Oooh cant work this out

[gillrogers]

Definately made the right decision tp go back to the Humalog. But I have yet another conundrum!

Lunchtime bolus timing!

Breakfast and dinner was by the time i came off the lyumjev was 8 minutes into starting to eat.

Lunch was at 20 minites after eating.

Breakfast and Dinner on the Humalog/Lispro has been good at first advice of dbn of 15 minutes but she had no idea for lunch. Neither do I. My lunch never been as long as breakfast and dinner. I tried to look at it mathmatically and it works out at prebolusing at 3 minutes. Humalog/Lispro starts working after 30 minutes. But in all meal cases i know i start rising after 20 mins of eating.

Perhaps if i eat something thats about a units worth of insulin prebolus at 3 minutes andvsee what happens. The worst case scenario is a high spike but shouldn't be too horrendous as it wont be alot.

Does that make sense?

 

[Inka]

Don’t bother with that @gillrogers Diabetes doesn’t play by logical Maths rules. Choose a normal lunch for you and experiment with your bolus timing over a few days systematically. Also, remember that a brief spike is ok.

 

[gillrogers]

Whole thing just went out the window Damn basal has dropped and i can guarantee itll show at lunch time. Dropped 3 mmol over 2 hours. So ended up with a glucose tab while waiting fot my food to kick in as i staryed at the low end of my range. My lunchtime bolus timing is so differant because of the way my basal works for me. Even when my basal is right i still get a drop at lunchtime but its managable. I just dont know where to start but i do know that 15 minutes prebolus is too much.

 

[Inka]

If you don’t need to pre-bolus at all at lunch, don’t do it. 15 minutes is a suggestion not a command. You can bolus after your lunch if that works best for you. You can also bolus just as you’re about to start lunch. I’d try one of those and then adjust as needed.

Some basals aren’t flat and will have a little peak around 4 hours or whatever. You could simply have a small snack prior to the time you drop just to ward that off. So, if you start dropping at 12noon, say, try a snack at 11/11.30am and jiggle around with the timing and carb amount until it works for you @gillrogers

 

[gillrogers]

If you don’t need to pre-bolus at all at lunch, don’t do it. 15 minutes is a suggestion not a command. You can bolus after your lunch if that works best for you. You can also bolus just as you’re about to start lunch. I’d try one of those and then adjust as needed.

Some basals aren’t flat and will have a little peak around 4 hours or whatever. You could simply have a small snack prior to the time you drop just to ward that off. So, if you start dropping at 12noon, say, try a snack at 11/11.30am and jiggle around with the timing and carb amount until it works for you @gillrogers

Oh my lordy such a simple solution @Inka thank you. Turns out my basal is about half a unit too high as ive eaten the equivalent of half a lunchtime carb/insulin rstio with just a slight rise and fall back , it just typical it had to happen today. Itll also explain why i didnt get the huge spike after breakfast that i was expecting. The weathers warming up again and it happens every time . ‍♀️

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

You can also bolus just as you’re about to start lunch. I’d try one of those and then adjust as needed.

This is more or less where I’ve ended up with my meals. I prebolus somewhere between 10-30 minutes (depending on how things are going from week to week / month to month) for breakfast and lunch.

But for evening meal even 5-10 minutes can be too long at times, so I generally dose just before eating. It can make my evening meals a bit spikier, but I’d rather that than going hypo while eating, and then rebounding high later.

Sometimes it just feels like we have to make a ‘least worst’ compromise.

 

[helli]

I don't think there is an optimum pre-bolus time.
For me it is dependent on what my current BG is, how long ago I last exercised, what I am eating, how accurate my CGM is that week ... and probably the phase of the moon.

I have decide not to get too hung up on it. As have been said many times before, perfection is not possible when trying to replicate the full time job of a major organ in your body. I don't think a short spike will kill me.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

and probably the phase of the moon.

Ah that pesky phase of the moon, and the alignment of the planets. So easy to overlook.

Plus sock colour, of course. But that goes without saying.

 

[rebrascora]

Like @helli my prebolus times for different meals at not set in stone but variable depending first and foremost on my premeal level.....if I am at the lower end of the range in the 4s I will need much less prebolus time possibly none (except at breakfast) than if I am up at 9 or 10 when I might easily need over an hour. The food I am going to eat also plays a part and if it is something slow release then I can get away with less prebolus time, but my digestion is pretty quick with most foods so this is less of an issue. If I have exercised just before or am going to exercise just after, depending upon the type of exercise, I might be able to prebolus a little less far in advance because the exercise straight after (if steady exercise) will help to reduce the spike.
I have never considered doing "maths" to work out a timing. It is much more intuitive taking into consideration as many factors as I think may impact it and then making an educated guess based on those factors plus any limiting factors where I have little or no control over when I eat, like eating out, but in that situation I try to plan an hour or so in advance by injecting a correction if my levels are running high whilst I am getting ready. .Most days I use my Libre to fine tune it, as to when to eat, so I keep a close eye on my levels and eat when they get to between 5 and 6 and I see the numbers starting to come downwards, indicating that the insulin is kicking in. This works particularly well for breakfast. If I get distracted and my low alarm goes off with a 4.2 and a vertical downward arrow, I eat one jelly baby (chewed really well) and then my meal and that will usually turn it around before I hit the red.

This works for me...... You have to find what works for you and your insulin and your body and the food you eat. The only way to do that is via experimentation and trial and improvement. You will not get it right all the time though so you have to accept that the colour of your socks or the phases of the moon will cause your best guess to be a bit off the mark sometimes 🙄 and that is OK because it happens to all of us.

 

[gillrogers]

I think maths was a bit of an over thought for a word. Perhaps i should have used educated guess and my thoughts for me have actually worked for over the last few days since restarting the humalog along with the ever lowering basal due to the weather. Im sure when it gets colder my bolus times will be higher. I know more now how the various variables affect my bolus times now and for once I'm actually reading the signals in the right direction. Makes a flipping change.