Hi everybody my name is Ashley and I am Type 1 diabetic, I have a friend who is also Type 1 Diabetic. She recently told me that she never counts up her carbs and just guesses even if it’s on the package. After I told her that I count my carbs to better manage my diabetes she said well I’m still here so it doesn’t matter. What should I do?
@ashleybugdancer08 hi Ashley, I get it you are concerned for your friend. Your friend may have different issues accepting diabetes, and may have found a way to avoid doing something that causes either pain or frustration.
In my opinion, All you can do is be yourself. If you measure and count carbs then continue. If your friend guesses then my best advice is to not judge. If you guys are together a lot, you might influence her because of your example. You are much less likely to influence her by lecturing (not that you are just saying).
Everyone has to guess sometimes, for the next 2 weeks I will eat 3 meals a day at restaurants. Not cool. Total guess. Having a skill in guessing is a good skill. My overall control will be worse but there is only “test adjust test” for me these next weeks. I’ll live.
Good luck and I am glad you have a friend you can talk to.
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@joe Thank you so much for the information, it helps a lot!
Hi Ashley @ashleybugdancer08, You and I [and many other people with diabetes] appear to be on the same page when it comes to food.
I’ve found that people deal with diabetes, especially meals, in different ways. I was heavily criticized by an “RN” with whom I was eating dinner when she looked at my plate, saw hat I was eating and listened to me count carbs and calculate insulin dose - she told me “that is not how things should be done”. I told her that I’ve been doing it all wrong since 1975 [when I began MDI] and that my HbA1c = 6.2% proves I don’t know what I’m doing. She then told me that I didn’t have the “bad kind” of diabetes.
ah, @Dennis people say the dumbest things when you trap them and don’t leave a graceful exit. knowing what I know now, the only think left for her to say was “check mate”. perhaps the lesson was learned.
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Some people don’t count carbs, but count insulin units. This is from practice, the same as carbs. Not all carbs are equal and some meals may require more carbs than a strict count would suggest for dosing. Package carbs nutrition labels are usually about 10 to 20% light according to some studies and tests with fancy calorie counting machines.
Maybe you can encourage your friend that they can calculate insulin different ways, but whatever way they choose, that putting a little effort into reviewing CGM results can be super helpful for making adjustments next time.
Well, it’s a lot better to be ‘here’ with all your limbs and your vision and your kidneys…there’s not much you can do. Does she know the long term effects of mis-managed blood sugar levels? Does she have an endo? Perhaps you 2 could make a date of it and go together. Maybe she needs more education. I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that you are doing the right thing for your own health. Maybe setting a good example is all you can do. It’s tough, hopefully she’ll start start to take care of herself before she starts seeing the effects.