Had my usual check up with my DN a few weeks ago, had a bit of a discussion regarding my numbers dropping before dinner and evening meal, we decided I would adjust my bolus insulin from 1 unit per 10g to 0.5, seems to work sometimes but now I'm finding even thou I'm taking less my blood numbers are dropping quicker when I thought it would do the opposite, I'm currently on 20 basal should I be reducing that to see if it makes a difference. Thanks
-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
-
Learn more about joining the Diabetes UK Support Forum team here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/volunteering-opportunities-why-dont-you-join-us.112862/
Basal dosage
- Thread starter Charl
- Start date
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Er, can you please remind everyone what basal and when do you inject it, what bolus and ditto?
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
You might well need different ratios for different meals @Charl ie breakfast, lunch and tea. That seems quite a radical change to your meal ratio. 1:10g to 1:20g? Is that right? You’d probably find it easier to understand and compare if you used the usual units, eg 1:8g, 1:12, 1:15, etc etc.
If your nighttime sugars are ok, but you keep going low through the day, you might be better off with a twice daily insulin like one of the isophanes or Levemir.
Before lunch and evening meal was finding readings were low so was having to delay my bolus dose , was suggested my diabetic nurse that at breakfast and lunch to take less insulin , so changed to 1:20 from 1:10 to see if my readings stayed a little bit higher before lunch and evening meal, some days I will walk to work and back, about 5 mile in total so don't know if that's got something to do with the day after readings, this morning took my usual dosage 1:10 as I was driving to work.
This morning from around 9.00 I've been constantly dropping, dextro to the rescue, hope you can understand that. Thanks
This morning from around 9.00 I've been constantly dropping, dextro to the rescue, hope you can understand that. Thanks
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Is that graph typical of your overnight levels being so lovely and horizontal? I appreciate that it rises to higher than ideal probably due to your evening meal but it is fabulously level after that! If that is typical, then I would say that your basal is probably fine and your nurse is right that you need to adjust your meal time ratios. I also agree with @Inka that going from 1:10 to 1:20 is a big jump but if you used 1:10 this morning because you were driving to work instead of walking then it looks like that 1:10 was probably too much this morning especially if you have been eating a few carbs to keep you from dropping too low as the morning went on as that graph suggests with all those little ups and downs between 9am and 12, so maybe try 1:15 on the days that you drive and see how that works out or stick at 1:20 for a few days even when you drive and see if you go high on the days you drive.
What did you have for breakfast? It looks like you just took 1 unit for it (and 3 correction units if I am reading your notes correctly?) so just 10g carbs or thereabouts if you used a 1:10 ratio this morning. Sometimes having some protein with your breakfast can help to stabilize your levels mid morning, particularly if you just eat something low carb for breakfast, so adjusting what you eat might resolve the problem easier than changing your ratio. It depends how you feel about adjusting your diet. So for instance having eggs or a good dollop of peanut butter on a slice of toast or cheese or meat, rather than just the slice of toast on it's own. Knowing what you had would enable me to make better suggestions.
What did you have for breakfast? It looks like you just took 1 unit for it (and 3 correction units if I am reading your notes correctly?) so just 10g carbs or thereabouts if you used a 1:10 ratio this morning. Sometimes having some protein with your breakfast can help to stabilize your levels mid morning, particularly if you just eat something low carb for breakfast, so adjusting what you eat might resolve the problem easier than changing your ratio. It depends how you feel about adjusting your diet. So for instance having eggs or a good dollop of peanut butter on a slice of toast or cheese or meat, rather than just the slice of toast on it's own. Knowing what you had would enable me to make better suggestions.