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Novis question
- Thread starter Karen999
- Start date
I think you are asking about your NovoRapid bolus?
The reason for pre-bolusing (taking your fast acting insulin before eating) is to attempt to match the peak of the insulin activity (Google “NovoRapid profile” to see the graph of the insulin activity over time) with the peak of the digestion of the carbs in your food.
It is common to be advised to bolus 10 to 20 minutes before eating but in reality, different food is digested at different rates (we are told about fast acting sugars which we use to treat hypos and, at the other end of the scales are carbs eaten with high fat meals where the fat slows digestion).
If we bolus too late, we see a higher spike on our Libre and, if we bolus too early, we see a dip which may become a hypo.
Over time, we could work out different pre-bolus times for different meals. But 15 minutes is a good “all rounder”.
However, when eating out, I will bolus as the food arrives. I can not sit there watching my food go cold for 10 minutes and it is too risky to guess exactly what will be on the plate and when it will arrive.
So, to answer your question, you can inject as the food is delivered but expect a BG spike if you do so.
The reason for pre-bolusing (taking your fast acting insulin before eating) is to attempt to match the peak of the insulin activity (Google “NovoRapid profile” to see the graph of the insulin activity over time) with the peak of the digestion of the carbs in your food.
It is common to be advised to bolus 10 to 20 minutes before eating but in reality, different food is digested at different rates (we are told about fast acting sugars which we use to treat hypos and, at the other end of the scales are carbs eaten with high fat meals where the fat slows digestion).
If we bolus too late, we see a higher spike on our Libre and, if we bolus too early, we see a dip which may become a hypo.
Over time, we could work out different pre-bolus times for different meals. But 15 minutes is a good “all rounder”.
However, when eating out, I will bolus as the food arrives. I can not sit there watching my food go cold for 10 minutes and it is too risky to guess exactly what will be on the plate and when it will arrive.
So, to answer your question, you can inject as the food is delivered but expect a BG spike if you do so.
Robin
Well-Known Member
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I never inject before my food arrives when I’m eating out. Even if they say it’ll be 20 minutes, they might have a crisis in the kitchen, or as in our case at a large and busy pub once, they took our food to the wrong part of the beer garden, couldn’t find anyone to give it to, and took it back to the kitchen. It was only when we complained about the wait some time later that they realised what they’d done.
- Relationship to Diabetes
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I’m with the others @Karen999
I’m happy to prebolus in the more controlled environment of home, where I can know exactly when the plate will be in front of me. And I can see that this technique gives me better numbers on the whole, as it takes a little while for injected insulin to become available after injection…
But when I’m eating out I don’t want to risk mistiming things. The most I’d do was put in a small upfront dose when I thought the food was about 5 minutes off, then top that up to the full amount when I can see the plate in from of me and estimate it 🙂
I’m happy to prebolus in the more controlled environment of home, where I can know exactly when the plate will be in front of me. And I can see that this technique gives me better numbers on the whole, as it takes a little while for injected insulin to become available after injection…
But when I’m eating out I don’t want to risk mistiming things. The most I’d do was put in a small upfront dose when I thought the food was about 5 minutes off, then top that up to the full amount when I can see the plate in from of me and estimate it 🙂
Eternal422
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I generally don’t pre bolus when eating out due to not knowing when the meal will be served. Also unless you have had the same meal at the restaurant before it’s hard to estimate how many carbs, so I generally prefer to wait until I have the meal in front of me, accepting that I’ll have a spike before the injected insulin has time to work.
The last thing I want to do is munch glucose tablets before the meal if I go low due to a long wait for the food! If I’m a bit high I may choose to split bolus to start bringing BG down a bit, I.e. take a small bolus of what I estimate the carbs might be.
The last thing I want to do is munch glucose tablets before the meal if I go low due to a long wait for the food! If I’m a bit high I may choose to split bolus to start bringing BG down a bit, I.e. take a small bolus of what I estimate the carbs might be.
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I will pre bolus at home when the delivery of food is more controlled.
Like others I rarely risk pre-bolusing if I am eating out as I generally have no idea when it will arrive and need to see the portion size. I have two regular haunts where after a brief discussion about timings, I I happily pre-bolus having agreed when they will deliver my food. I know that they are reliable .
Like others I rarely risk pre-bolusing if I am eating out as I generally have no idea when it will arrive and need to see the portion size. I have two regular haunts where after a brief discussion about timings, I I happily pre-bolus having agreed when they will deliver my food. I know that they are reliable .
Karen as others have said when eating out it is probably always best to wait until what arrives on the plate and then make a call.Personally I do sometimes split my dose so may take a small dose before the meal arrives say in the car if I am pretty confident the meal will be delivered quickly but there have been a couple of occasions whereby the food has been delayed and I wish I had waited but nothing too desperate.
Most of my meals out are pretty standard one course and in regular places but the only time I do struggle sometimes is Company events where the May be gaps between courses and timings cannot be predicted.Although my employer is very supportive of my diabetes and everyone understands the condition I don’t particularly like to “ advertise” the fact I am diabetic quite simply as I prefer to keep it private.
So is like most of managing diabetes is an art and a Science and experience and judgement helps on calling these as correctly as possible but of course we dint always get it right and the condition is a ubiquitous one.
Most of my meals out are pretty standard one course and in regular places but the only time I do struggle sometimes is Company events where the May be gaps between courses and timings cannot be predicted.Although my employer is very supportive of my diabetes and everyone understands the condition I don’t particularly like to “ advertise” the fact I am diabetic quite simply as I prefer to keep it private.
So is like most of managing diabetes is an art and a Science and experience and judgement helps on calling these as correctly as possible but of course we dint always get it right and the condition is a ubiquitous one.