… I did notice when i ate really bad food and more insulin that i became more sluggish, from the high calorie proccessed food or the high insulin? I don’t know. If i use a sliding scale does that mean i’m fixing my high?
it depends if your ingesting simple or complex carbs. Some carbs metabolize faster than others (causing spikes, therefore giving high blood sugar reaction). It also depends on what your current sugars were before you started eating. What you eat, how you eat, what kind of insulin you take, how your body response to that insulin, insulin duration, etc., etc., all must be taken in to consideration. Once you understand how that effects YOUR individual body, you can manage those blood sugar swings better.
High BG will make you feel sluggish. High carb meals also makes you feel tired. When I ate tons of carbs (before diagnosis), I fell asleep after dinner & woke up with a splitting headache. Cranky, too. Bad food doesn’t supply the nutrients we need & that also contributes to feeling crappy. So to answer your question, insulin doesn’t make you tired. Not matching insulin to food that results in highs will make you feel worn out.
Does your sliding scale work:) Do you correct & end up where you want to be? Sliding scales don’t work with any accuracy. They’re too general.
In addition to knowing your I:C ratio for meals, you need to learn your ISF (insulin sensitivity factor) to correct highs. ISF means how many points 1 unit of rapid acting will lower BG. Everyone’s different & it’s based on the type of insulin & weight, for starters. ISF is easier to figure out than I:C. For me (I’m small), 1 unit of Apidra lowers BG 60 points. The caution is not to correct too quickly if you have insulin on board to avoid going low.
These books are great.
Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner
Using Insulin, Everything You Need for Success With Insulin by John Walsh,
Cynthia – the way that I would put it is not that you can’t eat sweets, but that you should not be seeing numbers above 200 often (we all have different standards). It would be good to take steps to reduce those. You can try adjusting your insulin dose to get good numbers. If it works, then great. If not, you might need to take steps to change your diet.
I am not going to extreme with low carb, but I have stopped eating chocolate ( which was sending me above 200 regularly). I used to see numbers above 200 every day. Now I see them only every few days…
I’m glad your vision returned! You make some good points about the complexity of controlling BS. You’d almost have to access a computer when contemplating your dinner! Here’s a shout out to all you programmers out there – how about an iPhone application that calculates the insulin units based on all the factors Yogirajj mentioned?
I think the point my friend is making is that BS is easier controlled when you’re not loading your body with empty carbs. That’s the view of Dr. B as well, although 10 carbs per meal is too low for me.
I think the medical community needs to do a better job of educating all of us. Every dr., LPN, HHA, NA, CDE, needs to visit the American Diabetes Association and get facts. I should not have to go to the web to find how to take care of myself (at least the beginning stages). Everything should be done by a caring and knowledgeable doctor. In the beginning, when I was growing up no doctor wanted to believe I was diabetic, because I had no outward manifestations. However, at the time of my official diagnosis, I was not offered, pamphlets, advice, tools, no nothing… On top of that, I was suffering the early stages of serious cataract on both eyes. It was absolutely unacceptable what I had to endure. People think that I am doctor bashing, and that everything was my fault. The world at large has no clue as to, not only how serious diabetes is, but the tons of myths that had to have come by way of, assumptions and hearsay.
Sorry for the rant… But having experienced blindness will do that to you… Maybe i’m just way to passionate…
I hear you & agree wholeheartedly.
It’s unacceptable what you endured & that countless others go through the same. Don’t believe we can be too passionate about our lives & well-being.
I left the hospital after diagnosis (DKA) knowing nothing, absolutely nothing. I had to flag down a nurse the day of discharge to teach me how to give myself an injection. I experienced horrible lows because no one told me what insulin dose to take. Amazing I didn’t die. All I had was a confusing hand-out. I sunk into a deep depression because I thought my new life was going to be chronic hypoglycemia. I didn’t know any better because I wasn’t told differently. Everything I learned, I learned on my own as I waited months for an endo appt. Diabetes ed class was a waste because it was for T2s.
The ADA is a fountain of misinformation.
Thanks Gerri. I feel better! Sorry, didn’t mean to be confusing. Was just trying to simplify the idea you mentioned in my mind, and figure out “if I can figure out a way to compensate as a diabetic effectively while eating carbs, then is that okay? Or should I not?” Again, I read the post and began to worry that research somewhere showed that for some reason even if I’m compensating correctly, I’m still doing harm–I told you I’m a worrier! P.S. I really rarely ever eat Pizza. It’s not one of my faves. Now fries…another story 
How lame is it that weight gain can cause insulin resistance, but that insulin resistance can also cause weight gain? What a vicious cycle. I’m apparently one of those double diabetics–Type I, but have MAJOR insulin resistance (which has led to more and more insulin, thus the cycle!) Great news is I just started Glumetza in addition to my insulin, so I’m hoping that vicious cycle can be broken! P.S. In agreement about the oprah show!
This was in response to Shannon. Sorry if I’m a dummy
Yum, fries! Not as good as real fries, but I cut up peeled turnips & cook them like French fries. With enough salt & pepper (I use cayenne for some fire), they’re pretty good. They cook faster than potatoes. I tried sweet potato fries because they’re lower carb than white potatoes, but they sent me high anyway.
Education is the key to living with Diabetes. Knowing how much and when to bolus extra insulin is part of that education. The video doesn’t say whether she knew her insulin to carb ratio and if she knew how to predict her bs after eating or drinking sugary treats. She was a nurse but that doesn’t mean she knew much about Diabetes.
This is the advice parents are given when their children are diagnosed, and I don’t truly believe it; yet, aside from prebolusing or overbolusing and compensating when the blood sugar drops, there is little I can do to prevent spikes. Switched to Apidra and that works much better for postprandial highs but if there is a bubble in the tubing or if the insulin needs to be changed earlier than Novolog, or a growth spurt, the highs are faster than with Novolog and higher. She gets the highs every day one way or another, though we can bring them down quickly. She has a normal diet, but we have modified it as best we can to prevent spikes. Cgms can help with this. I use overbolusing any time she is home and it does work very well. Then feed the insulin at the two hour mark. For some strange reason, her BGs are great during the day. Do your best to control the spikes and highs on a daily basais and if high, bring them down quickly. But, no, you cannot eat in such a fashion that you are always very high after every meal every day. If highs once a day or a portion of the day causes these severe problems, then all Type 1s are in trouble because you cannot prevent highs. And there is plenty of evidence that there are a lot of healthy Type 1s out there. No, you cannot eat anything you want, any time you want and just bolus for it. Yes, you can treat yourself to snacks/treats that do not raise your BS daily (for DN it would be icecream and potato chips believe it or not, or chocolate). You have to restrict those foods that cause spikes on a daily basis and eat them occasionally unless you can figure out a way to bolus for it to prevent the spike. Occasionally, you can treat yourself just like anyone else and cover it and correct when high. And no one can eat anything they want whenever they want without getting fat, so although DN CAN eat icecream and potatochips without effecting BS every day, she won’t.