Another food I love...and Diabetes (a rant)

Honey Tree's Sugar Free Imitation Honey!

So maybe "love" is too strong a word...but as I sir here thinking about making myself a cup of tea this afternoon, I think to myself "What would I do without honey?"  What would I do?!?  Of course, what I call honey these days did not come from bees...and really tastes different too!  It's sweet, sticky, and goes great with Earl Grey (today I'm going to use French Vanilla tea though) and a little Heavy Whipping Cream though!

I found this gem first in a recipe.  I then found it referenced online and followed that to a comment left out there in the Internet "universe" that someone found it at Wal-Mart!  Off to Wal-Mart I rushed, with hope in hand!  Low and behold, there it sat on the shelf next to the "real thing"!  This little container (the same size as a honey bear) costs about the same too!  It's basically a honey flavored Malitol syrup, but oh is it good in tea (or just squeezed onto the tip of the finger)!  I use about 1 Tablespoon in a 6-8 ounce cup of tea.  Some low-carbers will argue that this isn't a "legal" food because of "high polyols" on the label, but I haven't noticed any adverse effects.  Like I said though, my weight isn't coming off in large chunks, I consider myself lucky to lose 4 pounds a month! 

I follow low-carb eating...except when my blood sugars tank and I find myself battling a sugar level below 50!  Yesterday I ate a Maple Bar (I know..I should be taken behind a building and whipped for this)!  I also paid for that "carb-over load" later in the evening...my blood sugars rebounded to above 350!  They didn't stay there long though...this morning I was back down to 140 and by lunch, I they were back in the 50's.  :(  Being a type 1 Diabetic is hard on the body!  But, low-carb eating made me go from taking nearly 150 units of Humalog (a fast acting insulin) each day to taking about 40 units a week!  Most of the time I can go days between needing any fast acting insulin at all, which is virtually unheard of in someone who is completely insulin-dependent!  And I know what you may be thinking, but they have run the Pancreatic tests...I produce absolutely none of my own insulin!  I do, however, take a long-acting insulin twice each day.  I have taken Lantus (which works 18-24 hours) for several years now (8-10 years) and currently take 60 units when I wake up in the morning and another 29 units before I got to bed at night.  I also ate a "big bag" of mini Oreos today (yep, shoot me) because of the low lunch time reading...I wasn't hungry (I haven't been lately) and I've had an upset stomach because of all the lows recently.  I'm working on re-adjusting my morning Lantus, I'm guessing I need to take it down to 56 or 58 units before I'm under better control again.  Changing my eating habits means changing insulin needs too...  I use insulin pens for both types of insulin...a box of pens (5 pens with 300 units in each pen) and I get 4 boxes each month of the short acting Humalog (1500 units * 4 boxes = 6000 units a month), that's a ton of drug to stay alive!  I have had the same "one month" supply since mid-January now and I am on my third or fourth pen, not box...pen!  I'd say that's a turn for the better!  I eventually want to get on an Omnipod (a type of insulin pump) and the less insulin I have to take, the longer each pod (which holds 200 units) will last!  The cost leaves this a tad out of my reach for now...even with the world's best insurance (my other half works for the insurance company), my "share" of the starting expenses is over $700!  That's my deductible (I think that's 500) and the 20% of a one month supply of medical equipment...that doesn't even cover the insulin to go in it!  But, I already get that.

Happy St. Pat's Day to all!  (Or the few people to stumble across this, lol.)