Hello

[GiorgiK]

Hi All.

My name is Giorgi and I'm from Georgia I was diagnosed with T1D two years ago.

I'm a social media freelancer and currently I'm working on my private project - an app for people with diabetes. It's an non-profit project and I'm on an early stage of the project, researching the people's behavior. Then I'm gonna address different individuals and companies to get investments for the app.

Before I post a link to the survey, I would like to know if I'm allowed to post a link (it's a google doc questionnaire) and where can I do it.

Thanks and love

[skb]

Hello Giorgi,

Welcome to the Forum. Please do tell us a more about yourself, especially your journey into Diabetes and your management protocols.

As a rule, polls, questionnaires or any sort of marketing is not permitted on this Forum. I'd suggest that you be with us for a while and befriend the people first. You will find a lot of good insight and valuable information from our members. That would probably be equivalent to the kind of information that you would be looking for in your questionnaire. 

[bigskygal]

Hi Giorgi!

Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to getting to know you and about your journey managing your diabetes.

[GiorgiK]

Hi guys! Thanks for the welcome messages.

So, more about me: as I mentioned I was diagnosed with t1D two years ago (04/2018). I'm 38 now.
I'm on an insulin therapy: measuring my glucose level 4-6 times a day (with strips, accu-check) and injecting 4-5 times a day (appidra during the day, before every meal, 3-4 times, and lantus at night).
Last time I checked my A1c it was 5.7 (last November). Most of the time my sugar level varies between 85-150. Not often it's 160-200 (maybe once or twice a week, sometimes less).
During these two years I also had hypos (40-60). maybe 7-10 times max. I could handle it by myself - got some sweet drinks or honey.
Regarding the diet, I can eat everything except sweet stuff like cookies, cakes, candies, chocolates, etc. But I "count" my meal (carbs I guess, with "bread units"). Max. 3 BU in the morning, 4 for the lunch, 3 for the dinner.
That's all I guess

[skb]

Hello Giorgi,

Thanks for that information. We have quite a few T1 members here and the currently active ones use a Pump + CGM but nevertheless they will be able to give you more specific guidance.

Even as T2 I have suffered from some hypos in the early days when I was put on Diabetes drugs. Correcting a hypo with sugary stuff is even worse because it sets you on yo-yo High-Low rhythm for quite sometime, but as a T1 it is a survival mechanism which is fine.

I've never heard of the term "Bread Units" in my diabetes journey, but then there is something new to learn everyday. Possibly, that is a term local to where you stay.

[bigskygal]

Hi Giorgi,

Thanks for sharing, I've never heard of Bread Units either. Do you know how many carbs are in a Bread Unit? It is ironic for us to use Bread as a measurement when we avoid bread in any form as much as possible.

[GiorgiK]

Hi guys! Sorry I could not reply for long, was out of the city and had a low quality internet connection.

So, yes, it sounds a bit ironic, I mean the bread units. But I guess it's not only common in my country.

One bread unit is an average slice of bread and it contains 10-12 gr. carbs. As a type 1 diabetic, I'm allowed to eat bread (or bread units) but I have to count it and then inject the amount of insulin in accordance to the number of bread units plus my sugar level before the meal.
There's more or less universal Bread Units Table by which you can count your food. E.g. 1 BE equals to two medium-sized potatoes (or two spoons of fries), two spoons of pasta, a glass of milk, etc.   

[GiorgiK]

sorry, not BE, but BU (Bread Unit)

[skb]

Hello Giorgi,

So a BU is approximately 10-12 units. So how many units of insulin do you need to cover for a Unit.
Given that I am a T2 I don't need to look at Carbs from that angle. We (as in most of us here) try to restrict Carbs as much as possible. If we can keep it to about 30 gms/day we are fine. Truth be told, I haven't counted carbs in a long time now. That was in the beginning when we had just started to take control of Diabetes. Later the whole thing comes to to, Eat this and don't eat that, kind of automation.