Struggling with pump and BGs

[sierradawn]

For a while I was a vegetarian, but since starting The Blood Type Diet (I am type O), I now eat meat, vegetables, some fruit and nuts and seeds. No dairy, wheat, or corn. I feel amazingly much better, but find that the added protein seems to screw up my blood sugars. I know if I can just find a way to bolus accordingly, I'll be alright. I love my meat! : )

I'm struggling because there seems to be no rhyme or reason and can't seem to predict what my blood sugars are going to be. Therefore I'm afraid to adjust my basal rate lest I get a low.

For example: Yesterday, I had rare beef for dinner and that was it. I simply wasn't very hungry. I had eaten pretty light throughout the day as well. I woke up the next morning with a BG of 75.

The next day I had a fairly large meal of home-cooked meat marinara sauce over broccoli mid afternoon. Then around 9 pm I had some more of the rare beef (about a cup) and three dried figs. I bolused for that. I woke up in the middle of the night and my BG was 217 so I corrected. Woke up this morning and it was 227.

I am waking up a lot with sugars in the 200's, even though I go to bed with good sugars, and even when I correct in the middle of the night.

I guess my question is.....Does eating meat affect your blood sugars and does it last HOURS after you it eat? I realize I probably have what is known as the dawn phenomenon but I am almost afraid to raise my basal for the early morning hours in fear that I will get a low. Especially since I don't necessarily eat the same every single day.

Any pointers?

Thanks....I just feel so brittle. Even before changing my diet, I haven't had THE best control, even with the pump. I'm guessing I may need to do a basal test. Can anyone show me a link on how to do that?

Thanks!!

Sierra

[Funnygrl]

Have you tried using different infusion sets? Maybe you need to rotate your sites more. If you're not using angled sites, that may be something to try- some people swear they have better blood sugars with angled sites.

[Lloyd]

I'm struggling because there seems to be no rhyme or reason and can't seem to predict what my blood sugars are going to be. Therefore I'm afraid to adjust my basal rate lest I get a low.



You might try eating the same breakfast 3 days in a row, likewise the same lunch and dinner 3 days in a row, and see how predictable your blood sugars become. I'm saying, reduce the number of variables and you may begin to see where the problem is. I would also try to eat at the same time for these 3 days.
It would be hard to keep this up for long, but a few days might help you get to the root of the problem, whatever that may be.
Sometimes a really complex problem seems that way because it is in fact, two problems, neither of which is all that hard to solve, once you realize that there is two problems involved with 2 seperate solutions.
Just my 2 cents...

-Lloyd

[Cyborg]

Here's (http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/howto/pfandbs.html) a good link on protein metabolism. I always bolus for protein. I've found that protein affects me about 75% as much as carbs do, but a slower rate. I calculate "equivalent carbs", using that percentage, and do a 30/70 combo bolus over 3 hours for the protein content in my meal. You may find your percentage is different as I determined mine through trial and error. I started using 50% to calculate the equivalent carbs and increased it until I got up to the 75%, which works great for me.

[sierradawn]

Have you tried using different infusion sets? Maybe you need to rotate your sites more. If you're not using angled sites, that may be something to try- some people swear they have better blood sugars with angled sites.

I am using the Sure-T's. The only areas I use are the upper bum/side area. I hate having marks on my stomach, but my need to start using it to give my butt a break! :D

[sierradawn]

You might try eating the same breakfast 3 days in a row, likewise the same lunch and dinner 3 days in a row, and see how predictable your blood sugars become. I'm saying, reduce the number of variables and you may begin to see where the problem is. I would also try to eat at the same time for these 3 days.
It would be hard to keep this up for long, but a few days might help you get to the root of the problem, whatever that may be.
Sometimes a really complex problem seems that way because it is in fact, two problems, neither of which is all that hard to solve, once you realize that there is two problems involved with 2 seperate solutions.
Just my 2 cents...

-Lloyd


This is a very, very good idea! I will give this a try.....

[sierradawn]

Here's (http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/howto/pfandbs.html) a good link on protein metabolism. I always bolus for protein. I've found that protein affects me about 75% as much as carbs do, but a slower rate. I calculate "equivalent carbs", using that percentage, and do a 30/70 combo bolus over 3 hours for the protein content in my meal. You may find your percentage is different as I determined mine through trial and error. I started using 50% to calculate the equivalent carbs and increased it until I got up to the 75%, which works great for me.

Thanks.....I always was confused by instructions to ignore fat and protein when it came to bolusing as that never seemed to work. It looks like I am simply not bolusing enough for the protein....Looks like I need to test it out and see how much I need to bolus for my protein!

Thanks for all your help everyone! I appreciate it.