True, but I will say that the positive effect my teenage son has from spending a week without making diabetes decisions, could possibly translate into you eating one “unlimited” adult meal per month. Then you wouldn’t really be adding an unmanageable number of calories.
Hungry… yes, she looked sort of hungry.
Do people eat for other reasons? Guilty.
Yes. Out of control. Sometimes my BG even… 
I kid. Seriously, you’re all very reasonable, and all of these responses actually confirm that I need to get the red dwarf bowl if I’m going to have a Cheerio. I can’t be trusted otherwise. Eating until you’re satisfied is absolutely such a reasonable thing to follow when you’re eating to satiate hunger… Unfortunately, I have about 68 other reasons that underlie the feast, and not all feelings are so easy to satisfy.
I feel like one of those people who start off with, “You know, I need some advice,” and then have a reason why all of your suggestions won’t work. I’m sorry for that. It’s a very annoying thing. In reality what’s happening is that I’m trying to assimilate… without somehow distorting the message into one that says, “eat as much kettle corn popcorn as you want. You deserve it.”
2 Likes
Diabetes camp… as kids?? I’ve never been to one, and I’ve always wondered about them…
That’s quite an accomplishment… to develop trust in and confidence over your blood sugar when heading into exercise.
1 Like
This is what I was told when I first developed diabetes. That I had insulin and could eat anything I wanted… by an educator (not the same one with the plastic chicken and green beans).
I can’t blame this person for my many years of poor management, but it certainly didn’t help hearing that going in. 15 years later, I’m trying to learn how to do insulin properly, and the harder I try, the harder it is to do. I like hearing you guys talk like this, I do. But because it doesn’t feel like even a remote possibility, it makes me think we’re not living with the same brand of disease… PLEASE don’t take that as I’m questioning anything you’ve said or doubt anything at all… I’ve also heard of diabetics who can go grab fish and chips, no insulin, and see a little rise. Who have never had above a 6.3 in 25 years… It’s just not my diabetes. And I don’t like fish… so this gives me the excuse to not have to go to lunch with them.
1 Like
You make this sound REALLY simple… Here’s part of the mental hang up I have. This is NOT easy for me… 2-3 pieces of pizza is tricky. A hamburger with bun and fries?? Even trickier. This is where I go all caveman and shovel food and button mash my pump… and then actually have the nerve to get DEMORALIZED when it turns out a wreck. As if there were a chance it was going to not be a wreck.
Agreed. It’s beautiful. But it still requires know-how.
1 Like
Don’t know that I should, but I love hearing the women around here talk about their ability to pack it in. I thought maybe I had a superpower, but maybe it’s not so rare after all.
I think I’ll at least have a talk with my endo about Afrezza… It does sound like a pretty good fix, and your plan sounds reasonable…
1 Like
I’ve heard this enough that I’m beginning to accept that for some people it may be true. But then I re-read DM’s swimming thread and the line gets fuzzy between “I can’t figure how to make it work in my body” and “There’s no way it can be made to work in my body.” With help maybe an effective dosing strategy can be figured out. But at some point it’s perfectly valid to say “ok, I’ve had enough, it’s time to avoid this particular food, or go low carb, and the problem won’t even arise.”
It’s clear that I have it relatively easy. My c-peptide is nil and my insulin:carb is around 1:5 so the boluses are large, but my body generally reacts in about the same way each time. Also, the Dex works well for me and with LOOP the results are even better with significantly less work. I mean, I don’t even have to wake up to CGM alarms overnight now that the LOOP is steering every 5 minutes. I’m really eager for commercial systems to make this experience broadly available to pumpers.
Maybe there is a chance. But it could take quite a few tries, systematically experimenting with the treatment plan, to find out how to make it work. The key is to avoid the “all caveman and shovel food and button mash my pump” in favor of a preplanned experiment with just 1 change from the previous experiment. Like eat the same amount and kind of pizza, but maybe change the pre-bolus time by a defined amount, or change the bolus size by a preplanned amount, or change the dual-bolus duration, or change the “now vs over time” percentage, or change how quickly it’s all eaten. Step by step experiments to reveal whether there is some systematic cause and effect, or whether it truly is randomly unpredictable in your body.
1 Like
What a thoughtful response. I like it when people express optimism, but it’s best when offered after having considered reality. Yours was that. Maybe, just maybe, this can be done.
On that note, I need to be off to read daisymae’s thread. I’ve been threatening it for at least a couple of days, and maybe I’ll find my own arguments and protests in there, answered and surpassed. I hope. I’d love to know this isn’t always going to be this much work, BUt I’ll be careful not to change what I’m doing in the meantime.
Then I’ll be back… to tell you all about how I FEEL about these things. 
This place is better than therapy…
2 Likes
Thanks for this post, my 12 year old son has been Diabetic for 4 months and this is a struggle while all of his friends are having “some” my wife and I quietly portion control. He is frustrated and still getting what it means to be diabetic so to see that struggle is not alone is appreciated to read.
2 Likes
Were you able to find a diabetes camp to sign him up for this summer? My son will be going next week to catch up with his diabetic friends and is really excited.
My son was diagnosed at Christmas, and by the summer was super depressed. Nothing we did could snap him out of the funk for very long. My wife and I were really starting to get worried. Then he had a week with other T1’s his age, and bam, he was in a much better place.
This disease can be so isolating, that being around other T1’s online or in person is much needed in my opinion.
2 Likes
Hi there. 
I do not have a child with diabetes, but my son was diagnosed with Celiac disease at 10 years old. It was a major adjustment for our entire family, and it was especially hard to watch him “feel different”. We don’t want that for our children, you know? For them to feel like they’re not like everyone else.
I know a family whose 13 year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just last summer. I remember us having conversations about this very thing. I remember packing them backpacks full of Celiac and Diabetes-appropriate snacks for the movie theatre, with a note to call their mom if anyone had questions… It really is good for them to have each other.
That same mom, under the same pressure we feel, has made some interesting and sad choices though, and finds herself buying her son candy because she “feels bad”. This is not only terrible for his disease, but it’s a harmful out for him to learn. So about that portion control, I really do feel for you, but every time it is difficult, and every time you guys do it anyway, he sees that you guys are willing to fight. He eats better now, and he has all of these valuable messages to fill his brain for later. No, your family is absolutely not alone. And this group here is wonderful… you’ve come to the right place.
1 Like
…as corrections for lows? If yes, that’s what we do, but not because we feel bad…just because we believe in the age-old @docslotnick adage of “never waste a low.” Tablets suck…we use those also, but we mix things up.
In my house, there is no such thing as “diabetes-appropriate snacks.” Any snack my non-d kids can eat are appropriate for Liam. The only difference is, he gets insulin injected from his POD with his snacks because his body doesn’t do it by itself. I can definitely understand Celiac appropriate; however, since this really is a thing that has to be considered for the health of the child and they can actually get sick if they eat gluten-based foods.
1 Like
No. Unfortunately, it’s because she doesn’t want him to feel different… I’m not with them much, but I get the idea, based on her account and his a1c, it’s more of an “i’m gonna let you have this so you won’t be sad” kind of thing. It’s very hard because we sometimes only see him once every 4 months or so. I try to teach him things while he’s here, but he needs a lot more than what I can offer him after such lengthy intervals. 
For the amount of time you spend on here learning and sharing and contributing, I highly doubt you give Liam “treatments” that haven’t been evaluated for effectiveness by you and your wife at some point. I don’t mean that in a stifling way but in a “we want our son to be healthy” way. In a good way. I, too, would treat with candy if I could stop eating candy once I no longer needed it. It starts as a need, passes through carb lust, and ends aboard a nonstop flight from 40 to 400. THAT’S what I mean as careful consideration…just that we learn what works for us and what doesn’t. And Liam, by what can be gathered here, is lucky to have you guys…in that you’re helping him explore what his magic combinations are.
And I can’t say what I’d do for a child of mine with diabetes, but I can’t send this particular child off to the movies without a plan…the only thing I have available on our rare visits is the diabetes basics. I send him with something “reasonable”, and we carb count together… maybe a sugar free drink, too. In all honesty, I don’t know what the right thing to do is for him.
1 Like
Now that I’ve just had a conversation with an actual PARENT of a young diabetic, I realized I may not have said the right thing… I’m not sure ClaudnDaye would agree with my line on portion sizes… I’m here at this site looking to adopt a fresh perspective on my disease, and I may have responded to you from my own rigid thinking…
My family runs on the fat side of things, so portion size is absolutely a consideration. For us, it is the weight concern that we would have for any child, not the diabetes that drives the portion size decisions.
My son is very regimented for a young man his age (15), and honestly portion control worked well until this year. We “bloom” late, so he is just starting the big growth that many people have when they are 13. So portions are out the window. He eats and eats and eats. And doses and doses and doses.
I honestly don’t take offence to anything you say, you remind me of daisymae about a year ago. We do our thing and hope by sharing and helping with community here that we will help diabetics including my son! The outlook I hope this site is fostering is figure out how to not let diabetes be the reason you do or don’t do something. Sure some things like a milkshake might be a rare treat, but they are still in play!
5 Likes
This is our family also. Diabetes plays no role in our decision making process. Healthy eating with non healthy foods mixed in with moderation is our route… Basically no different from any other child.
2 Likes
@Nickyghaleb The corned beef and pastrami sandwich with thousand island and cole slaw with Swiss cheese (for the second day in a row) without a significant rise in Bg says I can eat whatever I choose as long as I work my insulin correctly. ( I also had a gooey pastry yesterday morning that didn’t work out so well, but so what, I corrected. I was around 200 for two hours)
Of course I try to watch carbohydrates, but I don’t allow that to rule me.
2 Likes
This is the philosophy I’d really like to say I align with. I’m still finding there are foods I feel like i ”shouldn’t” eat though, and I’m afraid that’s going to mess with my head long term. I don’t want to feel like I’m “cheating” if I want something out of the ordinary. I was diagnosed in February and haven’t had cereal since. Not like I ate it all the time before, but since it feels off limits, off course I want it. At the grocery store this weekend I was staring longingly at the Honey Bunches of Oats 
but didn’t indulge myself, and darn it I really wanted to!
It’s such a mental struggle over how often it is ok to “splurge” or treat myself, and what’s even considered a splurge at this point? Cereal certainly never felt like a treat food before. Now I find myself thinking, ‘nah, if I’m going to eat something carby I’d rather treat myself to ice cream than cereal’ and I end up eliminating things I’d really like to be eating, or feeling guilty when I do try to enjoy them!
(And then I do splurge and eat things that seem like they should be on the naughty list and my blood sugar does great, while a boring protein shake spikes it. Go figure 
) I have a lot to learn, lol.
1 Like
Those are the best, aren’t they? Now you’ve got me craving them!
You’ll figure out the dosing strategies eventually