Diabetics in need of Carbohydrate Info

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm going to put in a shameless plug if that's alright. I found out yesterday that I either have prediabetes or early diabetes. I posted a thread on the disABILITIES community board with some questions. I would appreciate it if some of you wonderful ladies and gentlemen could give me some information. I'm sort of trying to process it all at the moment.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We have spent 40+ days at WDW since my son's type I diagnosis. After
4 years, I can eyeball his plate and estimate very closely the carbs. We have cruised about that many days also and have never had nutritional info given either. I think it could be because serving sizes can vary from plate to plate and they do not want to give bad info--instead of them being responsible, it puts the burden on us.
You will not go into a coma from being too high after one meal. If it makes you feel better, check your blood sugar a couple hours after your meal and
take an extra dose. We also check in the middle of the night because so much activity can cause nighttime drops.
Your numbers will fluctuate because of more excercise, stress, different foods, and possibly the heat. We start our vacation by deceasing Lantus (basal) by 10%. My son's numbers are almost always as good as at home. He did go too low once and needed Glucagon. Be sure to bring that as well as several simple sugars.
Have a great time!

 

[mechurchlady]

If your sugars do go low then carry a small tube of icing. I have known several diabetic people who carry those little tubes used to decorate cakes as they stand up to heat and cold pretty well. It is cheap and easy to replace. Also try to get a bit of protein in you if your sugars go low so that you do not get a sugar rush and then a crash.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm new to all this (dietician appointment is on Friday) so please forgive my ignorance...

Is it really a big deal for Disney not to provide carb counts? I do Weight Watchers and know that nutritional info makes my life 10x easier for calculating points, but in the tiny town where I live which is populated by mostly local restaurants (very few chains), nutritional info is non existent. What do you do when you go to a mom and pop restaurant and don't have the carb counts? Or do you just not eat there? Is it really so bad to use a carb count from a book?

I'm not trying to be confrontational, I'm just trying to understand all this myself since this will be my future very soon.

Has anybody considered starting some kind of petition? I would do it, but I am a campus rep and still a current cm for WDW, I know it sounds cowardly, but I don't want to risk my job.

ETA: What does it mean to WAG?

 

[Talking Hands]

It just makes life easier to have carb counts and allows a larger variety in our meals. Without carb counts I tend to stick to plain meat, veggies and fruits but if I have a carb count I can enjoy something a bit more fancy such as a casserole, curry or stew.

 

[daneenm]

I'm not trying to be confrontational, I'm just trying to understand all this myself since this will be my future very soon.

It surely makes it easier, but I must admit, I rarely ask anymore, as we are pretty good at comparing to something we do know the carb count of. DS (7) has T1 Diabetes and we have done WDW and DL on shots and DL just recently on a pump (we started pumping in July). I have found that he stays relatively stable from the food he eats, what really effects him is the heat. Even here at home we are having issues with hot weather and heavy duty running around at lunchtime.

For unfamiliar desserts, I just use the basics...1/2 C of ice cream is about 15g, a 2" rice crispy treat is about...a 2" square of cake with frosting is... then I add or take away a bit based on the other things that are with it. It is imperfect, but it is what we do when we go out at home too and we do quite well.

I suggest if you are worried about lows under dose slightly and test in 2 hours to see if you need to correct. Unless you are really far off, the high is probably easy to correct with a correction dose and being a bit high for 2 hours, while not ideal, is also not life threatening. Better than going unexpectedly low.

Most of all, enjoy your trip.
Daneen