There are a few foods consumed around here for which the official carb count just doesn't work. Maybe the packaging is wrong? Maybe my daughter's metabolism is just way different for a few specific foods? We've decided it's more important to get the bolus right than to figure out why it happens.
Foods in our regular rotation for which we've learned to adjust from standard carb counts include blueberries, for which she needs barely a hint of insulin, and a specific brand of frozen tortellini, which is probably poorly labeled.
Then there are other foods which we have to periodically relearn, like the Italian ice at our favorite ice cream store, which is significantly lower-carb than the Calorie King app's 'average Italian ice' measurement. This was the first spring we remembered a reasonable estimate and guessed well enough that we didn't have a long, low night.
Ever in search of non-dairy options, I recently picked up a boxed macaroni and cheese for my daughter to try.
The package said that the mac and cheese had 50-something carbs per prepared cup. Which seemed high to me, but I thought that whatever made up the 'cheddar flavor' part was, perhaps, super-carby.
It was not. Or my daughter's system did not perceive it as such. Over the course of the following two hours, she consumed 30 carbs to bring up the ensuing low blood sugar.
She liked it so it's a keeper. But it's not something that's going to be in the regular rotation. She'll have it after holidays, when there's leftover ham in the house (because mac and cheese with ham is a family favorite), or once in a blue moon as a quick fix meal out of the pantry for an unexpectedly hectic night.
The lingering question was, how are we going to remember to give less insulin for this next time, which could be months from now? By posting the product label on the inside of the pantry with "Bolus Less!" scrawled across it in sharpie.
