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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 1, 2011 at 2:50pm

I am really boring foodwise. Some of this is b/c about 6 or 7 years ago, I was like 275 lbs and realized I needed to lose weight. I also did a bunch of other stuff but by eating pretty much the same thing (toast eggs breakfast, 1/2 sandwich for lunch), it is easy to see if my ratios/ rates are correct or if they need adjustment. If I hit 178 after eating 3x days in a row (and was confident in the carb counts, didn't get into it with the 12 year old or any one of the other things that might push it up...), I'd try to lower my ratio from 9G/U to 8G/ U and see what happened. If that made it work, and it worked for 3 days, I'd consider it fixed.

That's just how I approach the numbers and adjust them to put them where I want them. The flatness sort of happens doing that all the time. I don't make a lot of big changes.

Sometimes, depending on the data, telemetry, what the "delta" is, if I hit 120 and it's going up fast, I'll figure I screwed up a carb count and bolus for the 10G of carbs I missed. Or, if it's 95, and I have a bunch of IOB, I'll eat the 10 carbs I missed. That seems to help avoid some of the crazy excursions too.

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Permalink Reply by Katsz on May 1, 2011 at 3:35pm

And.... this comes w/ determination.. that I fear my 16 year old does not have yet....and maybe never will.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 1, 2011 at 5:56pm

I was kind of like that when I was younger but my alterior motive was that I didn't want diabetes getting in the way of my wild, rock and roll lifestyle. These days I have other stuff motivating me but I loathe the idea of saying I can't do something.

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Permalink Reply by onesaint on May 1, 2011 at 9:57pm

Katsz, Ive been a T1d for 25 years, since I was 9. I went through those teen years which are really tough. The discipline will come. You can do a few things that will help and annoy. Dont give up, ever. My folks stopped helping me with my blood work at around 11 or 12. I had become independent, but still really needed them to even just sit with me to know that some sort of authority was governing things. Granted this isnt 16, but I think the same thought translates. Secondly, the determination will come. I remember as a teen, getting sick a lot, aliments that would take ages to beat away. I didnt know it at the time, but I could stay all this with tighter control. I like to think that, that would have been a good driving force for me. Lastly, arm yourself with knowledge. if your teen sees you knowing more about their disease than they do it might have the effect of driving them to want to know more as well. And if not, at least you can supplement them with the knowledge to control things. Oh and to add try to find a management style that fits them. Thats been the toughest challenge through this all for me. Luckily, I after some 23 years, I found one.

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Permalink Reply by Ahmad on May 1, 2011 at 3:03pm

Thats a good question, while am not one of them, am a roller coaster! I believe I can aid in answering your concern.

I believe if you want to be "flatline" it is easy to do, all you need is to become a robot. Do the same thing everyday nothing more or less! Eat daily the same amount of carbs, drink, and move the same thing everyday. Afterword all you need to do is to adjust your insulin amount to reach the flatline. AND no cheating, even if it was your birthday!

That will be the ultimate diabetic person that you Endo want you to become!

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Permalink Reply by dickengel on May 10, 2011 at 3:04pm

Ahmad - Not so - no robotinvolved. But due diligemnce in establishing carb ratios bolus basal insulin sensitivity factor etc. Its a lot of work but can be done with flerxibility. REequires trial and error to see what works, when to decrease basals for increased activity. A couple things that I have found that were significant:

1) dump Humalog and replace with Novolog
2) Low Glycemic indexfoods
3) Using a CGHM tp monitor results
4) This one may seem crazy but really works - 4 teaspoons of Lemon Juice in a glass of water with each meal will lower the glycemic index of the meal and make it easier to avoid the peaks.

Probably most important is knowing that you can do it; want to do it and will not get disappointed by setbacks

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Permalink Reply by onesaint on May 10, 2011 at 3:16pm

"Probably most important is knowing that you can do it; want to do it and will not get disappointed by setbacks"

+1 - Well put.

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Permalink Reply by jrtpup on May 10, 2011 at 3:21pm

I don't think I'm a robot,but my SD is around 27. I do have occasional highs and lows- the trick is to learn from them. For example, pre-CGM I would check my BG 2 hours after breakfast and get a great result. The CGM showed me that I was shooting way up an hour after I ate. So... I bolus 1/2 hour before I eat breakfast and get a nice little smooth bump instead of a spike.

I agree with dick, it's all a matter of paying attention to how YOUR body works and applying what you learn. I had a small piece of cheesecake this afternoon and no spike. Factoring in glycemic index - even more importantly, glycemic load - also makes a difference.

Dick, I'll have to try the lemon juice trick! Should work as well as vinegar on a salad ;)

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Permalink Reply by Katsz on May 1, 2011 at 3:35pm

Not sure either.... for my son the after meal highs can be in the 200s... I think it is his choice of food.....but that won't change....not until he gets older I am afraid.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 1, 2011 at 3:51pm

Since 16 year olds are run on peer influence, Katsz, perhaps your son could be exposed to other Type 1 teens, either on here, in diabetes camp or a local support group so that he gets the motivation to work on his own diabetes. Having regular highs in the 200s with all those years to build up complications is a bit scary. Maybe he can come to think of it as "cool" to better manage his own diabetes!

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Permalink Reply by rosieb on May 1, 2011 at 4:23pm

Hey katsz

FYI, I was diagnosed at age 2. When I reached 16 I was in no way going to test my sugars and make myself feel even more different than other people my age (sole diabetic in my class). Of course back then we tested urine so it took a bit longer than the meters do. Anyhoo, I reached my early 20s before I wanted to be in control, and even though retinopathy had set in, I have been in good control for the last 30 years without complications (retinopathy has not changed). Yes, it would be ideal if your son had great control, but I think the teens, early 20s are hard enough on "normal" people, let alone being diabetic. And today? Well, hormones seem to be kicking in and screwing things up for me again. But I AM on top of things. I just do a lot of corrections.

Katsz, I wrote this to give you the diabetic's insight . Things may be different today but I felt I was a pariah when I was growing up.

Best wishes to both you and your son!

Rose

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Permalink Reply by T1Forever on May 1, 2011 at 4:07pm

The answer is that you do not flatline for very long. You can have some very good hours, but eventually D comes back to bite you.
I have done weeks where I eat the same thing for every meal--no viariation-- and BGs change dramtically. D is often a crapshoot!!

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