Basal and Bolus

[sharp00782]

Stupid question I am sure but does your basal insulin affect how your bolus insulin works throughout the day with meals etc. Think my body is going through one of those "changes" again lol!

 

[Robin]

Stupid question I am sure but does your basal insulin affect how your bolus insulin works throughout the day with meals etc. Think my body is going through one of those "changes" again lol!

I always find if my basal's out of whack, it throws everything else out. Too little basal, and your bolus is doing two jobs, bringing your levels down or trying to keep you steady when it’s also trying to match the carbs. Too much basal, and some of the carbs you bolused for will be dealt with by the excess basal.
Always worth doing a basal check, to try and find out what’s going on, before you start adjusting mealtime insulin ratios. Somewhere on the forum, there’s a thread about basal testing, you can probably find it by doing a search for 'basal testing'
Oh, here’s a link!

How To Successfully Test Your Basal Rate

Are you looking for basal rate information and testing instructions? Perfect! You're in the right place!

www.mysugr.com

 

[Inka]

No question is stupid @sharp00782 🙂 I think of basal as the foundations of the house and bolus as the house itself. If your foundations/basal is wrong, then that can throw your house/bolus off and make everything that bit more difficult.

 

[helli]

In addition to the foundation comments above, I would add that if your basal needs are increasing (e.g. because your body is producing less of its own insulin), your bolus ratio is also likely to change.

 

[gillrogers]

Yes it will do, I find that just a half unit less than what I need will make any corrections done by me bolus obsolete. So I might need whole unit of correction and it’s like I didn’t take it. If that happens at all 3 meals then I know I need more basal. If it just keeps happening at either my break fast and evening meals then I know it’s just my night time basal that needs raising.