Can you basal whilst bolus is still active?

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pawprint91

pawprint91

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I'm guessing yes, but just wanted a quick check in! I have been off my evening basal (was just one unit) for a few weeks, but my morning/overnight levels have started to rise (ever so slightly) consistently over the past week or so, so I'm thinking of bringing it (one unit) back in. However, is this okay to do whilst novorapid is still doing it's thing post evening meal? I am guessing yes given that they do different things, and 9 times out of 10, the basal will be added as the novorapid is coming to the end of it's cycle. Plus, I guess we have them together in the morning! My basal is Levemir.

Also, my DSN initially advised me when I started using novorapid (pre-Libre) to wait 4 hours after eating and then test before bed to check the novorapid had brought the levels back down. Is this something we need to do as diabetics (time our meals around our day/routine, basically) or would it be okay to eat/sleep when I like (within reason!) ? :rofl:
 
Inka said:
Yes, that’s fine 🙂 Just don’t inject near the NR injection site as they’re best kept apart.
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Brilliant - thank you! What is the reason for keeping them apart, do you know? 🙂 (I already do legs for basal unless eating out in a dress and stomach for novorapid, but just curious!)
 
To answer your other question, the 4 hr rule is guidance rather than a rule. If you were to eat at 8pm say, you wouldn’t have to stay up to midnight to check your levels! The only thing to say is to be wary of correcting too early as your blood sugar may well come down further by itself during those four hours.

MDI gives us flexibility about when and if we eat. However you’ll probably find certain times work best for you. For me, I prefer to eat my evening meal 6/6.30pm as I find control easier.
 
pawprint91 said:
Brilliant - thank you! What is the reason for keeping them apart, do you know? 🙂 (I already do legs for basal unless eating out in a dress and stomach for novorapid, but just curious!)
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Because in theory the NR (fast) could affect the Levemir (engineered to be slow) causing it to act more like the NR and putting you at risk of hypos.

You can inject them at the same time but NOT in the same place.
 
Inka said:
To answer your other question, the 4 hr rule is guidance rather than a rule. If you were to eat at 8pm say, you wouldn’t have to stay up to midnight to check your levels! The only thing to say is to be wary of correcting too early as your blood sugar may well come down further by itself during those four hours.

MDI gives us flexibility about when and if we eat. However you’ll probably find certain times work best for you. For me, I prefer to eat my evening meal 6/6.30pm as I find control easier.
Click to expand...
I have been staying up past my bedtime to check, so thank you :rofl: I'm okay as it's pretty much been the school holidays for me since I was diagnosed back in June, so just wanted to think about a routine as I head back to what will inevitably be busy evenings - but will be mindful of sugars rising, hopefully Libre will help me with this one now!

Inka said:
Because in theory the NR (fast) could affect the Levemir (engineered to be slow) causing it to act more like the NR and putting you at risk of hypos.

You can inject them at the same time but NOT in the same place.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this! Can you inject them at different times in the same place? Say Levemir at 8am and then novorapid at 1pm? (Sorry for all the questions!)
 
In an ideal world - especially when I was on injections - I preferred to aim for a meal around 6.30ish so that by 10.30 the vast majority of my dose would have already finished.

Not a deal breaker if I ate later, but there would have been a bit of Insulin On Board from the meal to potentially muddy the waters.
 
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