[firefightingjosh]

Howdy, my name is Josh. Joined the forum because my girlfriend is a type 1 diabetic and has been since she was 2yrs old. She is 21 now and turning 22 soon. She currently is having a very difficult time managing it . She is constantly high(like 200+ with times often above 400). I'm a firefighter and emt of 7yrs so I tend to look at it from a medical side and that makes it a bit difficult for me to support her emotionally and in other ways. Hoping this forum can help me find some ways I can support her, and help me worry less. Right now I am constantly worried she is going to have a low and not have someone around to help her. A bit more about her: She is is a diagnosed ciliac(sp?), she also is a firefighter and is a first responder, she stays fairly active and is working on her diet now. She is not over weight, and basically let her diabetes run wild all through high school.

Thanks
Josh

 

[Shalynne]

Welcome to the Forum, Josh! :welcome:

I'll focus on support, then maybe offer some info links. I don't know your girlfriend, so I can't tell you what she needs in the way of support. I can tell you what works for me:

-- Ask her how you can best support her.

-- Do lots of activities that don't revolve around food.

-- If you live together, work together to make sure you stock foods you can both eat. (It's OK if that includes you each keeping your own stash, too.)

Big Don'ts:

Don't scold her for eating off-plan -- she may have done a whole lot of math to work that indulgence into her schedule; scoldings remove all the pleasure after her hard work. If she hasn't done the work, well, she's an adult. Scoldings simply don't work.

Don't tempt her with off-plan foods, either. We hear "just a little bit won't hurt," like, everywhere. Those "little bits" add up fast! For many of us, there's no such thing as "a little bit," anyway.

On to some info:

Docs often tell us to keep our levels high, and avoid lows at all costs. This is wrong, but such bad advice is far too common. Here on the Forum, most of us try to keep below 140. This is possible without lows.

To do this, most of us cut our carbs drastically, and increase fats to make up for the loss -- which is another bit of advice many of us don't get from our docs. We also test frequently until our levels stabilize and we know what foods do/do not work for us. (And we still test regularly after that.)

Here are a couple of links your girlfriend may want to check out. You might find them helpful, too!

Blood Sugar 101

Low-Carb, High-Fat (LCHF) for Beginners

Your girlfriend is lucky to have you!
​

 

[Mar2a]

Josh, there's a thread called "Family Support" that might help you. It's actually from the opposite point of view: How does a diabetic get the support of his/her family.

But if you look at what the diabetics say and reverse it, you might find some of it helpful. For example, on the following page, I post how I realized that my husband was worried about how it would affect our meals together. So, if you look at it the opposite way, you could suggest, "Hey, I was reading on a low-carb site that you can substitute steamed cauliflower for rice! Want to order some Indian or Thai take-out? I'll steam some cauli for you." (Or you could be really brave and say, "I'll steam some cauli and we can do that instead of rice").

http://www.diabetesforum.com/diabetes/37178-family-support-3.html

 

[firefightingjosh]

Thank you! I will certainly be going through a lot of information on here. Showed my gf this site and now she is interested in all the great info on here. Thinking we will start more with diet and exercise now that the snow is melting.

Thanks!

 

[Shanny]

I hope she might feel like signing on and joining in the conversations. We'd love to have her!

 

[mbuster]

Josh, food choices recommended here are just as good for people without D as they are for those with it. May prevent you from getting it later on. Food for thought (pun intended).

 

[cat4work]

Shalynne - great advice!