Is it safe to inject day insulin inbetween meals to correct?

[CMDD]

Hi,

I'm still learning to count, and often get it wrong. I got annoyed with looking at high results and started measuring my blood an hour after my meal and if it was too high for my liking, I'd inject a couple or more doses of my day insulin to correct it. Doing this has given me the average results I'm looking for 6 to 8, but I'm wondering if it's okay to do this in the long run, or if I should stop doing it. My Doctor told me that if my blood is a little too high at night to correct it with one or two doses before bed. So I guess it's alright? Please let me know.

I use day insulin Humalog 100 E/ml

Thanks

 

[Ljc]

Hi Welcome. I'm wondering if they have got your insulin ratio right or perhaps you are underestimating your portion sizes.
I suggest checking with your DSN to see if insulin doses need increasing as well as checking portion sizes
Sorry I can't help with insulin dosage as I have T2 and most likely need far more insulin than you.
I'm sure others will be along soon who will be of more help
Back in a mo

 

[DeusXM]

In someone without diabetes, the pancreas releases insulin until blood sugar levels are normal.

As a T1, you have to manually do the job of your pancreas...which means that injecting between meals to correct high blood sugar isn't just alright, it's exactly what you should be doing.

You do need to be careful though. The insulin you inject will work in your system for 3-4 hours and you can end up 'stacking' doses, which means you can end up with quite a high amount of circulating insulin which you don't expect!

I would be a little more cautious about doing an additional dose at the 1 hour mark - most insulins take about 20 mins to get going and only hit their peak after an hour, so potentially, when you test 1 hour after injecting, your insulin hasn't quite caught up with your blood sugar but could soon do so - which means if you put extra insulin, you might be at risk of a hypo later. It sounds to me that at the moment, if you're sticking between the 6-8 range, your initial insulin dose wasn't enough in the first place.

May also be worth injecting a little earlier before you eat - I get the best results if i inject 20 mins or so before eating, even with a rapid-acting insulin like Novorapid.

 

[CMDD]

I've learned that the insulin doses recommended by my Doctor are not an exact science. It took him 3 months to move me up to the right dose for morning and evening, but 1:1 ratio for lunch isn't enough, so I took it upon myself to start taking control. I eat the same breakfast most mornings now, low carb, high good fat and protein, so this is fine the other meals are a bit trickier so if I get it wrong I top up after an hour using my own judgement, which is usually if it's over 10 after an hour add an extra one or two doses of insulin. This normally corrects me and after 90 minutes plus I am at 7 or 8 and eventually if fasting settle back to 5.5 or 6. I was averaging about 15 for first few months when they finally decided that I was type 1 and not type 2, and the Doctor said it was okay as it was the time to find our feet with your medication and if my long term reading was high we would correct that over time. I got tired of these high reading though, hence taking matters into my own hands.

 

[CMDD]

In someone without diabetes, the pancreas releases insulin until blood sugar levels are normal.

As a T1, you have to manually do the job of your pancreas...which means that injecting between meals to correct high blood sugar isn't just alright, it's exactly what you should be doing.

You do need to be careful though. The insulin you inject will work in your system for 3-4 hours and you can end up 'stacking' doses, which means you can end up with quite a high amount of circulating insulin which you don't expect!

I would be a little more cautious about doing an additional dose at the 1 hour mark - most insulins take about 20 mins to get going and only hit their peak after an hour, so potentially, when you test 1 hour after injecting, your insulin hasn't quite caught up with your blood sugar but could soon do so - which means if you put extra insulin, you might be at risk of a hypo later. It sounds to me that at the moment, if you're sticking between the 6-8 range, your initial insulin dose wasn't enough in the first place.

May also be worth injecting a little earlier before you eat - I get the best results if i inject 20 mins or so before eating, even with a rapid-acting insulin like Novorapid.

Thanks DeusXM. I get what you said. I have had the problems you mentioned sometimes at night, and have taken to setting my alarm for 3 hours after sleeping to check for nighttime hypos. I'm actually scared of these hypos so I have taken to eating dinner at about 19:00 and sticking to salads ... so I load up protein/good fat, and a bit of fruit based carb at lunch so I'm on the downward curve by dinner, and so just need to inject a little bit of insulin, now I go to bed around 7 and not 5 as was the case with the issues you mentioned. I'm on Humalog 100 e/ml and usually do about 2.5 doses to one BE/carbs factor.