Splitting doses for pasta and rice?

[sg295]

Hi all!

I’m considering trying split doses for foods like pasta and rice as they seem to be rather problematic for me r.e. Hypos!

I’ve noticed that within 1-2 hours of eating I can hypo if I’m not careful, however, by around the 3 hour mark, I start to spike a fair bit.

Therefore I just wondered how I should go about splitting this please? For instance, let’s say for example I counted the carbs and I needed 6 units for my pasta or rice, would I do 3 units and then another 3 or would I do say 2 and then 4 as I seem to spike later? And timing wise, I guess do the first dose before I eat but how long do I leave it till the second dose? Is it like 1, 2, 3 hours later?

My ratio is currently 1:15 if that’s any help!

Sorry for all the questions, not done this before so not really sure what I’m doing haha!

Thank you! 🙂

 

[Inka]

It’s just a case of careful experimentation @sg295 to find what works for you and each meal. On my pump for pasta I have a third upfront and two-thirds spread over two hours. I know you can’t do that on injections, but you could try a third to a half upfront, then the rest at 60-90mins maybe.

I don’t need to split my bolus for rice but, again, you’ll have to experiment. Always test lots and be cautious.

Edited to add that the third/two-thirds thing was suggested by my pump trainer. Also, do set an alarm so you don’t forget the second bit of your bolus!

 

[sg295]

Hi,

It’s just a case of careful experimentation @sg295 to find what works for you and each meal. On my pump for pasta I have a third upfront and two-thirds spread over two hours. I know you can’t do that on injections, but you could try a third to a half upfront, then the rest at 60-90mins maybe.

I don’t need to split my bolus for rice but, again, you’ll have to experiment. Always test lots and be cautious.

Hi, thanks for your message!

Yes pasta is a real pain for me! And rice can be but not as bad as pasta!

I have decided to be a little cautious and have reduced my ratio down slightly from 1:15 to 1:20 for the pasta and have also only injected half now and I will inject the other half a bit later.

Hoping that’ll put an end to the constant pasta hypos cos it’s been a nightmare recently!

Even if it means I’m a bit high, I would honestly prefer that as I’ve had too many issues with pasta lately haha!

 

[Inka]

It will also depend what you have with the pasta. Cheese and/or a creamy sauce will be absorbed more slowly than a tomato sauce. Write down your experiments and hopefully you’ll find what works. It’s a pain, I know, but putting in the work now will mean you can use your successful method in the future.

 

[sg295]

It will also depend what you have with the pasta. Cheese and/or a creamy sauce will be absorbed more slowly than a tomato sauce. Write down your experiments and hopefully you’ll find what works. It’s a pain, I know, but putting in the work now will mean you can use your successful method in the future.

Thanks for the message!

So I still haven’t done the second dose because it seemed to be holding it but now finally (after about 3-31/2 hours later it decides to rise ).

This is why I have such an issue with it cos its a lot slower to rise than faster acting carbs so I don’t feel comfortable doing the second injection in case I go low and then it’s like I’ve missed the boat and risen too much!

 

[SB2015]

Thanks for the message!

So I still haven’t done the second dose because it seemed to be holding it but now finally (after about 3-31/2 hours later it decides to rise ).

This is why I have such an issue with it cos its a lot slower to rise than faster acting carbs so I don’t feel comfortable doing the second injection in case I go low and then it’s like I’ve missed the boat and risen too much!

On MDI I found it difficult to manage some particular foods.
For some I did as @sg295 suggests and made a note of the carbs and content of the meal, BGs and timing of injections which I could then use to come up with a plan. however I then forgot to do the second injection sometimes!! For other meals I eventually eliminated them from my diet because it just caused too many problems.

I did find that it was less about the specific carbs I was eating and much more about the sauces with the carbs that determined how to manage them. Certainly the flexible delivery methods of a pump made life easier.

 

[sg295]

On MDI I found it difficult to manage some particular foods.
For some I did as @sg295 suggests and made a note of the carbs and content of the meal, BGs and timing of injections which I could then use to come up with a plan. however I then forgot to do the second injection sometimes!! For other meals I eventually eliminated them from my diet because it just caused too many problems.

I did find that it was less about the specific carbs I was eating and much more about the sauces with the carbs that determined how to manage them. Certainly the flexible delivery methods of a pump made life easier.

Hi, thank you for that!

Yeah there are just certain foods that I find very difficult, especially as I can be quite insulin sensitive sometimes so I have to be careful to avoid a hypo but then also try and avoid the spike around 3-3.5 hours later!

Being able to do small amounts over an extended period of time I think is really the only way forward for certain things but obviously can’t do that on MDI which is a pain! Either I have to not eat those foods or have problematic levels ‍♀️

Hoping I can eventually resolve this somehow but it might take a while!

Thanks again 🙂

 

[Inka]

Personally I wouldn’t worry too much @sg295 If you’re fairly recently diagnosed, a lot of the spikes and lows will be related to that because your own insulin will be kicking in some hours after your meal. It’s better to be slightly high than risk hypos.

Things will settle into more of a pattern later in your journey as your own insulin production reduces to a very low level. You can’t sort things during the honeymoon without risking hypos. I was told to allow the (reasonable) spikes and that was ok as long as I was back in target by the next meal.

 

[sg295]

Personally I wouldn’t worry too much @sg295 If you’re fairly recently diagnosed, a lot of the spikes and lows will be related to that because your own insulin will be kicking in some hours after your meal. It’s better to be slightly high than risk hypos.

Things will settle into more of a pattern later in your journey as your own insulin production reduces to a very low level. You can’t sort things during the honeymoon without risking hypos. I was told to allow the (reasonable) spikes and that was ok as long as I was back in target by the next meal.

That’s great, thanks so much for clarifying! 🙂

I didn’t even think of that, so much to learn isn’t there?! Even 7 months on I’m still learning!