Eating Out - help needed please to stop my panic

What's your routine?

My routine when i'm eating out with family and or friends:

- choose what i want from the menu & memorise what are going to be the carby things in the meal ie potatoes, rice......

- sit and chat / drink

- meal arrives & i eyeball the amount/s of carbs

- at this point i start to get into a panic because i'm having to 1. test (which is done at the table if ideal and if not then i go off to the ladies), 2. fiddle through (almost ripping the pages in my panic) my pocket size carbs and cals book to try & find the carb things i'm having then 3. inject

- i start panicing bacause everyone else has started maybe eating then i usually have someone at the table reminding me my food is going cold.

I've eaten out many times but i always end up with this panic. Any help in trying to stop this panic would be greatly appreciated.

I have a meal out coming up this Saturday for my DS 21st.

To avoid panicking and spoiling your enjoyment of the meal, why don't you test before you go out - if your BG is not in range, do a correction dose. Then you could count the carbs when you order the meal, go and do injection (no need to test because you know you are in range) and there you go. If you decide to eat more than you ordered, you can always test and inject when you get home. YOu shouldn't be getting stressed over it! You can't ALWAYS be perfect.

You could also try injecting half the amount before you go out/eat, so about 30 minutes to an hour, then when you are satisfied with your guess, deliver the rest..........

remember, eating out is a treat, you should relax yourself and your insulin regime.......

I would be a bit nervous about doing that - I'm a 'what if' person. What if you get caught in traffic; what if your car breaks down; what if you're meeting someone at the restaurant and they get delayed; what if there's a cock-up with your order. What if.... I could go on and on here.

The answer to those what ifs would be to administer quick acting sugar.......every has different levels of confidence......and I suppose it depends on how much you want to keep your blood sugar steady when eating out......

I personally don't worry so much when eating out as its a treat. Just roughly guess it, correct if needed later

Diabetes/carb counting/ratios - none of this is an exact science. If I have a meal out I tend to check my sugars before I leave home, then usually dose the same units, as previous meals taken out. Then when I go to bed I'll take a correction dose if needed. In other words, I'm fairly relaxed about the event, which means I can enjoy the night out with my friends.
I won't let diabetes rule my life

I test before going out then have the meal and calculate and inject after eating.

I usually go to the toilets first to wash my hands and then return to the table to blood test before the food gets there, keeping in mind the remaining insulins that are working if there are any when I see the BG result. I do tend to pick meals depending on how brave I feel like being with guesswork.

I wait for the food to arrive before looking into injecting (done at table as well). I'm happy to weigh the food if I have my scales in my bag to assist myself.. and then I eat.

Sometimes I make a note of what I ate so I can learn for next time (I mean, sometimes you won't be able to know any other way if you don't). Is there any chance of getting nutritional info from the business? That'll definitely minimise panic.

My partner sometimes laughs at the fact he's usually finished his food when I'm starting mine. It's best to try and ignore it from a stranger, or say "I'm fine with that. I have to do this regardless." If the DS person knows anything of you, they'd rather you take care of yourself properly than make yourself unwell.

Have a nice time when you do go. Best wishes!

I tend to "Double Dip" when I eat out.
While ordering my meal I think about the CPs and I inject when the meal arrives. Not before as sometimes there is a bit of a wait. I then inject a second time either when the second course arrives or to correct at the end of the meal. It can be hard to judge how many CPs are in a meal that you have not prepared and it can ruin your meal out if you let it.
I then test and correct later.
Moris.

Hi there,
I'm a huge fan of eating out, a lot! lol!
Some tips that work for me or that I've found and are worth a try....

Look at the menu online for the restaurant you'll be going to and have in mind the meal you will be eating. Calculate the carbs for that meal and pop them on a post it note in your diabetic bag or on the meter so you don't have to look them up at the time.

I tend to inject for my starter directly after eating it, then inject again directly after my main meal, this then allows for gaps in service/food being delivered. I tend to avoid puddings when I'm out as it's just too hard to figure out what carbs are in them most of the time.
The reason I inject immediately after a meal is that I'm never 100% sure if I will like it all or if I'll be too full so this way I'm injecting for what I've actually eaten.

There is also a Carbs and Cals app for iPhones and Androids too plus lots of other free app's that will give you the carbs per meal/item..... I have loads of them on my phone as you never know which one will have the exact food I am eating. If none of them have it, I go on to Livestrong.com website as that has loads of nutrition information.

Hope some of this helps :-)