Oh boy, I remember going through the same thing with my son. (He was diagnosed at 13 and is now 19.) I'd suggest getting a carb-counter booklet at a bookstore -- in the section of diet books -- many calorie counting books contain carb amounts too.
My number one recommendation is: don't allow diabetes to change your son's life. We look at it as an inconveniece (to say the least,) but it hasn't changed anything my son would normally do.
I have had type 2 diabetes for 16 years and have always had trouble with my levels. An uncontrolable brittle diabetic my doc calld me. Playing defense taking 3 different types of insulin a day all day. Recently my doc changed my insulins to 1 toujeo but it is impartive that I take fast acting with every meal according to the carb count.I have no idea what I'm doing. And despite my efforts they still sky rocket after I eat.
//www.medhelp.
However, she will need to be careful with diet and work to maintain her blood sugars as close to non-diabetic levels as possible. Some people with type 1 diabetes find that a very low carb diet is very helpful for normalizing sugar levels, along with insulin dosing, of course. I have had diabetes for 11 years now and using insulin for 11 years... my a1c is usually 5.0 - 5.2. I eat very low carb. I have no detectable diabetes complications.
It sounds like you need a specialist that can help you with both carb counting and your insulin intake. Any changes in your insulin intake can take time to adjust. The fact that you are testing so much shows that you are trying to take care of your diabetes. Have you talked to your doctor about the highs and lows? Has your doctor talked to you about going to the pump? There are so many varibles that come into play here. I would suggest speaking to your doctor.
thank you so much!! I have always been confused because my doctor never told me anything about that! also, I learntabout this thing called "carbs counting", is it necessary for all diabetes to know about this?
Hopefully you wont have to b on insulin like me but in the beginning my doctor put me on that diet until i could meet with the dietician. Its still very similar to that diet just incorporated the carb counting with it. I recently was just allowed to add fruit n my meal bc fruit can b very very tricky especially if you are on insulin. Good luck its not as hard as it seems once you get it.
Hi Jimmy,
Premixed insulin requires you to eat on a fixed schedule, and you cannot easily change your insulin dose.
Separate dosing of Lantus (long acting) and Humalog (short acting) where you inject each insulin separately (also called MDI for multi daily injections) is much more flexible. You test and adjust your basal insulin (lantus), then you dose your fast acting for each meal based on how much food / carbs/ protein you eat.
for something sensible like a day or two of meal plans. The big thing is carbohydrate counting so get a carb book. If he takes Humalog insulin, dose would be 1 unit per 10 grams carb. If not, you must watch the simple sugars carefully. Small amounts of fruit are okay and larger amounts can be tolerated after eating protein.
In addition after starting the pump and following a low carb diet I lost 35lbs the first year without really trying. It was merely counting the carbs I was eating and making sure the insulin dose corresponded to the food. I must admit that I did not eat a lot of carbs because my control was so much better without them. And with better control I felt so much better so that was my motivation. I hope this gives you some inspiration to try the pump. I truly believe you will be glad you did.
Would start out by just trying to stay calm and eat low carb food initially ; the hospital throws this crash course at you about carb counting ; what 22 year old wants to think about carb counting??? the big issue is so much bigger than this . it will soon be something that he instinctively can estimate and knows what foods will satisfy him at the time and how much insulin he needs. It is a mind boggling experience.
Im diabetes 2 since 3 years a go, I used pills at the begining and 2 years ago my doc changed my treatment to insulin. Some days I wake up and my BS is high as today, was 225. Im using an app for counting carbs, yesterday I ate 220gs or carbs and my insulin dosis was 28 Levemir. I don't understad what failed, I know one unit of insulin works for 10gs of carbs. What could be the reason my BS is high? Every day I check my meals very carefully.
Hello umobile98! I'm glad you've come to the Forum in search of answers to assist your husband in taking the best care of himself possible. I hope I can provide you with some answers and I know you'll probably get lots of additional suggestions as this topic is one that concerns everyone affected by diabetes, especially at the beginning. I want to let you know that none of us here are medical professionals ~ we are parents and spouses of type 1's or type 1's themselves.
You most certainly need to learn about carb counting and how food affects your blood sugar by trying different foods and then testing two hours later.
You say you are on Lantus (basal insulin). If your numbers are consistently high after eating you are likely needing to go on a basal/bolus regimen and learn how to develop an insulin: carb ratio to suit your mealtime (bolus) dose to what you eat. John Walsh's book Using Insulin is excellent.
Her fasting blood sugars on our glucometer have been ranging from 87 to 169, and random readings have been ranging from 76 to 266. I have been carb counting and if I keep her total daily carb intake at 150 or less, I can control the sugars to the almost normal range. She has had a couple of times when she has been under 100, and complained about not feeling well.
Dear schmoop,
i am not a doctor just another diabetic trying to help from my experiences. i only a Minimed 508 pump, which is an old pump by today's standards. i have never see an electronic carb counter and i belong to the ADA and get their magazin Diabetes Forecast and have never see one advertised there, though that doesn't mean they aren't available. i do my carb counting from books and after a while you get to remember your favorite foods and the carbs per serving.
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