Basal testing late evening

[MaryPlain]

The basal testing forms the consultant sends me before my six monthly check-ups does not include one for the period between dinner and bed. Thinking about it, this would be a difficult test to do, as it would require either staying up late and eating immediately before going to sleep (not good if you suffer from acid), or going without food from early afternoon until breakfast next day (which is a long time to fast and would possibly result in a liver dump).

What do others do? I'm curious to know whether my late evening basals are correct, but I never test them. Maybe they're irrelevant since I always have bolus acting then!

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I just skip my evening meal and eat at lunchtime the next day. ( I don't eat breakfast)

 

[MaryPlain]

I just skip my evening meal and eat at lunchtime the next day. ( I don't eat breakfast)

Wow. That's some fast. I tend to find that if I fast too long I sometimes get a liver dump. It's not all that predictable, but it mucks up the basal testing. Plus I get hungry!

I would find it very difficult to sleep on a totally empty stomach too!

 

[trophywench]

Well - to do that block I eat my main meal that lunchtime and make it a late lunch too, instead of night.

So lunch at say 2pm ish, then 6pm ish I can start the basal test - I mean I will have had my last bolus at 2pm immediately after eating and I'll test at 2hrs, 3 hrs and 4hrs after eating, then give it half an hour, test again and if it's more or less the same as it was half an hour ago I'm off. If it ain't the same, well wait another half hour ..... Bed at midnight and Bob's your uncle, 6 hours.

If you need to go to bed at 10, that's alright, just have an early dinner another night and stay up late or whatever - got to fit the time blocks around YOU not the consultant, they can start and finish at any times that suit YOU as long as you have the full 24hrs covered when you've finished. Yes?

You have to work round how long you atually know your bolus lasts and you therefore couldn't have a lunch that requires any sort of 'fancy' bolus spread out, so eg with me it can't be pasta. Pile of mash, or 3 rounds of bread as sandwiches, or soup and 2 rounds as long as there's a GOOD amount of protein with the carbs. Get the carbs out of my system pdq.

You can then have a hot drink and a couple of biscuits before bed. I alwways give myself a full day in between time blocks when basal testing so any muck ups caused by the fasting and the subsequent 'corrections' are out of the way before attempting the next block.

 

[Abi]

I hate going to bed without eating too.
I sometimes have an early lunch and check the period from about 5-6 through to 9 or 10 pm and have a late snack ( obviously setting alarm then in night to see bolus correct for this) and on anothe occasion have a very early light pm snack 5 ish then check the period from about 9 pm

 

[MaryPlain]

Thank you for your responses.

I've tested up to 8 pm just by delaying dinner, it's just the period between 8 and midnight that never gets tested. I suppose it isn't really important to test it, since I pretty much always have bolus insulin acting at that time.