# Diet



## jodywody72 (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi 

My son's sugar levels keep getting higher and higher and I'm worried that it is because of what I'm feeding him.  We are not carb counting and he has insulatard and novarapid at breakfast then novarapid and levemir at bed.

Could you please give me a day's example of what your child eats so I can see if I'm giving my son too much bad stuff.  He is also so hungry at mealtimes and tonight had 8 fish fingers and 3 wraps!  He pinched his sister's fish fingers.  He is almost 8 and very skinny.  I'm waiting for the consultant to call me tomorrow but want to try to work out if it's me that's causing his increase.

Thanks

Joanne


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## Robster65 (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi Joanne.

How are you matching his insulin and carbs ?

And do you test his blood glucose regularly ?

Try not to beat yourself up. It's a hard enough job when you're doing it for yourself, without having to try and second guess for someone else. There's many variables to consider and any or all could be coming into play. 

Rob


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## jodywody72 (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi

We are not matching them as yet.  The hospital tell us what to inject.  Nobody is looking at what we are feeding him so I have no idea if I'm doing the right thing or not.  I'm keeping a food diary for myself to see if I can work out why he's going up and down (not going down much at the moment).  I'm sure that I'm still letting him eat things that I probably shouldn't.  We went for a walk and sledging this afternoon so he and his friends had a cadbury's chocolate roll which was 15g carbs.  I just have no idea what I'm doing.


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## Northerner (Dec 20, 2010)

Sounds pretty much like what happened to me after diagnosis. I was in hospital for 8 days and ate everything I could get my hands on. No-one checked what I was eating, but I remember my levels going from 2 to 30 at times. After I left I had to ring the hospital with my readings and the DSN told me what adjustments I needed to make to the insulin doses. I think part of the idea was to let me eat my 'normal' diet in the quantities I wanted and they could then work out what level my doses needed to be at generally. After about three months I was taught carb counting.

Good idea to keep the food diary, it will be useful to discuss with the consultant. Have you noticed any correlation between high levels and different meals? Things will improve as you get more used to things, but if you aren't adjusting insulin to food then it is more difficult as you have to restrict or add extra food to 'feed the insulin'. The sooner you get taught carb-counting, the better, but you could make a start now by writing down the amount of carbs in the meals he is eating - take the information from the packets or get hold of a copy of Collins Gem - Carb Counter or Carbs & Cals: A Visual Guide to Carbohydrate & Calorie Counting for People with Diabetes[. The latter should give you a good idea of the carbs in various meals and portion sizes.  

Perhaps you could describe some of the meals that he eats as some of the other parents might be able to spot some troublesome foods - it can be difficult though, as some can tolerate certain things better than others.

p.s. I moved this to the Parents section so more parents would be aware of it


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## Robster65 (Dec 20, 2010)

The choc roll sound slike something I would eat in that situation ! 

Extra curricular activity is always a good excuse to have something out of the ordinary. As long as you're keeping the records, he shouldn't come to harm. Are you testing ?

If he's newly diagnosed, he may be trying to make up any lost body weight from the high BGs pre-diagnosis.

Rob


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## jodywody72 (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi
Thanks for getting back to me.  An example of things he'll eat are:

Breakfast 
1. weetabix x 1 with some chocolate shreddies sprinkled on top and milk, banana
2. one toasted muffin and a banana (he's also been having an advent chocolate each   
    morning with breakfast - nurse said it was ok)
3. Bowl of pouring yoghurt, banana and a cereal bar

Morning snack - cereal bar or fruit.  This morning had a chocolate biscuit.

Lunch
1. School - pasta and pesto, humzinger x 2, yoghurt, carrots, cucumber, crisps, biscuit of some type.  Sometimes has a wrap with soft cheese and cheese in.
2. Home - tomato soup and bread and butter x 2.  Yoghurt (yesterday had mini crunch corner - 20g carbs)

Afternoon snack - cereal bar/fruit.  Sometimes has Oreos with his friends or another treat worth 10-15g

Tea - Chilli and rice/jacket potato and veg.  Pasta dishes.  Sausages and mash and veg.  Roast dinner.  Chicken dippers and chips and beans.  Today had 8 fish fingers and 3 wraps!  Usually followed by yoghurt or custard or fruit.

Bedtime snack - usually fruit or a couple of biscuits.

He is so hungry at mealtimes that it is hard to make him stop as I know he'll get hungry again soon after eating.  He is a skinny little thing and I don't think he's going to ever put any weight on but I'm really worried that his levels are just going up and up.  

He was 22 tonight and I'm now worried that I should have checked for keytones.

I think I am going to start carb counting but have no idea how many carbs he should have at each meal.

Thanks

Joanne


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## Robster65 (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi Joanne.

Have the hospital told you what to do when his BG is that high ?

I've been in the twenties many many times, as have most of us I'm sure, so don't panic if it's just for a short while.

If you can see a pattern of when he's high or low eg. before breakfast, mid-morning, etc. then you can think about adjusting his insulins to try and even out the peaks and troughs. It's something your team should be able to do with you but it's not a good time of year to be left without support.

Rob


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## jodywody72 (Dec 20, 2010)

he went to bed at 22 and we've just checked him and he is 24.7.  there are no keytones so i don't know what to do now.  he's gone back to bed


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## Northerner (Dec 20, 2010)

It's very tricky when you have a growing boy - he sounds pretty much like me growing up as I could eat a horse between two bread vans and not put on weight! I was about 30 before my BMI started moving above 'underweight'!

Your list looks OK to me and should become much more manageable once you know carb counting. Remember also, that if his levels are on the high side before eating then it might look worse than it is if he is even higher later - it is the rise and fall after eating that is important to bear in mind. Have your team told you how to correct high levels with extra insulin?


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## jodywody72 (Dec 20, 2010)

no not yet.  he was diagnosed at the end of august and they are controlling his insulin at the moment.  I have told them I want to go through everything we are going to need to learn as I want to try to start taking control myself.  They are thinking of putting him on lunchtime injections which should help.


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## Robster65 (Dec 20, 2010)

I wouldn't like to advise anything other than check him in the morning for BG and ketones and then speak to your diabetes team if you can get hold of them.

I'm surprised they've got him on 3 different insulins. Must be a reason but must be a pain to remember which is which.

As northerner says, you can learn what's 'good' and what's 'bad' for him as you go along but I would have thought that he'll be a lot better off if you can get your team to help you reduce his BG from the twenties asap. 

Without enough insulin on board, he won't be able to utilise the glucose, so he'll be hungry and thin until he can become better balanced. Once he is you'll be amazed how quickly he'll fill out.

Rob


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## bev (Dec 20, 2010)

Hi Jodywody72,

I would check for ketones at that level. But I do think it sounds like you need to start carb counting as your son is growing and so is his appetite. He is not eating more than he should - the food you have listed is all very normal so dont worry. The breadcrumbs in fishfingers play havoc with levels so until you are carb counting or splitting injections for certain meals then I would steer clear of those sorts of foods. Pizza, pasta, chinese and anything very fatty can cause a spike in levels - but there are ways around this. You are doing great so dont worry - you just need some help with carb counting and working out ratio's - but it sounds as if your team are going to do that.Bev


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## jodywody72 (Dec 21, 2010)

Thanks everyone.  He's back down to 5.7 this morning after soaking two beds in the night.  No more fish fingers!!!


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