Quick question about basals

[bennyg70]

Ive always been under the impression from forums, & DSNs that a change to your basal ammount will take 2 - 3 days to take effect and settle in. (To be honest Ive never really understood why)

So going by this why would people take less or more for a day here and a day there for certain circumstances, ie sports, drinking the nigh before etc?

Dont get me wrong, It totally makes sense to me, but it goes against what a lot of people would tell you in a way

 

[astbury1]

As far as Im aware Lantus takes a few days to change its effect but with levemir it is pretty instant

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Agree with Astbury - my understanding is that Levemir responds very rapidly to dose changes.

Lantus used to take at least 24 hours for me before it noticed, and a couple of days to settle really.

 

[bennyg70]

Agree with Astbury - my understanding is that Levemir responds very rapidly to dose changes.

Lantus used to take at least 24 hours for me before it noticed, and a couple of days to settle really.

So Im right in thinking, there would be no advantages of making temporary adjustments, such as for exercise days and hangover days with my lantus?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I could never get that to work on Lantus. When on the Accu-chek Expert I was able to choose different 'health' option which reduced/raised meal boluses by a (user-definable) percentage instead.

 

[bennyg70]

I could never get that to work on Lantus. When on the Accu-chek Expert I was able to choose different 'health' option which reduced/raised meal boluses by a (user-definable) percentage instead.

Ah yes... I have them set up, However I keep thinking Im cleverevererer than my little amigo, and a couple of hours later after overriding I realise..Im not!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Not perfect for illness as it doesn;t cover night time, but for exercise etc it was great (and in fact I wish the Veo bolus wizard had the option!)

 

[bennyg70]

My only gripe would be to be able to customize these and add more.. options. However, The pre-menstral option can come in handy as an extra option!!

 

[fencesitter]

William's DSN said to reduce his basal for a walking holiday by 25 - 30%, starting the day before. It did seem to work quite well, one or two v.low numbers but mostly OK. But that doesn't deal with occasional unplanned exercise at all ...

 

[mum2westiesGill]

My DSN and GP always say 1 week for Lantus after any changes. If I've asked my DSN about waiting for just 3 or 4 days after a change she sort of agrees with me but I can tell she really wants to say a week.

 

[trophywench]

Erring on the side of extreme caution there I'd say Gill ! - not heard anyone say more than 3 days before, but it has been 3 days Benny, in two separate Health Authroities , in my case so totally different people but all singing from the same hymnsheet.

 

[mum2westiesGill]

Erring on the side of extreme caution there I'd say Gill ! - not heard anyone say more than 3 days before,

Exactly what I thought! I think my surgery really need to get a little more up to date ie with things like this and also their website compared to others I've seen.

 

[PattiEvans]

I'd agree with the 3 days for Lantus. Thank heavens Levemir is so biddable and so quick to show changes. In fact I'd say Levemir is more akin to adjusting your bolus.

 

[m1dnc]

When I started on my pump, and stopped taking Lantus, it did take the best part of a week for the Lantus to clear my system. I was surprised at the time as I had always accepted the line about taking 2-3 days for Lantus changes. However, the pump DSN said it was not unusual for Lantus to hang around for this long.