Confused diabetic

Hello Janine, welcome to Diabetes Forum. I think you are our first member from the Norway, Finland and Sweden group of countries. I know that Type 1 diabetes is very common in that part of the world. I have been Type 1 for 64 years and I am doing very well. Type 1 can be controlled but it takes much hard work and patience. A Type 1 can have a long, healthy life once good control is established.

Carb counting is a very important part of getting that control. You need to know your carb ratio. That is the number of carbs you can eat for each unit of Novarapid you inject. If your carb ratio was 15 then you would inject one unit of Novorapid for every 15 carbs you ate. A 30 carb meal would require 2 units. I use insulin beore every meal and snack. You would have to experiment to determine your correct carb ratio. It differs from one diabetic to another. I need one unit for every 6 carbs. The carb counting approach may not seem to work if your insulatard dosages are not appropriate. It seems that you need less insulatard in the evening, and more in the morning. That might control your lows at night and in the morning.

Do you see an endocrinologist (diabetes specialist)? That is the best choice of doctor for diagnosing and treating diabetics. A diabetes educator can teach you what you need to know about carb counting and insulin dosages. That is the way it works in the US, it may be different in Norway. Your doctor may refer you to a specialist for your learning about carb counting.

I suggest that you look at the Glycemic Index topic in the Diabetes Diet and Nutrition forum. Eating food with lower glycemic numbers is much healthier and keeps your blood sugar lower.

There is much more that can be said. I will stop here. Ask all the questions you want. We are here to help!

Richard

Hi Janine

I am now 25, but was diagnosed with diabeties when i was 13. I have been on MANY different insulins, and I am onw on exactly the same as you. Insulatard in the morning, (14units) then novorapid when i eat, then insulatard (14) before bed. I was experiencing low BG ie (hypos) just about every morning due to the fact that i lost quite a lot of weight and want eating as much, therefore what i started to do was reduce my night time insulatard by 2 units and then check my BG in the morning and keep doing this until you get it to a normal level, i find that now with taking 10 units insulatard at night my BG is around 6-7mmol in the morning therefore i am no longer experiencing hypos. Do exactly the same with your morning insulatard increase this by 2 units and test your glucose throughout the day and see how that is, if still high increase the following day by another 2 and so on.

In regards to periods, I am exactly the same, also when i get a cold or feel unwell, my BG goes high, therefore i do the same thing, increase by 2 units until i get it right.

It is extremely hard being diagnosed at that age, I know, i rebelled and didnt want to be diabetic, stopped taking insulin etc, but got into all sorts of trouble and ended up with several hospital admissions, until i realised that I was normal and stopped being embarassed by it and started to get it under control.

With the insulin we are on, you can pretty much "eat what you want" as long as like Richard says you carbohydrate count. For example i count 10g of carbs as 1 unit, therfore if say i want to eat a cadburys fudge bar, per bar it is 18.8g of carbs therfore I would round it up and take 2 units of insulin. At first you will need to experiment (your diabetic nurse/doctor) should have explained all this to you, you may need 2 units for every 10g etc. I would go back to the diabetic clinic, and ask them to explain the DAFNE course. (Dose adjustment for Normal eating) as this is the system we are under, (taking Insulatard and Novorapid) or even look it up online.

Hope that helps you, and you understood all that, but any questions I would be happy to help you, it is sometimes better when someone who is on the same system as you explains. Laura