I haven’t posted in awhile. The holiday gatherings were a bit tough for me. It’s a lot easier to manage diabetes when I eat “similar” meals. But, holidays, and get togethers…How many of you are “good” diabetics? During the holidays, I ate what I thought were reasonable treats. It’s not like I ate 20 butter cookies (I ate 3). During another get together, I ate 3 small slices of cakes. Both of these occasions resulted in BG of over 200. Ugh!! Yes I took correction,1 unit then another correction, and in some cases another 1/2 unit. I recall reading that it’s easier to bring up BG than to lower BG. Therefore, some may correct “more aggressively” and then take fast carbs to bring it up. I’m much too chicken to do that.
Sorry for the venting. Except for diabetics, no one understands that this is a 24/7 continuous condition. I would just like to have a break or a vacation. I would just like to have some carefree relaxation without having to 'think" about what food I ought to avoid!
Not really sure why you are beating yourself up, it isn’t like you hit 400 for two days. Hitting 200 is normal for gluco-normals, so you shouldn’t feel guilty about hitting it as well once in a while. Especially around the holidays, I hope the cookies and cake were yummy. Cody hit 200 every day in the last two weeks. He will survive, and I hope have a good time on this break.
Vent away, btw, others may not understand, but we sure do.
Spiking to just “over 200” after splurging a little is totally acceptable imo…
I have a hard time eating a sandwich without hitting 200 a lot of times… I think the main thing is that you just keep after it and correct as needed and minimize the amount of time you spend up there. I love food to much to eat like a squirrel to keep my bg at 100 all the time
Chris - I just feel so much better! Yes the cookies were tasty and especially the cake was yummy!!
Do Gluco-normals hit 200?
The gluco normals in my family don’t want me testing their BG’s. It was also the annoyance of not being able to bring down the 200’s. Also because I was going to be driving and on the road, I didn’t want ot correct too aggressively. If I were staying in one place for about 2-3 hours, I would have corrected more aggressively. Sigh…
It’s also just been frustrating - I just wanted to be like-normal- if that makes sense??
Yes, many certainly can, briefly, but then their blood sugar relatively quickly comes back down…
The new cgm recommendations are that type 1 diabetics should try to spend less than 25% of their time above 180… I bet you’re leaps and bounds ahead of that (granted I think those recommendations are a little lax) but just think—- that’s what they came up with with all the macro data to minimize complication risk for the population as a whole
I too, love food too much to have to work too hard to keep my BG at 100-120.
One colleague of mine has had dialysis, kidney transplant. Everyone makes their own choices. I don’t want to come across judgemental. He used his carbs on soda and orange juice… For me, soda and juice would not be what I would “use” for my carbs.
What do you folks enjoy and use your carbs on? I honestly thought, about it:
Croissants
Chocolate almond croissants
small slice of cheesecake
a mini cannoli
buttered sourdough bread.
stew with carrots and potato
pasta
I’ll play! I’m answering this as what would you like to use your carbs on, not what I do use them on. This is my wish list:
Large red and green seedless grapes
Real New York style cheesecake
Blue Bunny pistachio almond ice cream
Vanilla milkshake with Spanish peanuts (childhood favorite)
Rice pudding
Cannelloni
Enchiladas
Navel oranges
I tend to eat the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch. Makes managing BG easier, I guess I’m just lazy.
I don’t think about it as a “using your carbs” issue. Unless you are either working on weight maintenance or you have a lack of insulin, you can choose whatever you want for your carbs. It just comes down to proper dosing and timing.
Maybe not the same for T2’s, but for people who take insulin, I think any food is allowed.
The faster carbs are a bit more challenging, but there are some ways to do it.
I agree. I’ve never considered any food off-limits because of diabetes. Since getting a CGM I can see which foods spike me rapidly, or which make me rise six hours later, but I work with that information rather than stop eating those foods altogether.
I just eat like a “normal” person and dose accordingly. (Actually it’s probably not that normal – almost no processed junk, and almost everything made from scratch.) Most of the time the results are what I expected. Sometimes they’re not. Live and learn – or accept that sometimes diabetes is just plain wacko.
After a looong day at work, I was pleasantly surprised by my husband’s homemade Zucchini lasagna (he made it from scratch). It was rich and decadent and just perfect!
It truly was a swag of a guess on the carb count but it was totally worth it. So I’ll just have to keep a close eye on the BGs whilst watching a late hockey game in front of the fireplace .
I strongly agree with this - I think you would get used to it. If you are not using a CGM you could just test & log BG every 10mins for X units and then use the timings for future.
I think BG over 200 for a couple of hours is not bad at all. In this scenario I usually prebolus my daughter fairly aggressively. She can always have some more treats if she is hovering in 80’s. If she didn’t want more treats I would just give her 3oz milk. I always have glucose gels and glucagon nearby but have never needed in these scenarios. Gel is usually ready in a plastic 5ml syringe with measurements on side so that it doesn’t push her BG high.
My challenge is RICE. Rice is my nemesi.
I do ok, for example with yogurt, berries, etc. - predictable,I:C ration 1:10. Rice and pasta- all hxll breaks loose. I can’t seem to get it right. I could dose and have a decent number at 1.5 hours post meal. 2-3 hours later, the BG would rise to 200. Juicy dumplings, I would take 5 units, decent number 1.5 or 2 hours; then 3 hours there would be a rise. Chinese/Korean/Japanese food are most challenging for managing BG’s! If I keep my meals to around 20-30 g carbs, the BG numbers would be ok. It seems that if the one meal exceeds 65 g - the BG numbers are a mess It’s virtually impossible to eat Asian food for probably less than 80g carbs per meal, would be my guess.
For instance, for breakfast we will bolus Liam for a whole cup of milk but we only give him half a cup. On his way back down we give him the other half. This cuts the spike time down significantly. We do this same method for other foods as well.
I eat what I want in the way of carbs, keeping in mind I am a strict vegan so certain things are limited to what I will eat. I just pre bolus for it. Probably the only vegan food I am leary of is rice, I have a really hard time controlling rice for some reason. The best technique I use for carbs is half my bolus a half hour before I eat and the rest when I eat, that way I can adjust the second dose for what I actually eat. I usually do not go over 130-140 doing this.
I’m pumping, not doing MDI, so in theory I have more control, but I think only a little more…
Today, skiing from 10 or 11, I was doing fine until lunch. There wasn’t a lot (any?) choice, but I went for the burger. Ok, previously I have discarded the BUN. This time, WTH, it’s easier to eat with the carbs than without, so I just did. Then I did 60g (way, way, underestimate), then I had a couple, well four, onion rings (let the good times roll), 20g (way, way, underestimate).
Then I went back to skiing, feeling a little dingy, flatline 250. When I stopped I hit 313, 2 units. Coming down and LIFE IS GOOD.
I’m wondering if you have tried unsweetened almond vanilla or chocolate milk?..I haven’t had regular milk for years…its a little like diet drinks. You kind if get used to it…just a thought as I used to always overcorrect lows with cereal and milk, then have to take another shot later…
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I can’t seem to get it right. I could dose and have a decent number at 1.5 hours post meal. 2-3 hours later, the BG would rise to 200. Juicy dumplings, I would take 5 units, decent number 1.5 or 2 hours; then 3 hours there would be a rise. Chinese/Korean/Japanese food are most challenging for managing BG’s! If I keep my meals to around 20-30 g carbs, the BG numbers would be ok. It seems that if the one meal exceeds 65 g - the BG numbers are a mess 
It’s virtually impossible to eat Asian food for probably less than 80g carbs per meal, would be my guess.
250. When I stopped I hit 313, 2 units. Coming down and LIFE IS GOOD.