Hypo 4 and a half hours atfer my dinner

[scotty]

Today for my dinnner i had a chicken salad sandwich and a packet of crisps, had my usual 6 units of levimer, took it at 12.00, tested 2 hours later and i was bs was 9.4 which seemed a bit high thought nothing off, felt like c**p at half 4 tested and was 2.8, i thought insulin only lasted 2 hours in the system, or am i wrong ? to of had a hypo that much longer after taken my fast acting?

 

[Robster65]

Hi Scotty

Your levemir is for your basal. Do you mean your novorapid or humalog ?

If so, it peaks after 2 hours but lasts 4 or 5 hours in total so can hypo you a fair while after.

It would suggest though that maybe your levemir (basal) may be a bit too much or di dyou do some unusual exercise today ?

Rob

 

[scotty]

Hi Scotty

Your levemir is for your basal. Do you mean your novorapid or humalog ?

If so, it peaks after 2 hours but lasts 4 or 5 hours in total so can hypo you a fair while after.

It would suggest though that maybe your levemir (basal) may be a bit too much or di dyou do some unusual exercise today ?

Rob

i ment novarapid rob, i did take my dog for a very long walk, maybe thats why thanks, am i right too be testing 2 hours after my food?

 

[Robster65]

Yep. I'd put money on it Scotty !🙂

Exercise will improve your insulin sensitivity, so either eat a small carb snack before or during or lower you novo a little bit when you walk your dog.

Testing before and after the walk will show you how much you drop. Also the timing of the walk after injecting/eating makes a difference.

Rob

 

[Phil65]

i ment novarapid rob, i did take my dog for a very long walk, maybe thats why thanks, am i right too be testing 2 hours after my food?

Scotty,

I always carry a bag of jelly babies in my pocket whilst dog walking....I often need them! My bs can drop significantly.......your dog looks lovely by the way. 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

i thought insulin only lasted 2 hours in the system, or am i wrong ?

As Rob said most rapid acting insulins have an expected overall duration of 3-6 hours. Apidra is usually thought to be the fastest 'in and out' the others (NovoRapid/Humalog) usually begin around 15-20 minutes after injecting and peak at around 2 hours.

Another slight complication is that their action is not always entirely linear. John 'Using Insulin' Walsh suggests that at 2 hours half of the potency will have been used, and the remaining action will spread over the remaining 2-4 hours. Others suggest/seem to find that more like 60-70% of the dose is 'spent' by the 2 hour mark and that by hour 3 there is very little left working.

As with all things D this will be annoyingly personal and will also be affecteed by things like activity/illness, so no-one can tell you what your own body will do you just kinda have to work it out for yourself. And as has been mentioned the apparent activity of your Rapid Acting is very dependent on the accuracy of your basal insulin at that time of day.

Tch! It's a wonder we ever get any readings in range! 🙄