new to T1D - stressing out about making mistakes - Page 3

Mrs. Russman · #21 06-21-2012, 09:22 AM

Quote:

That glass of milk has got to be the reason for the major blowout (argument) we had less than an hour later. He was totally unreasonable. I have never seen him this bad.

Diabetic rages huh? I better watch out for them.

When my son's numbers are really high he is really irratable too. High sugars make him feel bad. After he has had insulin to bring it down I let him go off by himself until he feels better. He went to his room the other night even though his girl friend was here eating dinner with us.

Deal · #22 06-21-2012, 10:17 AM

Serenia, this will all start making much more sense once you start bringing carb counts into the equation. I think the educators have learned that putting too much information out too soon results in more failures then to bring it out slowly and in stages. They are probably correct but some people can handle it all sooner.

I think you would be doing yourself a big favour by counting carbs and keeping them in the log book. Then the next time you see your team share it with them. They will likely move things along quicker for you and you will also start seeing which foods are high in carbs and result in those highs above 16, which for us is about the level where behaviour becomes impacted.

emm142 · #23 06-21-2012, 10:53 AM

Does he usually get thirsty at that time? My guess would be that he was already high when he had the milk, and that that was what made him thirsty in the first place. Although a glass of milk would raise my BG a large amount (it would probably raise me around 15mmol) it would not do it in 15 minutes. I expect that he was already high, and then the milk pushed his BG up even further before you could test.

Deal · #24 06-21-2012, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emm142

Does he usually get thirsty at that time? My guess would be that he was already high when he had the milk, and that that was what made him thirsty in the first place. Although a glass of milk would raise my BG a large amount (it would probably raise me around 15mmol) it would not do it in 15 minutes. I expect that he was already high, and then the milk pushed his BG up even further before you could test.

For ds, 5 carbs raises him 1 mmol. So a full litre of milk (48 carbs) would only raise him 10mmol without insulin and he is only 35kg. It surprises me a bit that less milk would raise a heavier person more. I believe you! Just goes to prove we are all different and need to become our own experts.

emm142 · #25 06-21-2012, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deal

For ds, 5 carbs raises him 1 mmol. So a full litre of milk (48 carbs) would only raise him 10mmol without insulin and he is only 35kg. It surprises me a bit that less milk would raise a heavier person more. I believe you! Just goes to prove we are all different and need to become our own experts.

I haven't done this with milk in particular (I don't really drink milk) but I'm incredibly sensitive to carbs and insulin. More so than anyone else I've heard of at my weight (60kg). Each gram of carbohydrate raises my BG by approximately 0.5mmol/l, all things being equal. (One unit of insulin drops my BG by 5mmol, and I have a 1:10 I:C ratio, so the math works out for everything.) I know I'm weird in this respect!

FloridaMom · #26 06-21-2012, 04:04 PM

It will get better! We will hit our 2-year anniversary in September, and I can honestly say that it is so much a part of our lives, we don't even really think about all of the math. We're on auto-pilot. It will get that way for you as well. Keep your chin up!

Serenia · #27 06-21-2012, 07:58 PM

well today was much better.

I made a point of reducing the carbs for his after school snack and did a reading anyway (just out of curiosity).

The reading was 19 mmol/L - and it had been 8 hours since he had any insulin at all.

His dinner time reading was 18.9 mmol/L - the first time it has been under 20 at this time, all week. He gets the novorapide insulin at dinner time.

and the real shocker was the bed time reading today. That was 13 mmol/L - the lowest its been since he left the hospital.

I think he has been eating too much bread.

I have been noting down carbs for the foods he eats and he is a picky eater. But he loves buttered toast. Whole wheat bread - carbs 22g for 1 serving - which is 2 slices - so if I gave him 4 slices on a regular basis, thats 44g.

I have no idea what the carbs for milk is. We use skim milk powder and make up whatever we need. Lets see - the packet says - 1 serving is 1 cup or 250 mls and 13g of carbs. So if he drinks 2 cups (and he regularly does that) - thats 26g.

I also made sure he drank water in between meals.

As for injections today - 3 out of 4 injections were good ones - that he barely felt. The last one he felt and made a noise although it was not quite at the scream level. I must have been pushing too hard or hit a nerve.

Carbs counting education tomorrow. Gotta be up early to be at the hospital by 8 am.

Thanks you everyone for your advice, your reassurance and your help.

emm142 · #28 06-22-2012, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serenia

well today was much better.

I made a point of reducing the carbs for his after school snack and did a reading anyway (just out of curiosity).

The reading was 19 mmol/L - and it had been 8 hours since he had any insulin at all.

His dinner time reading was 18.9 mmol/L - the first time it has been under 20 at this time, all week. He gets the novorapide insulin at dinner time.

and the real shocker was the bed time reading today. That was 13 mmol/L - the lowest its been since he left the hospital.

I think he has been eating too much bread.

I have been noting down carbs for the foods he eats and he is a picky eater. But he loves buttered toast. Whole wheat bread - carbs 22g for 1 serving - which is 2 slices - so if I gave him 4 slices on a regular basis, thats 44g.

I have no idea what the carbs for milk is. We use skim milk powder and make up whatever we need. Lets see - the packet says - 1 serving is 1 cup or 250 mls and 13g of carbs. So if he drinks 2 cups (and he regularly does that) - thats 26g.

I also made sure he drank water in between meals.

As for injections today - 3 out of 4 injections were good ones - that he barely felt. The last one he felt and made a noise although it was not quite at the scream level. I must have been pushing too hard or hit a nerve.

Carbs counting education tomorrow. Gotta be up early to be at the hospital by 8 am.

Thanks you everyone for your advice, your reassurance and your help.

Don't worry about the bread. As time goes on, you will learn to deal with that with insulin. His BGs are all pretty high right now, but that's very normal immediately following dx. My BGs were 15-30mmol/l for a good couple of weeks post-diagnosis, as they didn't want my BGs to go down too quickly.

Melissata · #29 06-22-2012, 07:14 AM

Skim milk gets absorbed very quickly, and is good for treating lows. The fat in any other milk makes it less likely to spike blood sugar. Best to have it with meals for now. I agree that the thirst was a sign that his bg was already high though.

Darryl · #30 06-22-2012, 06:07 PM

Diagnosis is kind of like waking up and being told that you have to start flying an airplane, now. There are a whole lot of numbers to think about and it can seem that a little mistake could be a big deal, but before long you'll find that you're flying that airplane just fine, and experience will replace much of the "math."

Having carbs on hand is important though, regardless of income. You will need them often and if you don't have them it can become an emergency quickly. There must be some high carb foods available for little money, I would look into that and stock up. Maybe a loaf of bread - 15 carbs per slice - for a few dollars, could be used to treat 20+ hypos.