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New and still learning

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There was a lady on my DAFNE course who had been diabetic for 50 years. She only used 3 units of basal insulin (lantus I believe) and only a couple of units of bolus insulin, as she only ate one meal a day in the evening. She was hypoing almost every night which was why she was on the course, but her readings were high most of the day. She has now been changed to a pump but I have not heard from her since then to know how much better things are.
The thing is that we are all so very different..... some need a lot ..... and some need just tiny amounts of insulin..... but need it we do.
The phrase.... "you need whatever you need" is so important to remember with insulin. Comparing yourself to others when it comes to diabetes is not really a good thing because there are so many factors which some into play.

My honeymoon period lasted about 6 months and then there were 2 notable phases a couple of months apart where my basal requirements increased. It has been reasonably stable +/- 1 or 2 units since then.
 
I am so glad that my advice seems to have been accepted as right. With it being late at night I hesitated and then replied, in case no one else was around - so even if I got jumped on for it next day I thought I'd risk it.
Type one is intriguing and it must be a constant juggling match to keep all the balls in the air.
 
@brisr949 - Lantus absolutely does have a peak after approx. 5 hours
 
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@Inka regarding my diet, I agree that you need a balanced diet however in the early stages I was eating carbs by the bucket loads and cramping up my Novorapid to justify the eating (more fool me really).
I've made a decision to go to a low carb diet, nothing refined no bread etc. When I made the switch my blood sugars haven't exceeded 6.9, hence the reason for thw original post and now my Basal Testing

My argument is why eat carbohydrates within this balanced diet if it requires the need for me to jab myself with insulin? Because at this moment in time if I do inject then I will have Hypos.
Which goes back to my original confusion. Do I need to eat Carboydrates or foods to higher my BG just so I take insulin?

Do I continue on autopilot with my pancreas or eat to justify a manual dose.
 
SThomas said:
@Inka regarding my diet, I agree that you need a balanced diet however in the early stages I was eating carbs by the bucket loads and cramping up my Novorapid to justify the eating (more fool me really).
I've made a decision to go to a low carb diet, nothing refined no bread etc. When I made the switch my blood sugars haven't exceeded 6.9, hence the reason for thw original post and now my Basal Testing

My argument is why eat carbohydrates within this balanced diet if it requires the need for me to jab myself with insulin? Because at this moment in time if I do inject then I will have Hypos.
Which goes back to my original confusion. Do I need to eat Carboydrates or foods to higher my BG just so I take insulin?

Do I continue on autopilot with my pancreas or eat to justify a manual dose.
Click to expand...
Just to add, I'm not trying to cure my T1 as I'm fully aware this is unachievable. I started this healthy phase this as a way of shedding some weight and getting to grips with T1 and being abit more conscientious about what I throw down my throat. Rather than, I'll eat a whole galaxy bar and ramp up my Novo to combat it.
I had no idea my body (BG) would react this way.
 
@SThomas Eating carbs “by the bucketloads” wasn’t what I meant, as I’m sure you know 🙂
To answer, your question about whether you should eat (moderate) carbs and inject insulin, my answer would be yes. If you’re having still hypos, then, after your basal test, look at your mealtime ratios (ie your insulin to carb ratios - they often vary for breakfast/lunch/evening meal).

Drummer, people with T1 need to inject to eat properly, so it’s not only just “to lower your blood sugar” that you need to inject. My blood sugar was in range, I injected bolus insulin, I ate my balanced meal (inc carbs) and that insulin kept my blood sugar in range afterwards - similar to what my own pancreas would have done. That’s a Type 1s job - being a pancreas basically.

Type 1 and Type 2 are different conditions and I’d never recommend Type 2s eat more carbs. You can see from my previous posts that I recommend they lower their carbs. It works the other way round too...
 
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If you and your body are happy to stay as carb free as you want to, then there's no reason to eat them BUT!!! with doing this for a prolonged period, bodies get used to having to fuel themselves from stored glucose which then depletes the stored glucose in the liver which it releases in the normal course of events to try and correct low BG except it often does it after you've already treated a recognised hypo by eating carbs so double whammy hyper and using more of the protein and fat to a point where you need to bolus to account for the protein and fat - a tricky thing to balance successfully.

Hence, it is generally considered more sensible to still include a modicum of actual carb in the diet and jab for it, even if you take that as lentils or another legume.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum @SThomas 🙂
 
Well if your blood glucose spike happens at exactly the same tome as your insulin spike does, then you are an amazingly lucky person.

The Graphs on the DSF website showing the insulin profiles were originally sourced from the manufacturers published info - so don't we believe that? Who can we believe then?
 
I suspect that the most dangerous situation is following a regime where there is no room for life and its ups and downs.
The OP was uncertain how to act, late at night in their circumstances at the time. I was concerned that there could a hypo overnight if insulin was not needed but taken as that was 'normal' or implied.
As can be understood from the remarks of President Trump today, little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
I've certainly never been told I need to inject insulin before - that's a first.
 
I've certainly never been told I need to inject insulin before - that's a first

You weren’t told to inject insulin. Unless, of course you are the OP - whose question I was answering...

I’ve re-read my post a number of times and again tonight and I finally think I get your confusion. When I explained “you do need to inject”, the “you” wasn’t aimed at you. It was a general You ie people with Type 1.
 
Sorry for my rant was feeling low at the time..
Its strange though that i got the no spike info from the American and Euro producers of it.
If you type lantus into google the first article says it has no spike so i was just going by what i read. As i have never taken it i obviously cant disagree with someone who does and says it does have a spike.
 
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