Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sue R. on August 18, 2012 at 4:36am

Welcome!
I'm at 45 years. A low carb approach is in Dr. Bernstein's books. He points out that if you eat few carbohydrates, you can take less insulin and avoid low blood sugars. That appeals to me but I don't think I could live with a plan that drastic. My meal plan has about 110 grams carbohydrate per day.
For insurance reasons, I switched to the Abbott freestyle lite meter. It is fast and requires less blood. Not as easy to access readings, but if you plug into a computer you can get a good format.
Switzerland must be a great place to live. We visited Austria and Germany this summer.

Permalink Reply by cp1943 on August 18, 2012 at 6:49am

Hi
Thanks for your reply. I will look into the Abbot freestyle.
I don't think I could live with such a low carb diet either but what I don't understand how someone like me could maintain their weight or am I missing the point and the idea is just to lose weight and doesn't have that much to do with control?

Permalink Reply by Sue R. on August 18, 2012 at 6:56am

Hi,
I think it has to do with control, not weight loss for those of us with Type 1.
The idea is to keep blood sugars stable without wide swings. Low blood sugars are my biggest problem and I do see that even a 1 unit variation in fast-acting insulin can have a really dramatic impact. So if you ate few carbs, you wouldn't need to dose for them and would take less insulin. In theory, you would maintain calorie intake with protein.
Sue

Permalink Reply by shoshana27 on August 18, 2012 at 6:03am

WELCOME TO THIS LOVELY GROUP OF PEOPLE

Permalink Reply by cp1943 on August 18, 2012 at 6:50am

Thanks Shoshana

Permalink Reply by shoshana27 on August 18, 2012 at 7:32am

YOU'RE WELCOME
LOOK ME UP ON OTHER SITES, GROUPS,BLOGS, FORUM, MEMBERS, ETC...

Permalink Reply by Richard157 on August 18, 2012 at 7:34am

Hello cp1943, welcome! I was diagnosed in 1945, when I was 6, and am very healthy after 66 years of type 1. My daily carb intake is currently 150-160 carbs. If I eat more that that I gain weight. If I need to lose weight, I reduce my carb intake to 130 per day. Do you have a lot of high blood sugar? If so, that could be causing weight loss over an extended period of time. I used to have high blood sugar most of the time and I was never overweight. When I started using modern day insulins in the 1990s, I gained weight. Synthetic insulins do that to me, so I had to reduce my cabs so I would use less insulin. Many type 1 diabetics I know say that they need to eat fewer carbs to avoid this problem. What kind if insulins are you using? Is it a basal/bolus control type of management, with carb counting involved? Maybe it is something other than your diabetes that is causing your difficulty in maintaining your weight.

You have been type 1 for a very long time. Have you heard of the Joslin medal? The Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston awards medals to people all over the world, if they have lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years. Groups of medalists meet in Boston every tw years. If you are interested in receiving the medal, let me know.

Richard

Permalink Reply by shoshana27 on August 18, 2012 at 7:58am

HI RICHARD, NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU.YOU ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO SAY.I AM ALWAYS LEARNING SOMETHING NEW THROUGH TUDIABETES.JOINING WAS THE BEST THING I EVER DID.
YESTERDAY I FELT SICK & THOUGHT IT WAS THE HEAT/HUMIDITY...THEN IN THE EVENING I HAD DIARRHEA, SO MAYBE I HAVE A VIRUS OR WHATEVER.ANYWAY WILL CALL DOC ON MONDAY.GASTROPARESIS DRIVES ME NUTS...:( OTHERWISE I'M FINE :)

Permalink Reply by Richard157 on August 18, 2012 at 4:03pm

Hi Shoshana, it is so nice to hear from you! I am sorry that you have problems with gastroparesis. I have several friends with the same problem. One lady in Maryland has it so bad that she can eat only one meal per day. You are the only 75 year medalist I know, but I think I have read that there are 15 people now with 75 year medals. I am pleased to know you!!

Permalink Reply by cp1943 on August 18, 2012 at 8:02am

Hi Richard

Thanks for the info. I'll have to think of applying (I never thought someone would give me a medal!)
I was diagnosed at 18 (at least I had a few years of "freedom"), 4 weeks before I was due to leave home for university. I went anyway and it probably saved me as I had to be very independent from the start.I sympathise with children who have to deal with injections etc and you were really lucky as the treatment must have been in its infancy in 1945.
I don't have a lot of high bloodsugars but have always been a brittle diabetic and half a unit of insulin can make a difference. I've learned to live with the flucuations and don't beat myself up about the numbers. My daily carbs are about the same as yours and I use the basal/basis system and count carbs. My Hb1c is about 6.4 to 6.8. I'm using Novorapid for meals and Lantus twice a day. I've always had problems maintaining my weight (which can be embarassing when everyone else is trying to lose it) but I come from a thin family so I suppose I should be grateful. I lost 3kg when I was hyperthyroid, which I self diagnosed (doctors don't know everything), but I've regained that now.

Cheers,
Carole

Permalink Reply by shoshana27 on August 18, 2012 at 8:14am

HI CP1943/CAROLE,I HAVE A 75 YEAR MEDAL FROM JOCELIN & FROM LILLY, BORN I N PARIS LIVED THROUGH WW2 CAME TO USA IN 1952 W. MY PARENTS & HAVE 3 KIDS & 5 GR-KIDS.I USE MINIMED PUMP 522 & LOVE IT.HOPE WE ALL STAY WELL.

Permalink Reply by cp1943 on August 18, 2012 at 8:26am

Hi Shoshana

Hope you're feeling better now. All this makes me feel very humble. I'm a novice compared with some of you!

Carole

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