struggling with carb counting

[MarcLister]

I have also worked out my ratio using the 500 rule,, but i have a question with this. My ratio works out at 1:15, however i find i am actually more like 1:11.5, (taken me couple of weeks to suss this but think this is accurate now!)

Tracey, could you help me work out my ratio then? Haven't really learned how to, and my DSNs certainly haven't told me that I needed to.

If it helps, I had a blood sugar level of 6.2 before breakfast and I took 9 units for 80g of carbohydrates. I had some toast with honey on one. 😎 Then at lunch my blood sugar was 3.2, so way too low. So 9 units for 80g is 1 unit for 8.88g of carbohydrates. Which is too much for me. I don't know why I tried 9 units and not 8 as I could have tested 1 unit of insulin for 10g of carbohydates.

At lunch I had 92g of carbohydrates. I took 7 units of insulin. I went from 3.2 to 7.2 blood sugar from before lunch to before dinner. 7.2 is better for me than 3.2. 7 units for 92g is 1 unit for 13g. So I reckon I could be needing about 1 unit of insulin for 13.5g to 14g of carbohydrates.

How am I doing so far then on working my insulin to carbohydrate ratio? 🙂

Just managed to get 8.9 for my 11pm Levemir shot which is within the 7 to 10 range I've set. 🙂

 

[aymes]

Tracey, could you help me work out my ratio then? Haven't really learned how to, and my DSNs certainly haven't told me that I needed to.

If it helps, I had a blood sugar level of 6.2 before breakfast and I took 9 units for 80g of carbohydrates. I had some toast with honey on one. 😎 Then at lunch my blood sugar was 3.2, so way too low. So 9 units for 80g is 1 unit for 8.88g of carbohydrates. Which is too much for me. I don't know why I tried 9 units and not 8 as I could have tested 1 unit of insulin for 10g of carbohydates.

At lunch I had 92g of carbohydrates. I took 7 units of insulin. I went from 3.2 to 7.2 blood sugar from before lunch to before dinner. 7.2 is better for me than 3.2. 7 units for 92g is 1 unit for 13g. So I reckon I could be needing about 1 unit of insulin for 13.5g to 14g of carbohydrates.

How am I doing so far then on working my insulin to carbohydrate ratio? 🙂

Just managed to get 8.9 for my 11pm Levemir shot which is within the 7 to 10 range I've set. 🙂

Sounds like you've made a good start on it! One thing worthwhile mentioning is that a lot of people have different ratios for different times of the day so rather than comparing breakfast and lunch for example you may be better off keeping good records for say three days using what you think is likely to be your ratio and them comparing each time of day's numbers separately.

I did the dafne course which really helped me with my ratios and on that we all started on a 1unit:10g carbs regeime and went from there, adapting ratios up or down by 5g carb increments until we got where we need to be. It's important if you can to try and only change one thing at a time (eg if you think your breakfast and lunch ratios need changing try just doing one, seeing how you get on with that for a few days then adapt the other) so that you know for sure what has caused any changes. And of course it's important to get your basal rate right first as that will give you a good basis for checking your bolus habits- if your basal is wrong it is difficult to get a good idea of what is happening.

It's of course important to discuss any changes like the above with you dsn before starting them but I hope the above is of some use (and not too confusing!).

A

 

[MarcLister]

Sounds like you've made a good start on it! One thing worthwhile mentioning is that a lot of people have different ratios for different times of the day so rather than comparing breakfast and lunch for example you may be better off keeping good records for say three days using what you think is likely to be your ratio and them comparing each time of day's numbers separately.

I did the dafne course which really helped me with my ratios and on that we all started on a 1unit:10g carbs regeime and went from there, adapting ratios up or down by 5g carb increments until we got where we need to be. It's important if you can to try and only change one thing at a time (eg if you think your breakfast and lunch ratios need changing try just doing one, seeing how you get on with that for a few days then adapt the other) so that you know for sure what has caused any changes. And of course it's important to get your basal rate right first as that will give you a good basis for checking your bolus habits- if your basal is wrong it is difficult to get a good idea of what is happening.

It's of course important to discuss any changes like the above with you dsn before starting them but I hope the above is of some use (and not too confusing!).

A

My basal is pretty good. It is about 6 in the morning on average. Very happy with that. I always take 12 units of Levemir so I can have a look at how my blood sugar changes from 11pm to breakfast knowing the Levemir is always the same amount injected at 11pm.

 

[diagonall]

Hi again sue, have read the info on basal testing again. It is very interesting and can see why its important. But am a bit confused as it meant for fine tuning when on a pump? which i am not.

Also, i would not find it a problem to do the overnight test but as for the others not sure how i would go without all those meals and feel ok, i am very active and my days off are always split, (IE not two together), not sure when i would find this easy to do. if on a pump and not working for a week i would have no problem with this though.

Hello tracey,
You do not need to miss all of those meals in one day 😱 just do the test on different days. IE miss breakfast one day lunch another and evening meal on another.
The same rules apply whether it is pump or basal. Levemir and Lantus are known as the poor mans pump in the USA.
Doing the basal test you can show your team you have a major problem or not as the case may be. So it's your way into getting a pump.
So if you have 2 types of days do the tests on a more active days over a week or 2 if you need too. Same as none active days.
This again is more ammo for a pump. 😉

Sue

 

[diagonall]

Tracey, could you help me work out my ratio then? Haven't really learned how to, and my DSNs certainly haven't told me that I needed to.
http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_food_diet/500rule.php

If it helps, I had a blood sugar level of 6.2 before breakfast and I took 9 units for 80g of carbohydrates. I had some toast with honey on one. 😎 Then at lunch my blood sugar was 3.2, so way too low. So 9 units for 80g is 1 unit for 8.88g of carbohydrates. Which is too much for me. I don't know why I tried 9 units and not 8 as I could have tested 1 unit of insulin for 10g of carbohydates.
How accurate is your carb counting?

At lunch I had 92g of carbohydrates. I took 7 units of insulin. I went from 3.2 to 7.2 blood sugar from before lunch to before dinner. 7.2 is better for me than 3.2. 7 units for 92g is 1 unit for 13g. So I reckon I could be needing about 1 unit of insulin for 13.5g to 14g of carbohydrates.


How am I doing so far then on working my insulin to carbohydrate ratio? 🙂

Just managed to get 8.9 for my 11pm Levemir shot which is within the 7 to 10 range I've set. 🙂

You need to make sure your basal is correct through out the day before you try sorting your carb ratio. The link for basal testing is in this thread somewhere. Your numbers on the whole do not look to far out though so a bit of tweaking and you are there. Until it all changes again

For some reason my link is not clickable so you need to copy and paste it.

 

[Barb]

Excellent advice.

 

[Barb]

Should have added AJL to last post!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I agree Barb

However, to avoid confusion and people responding to earlier posts in the thread (which is 3 years old) I'm temporarily closing it until it drops down the list a bit more 🙂