Basal test, what's that?

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rawtalent

rawtalent

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Type 1
Read aymes' basal test thread with interest but what's a basal test and can someone explain it to me?
If i understand it correctly it's designed to show if the background insulin you're taking is keeping your glucose levels in balance if you don't eat or take your novorapid during the day? Is that right?
If, when i wake in the morning, i had no novorapid, my glucose would rise significantly quite quickly. Does that mean i'm not taking enough lantus?
Can anyone explain?
Ian
 
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Hi Ian, that's exactly it. You eat no carb meals during the day and take regular readings to see what your BG is doing using just your basal dose. Ideally, your levels should stay steady and within range through the day. If your levels climb then, as you surmise, it means your basal insulin dose is too low to deal with the glucose put out by your liver. If they fall, then it's too high!
 
Thanks Northerner. Wish someone had told me that 25 years ago! I have adjusted my background levels on occassions but found if i take more, and less novorapid, then when i eat and have my novorapid, it's harder to control things later on. This has made me think seriously about giving it another go. Perhaps i'll increase my lantus tonight and see how i get on.
 
rawtalent said:
Thanks Northerner. Wish someone had told me that 25 years ago! I have adjusted my background levels on occassions but found if i take more, and less novorapid, then when i eat and have my novorapid, it's harder to control things later on. This has made me think seriously about giving it another go. Perhaps i'll increase my lantus tonight and see how i get on.
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How high do you go with no novorapid? Might be worth seeing what your 'baseline' is before adjusting. Also, remember that it takes about 3 days for a basal adjustment to fully take effect. I went through a period about a year ago when I had to keep adjusting down - I went from 20 units lantus to 8, adjusting at 2 units each time!
 
maybe i should try doing one of these? When I've started my levemir?
 
salmonpuff said:
maybe i should try doing one of these? When I've started my levemir?
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I'd say worth a try to see how the dose is working - you are going to try and contact the nice DSN before you start on it for advice though?
 
Northerner said:
How high do you go with no novorapid? Might be worth seeing what your 'baseline' is before adjusting. Also, remember that it takes about 3 days for a basal adjustment to fully take effect. I went through a period about a year ago when I had to keep adjusting down - I went from 20 units lantus to 8, adjusting at 2 units each time!
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Sorry for the delay-duty called, had to go out. Thanks for the advice. My specialist diabetes doc has been very good over the years but never, ever asked me to do this.
My only concern is that by having a basal so well tuned i might restrict what activity i'm able to do during the day and make myself more vulnerable to hypo. Also, i can't ever imagine not eating carbs during a day. I'm one of those skinny diabetics with a high metabolism. I need to eat a lot of carbs in a day and i never put on weight. I wonder if this makes a difference?
Anyway, i'm going to give it a try over the next few days and see what results i get.
I've no idea what my levels will go to if i took no novorapid in the morning at present but in the past i had a fasting bloodtest abut 9am, having got up at 7.30am and i would expect to be about 9.0 or more by that time of the day.
I certainly wouldn't enjoy surviving on a couple of omlettes in a day!
 
Northerner said:
I'd say worth a try to see how the dose is working - you are going to try and contact the nice DSN before you start on it for advice though?
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I'll definitely try. Ringing doctors in the morning to see if the prescription is ready. If it is, I'll be straight on the phone to the nurses. I really have no idea how to start on it...blonde lady was like "just go dose for dose". Erm...so what...16u???
 
rawtalent said:
Sorry for the delay-duty called, had to go out. Thanks for the advice. My specialist diabetes doc has been very good over the years but never, ever asked me to do this.
My only concern is that by having a basal so well tuned i might restrict what activity i'm able to do during the day and make myself more vulnerable to hypo. Also, i can't ever imagine not eating carbs during a day. I'm one of those skinny diabetics with a high metabolism. I need to eat a lot of carbs in a day and i never put on weight. I wonder if this makes a difference?
Anyway, i'm going to give it a try over the next few days and see what results i get.
I've no idea what my levels will go to if i took no novorapid in the morning at present but in the past i had a fasting bloodtest abut 9am, having got up at 7.30am and i would expect to be about 9.0 or more by that time of the day.
I certainly wouldn't enjoy surviving on a couple of omlettes in a day!
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Hi Ian, it's only one day - you'll manage!🙂 If you don't want to do the full day, just do one meal - make sure you have no novorapid in your system (breakfast is a good start), have bacon and eggs and then test until lunch. One thing I would say is that it would be better to eat breakfast within 30 mins of getting up - this stops the liver from kicking out its 'boost' of glucose and can actually lead to lower, steadier levels, even with a no-carb breakfast.

I'm also a skinny (ish) diabetic who eats lots of carbs normally, but my basal is VERY fine-tuned. I'm a runner and very active and as long as I test before and after exercise I rarely hypo - if I do it is usually due to a novorapid miscalculation rather than basal being too high.
 
Northerner said:
Hi Ian, it's only one day - you'll manage!🙂 If you don't want to do the full day, just do one meal - make sure you have no novorapid in your system (breakfast is a good start), have bacon and eggs and then test until lunch. One thing I would say is that it would be better to eat breakfast within 30 mins of getting up - this stops the liver from kicking out its 'boost' of glucose and can actually lead to lower, steadier levels, even with a no-carb breakfast.

I'm also a skinny (ish) diabetic who eats lots of carbs normally, but my basal is VERY fine-tuned. I'm a runner and very active and as long as I test before and after exercise I rarely hypo - if I do it is usually due to a novorapid miscalculation rather than basal being too high.
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That's good advice, thanks. I'm also a runner. In fact i'm sitting here in my jogging 'fit and just about to go for a 3 miler. I'll let you know how i get on. May need some more advice along the way.

Ian🙂
 
rawtalent said:
That's good advice, thanks. I'm also a runner. In fact i'm sitting here in my jogging 'fit and just about to go for a 3 miler. I'll let you know how i get on. May need some more advice along the way.

Ian🙂
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Have a good run! I was diagnosed the week I was due to run the Stockholm Marathon, grrrr!!!! When I got out of hospital I got the excellent book Diabetic Athlete's Handbook by Sheri Colberg - teaches you a lot about the physiological processes involved when exercising with diabetes and how to use insulin.
 
I'll have a read of that. Thanks. Obviously, back from run now. Quick shower, then out for some more carbs. Boy, i love those carbs!🙂
 
10.15pm.
Just had lantus. Usually have 12 units, so tonight i'm having 14 and we'll see how we go with that for a couple of days. I'll reduce my novorapid a little at each mealtime. Usually have between 12 and 14 units of novo, so i'll keep it to 12 or below.🙂
 
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