How quickly?

[banditbilly]

I've just started insulin for T2 - basal/bolus regime. How quickly should I see my blood sugar levels beign to return to a normal range? Is it immediate (ie within a day) or a slow process?

 

[margie]

Hello and welcome to the forums,

You should have a DSN who will look at your blood sugar levels and adjust your doses accordingly. Some people will see a big change straight away others will not - it depends on how insulin resistant you are. Saying that with your DSNs help you should see a big improvements fairly quickly.

 

[Copepod]

Welcome Banditbilly

It will certainly take longer than a day. I'm surprised that your diabetes team hasn't explained the process. Usually you start on lowish doses of insulin and gradually build up over a few weeks, responding to your own blood glucose checks. You may also need to learn how to adjust insulin doses in response to exercise, carbohydrate intake, illness etc.

 

[banditbilly]

Thanks

Many thanks for your replies! My DNS advised me that it might a few weeks to get the dose right, but I just wondered if I should be seeing any difference on the low dose that she has started me on. My readings so far are not much better than they were on tablets ... perhaps it takes a bit longer than i thought? I thought moving to basal/bolus would immediately make a immediate difference?

 

[Northerner]

It's probably a good thing that your current doses are matching your previous control as this is the ideal starting point to start gradually increasing doses until you come within range. As this process proceeds you will also become more aware of how different meals affect you on certain doses 🙂

 

[slipper]

Hi Banditbilly, cant help as newbie here, just to say hello.

 

[Ellie Jones]

Finding large improvements over night or in a couple of days is very unlikely as your team won't be aiming for this... As this could give you more problems than bring your levels back into the normal range over a short period of time..

The higher your BG is the more resistent it can be, so has as your BG drops ito the normal range your insulin dose may need adusting..

Then you've got the dropping your BG range too quickly will bring on phamtom hypo's and likely to feel worse than before as the body battles to adjust to the new sensation... And this itself can cause a patient avoid dropping their levels.

Then it can actually be more harmful, the sudden drop can cause problems with the eyes, if you've got any underlying retnopahy going on, it can actually cause bleeds etc... Also irratate any other minor complications that might be present..

Be patient and you'll get there