Comment by Cynthia F. on May 30, 2009 at 5:22pm

what is your insulin to carb ratio

looks like the numbers may be mixed up

my ratio is 4 units for every 15 grams of carbs - so if I ate 45 grams of carbs, I would use 12 units of insulin.

Comment by snowangel66 on May 30, 2009 at 7:08pm

keep it strong, there is no end of hope when it comes to diabetes. It`s a tricky disease, but with balance and proper tweaking for your ratios and basal you can live a very healthy lifestyle

Comment by Kristy on May 31, 2009 at 9:33pm

I'm curious, why did you add 2 units? and what is your carb ratio? If you are a 1u : 6carb ratio then you should have taken 16 or 17units and not 18 to cover 101g carbs (96/6=16) (102/6=17) so (108/6=18) which means you took 1 unit too many; enough to cover 108g carbs. Looks to me if you would not have added 2 units your BG probably would have been spot on. For me the trick is finding the units closest to the equation without going OVER. A lot also depends on the premeal reading; at 84 I would have taken the 16 units and if my premeal was over 100 I probably would have gone for the 17 units.

101 carbs in a meal also seems pretty high although I can do that with pasta; especially if I add dessert. Have you been to see a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) If not, it may be helpful because they can help you with insulin carb ratio and make sure you are counting carbs and how fat and fiber can affect the numbers.

Don't worry about what your doctor will say.. If he doesn't offer to help you get this under control then you need to find one who will..

Good luck and keep us posted!

Comment by Sarah on June 1, 2009 at 9:03am

If you added 2 units to your bolus, that's exactly why you went low.

You say "but i'm not doing anything worg i doing what they tell me to do" - but it's not up to them to tell you how to live your life. I see my doctor's job primarily as ordering tests and giving me the prescriptions I want, and providing referrals to any education that may help me - if I wanted or expected my doc to micro-manage my daily care, I'd be in a world of hurt, because they just can't do it very well. It's up to you to learn how to adjust your insulin to match your food, and that is no different on MDI or a pump.

Comment by heather mallett on June 1, 2009 at 9:10am

Hey Jessica- i know a LOT of us have been where you are right now in terms of feeling at the end of your rope. Sounds like TU is what you need right now!

After reading your blog it seems clear to me that you ARENT at the end of your rope! Reason being- it looks like there are still some changes you can make just from what you said on there!

one thing you might want to think about was how soon the food you ate kicked in- for example if my BG is 84 and i eat carbs that wont kick in for awhile i wait a little longer to take my insulin so that my sugar doesnt go too low before the carbs kick in. do you have a good understanding of insulin/food "timing" affects on your body?

I definitely agree with Kristy about the CDE and hope you are seeing one. it sounds like that would be very profitable.

another thing that stood out to me about your blog was that you ate 101 grams of carbs- maybe you could try just eating 15-45g at the most at a time. from my experience, the more food/insulin i take the more severe my highs or low. just take it easy! that way if you screw up the consequences wont be so severe. the less carbs/insulin you take the better for your body anyways.

youre in the right place to get support for all this so keep us in the loop!

Comment by Susi (Ladalife) on June 2, 2009 at 4:54am

Totally agree with Sarah. My doc writes scripts and sends me for tests. Someone on here keeps saying "don't make any changes unless your doctor tells you to". That's not how I was trained to manage my D. I am responsible for my own health and I can only do that if I do everything I can to educate myself in how best to do that for me.

Being honest, I'd never eat 101 carbs for any regular meal. Maybe as a treat. Heather suggests 15-45 g carbs, which is very reasonable, and much easier to manage. I rarely go over 30-40g for dinner and less for lunch and breakfast. Plus the occasional treat. That's just what works for me.

If you're inclined to read, go find Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution (library or chapters of it are online). I'm not saying for you to follow his very low-carb diet (great if you can), but to learn the theory. I read it several years ago and it made perfect sense to me, once I got it.

One of the best excerpts from the book is HERE. He talks about the Law of Small Numbers and explains why.

Get yourself a really good Diabetes Educator (ask around for someone in your area). They will help you manage things better. But the experience of many who have their diabetes under great control (with very few spikes) is to start off with lower carbs. It's so much easier to manage while you're learning or adjusting. Once you've managed that, then you can decide if you want to do more or stick with what's working.

I'd encourage you not to lose hope. Many of us have had to go through this learning curve, and then adjusting when things weren't working... and we still get days and times that the numbers aren't quite right. This is life with D. Learn all you can. Ask questions. It will be well worth it when you see results and you're no longer on the daily high/low roller coaster.

Comment by tony on June 2, 2009 at 11:39am

I totally agree with Sarah, at pre-meal with 84, for sure those 2 extra units took you low to 38. My endo is not my baby sitter, who else if is not me know best how my body works and reacts. Especially how it reacts with different types of food and carbs. Write down everything you eat, test more frequently (before and 1-2 hrs after you eat) your BG and write it down, that way you can see the variations on your numbers with different types of food. Doing it you will see the big picture. It takes some math and science, an also tricks to manage diabetes, but the thing is that everyone is different, everybody reacts different with certain types of food and insulin/carb ratio. The only way your going to get controlled or at least good number is knowing your body and your diabetes. Nobody here got good numbers and well controlled from one day to the next day, it takes time, patience, adjustments and lots of EFFORT!! SO KEEP UP, DON'T LET GO THAT ROPE, START PULLING YOUR SELF UP NO MATTER WHAT.

Comment by Rebecca on June 2, 2009 at 12:17pm

Jessica, All of the comments on here are great and very helpful but remember that the point is to do the best you can to live the highest quality of life. When I started reading this board I tried to cut my carbs down to 30-45 per meal and felt hungry and sick all day every day. For me I've found that that's fine for some lunch's but often lunch will range up to 60 grams and dinners for me are frequently around 80-100 grams of carbs. Is it easier to control with less carbs? Sure, but don't kill yourself trying to follow what works for others. Take charge of your own control, use doctors recommendations as guidelines but make whatever changes you need to to work for you, and keep talking with those of us who are or have been where you are and can help you through it!

Comment by Jenny on November 21, 2009 at 2:41pm

Blessed Be and Merry Meet!

The Lord and Lady can only do so much, but the wisdom is with you about reasonable portion sizes and learning more about how YOUR body treats food, insulin/meds and exercise. Not EZ sometimes, but it is do-able. I know the bounty of Mother Earth is great, and I for one would LOVE to banquet in it always , but my lesson seems to be one of self discipline. To a degree I think all of us have that lesson at some point in this life or another.

Living with diabetes or not isn't what makes you a 'good' person, it helps, but isn't the only thing. Self trust and leaving self doubt behind is key. You know you have the power of reason and logic, so you can use them :-) I don't wait to see a doctor if I know the dose is too high, I can lower it a bit, or (when you learn to carb count) you will be able to have flexibility in your daily life, but you must trust yourself too.

I do wish you all the best in this path of learning and growing.

Goddess Bless, and the Father of Stags Protect.

Comment by Domo! on November 23, 2009 at 11:20pm

bless it be, its so nice to hear! Good luck!

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