Active insulin and insulin on board

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mum2westiesGill

mum2westiesGill

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Is there a diffence between active insulin and (iob) insulin on board?
I've just entered a random BGL result of 5.5 into my MySugr app and entered a random 26g of carbs - then pressed on Details and it tells me I've got no Active Insulin working but I have got insulin in me - I've definitely done my injection because my needles for the day ie for 3 meals have all been used and it was 19:54 when I did my test and insulin - I will post pictures in my post below this post
 
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There’s the explanation @mum2westiesGill - on the right hand side, under the heading Calculation (in blue letters) and Active insulin 0.0 Units (in black letters).
“Only correction insulin is considered as active insulin...”
 
So how do I know how much insulin ie insulin done for carbs is still active?
 
mum2westiesGill said:
So how do I know how much insulin ie insulin done for carbs is still active?
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It doesn’t tell you that, it considers it water under the bridge. Its telling you it balanced it out for you at the time of your injection, and that’s all you need to know.
Interestingly, because you’ve put in a value of 5.4, which is lower than it would normally expect you to be and hour and a half after your last meal, it has deducted a unit of insulin as a correction dose, because it fears you will hypo.
 
Robin said:
It doesn’t tell you that, it considers it water under the bridge. Its telling you it balanced it out for you at the time of your injection, and that’s all you need to know.
Interestingly, because you’ve put in a value of 5.4, which is lower than it would normally expect you to be and hour and a half after your last meal, it has deducted a unit of insulin as a correction dose, because it fears you will hypo.
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So do you think this is good or bad ie is it telling me the right thing to do?
 
If I was 12 two and a half hours after eating, and I wanted to eat again, I’d be thinking, ooh er, 12s a bit high, I bet I dont have enough insulin left on board to bring me down, so if I’m eating again, maybe I'd better pop a correction on to the total. Then I'd think about how much I needed for the new meal, how much insulin I thought I’d got left.
This is what your bolus calculator is doing for you, (based on what you told it you normally need in the way of ratios and corrections) so you don’t have to do the maths every time. It's doing the same maths you’d do every time if you didn’t have it, but it just doesn’t show you the workings.
 
And that's your lot lol
 
Gill, are you just inventing these BG readings? Going from 5.5 to 24 in an hour and half seems improbable if not downright scary?
If you are just inventing these numbers, why? What are you trying to prove or understand? If these are actual readings, be very careful about going to bed with 8 correction units on board and set an alarm for during the night to check your levels.
 
rebrascora said:
Gill, are you just inventing these BG readings? Going from 5.5 to 24 in an hour and half seems improbable if not downright scary?
If you are just inventing these numbers, why? What are you trying to prove or understand? If these are actual readings, be very careful about going to bed with 8 correction units on board and set an alarm for during the night to check your levels.
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Yes I'm inventing these readings that I've posted tonight just to test how well the MySugr bolus adviserworks - they would be extremely scary
 
pm133 said:
I am not surprised you are getting confused by all of this.
That app screen is an absolute mess.
It makes me wonder if the layout was designed by a summer student in their spare time lol.

Designers of these tools really need to think more carefully when they are creating things like this. Personally, I wouldn't touch this app with a bargepole!!!
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@pm133 please don't take any notice of the app screen - like I said to @rebrascora I'm just seeing how well the bolus adviser works
 
My BGL's this evening haven't been too bad
 
@pm133 I am not sure your comment is helpful when Gill is already quite confused and struggling to understand the technology and trust the calculations. I agree the layout is not all that easy to follow but I imagine you get used to it if you use it all the time.

Gill, if you are unable to do the calculations in your head then you have to trust the bolus advisor. It is a very well known and widely used app and would be withdrawn if it was not giving accurate advice, as that would be extremely dangerous so you doing these little "tests" is a complete waste of time. Please just accept the advice it gives you or learn to do the calculations yourself like many of us do.
 
rebrascora said:
@pm133 I am not sure your comment is helpful when Gill is already quite confused and struggling to understand the technology and trust the calculations.
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Possibly not, but it was intended as an expression of empathy with her difficulties.
I'm sure Gill understood that's where I was coming from.
 
pm133 said:
Possibly not, but it was intended as an expression of empathy with her difficulties.
I'm sure Gill understood that's where I was coming from.
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Yes, I see that but when she is already wary of/not trusting the information it gives her and she has no other means of calculating her bolus, then casting doubt on it's credibility will cause her to be less confident still in the information it gives her, if that makes sense.
 
rebrascora said:
@pm133 I am not sure your comment is helpful when Gill is already quite confused and struggling to understand the technology and trust the calculations. I agree the layout is not all that easy to follow but I imagine you get used to it if you use it all the time.

Gill, if you are unable to do the calculations in your head then you have to trust the bolus advisor. It is a very well known and widely used app and would be withdrawn if it was not giving accurate advice, as that would be extremely dangerous so you doing these little "tests" is a complete waste of time. Please just accept the advice it gives you or learn to do the calculations yourself like many of us do.
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Thanks @rebrascora for explaining to @pm133.

After my couple of postings tonight I'm 100% going to trust the bolus adviser - as you say it's a very widely used app and if it didn't give accurate advice it would be withdrawn.
 
pm133 said:
Possibly not, but it was intended as an expression of empathy with her difficulties.
I'm sure Gill understood that's where I was coming from.
Click to expand...
Yes I understood where you were coming from.
 
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