Bolusing with takeaways

[Kirsssty]

Can anyone give me some advice on bolusing when having a takeaway?

I'm currently on fiasp and my basal insulin is all correct.

I've discovered I certainly can't inject the fiasp before a takeaway, I have been taking it 5 minutes after but I find I'm having a hypo within half an hour (if I'm in range).

I've seen some people take half of the insulin right before and the other half an hour later?

Takeaways I usually have are beef chow mein with salt and pepper chicken or burger and chips from McDonald's or even fried chicken sometimes.

 

[Lucyr]

Just do your best and sort the rest later basically. Try taking less up front if you’re going low and set your alarm for when your bg reached a level you want to do more insulin at.

 

[SimonP]

Take-aways often contain lots of fat which will tend to delay absorption so I'd certainly be looking at a split bolus approach.

 

[Inka]

I split the bolus too @Kirsssty I’m afraid I don’t use any clever formula because I don’t eat takeaways that often. I just have some of the bolus before eating and the rest at some point after, usually around 1.5 or 2hrs.

As always, the important thing is to avoid hypos, so experiment with having you Fiasp X minutes after your takeaway maybe, with a top up if needed. If you only have takeaways occasionally, then don’t stress over it.

 

[helli]

Not specific to takeaways but I find Fiasp very dependent upon my BG.
Regardless what I eat, I will soon hypo if my BG is in the 4s or low 5s and it will take forever (at least 45 minutes) if my BG is in double figures.
For me, it is not enough to plan my pre (or post) bolus time based on what I am going to eat, I also have to consider my BG when doing so.

 

[rebrascora]

I use Fiasp and like @Inka I have some up front and the rest 1-2 hours later. The split and timing of it may depend on what the meal is and how big it is and what your levels are before the meal. A larger or fattier meal will take longer to digest and probably mean that you need the second portion of insulin for it longer than just an hour later.
If your levels are low before the meal (4s or 5s) then there is a risk you will go low whilst eating particularly if it is fatty, so I would have less up front and more later. If I was up at 8mmols premeal, then I would have more up front, so not necessarily a 50/50 split ever time.

As with all things diabetes related, you have to factor in a few different considerations to get the best result and even then it will sometimes come back to bite you, just because it can, so don't feel you "got it wrong" if you go high or low, just try to figure out why it might have happened and what you could have done differently to prevent that next time..... Oh and if you don't have success the first or second time, you just need more practice! 😉

 

[nonethewiser]

On mdi had to bolus half upfront then rest 2-3 hours later, if meal was heavy in fat then could often have another bolus some hours later depending.

With pump it's so much easier to deal with difficult meals, using same principle as before bolusing some upfront but extending rest of bolus over several hours.