Pasta Bake - insulin?

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SilentAssassin1642

SilentAssassin1642

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Me again, questioning the insulin intake of pasta bake.

Usually it works out as about 160g of carbs with everything - 😱 seems a lot i know. And I always spike to about 13/14 2 hours afterwards. Thats with 17u of novorapid up front.

Here's my question, should I split the dose? And should I half it and do like 9 units before and 8 units and hour or 2 after?

This whole thing confuses me horrifically :confused:
 
Hi Sam,

What you've just posted tells me that your insulin to carbohydrate ratio is a little out. I wouldn't start splitting the dose. I'd just say up it. What are your ratios?

Tom
 
Tom Hreben said:
Hi Sam,

What you've just posted tells me that your insulin to carbohydrate ratio is a little out. I wouldn't start splitting the dose. I'd just say up it. What are your ratios?

Tom
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Ah you see, buuuuuut after that spike, I do tend to drop again. Pasta is evil with me. If inject it ALL before i eat, I spike after 2 hours or so but am down to relatively decent levels a couple of hours after that.

As for ratios. I'm still working on a 1:10 basis as I've never been taught how to work out ratios or anything. It usually works 🙂
 
Hi Sam, I'm just wondering if maybe you would benefit from a period of lower carb meals to place less 'load' on your system? I know a few people have found that eating fewer carbs, and hence taking less insulin, makes levels more easily controlled. Your meals lately seem to be quite high carb - how about some omelettes or cualiflower cheese etc. for a while? The problem with a high carb/high insulin meal is that if you don't get the peaks to coincide you're going to get a much bigger peak, potentially, or a hypo.

Just a thought!🙂
 
Northerner said:
Hi Sam, I'm just wondering if maybe you would benefit from a period of lower carb meals to place less 'load' on your system? I know a few people have found that eating fewer carbs, and hence taking less insulin, makes levels more easily controlled. Your meals lately seem to be quite high carb - how about some omelettes or cualiflower cheese etc. for a while? The problem with a high carb/high insulin meal is that if you don't get the peaks to coincide you're going to get a much bigger peak, potentially, or a hypo.

Just a thought!🙂
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but i looooooooove my carbs :(

I might try it for a while, though we've just done the shopping so there'll be a few higher carb meals for a while 🙂 Though i totally have no idea what i would do for it...i really really dislike omlette and cauliflower cheese...is there anything else i could have? What about a just meat meal?
 
salmonpuff said:
but i looooooooove my carbs :(

I might try it for a while, though we've just done the shopping so there'll be a few higher carb meals for a while 🙂 Though i totally have no idea what i would do for it...i really really dislike omlette and cauliflower cheese...is there anything else i could have? What about a just meat meal?
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What about bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage and beans? Cor, my mouth is drooling!:D
 
Northerner said:
What about bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage and beans? Cor, my mouth is drooling!:D
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how about without the egg mushroon and tomato?

seriously, i am really really fussy. Mushrooms actually make me throw up 😱
 
If you want to test your pasta then just have a bowl of plain pasta a few times and see what it does. Test hourly for about 5 or 6 hours. I think you may be surprised.

Typically you will see a spike about 3, 4 or 5 hours later. Different for everyone.

On a pump most people split the dose. I have friends who do split an injection dose of NR just for pasta on their kids. I believe that Bev did it a few times for A and maybe Patricia tried it as well, can't remember.

I think you are right about spliting but I think you need to experiment. The sauce will muck it up as it has fat in it. If you need pasta with something, then try a non fact accompaniment so you can test it.
 
Adrienne said:
If you want to test your pasta then just have a bowl of plain pasta a few times and see what it does. Test hourly for about 5 or 6 hours. I think you may be surprised.

Typically you will see a spike about 3, 4 or 5 hours later. Different for everyone.

On a pump most people split the dose. I have friends who do split an injection dose of NR just for pasta on their kids. I believe that Bev did it a few times for A and maybe Patricia tried it as well, can't remember.

I think you are right about spliting but I think you need to experiment. The sauce will muck it up as it has fat in it. If you need pasta with something, then try a non fact accompaniment so you can test it.
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cheers adrienne, I had 8 units before eating and am gunna keep testing before i have some more. At what stage do you think I should take some more?

Northerner said:
You're hopeless!
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that's me 🙂
 
ok, so 8 units before and 1 hour later i'm 12.8 and can feel myself climbing. Reckoning its time for another dose?
 
Yep could well be. This will be trial and error for next time.

Generally the people I know give half or whatever portion of the dose, wait two hours and give the rest but if you are already climbing after only an hour then ok. I would still test hourly over 4 or 5 hours. You may well have another spike then that you would not normally know about and this will be the pasta. This would then in my view, mean you need to give a higher percentage than half perhaps 75 % of total dose needed and that would possibly cover the spike now, then in say 2 or 3 hours after the first injection you give the rest. It all depends on when you spike. If you spike after 4 hours then you give the second injection after 2 hours, if you spike after 5 hours then you would try the second injection after 3 hours, so always about 2 hours before the spike.

Hope that makes sense and I hope this experiment works. Just keep testing. 🙂
 
i love my carbs tooooo !!

pasta yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm lol
 
Just a suggestion, have you done a DAFNE course? It might help. I think you need to see your doctor or diabetic team to get on one.
 
Caroline said:
Just a suggestion, have you done a DAFNE course? It might help. I think you need to see your doctor or diabetic team to get on one.
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as ive said a miiiiiillliiiiiiooooooonnnnn times, i haven't ever done any sort of carb counting course despite me frequently bigging various people across the country :( i am for want of a better word, self taught, and badly
 
If your blood sugar is high at 2 hours and then back in range a couple of hours later then the dose is right but the timing is wrong. It would suggest that you need to take the insulin earlier so that it peaks earlier and you are not so high at 2 hours.
For me pasta digests more slowly so would give the insulin after eating but all in one go.

Splitting the dose of insulin is done because the food digests slowly and the insulin works too quickly. So what happens is you end up having a hypo before the insulin is done working, so you need to treat it. Then after the 4 hours or so when the insulin has stopped working, the food digests and starts hitting the blood stream and you end up high. It becomes more complicated when you have foods/combinations of foods that have double spikes. I hope that makes sense.
 
sofaraway said:
If your blood sugar is high at 2 hours and then back in range a couple of hours later then the dose is right but the timing is wrong. It would suggest that you need to take the insulin earlier so that it peaks earlier and you are not so high at 2 hours.
For me pasta digests more slowly so would give the insulin after eating but all in one go.

Splitting the dose of insulin is done because the food digests slowly and the insulin works too quickly. So what happens is you end up having a hypo before the insulin is done working, so you need to treat it. Then after the 4 hours or so when the insulin has stopped working, the food digests and starts hitting the blood stream and you end up high. It becomes more complicated when you have foods/combinations of foods that have double spikes. I hope that makes sense.
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hmmm sort of. I'll have to try the all in one go thing next time we have pasta. I ended up going to bed on 7.9 and waking up on 6.1 though, which is freaking awesome :D
 
Then to add to the difficulties, you have to think about the sauce, some cheesy creamy sause will take longer to digest than a tomoto based one. This diabetes lark isn't easy!

Great numbers 🙂
 
sofaraway said:
Then to add to the difficulties, you have to think about the sauce, some cheesy creamy sause will take longer to digest than a tomoto based one. This diabetes lark isn't easy!

Great numbers 🙂
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You are so right Nikki and pasta, rice and pizzas are hard work 🙂
 
sofaraway said:
If your blood sugar is high at 2 hours and then back in range a couple of hours later then the dose is right but the timing is wrong. It would suggest that you need to take the insulin earlier so that it peaks earlier and you are not so high at 2 hours.
For me pasta digests more slowly so would give the insulin after eating but all in one go.

Splitting the dose of insulin is done because the food digests slowly and the insulin works too quickly. So what happens is you end up having a hypo before the insulin is done working, so you need to treat it. Then after the 4 hours or so when the insulin has stopped working, the food digests and starts hitting the blood stream and you end up high. It becomes more complicated when you have foods/combinations of foods that have double spikes. I hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...

For what its worth I agree with the above, I think you need to be taking all of the insulin earlier. I know that is the case with me, I have peaks a couple of hours after eating which then go back down again. My DSN has just advised me to try taking my insulin 20mins before eating. I tried it last night and it worked. I had chilli with brown rice and no spike. It is going to be a complete pain, but if it works I think it is worth it.
 
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