"cfrd"

A

Angela65a

Guest
Hi all I'm new to this (though have been literally trying to get into this forum for years). Better late than never
I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I am 49 years of age I have cfrd (I have been diabetic 29 years). My problem is I am very petite only 4ft 11", and weight 7st or 98lbs.

I have been trying to put on weight for years (do not find the cf dietician very much help at all to say the least). I can not eat too many calories as I wish I could, because my diabetes is very sensitive, and if I eat too many sweet stuff my blood sugars go sky high. Yesterday I took a build up milkshake with pro cal and ice cream, which put my blood sugar up to 23, I also can not take too many units of inslin, as if I do my bm's shoot down.

It has got to the stage that I do not want to eat any more, I know I have to. And no I would not be interested in getting a g tube, please god I won't need one.

The thing is my fev1 is only in the early 30's, but I feel if I could put some weight on this may go up, may not but worth a shot.

Thank you, for any advice.



Angela (ddf508).(VEST)
 
T

TexasTapdog

New member
Hi Angela,
I want to start by saying I don't understand your numbers(metric I suppose?), ie "weight 7st"; "sugar up to 23"; "fev... early 30's", I am from Texas maybe it was just my education, haha.

With that being said take my advice with caution but have you considered an insulin pump? I suggest this to you from my own experience as a 5'9" tall 34y/o CFRD who could never get his weight above 135 lbs. Within a couple of months of being on the pump I was able to better control my sugars and have maintained my weight near 150lbs. My A1C sugars pre-pump were a mess at 12%, normal here is a 4.5-6% range. Since the pump I've had three A1C results at 6.5%, 6.4%, and 6.1%. Still high but so much better, we cook everything at home so measuring carbs and taking the right amount of insulin has been a struggle.
Point is the pump has seemed to add 15lbs, I hope I can figure out my carb counting better so I can add 5 to 10 lbs.
One huge tip I suggest, pump or not, take your bolus 15-20 minutes before you eat, **if it is safe for your situation to do so**, ONLY if it is a high sugar item/meal. Don't do this with plain porridge or pasta. Over the past month this approach has prevented my sugars from going sky high after a meal.

Again, I'm not a doctor, please consider your situation before applying any changes, and talk with your Doctor if you're unsure.

Best wishes to your health and weight gain!
weight 7st

weight 7st
 
A

Angela65a

Guest
Hi there Texastopdog

Thanks for replying I take it you have cf?

7st (I'm in the uk), is 98lbs or pounds, don't understand your bm's readings either in the us, ours and yours are very different, I have tried googling them they made no sense.

As regards the inslin pump I would like one, but as my lung functions are only in their early 30's, and I live in Northern Ireland, where we get national health service for hospital and medical treatment in general. It is not available to us to have a pump so unfortunately that would not be an issue for me. I have been a diabetic (ie cfrd), the longest in the hospital I attend, so the dietician is not really familiar with anyone basically who has been a diabetic for over ten years.

thanks for your help all the best.;)

Regards Angela
 
A

Angela65a

Guest
"Seen your profile"

p.s. just seen your profile and I see you do have cf, whoops sorry, thanks again. Have a good night!
 
M

meech

New member
I can't help too much here except with the conversion, we use the same blood sugar readings in Canada as in Ireland. The easiest way to covert to the what it equals in the USA is to multiply it by 18. So when it when up to "23" x 18 = "414" in the USA. Hope someone can help with the other stuff.
 
A

Angela65a

Guest
Hi there meech, thanks very much for that, that's great, didn't know in Canada your bm readings were the same.

Pity I'm so bad at maths lol

Angela
 
V

vbs420

New member
The differences are the units. Everywhere except the USA uses mmol/L where the the USA uses mg / dL.

Similarly, UK/Ireland use the unit of "stones" for body weight. 1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.35 kg.

But more to the point: Angela, is your bolus : basal ratio approximately 1:1 ? Meaning, are your bolus and basal rates of insulin equivalent?

A target goal is for 50% bolus and 50% basal per day. (obviously, this can be averaged over a few days.)
 
L

lifepreneur

New member
Hi Angela,

I have CFRD. I use a lchf paleo based diet. I am no longer on insulin, my blood sugars are avg 5mmol. Amazingly even with these results I get no support from my CF team, who are happy to put it down to my in built "luckyitis" lol

Carbs are poison to diabetics. Imagine being an Alcoholic and being told to carry on drinking but take this pill to deal with the symptoms! That's the logic applied to Diabetes!

I urge to explore this more. However, I hope that whatever you decide you find an answer :)
 
A

Angela65a

Guest
Hi there lifepreneur

I wonder what your lung functions are? mine are quite low and I need to be very careful, I also do not find the cf team very supportive to be honest.

But I'm guessing your lung functions are way better than mine most are lol, but you just got to get on with it.

I'm only 98 pounds and finding it very hard to put on weight if I was to cut out carbs from my diet I wouldnt' eat anything, as I can't eat too much sweet stuff as it really raises my blood sugars.

Thanks for you help much appreciated.

A.
 
A

Angela65a

Guest
Hi Chris

I'm already diabetic and have been for 29 years, I think it's a bit late now to get rid of it though how I wish. Such a pain.

thank you anyway.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top