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Insulin Units

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
L

lizabetic

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1.5 LADA
So apparently I keep getting a lot of hypos. I've got two in the 3's so far and felt hypo also in the 4's. Should I be treating the 4s? Or should I leave them and hopefully the symptoms will go away and i'll feel it in the 3s only??

I'm only on 4u of novorapid with breakfast, lunch and dinner but still getting these numbers :( Its starting to bug me now, today i've been no higher than 6.9 at 2hrs!

I know I don't eat an awful lot, but I shouldn't have to be eating loads to match the insulin!!!! This was my problem in the first place and this is not what I want to be doing again :( Also consider that I have actually managed to fit in a starbucks (with syrup!) twice without insulin and cake one time after dinner when I also went low!!

I pressume what's happening is the injected insulin is fixing the spike that would otherwise happen, sorting that out to a reasonable level and then my own insulin is then kicking in, working on what it can or otherwise sending me hypo!!!

Last night I went hypo after having sausages and beans for dinner, 4.2 but felt really rough and silly. But yet had omelette and sausages on first day with insulin and took 1u less than I should have and my BS shot right up!!

Anyway, i'm really worn out from all this and i'm not sure what to do about it. I could go see a DSN but will she be able to say much considering my complicated case?
 
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With 4s it depends on how far I am away from a meal and how long since I injected, but I might have something anyway because at 4 a biscuit isn't going to push your levels particularly high and it's an opportunity for a 'free' snack 🙂

It might be worth asking for a half-unit pen if you don't already have one, as it may be you just need that little half-unit variation in dose. 🙂
 
I was gonna suggest a half unit pen too.

Depends how much a biscuit does for you really - it would send my 4 up to 7 .....
 
trophywench, yup it did exactly that! well, was that about 1hr1/2 later.

how would i get a half unit pen?

was 4.9 before dinner, took 3u, mums suggested doing that all day tomorrow... if still all too much then will go down to 2, if 3u too little... enquire about 1/2 unit pen!!!!
 
I always find 4 a bit weird, to be honest! If I'm going to be driving in the next half hour, I'll have some fruit or a biscuit and see what happens. If I feel ok, I tend to leave it - altho I can usually tell the difference between a stable 4 and a 4 on the way down, iyswim?

I got a 0.5 unit pen from my DSN recently - without asking!
 
I need to make a DSN appointment actually! Maybe I can ask her then : ) I've just found 0.5 unit pen for novo brands online 🙂 Where would we be without google?

4 is an odd number I find too.


Also, heres a funny thought. I was thinking how little insulin i'm on... and how on earth that has any affect. Then I thought of my pesticide spraying experiences and how little is used there!! How odd. Comparing insulin to pesticides haha!
 
lizabetic said:
I need to make a DSN appointment actually! Maybe I can ask her then : ) I've just found 0.5 unit pen for novo brands online 🙂 Where would we be without google?

4 is an odd number I find too.


Also, heres a funny thought. I was thinking how little insulin i'm on... and how on earth that has any affect. Then I thought of my pesticide spraying experiences and how little is used there!! How odd. Comparing insulin to pesticides haha!
Click to expand...

Insulin can be powerful stuff. I'm on 4 units of lantus, but I know of people on well over 100 units, so it just shows how different we all can be. I think it is the novopen demi that is available here - was that the one you saw?
 
Oh no I didn't think about that! Thanks, just looked it up 🙂

Wow 4u is so tiny! What are your typical meal dosages? I understand your requirements are small anyway? Do you think you also have some intact insulin/function?
 
lizabetic said:
Oh no I didn't think about that! Thanks, just looked it up 🙂

Wow 4u is so tiny! What are your typical meal dosages? I understand your requirements are small anyway? Do you think you also have some intact insulin/function?
Click to expand...

I was on 20 units of lantus at diagnosis! My meal doses are much larger, relatively - around 6 at breakfast, 10 at lunch and 12 for evening meal. My consultant thinks I most probably am producing some insulin, but that I can't produce enough to cope with food 🙂
 
Interesting! Sort of like me, I have enough to cover without food but yup can't cope with the food either!

Right... just done another check. Was very nervous! Three units with dinner which was chicken fajitas with 1/3 cup of rice and i've got a 5.9!! Strange how these things work!
 
I have been meaning to PM you back but internet been playing silly beggars! Will do it soon xx

I think I am going to end up similar to Alan too, just judging by what is going on at the moment....time shall tell I suppose.

It's a strange place to be........I was still 9.9 an hour ago (2 hours after dinner) but at 10.40 there I am now 5.7 too! WTF!?

I can't keep up with it all!
 
Depends exactly what you had for your dinner Laura - a lot of fibre? a fair bit of fat? - what?
 
King prawn&mango red curry, a nigella recipe-bloody delicious. 50g basmati rice.

So....dunno! Was high before it tho - see another thread about it somewhere, getting confused what I've posted and where now lol!
 
11.40pm, now 4.4....argh!!!! Do I stay up or set a 3am alarm?!
 
Novo Pen Junior does half units for sure, but it's a bit pretty, navy with swirly patterns on designed for children. Ladies might quite like it but not so sure with the men - my son certainly wouldn't dream of being seen out with it, but then he is 17......
 
Ffs! One again the shakiness started, tested, 12.30 now 3.4. Have just eaten some fruit pastilles. This could be a long night!!
 
Hope the fruit pastilles saw you through the night, Laura?
 
Eek!! Hope you're okay this morning Laura. I had rice last night too which i'm surprised never sent me way up !!

I got fed up in the end last night, went to be on a 4.9 which I regarded as 'safe' because I knew the insulin I had taken should have worn off by then! Feel fine this morning and got a 6.6 reading 🙂

Do you think its possible that what's happening is I am taking this insulin through the day, my 4u with dinner is then making my bed time reading low, and then because of that I wake up with good numbers and then it starts all over again? Going to trial 3u all day today!

In regards to carbohydrate counting... I got some notes off a friend last night who said you divide carbs by 15 to get units.. I pressume this would change for most people but how do you figure that out?

Also... loving that junior pen! :D
 
The 15 rule would only apply, if your ratio was 1u of insulin to 15g of carbs. Mine is 1u to 10g.

Basically it's suggested for T1's that you start with 1u to 10g (and it makes it dead easy to calculate if it is that, so hope it is LOL) and work through from there. ISTR they say 1u to 15g for kids and T2's, or have I imagined that? - so it may be best to go with 15g if you still have some insulin producton? Dunno.

When your BG is stable at a reasonable level and NOT after you've just run a marathon etc, eat a measured amount of fast acting carb - 10g or 15g whichever you think applies - and take 1u of insulin. Test intensively over the next 3-ish hours and plot what happens.

Incidentally, you need to be 99% confident your basal is correct before attempting to refine your carb ratio. If it isn't correct it will muddy the results. You also may have different ratios at different times - more insulin required at breakfast is common; but other times are not unusual at all.
 
Aah, thankyou for that! All makes sense to me now :D

What should be the lowest number I ought to expect after 2hrs? At the moment i'm getting 4's and 5's! Sounds great but doesn't keep me going obviously...

I will try out the basal thing, are glucose tablets a reasonable measure? Would I do it without having eaten that day?
 
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