Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Holger Schmeken on April 11, 2010 at 8:24am

Unknown meals or food combinations are always challenging. The main reason for this group is to get a feeling for the carb count of meals just by looking at them. I often take my best guess (not a wild guess) for the carbs and then I will add something like 30% on top: the slightly overestimate method (SOE ;-). In then will test one and two hours later to catch the tendency to go low or high early. This way I can moderate the aftermath by adding some glucose or some insulin.

Permalink Reply by Lee on April 18, 2010 at 5:04pm

When first diagnosed in 1957 I did use the WAG method because there was little professional knowledge and info available to me at the time on anything to do with diabetes - period! But I have learned that guessing brings more trouble with blood glucose levels than I care to handle at any time! I do enjoy dining out and since creating my personal carb count list and using it for every meal at home, it has helped me to remember what and how much to order off a menu! I do not indulge when dining out. Am I right on every calculation? Mostly, but am not perfect!. I test frequently and use .5 unit of Humalog 3 hours after a meal as needed which is seldom. My A1c varies slightly from 5.8 to 6.3 on average.

After 53.5 years as a Type 1 - I am still learning!!
Lee
MDI Humalog & split dose of Levemir
Ratio: 1 - 16 or 18 on average

Permalink Reply by wassim on September 30, 2010 at 12:22am

Ah reading your comment now Lee is very resting. Espacially the 53.5 years and still learning this tells me not to get frustrated with every mistake i do in my carb count :)..im still around 7 months into this...learning a lot. I exercise every day and manage my meals pretty well. But I am always kind of tired...do u have any advice?

Permalink Reply by Lee on September 30, 2010 at 9:07am

Hi! If you find yourself tired most of the time as I did a few years ago - this is what I did and have a good deal more energy these days.

I asked my doctors: Primary and Endocrinologist) what to do about being so tired. They did some lab work and decided I needed another test just for my thyroid. Sure enough, even though the test showed within the accepted "normal range" it was considered too low by my endo and my primary agreed. So they boosted my thyroid medicine up pretty high for several years and just recently reduced it a bit and I am still doing fine. The reason for the lack of energy:: My metabolic system was already affected by the Type 1 diabetes. My endo has many years of experience with diabetes, and told me that sometimes, no matter how long or how short a time we have dealt with diabetes, the mechanism fails us! So many factors for Type 1 to think about and deal with....sigh......

So I am now on a prescribed dose of thyroid meds AND Vitamin D; at the age of 75 I can enjoy most activities as I have all my life! I do not climb mountains anymore, or get on the roof of the house, but I can hike a mile and work for hours in my garden! :-))

So, if it were me I would have my doctor check the thyroid, and insist on taking Vitamin D. Both my thyroid and Vit D are prescriptions as over-the-counter types seem to not have enough of what I need to help me. According to my endo, the Vit D is very important for every person regardless to have now that our environment and the food items are less pure than they used to be. Thyroid med: 0.2mg daily; Vit D 2000 IU daily.He also believes that the standard treatment for hypothyroidism of any kind is way out-dated and the "average correction doseage" is set too low!

Keep up your effort and know that not every day will be perfect, but better because you took care of yourself!

If its going to bets up to ME!
Good Luck!
Lee