Until about 3 days ago, I ate blackberries as part of my awesome breakfast since I was discharged. Blackberries were on sale for $1 and I only ate 10 of them per breakfast. I found that I could eat a whole bagel with a thin layer of cream cheese, 8 oz of skim milk, take 6 units of insulin with the blackberries and somehow my numbers were low. In some cases, almost too low. Even though I don't like seeing the number 49 or 51 on my monitor, I felt proud that I was managing my blood sugar so well to the point where I could skip or lower my dose.
3 days ago, I opted to get strawberries instead of blackberries to mix it up a little. I eat 4 strawberries with my breakfast. I noticed that my blood sugar doesn't go down as fast by the time lunch comes around as it does with the blackberries. Because of this prolonged spike from breakfast, my blood sugar stays between 120 - 150 for the rest of the day. I've come to the realization that all fruits effect me differently. So now, not only do I have to look at carbs, I also have to look at the glycemic index and glycemic load of food.
What does this mean?
It means I have to be even more on top of this than I thought. So, each week I'm going to buy a different fruit for breakfast to see which one prolonges spikes and which one lowers the blood sugar rapidly. This way I can make a list of the fruit that I can eat without having to worry about blood sugar spikes and only eat those fruits. Ok, maybe two lists. One that lowers the blood sugar, and one that keeps my blood sugar relatively normal.
I feel like a scientist doing a study using the bagel with cream cheese, milk, and 6 units of insulin as my controlled variables and fruit as my experimental variable. The blood sugar is my dependent variable. See what college does to you, especially when your major requires you to take two semesters of research and statistics. I've turned myself into a guinea pig, a participant in a study of my own making. The hope behind this experiment is to be able to lower my insulin dosages as much as possible. And how can I do this, by eating certain foods in a controlled environment.
Once I know what fruits do what. I can start decreasing my insulin to avoid blood sugar lows. Unfortunately, I can't go lower than 4 units of insulin. I already know that I have to take insulin to stay alive. Even when I can't take my insulin because it's below 70, it can still be 200 - 300 four hours later depending on what I eat. Usually what I do when my blood sugar is below 70 is take 5 - 6 units after I've eaten half the meal that usually has a few extra carbs. That or I eat a snack before I shoot up.
This is one of many reasons why I hate insulin.
There is no way you can determine how many units you need per meal because it is not an exact science. It's like a person that has a psychological disorder and has to try different combinations of pills or various pills before finding the medication(s) that is best suited for thier body's chemical makeup. In my case, it's food and units. The only problem is that all the research on food and diabetes are geared more towards type 2. This means I get to experiment, hope for the best, and re-evaluate the amont of units I take for the next meal to bring my blood sugar to a normal range (90 - 120). Try doing that 4 times a day.
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