Extra meal

[Martin62]

Hi, this is a question that I forgot to ask my gp.
I work nights mon -fri, so on a Monday I'm up all day then after a short evening nap , up all night during which time I will be having a light meal ( sandwich, fruit etc ) , is it ok to have another dose of insulin then, technically taking me up to 4 doses. Then I revert to my normal sleep during the day and up evening and night so I will be back to 3.
Then on a Saturday morning I sleep until lunch time, so would really only be having breakfast and evening meal, so only 2 doses , is that ok ?

 

[helli]

What is your insulin regime?
If you are on basal bolus, the purpose of the bolus is to match the carbs you eat. If you have one meal a day (and no snacks), you will bolus once. If you have 4 meals a day (and no snacks), you will bolus 4 times. If you eat 3 meals and have substantial snacks between them, you may bolus more.
When calculating your bolus dose, consider whether you have any residual fast acting insulin from your last bolus. Most fast acting insulins last about 4 hours.

 

[Martin62]

What is your insulin regime?
If you are on basal bolus, the purpose of the bolus is to match the carbs you eat. If you have one meal a day (and no snacks), you will bolus once. If you have 4 meals a day (and no snacks), you will bolus 4 times. If you eat 3 meals and have substantial snacks between them, you may bolus more.
When calculating your bolus dose, consider whether you have any residual fast acting insulin from your last bolus. Most fast acting insulins last about 4 hours.

Hi, I've just started basal bolus, and am using 15 units of trebisa, then 5 units of nova rapid per meal , been told to do this for a week with regular finger prick tests, then report the results to my gp, who is being advised by the diabetes clinic, who will be seeing me to show me how to carb count etc.

 

[helli]

@Martin62 things can be a bit limiting when you are on fixed insulin doses s you are at the moment. This is because you should eat the same amount of carbs per meal. Typically, the advice is to start conservatively with doses to minimise the chance of hypos. Over time, you will probably be advised about carb counting to give you a bit more freedom over what you eat.
But my initial post remains true - you dose fast acting insulin (this is the NovaRapid) for what you eat. If you eat a meal, you bolus. If you don’t eat, you don’t bolus.
The number of meals you eat should not impact you Tresiba dose.

 

[Martin62]

Thank you for your informative replies , you have been very helpful .

 

[nonethewiser]

Hi, this is a question that I forgot to ask my gp.
I work nights mon -fri, so on a Monday I'm up all day then after a short evening nap , up all night during which time I will be having a light meal ( sandwich, fruit etc ) , is it ok to have another dose of insulin then, technically taking me up to 4 doses. Then I revert to my normal sleep during the day and up evening and night so I will be back to 3.
Then on a Saturday morning I sleep until lunch time, so would really only be having breakfast and evening meal, so only 2 doses , is that ok ?

Wouldn't expect you to go thru night without eating. Worked nights for years did exactly what you described above, only precaution is if job is physical might need to reduce bolus to compensate, see how it goes.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Keep checking regularly @Martin62

Adding an extra dose of insulin closer than 4-5 hours apart can mean that you ‘stack’ one dose on top of another, which can make the insulin act more strongly than you might expect.

It will also complicate things if you take your ‘regular’ dose, and intentionally have a smaller meal.

So a few extra BG checks would be a good precaution 🙂

 

[Martin62]

Thank you for your good advice, i will be chatting with my gp about it next week.