Carb counting and Diabetes Control...

[tink2dw]

Dh was watching a new magazine show that had the ABC Dr. from their morning news,he always explains medical issues for them and he is always right on about thing.

Anyway Dh called me in to see the part about the Bloodsugar watch and how it is almost ready. Then the Dr. said that carb counting for a diabetic causes the blood to be more acid,making it Harder to control their Bloodsugar levels.

Do those of you that carb count,have you notice if you are more brittle?? Do you have alot of ups or downs??

 

[Talking Hands]

Quite the opposite. I am more stable and my blood sugars are in better control. If you think about it the exchange system is carb counting in another form. They have already done the counting for you in increments of about 15 carbs per bread exchange.
I be curious as to what this person thinks is a better method of controlling our diet and thus the blood sugars.
BTW with carb counting my Hb1Ac rund 6.1

 

[EUROPA]

yep Carb couting is the way to go. Not really sure if that person from ABC knows what they are talking about.

 

[tink2dw]

When I took our Hmo's Diabetic food classes they were only concerned about portion size and eating a balanced diet and not restriting your self. I have done pretty well keeping balanced.

But my weight is a concern now to me. I've always been heavy But this last year I have gained,where before I was stable. So,I was considering counting Carbs.

But I don't know how. Can anyone help me,please?? At least with the basics?

TYIA!!

 

[EUROPA]

Here are some great links....not sure of you story but you really should consider getting a insulin pump.

http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/food.shtml

 

[mamajoan]

I do not use an insulin pump.. not mentally ready yet.. sorry
I know it would most likely be a boon to my being brittle.

That being said... I began carb counting 5 years ago.. It has been a life saver. I still am brittle..but better than before. I now inject reg insulin 3 times per day and NPH at night.. that has made a huge difference.

Carb counting is easier to comply with.. diet wise..
Everyone's body uses carbs at different rates, some carbs have different effects on BS.. for me 15 gr. carrotts and 15 grams of bread have cause BS to rise at different rates..

I am not sure what the"doc" on ABC was talking about.. but I have never heard of anyone doing poorly with carb counting.

 

[tink2dw]

My HMO won't do insulin pumps! I would never be able to do all that math,my worsed enemy.

Anyone have an easy way to count Carbs??

 

[Talking Hands]

What's hard about carb counting. It is simple addition for those of us that aren't on an insulin pump. How many carbs can you have and how many are in the food. For example a slice of bread is xx number of carbs so if you eat it you have used that amount of your carbs for the meal or the day. I usually stick to about 30 - 45 carbs per meal at the max.

 

[EUROPA]

If you can do simple addition and division then Carbcounting is easy. It can get more complicated mixing in Long acting Insulin. That is why I mentioned the Insulin Pump which is what I use. Basically carb counting comes down to this, you eat XX number of Carbs you take XX Units of Insulin. The best way to start off is to keep track of the number of Carbs you eat every day. Write down how much insulin you take along with that. Do that for a week. At the end of the week add up the number for carbs for each day and then add up the amount of Insulin. Divide the number of Carbs by the amount of insulin

EX 100(grams Carbs) / 10(U Insulin) would tell you that for every 10 grams of carbs you need to take 1 unit of Insulin. Do this for a week and you should see about the same number each day. Fro then on anytime you eat you count the carbs your going to eat

EX. 50G( You want to eat) and you divide that by your number from above 10G (for 1 Unit of Insulin) number and you see that you need 5 Units of Insulin for that meal.

Now like I said it can get complicated using Long acting Insulin. I've never carb counted using long Acting. That is the beauty of the pump. In the pump you use Humalog(very fast acting) only. So your really only have to worry about the current meal.

Now I've really glossed over some major points to Carb counting and the Pump so you really should make sure that you know what your doing before you try to follow my basic instructions. The major difference in Pump users and people who Inject is flexibility. If you inject especially long acting you really have to plan ahead of time what/when your going to eat. The pump frees you from those types of constraints. If you don't want to eat Lunch...you can skip it because you have not taken any long Acting Insulin that could cause you to crash. If you want to have a piece of Cake, its no problem. You just figure out how many carbs are in the cake and pump away.

This is really going to sound weird but even though you are connected to a machine(pump) you fee more free and less dependent then with taking shots. I'm sorry that more insurance companies have not caught on to the benefits of the pump yet (%##^#%& HMO's) but I would not let that stop be from getting a pump it really has been a life saver. If you do a search on my name you will see some other threads where I've talked about the Pump and you can see that you just might be able to get the pump even if you don't think you can afford it, or you insurance will cover it. If you want more Info please feel free to ask.

 

[mamajoan]

Europa is right on the money!
Also, your HMO should not have trouble getting you into see a Diabetic Educator and or a Registered Nutritionist. They are experts at explaining carb counting. They will work with you to find the easiest way to figure things out. Once you learn what 15 grams of carbs looks like.. it gets easy. ie.. a piece of bread.. a cup of cereal, etc...then you get to the fun stuff.. like oreo's

I also agree with the fact that carb counting is a bit more difficult with long lasting insulins ie NPH.. it takes a bit of time to figure it out..

Europa, you explain things very clearly, I appreciate that talent.
Could you explain to me.. On the pump.. do you have to take an 'everyday' rate.. or basal rate? If so how does that work into your pumping configuration? Thank you so much.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by mamajoan

Europa, you explain things very clearly, I appreciate that talent.
Could you explain to me.. On the pump.. do you have to take an 'everyday' rate.. or basal rate? If so how does that work into your pumping configuration? Thank you so much.

The basal rate on pumps is there to help simulate the Long acting insulin. Many people are very active during the day and could get by with a very low basal rate such as .01 Units an hour( I think that is the min on my pump you can program). Some people like me sit at there desk all day long so we need a little more. The basal rate is there to combat the Dawn effect too. You know where you blood sugar levels rise in the early morning hours. You can set many different basal rates on the pump for example I only have 3 set. One from 5 am - 9am where I give myself more insulin to combat the dawn effect. Then I change to a different basal rate during working hours and home time. Other people may have more or may have less different rates. It's all about your lifestyle and your body. Not sure if you must set a basal rate or not on all pumps but on mine you do. The basal rate is really a good thing though remember we store sugars and our body may release those at anytime when it feels that it needs it for energy so the basal rate is what keeps you blood sugar from rising even though you have not eaten anything. With the pump it's all about tight control. After you get your pump dialed in you should really never see wide swings in you blood sugar. Which was my problem on shots. My blood sugars are always between 80-110 now that I've switched to the pump.

Hope that helps.

 

[tink2dw]

I don't have to mix Insulins. I just use the premixed Novilin 70/30 which is a short and long lasting insulin. I only have to take 2 injections one before I eat breakfast and one before Dinner. Mostly I just have to make sure that I eat a couple of proteins a day. To balance out whatever else I eat, ie muffin,fruit,vegi's.

Cottage cheese is my best friend,it is an easy quick tasty way to get my protien.

As to math,I 'm Dislexic with numbers.

 

[MadMadamMim]

Go out and get Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution - that is an incredible book! I've read it, and given it to my father who is also diabetic - it explains SO much in the lowcarb/diabetic realm of things...

 

[MsDisney23]

I love my insulin pump... on insulin now for 38 years.... The glucose watch has been out on the market, but i have just purchased from Thera Sense, the Free Style tracking system.. so wonderful.. it is a PDA< that will also test my blood on the arm, leg, finger, etc. it does all of my logs for me, Has a special section for pump wearer's. A list of every carb out there, even for fast food etc. I just love it.. Hey i am not sure if I am allowed to put the site on here, I still pretty new. but if anyone would like the site, you can e-mail me and i will be happy to forward it to you...

DisneyKitty@aol.com

thanks..... May there be a cure...

 

[SueM in MN]

Hey i am not sure if I am allowed to put the site on here, I still pretty new. but if anyone would like the site, you can e-mail me and i will be happy to forward it to you...

Go ahead and post the site. It's sort of on the smae sort of thing as people who post a site where you can buy a particular stroller to take to WDW - this is just another sort of tool that will help someone.