Ive lurked this forum for years and have learned a ton. I created this account specifically to reply to this.
Ive been an insulin dependent diabetic for somewhere around 37 years. Ive seen a drastic improvement in treatment both through technological improvements and new insulins.
The day i was diagnosed, my doctor told my parents that from that day forward I would draw and give every injection. There was no chance of developing a fear of injections if at the age of 6 and onward I gave all of my own injections. My parents were told to not to coddle or treat me any different because I am a diabetic.
I feel this allowed me to take full ownership of my diabetes and never use it as an excuse. Consequently, my A1C ranges from 6.6 to 6.8 at my doctor visits.
How to lower blood glucose levels? Insulin or physical activities. Please note, heavy resistance training will actually result in an elevation in blood glucose levels. Cardio will lower.
As to when to give insulin in relation to meals: Typically 5 minutes or so beforehand. In full disclosure, I dont always do this. My job often interrupts meals. I dont want to dose for a certain number of carbs and not be able to ingest said number of carbs and then have a low blood sugar at work.
Diabetes has not affected any of my relationships so far. Most people have no clue I am a diabetic. I tell those that are friends or that I am working with so they understand if I have to grab a quick snack or start acting a little off.
With the new pumps and CGMs available now, management is so much easier. I truly wish the very best for you and your family. If you have any other questions, please post them. I’ll happily answer all that I can.
I’m sorry, I noticed I missed 2 of your questions.
As for favorite recipes, I’m pretty simple. There are a ton of amazing recipes for the insta pot or air fryer. Most of the recipes I use revolve around meat. I am definitely a meat eater.
Snacks vary for me. Nuts, beef jerky, anything really. If I am doing physically demanding activities I will onclude some extra carbs to avoid a low blood sugar.
Honestly, a well balanced and nutritious diet is the same for anyone, diabetic or not.
My father was type one from 11 years until he died at 53. This question I feel is really tricky. Everyone is different and it was a lot of trial and error with him his entire life. He’d take slow acting and say “remind me to eat in 40 minutes.” It’d be fine but every once in a while, he’d be ready to pass out after 10 minutes and I’d be so scrambling to get some sugar in him.
He worked his ass off and stayed it good shape his whole life and I really feel that went a long way since his diet wasn’t really “focused.”
I will post more later, but #1 get a continuous glucose monitor and then #2 get a pump that controls basal insulin at night. These will let you learn about yourself for yourself. In managing my son’s T1D for close to 8 years we learned some things that went against the medical practice at the time, but which were later confirmed to be true with newer research such as the slow glucose raising effects of high gluten wheat like al dente pasta and pizza crust which can raise blood sugar 10 hours after eating.
This is tricky. In a fasted state without mealtime insulin, resistance training will trend blood sugar upwards by raising cortisol and adrenaline, but with a bolus of insulin “on board” resistance training will still circulate that insulin VERY FAST and will make the insulin in the system work faster, plus resistance training that doesn’t go on too long (about an hour) non-insulin mediated glucose uptake will pull blood sugar into muscles without insulin, so even heavy resistance training will tend to reduce insulin needs and lower blood sugar.