[mjborbe]

A blessed day everyone!

For the sake of transparency, may it be known that we are only a parent of a type-1 diabetic and hope that with your permission, allow us to be a part of this huge help for every family in battle of diabetes.

Our lovely daughter is now 7 years old, on her 4th year as a Type-1 diabetic since diagnosed last May of 2011. Her HbA1C last clinic visit was 8.9 and we are trying to adjust with her Lantus dosage intake.

Previously, we were giving her 8units at night, approx. between 10-11pm and her readings all throughout the day, were in the normal range except during dinner time at around 7pm, which is ranging from 220 above. This prompted her doctors to try to adjust the lantus shots in the morning which we followed during the last 2 weeks but we still couldn't find the right results. We have then, decided to split lantus into 60/40 with 5units morning and 3 units evening. Though we still couldn't find the right result; what surprises us more is that her sugar after dinner is in the normal range of 140 but it increases during her sleep that before breakfast, her reading is quite high (200+).

We are still reading through all the forum and hope and pray we find something that would suffice for our daughter.

Thanks and more power!

 

[Shanny]

Is Lantus the only thing you use to control her high blood sugar? Because by age seven, I would think there needs to be a bolus insulin in the picture, unless you are severely restricting her carbohydrate consumption or she's on some other medication. Is she assuming some responsibility for her injections and what she eats, because she's old enough to be testing her blood sugar and giving her own injections under supervision, of course.

We need to hear more about how you manage her diabetes . . . what her mealtime numbers are, what is her insulin-to-carb ratio and her correction factor. It's impossible to discuss anything until we know more about her management.

 

[mjborbe]

Thanks a lot for your response and for keeping us a part of this community.

Aside from lantus; lispro at every main meal is also a part of her insulin regime. And yes, by the grace of God, she does test her blood sugar every now and then. mostly during her lows at school, nurse/doctors just assists her while doing so.

Other matters such as her insulin-to-carb ratio and her correction factor is quite a challenge for us along with the main one, her diet, especially at her age, she gets tired of the same meals. Doctor's advise is that we don't give much pre-caution on food but rather give her the normal food a growing child should have with consideration of carb counting, of course. And that counting, aside from the need of healthy varieties for her not to get tired of it.

This community, I'm pretty sure, is timely for us and would always appreciate any suggestions, assistance, and any other helpful ideas/information for our daughter.

God bless!

 

[mbuster]

Normal food that a child "should" have is probably not the same as what they "do" have. She probably doesn't have to be on a strict, monotonous diet and can eat a variety of things. I would think you would just want to encourage counting carbs, not so much for insulin coverage of what she eats, but as a total per day. I think that eat what you want to and just cover it with insulin is bad advice, insulin does more than just control BG and some of it is not a plus for good health.

 

[Shanny]

Mark has taken the words right outta my own head . . . I too have to question what exactly are these 'normal' foods a growing child 'should' have? Would that be all the chips, crackers, boxed cereals, fast foods, sweets, sodas, et.al., which they see promoted on tv at hourly intervals?

The only foods a child needs are the ones which build a healthy body and don't cause other health issues - by which I'm referring to carbohydrate raising a diabetic child's blood sugar.

She's seven years old and has been diabetic for four years. If she's been and is being properly managed, how would she have learned about whatever foods are supposedly normal anyhow? Believe me, just because every child in the world knows what a Pop-tart is, doesn't make it normal food, and it sure doesn't make it HEALTHY food!

 

[VeeJay]

And that counting, aside from the need of healthy varieties for her not to get tired of it.

There are so many healthy-for-diabetics foods that eliminating the unhealthy ones shouldn't leave a person with monotonous or boring menus. What does complicate the food choices is that most of the yummy stuff requires fixing/cooking/baking at home rather than choosing from boxed convenience foods.

You might want to take a look at the sticky threads in the Diet section where we list what we are eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner - and snacks. Lots of good ideas there. And then there's the Recipe section with more yummy foods from crackers and breads to chicken nuggets and hamburgers. Some of these foods are easy enough that a child could make them (supervised, of course). I know that my non-diabetic friends are envious of some of the goodies I show them.

 

[RCG]

"we don't give much pre-caution on food but rather give her the normal food a growing child should have with consideration of carb counting, of course. And that counting, aside from the need of healthy varieties for her not to get tired of it."

I'm not really sure what you mean by that.

Please define the "normal food a growing child should have".

I'm not sure what you are saying.

 

[Kristin251]

All the posts above are excellent information.
I am sure you have explained her disease to her and I am hoping you have explained how food effects her differently than the other kids and she needs a special diet just for her so she does not get worse. Giving more insulin to cover food is a VERY bad idea. We need to eat food to live, not live to eat. She needs to eat food to live and cover that with insulin. I'm pretty sure most of us are 'used' to eating 'normal' food like bread, pasta, potato etc BUT we had to learn that those foods are not normal for us. We retrained our taste buds and habits and I don't think any of us like eating things that taste like card board. If she is not bolusing at meals with fast acting insulin you will never control her BS without eating a diabetic diet. Consistency of meals is very important too. we cannot eat whatever and whenever we want. We have a regimen and need to stick closely to that. There is NOTHING about diabetes that is convenient! Most of us either eat at home OR pack most of our foods when away from home. The fact that she is only 7 is very sad but it doesn't make her food choices any different than ours. It might be time for fast acting insulin at meals to stop progression. Lantus doesn't seem to be doing it at her stage. Her numbers are still way too high, even 140. As a type 1, fast acting insulin is inevitable.
She can have eggs and bacon or sausage for breakfast, not cereal, waffels, toast etc. Maybe a small handful of blueberries or half a grapefruit.
Lunch can be deli or home cooked meats and cheese or a hot dog(no bun). She can have grilled chicken strips and dip with a SMALL piece of fruit for sweetness. Berries preferred, not bananas or high sugar fruits.
Snacks can be a variety of nuts or veggies and dip. You can buy 2 oz condiment cups to travel and put almond butter or dips in them and use celery.
At dinner it would probably be best for everyone else to eat to HER meter too. It's not the time for everyone else to be eating grains, pasta, rice etc in front of her. An unbreaded protein, salad and a veggie.
Deserts should not be in the house to tempt her or make her feel left out.
teaching her HOW important the way she is paramount. The diabetic diet is a healthy diet for everyone, diabetic or not. If the whole family eats that way she will feel much better about it. We ALL have gotten to be very creative and have learned to like, even love foods we never did before. Our health comes 1st, at least on this forum. She is very young to have to be dealing with this but she has MANY years ahead of her. Teaching her how she has to live and eat for the rest of her life NOW will take her a long way later. You can't and won't be able to control every bite she puts in her mouth but you can control ALOT of it, especially now and teach her for later.
As I stated earlier, there is nothing convenient about diabetes. But it is what it is and we HAVE to adjust. It is 'the boss of us'!. Maybe take her to the store with you, read labels, look at carb grams and find foods together that she can have. Then she will feel included. Find meats and cheeses she likes. Dips and salad dressing for veggies, nuts, (stay away from trial mixes with dried fruit, candies, chocolate) I hear there are low carb ice creams and jellos. Low sugar foods are sometimes loaded with artificial sweeteners and many find they raise BS just as much. Buyer beware. I find it much easier to stay far away from anything sweet because it sends messages for more. MAYBE pick one time of day she can have something sweet but try to make it healthy. Like finishing one meal with some fruit. I think whipped cream is ok, berries with whipped cream look and taste like desert.

Hope it helps. It does sound like I diet reform is in order. Do it with her to get her involved in decision making. She needs to learn today how she needs to eat for the rest of her life.

Best Wishes

 

[mjborbe]

Though everyone's advice is truly important to us, "Kristin251", in my opinion understood the whole point of what i wanted to tell about the "normal food a growing child should have". We tried giving her the likes of food stuff that we find in the "sugar-free" section of a grocery like sugar free jam, sugar free biscuits, skimmed milk rather than full cream milk, brown rice instead of the normal rice, brown bread instead of a normal bread, etc...that is why we are so blessed coming into this community as we know we will learn a lot from you guys such as the inquiry of "Shanny" (1) numbers of her mealtime? (2) insulin-to-carb ration? (3) correction factor? - we don't really know this and it sounded that we are still a total stranger in managing our daughter's diabetes.

Again, every comments, concerns and information are truly appreciated...and we are hoping for more...

GB!

(btw: we apologize for grammar issues/hard time to express ourselves, not our mother tongue).

 

[Shanny]

And the dietary adjustments should not include trying to find sugar-free versions of regular foods. What is necessary is to curtail her carb consumption by eliminating high carb foods, and very often the sugar-free ones have more carbs than the original.

Cases in point - skimmed milk is way worse for diabetics than heavy cream. Brown rice is just as bad as milled rice, and brown bread is just as bad as normal bread.

If you were to tell us specifically what she eats, perhaps we could help you find better substitutions.

 

[RCG]

(btw: we apologize for grammar issues/hard time to express ourselves, not our mother tongue).

You are doing fine.

If we don't understand, we will ask.

 

[Kristin251]

There is SO much to learn, especially when you don't want to poke your daughter 10 times a day. It will make things easier on her if you adjust her food. Her blood sugar will be more consistent. There are NO grains, rice, bread, pancakes, waffles etc that will help her. try to get her to like proteins and fats. Make mashed potatoes with steamed cauliflower. Use high fat dairy, not low fat. There is no good sweet substitute. Artificial sugar is just as bad if not worse. Use small portions of low carb fruits for 'sweets', after she retrains her taste buds, sugar will be too sweet. After eating 'real, whole foods' with only one ingredient such as chicken. broccoli, turkey, etc her body will crave that instead of sugar. A lot of us had far more than 7 years of a bad diet to train and we are all good. Do we miss it? sure but we know what it will do and it's not worth it. giving her a consistent breakfast and lunch that works with her meter will help a lot. Same at dinner.It will also mae you more comfortable. Just think protein, vegetables and fat. Let go of grains and starch as well as sugar, You are not helping her. I know it's hard and you feel you're depriving her but you are not. You are only making her stronger and healthier. I'm sure it's hard but the stronger you are, the stronger she will be.

Like Shanny said, if you can tell us what she likes to eat, we can help you find healthy substitutes.

 

[mjborbe]

Thanks guys! We'll just hang around and read for the meantime. Lots of helpful ideas, especially in the recipe section.
God bless.

 

[hitcheca]

If you want to read, locate a copy of Dr. Richard K. Bernstein's book, The Diabetes Solution. Much of it he has published on line, even on Amazon. He has been a Type 1 for over 65 years, and his book is a bible for Type 1's as well as Type 2's.

She's at a good age to be curious, and willing to learn, with your encouragement and partnership with her. Much easier now, than when I was diagnosed at age 27!

 

[Miilanna]

Make mashed potatoes with steamed cauliflower.

In case this was confusing, it means to steam and mash cauliflower to REPLACE mashed potatoes.

Yummy.


And we don't always miss the foods we don't eat anymore. Really, sugary foods are not appetizing to me at all. The only sweets I actually crave are fruits. And starches are also easy to go without after one does it for a short while.

 

[Kristin251]

yup, you can steam them and then mash them or blend them and put whatever you would put on your mashed potatoes. Butter, sour cream etc. they are just as good. VLC too! You can even put them on a Shepards Pie or in any casserole. I do it with broccoli too.

 

[Shanny]

I use butter, sour cream & also cream cheese when I make 'em, and given the popularity of garlic mashies, I add a little minced garlic sometimes too.