T1D, hypos and insulin

[everydayupsanddowns]

It might be worth skipping meals on a day off in a couple of ‘sections’ to check your basal coverage.

As has been suggested it looks like your experiments show your basal is doing all the work, but in classic (post honeymoon) T1 management basal and bolus are often 50:50 more or less - usually between 60:40 and 40:60.

The job of your basal is *only* to deal with the trickle of glucose from the liver, so if you want to be in a situation where you can alter your meal doses based on your carb intake and also your level of activity over the next 4-5 hours, it might be helpful to not be relying on something you’ve already injected and which you can't alter?

There’s a write up of how to check your basal dose on this page

Basal Testing in Diabetes - Diabetes Support

Managing diabetes effectively requires constant monitoring and adjustments to ensure blood sugar levels remain stable. One key aspect of this management process is basal testing, which focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of basal insulin in the body. In this blog article, we’ll explore the...

www.diabetes-support.org.uk

 

[leonS]

You are right when you say that the basal insulin provides the key ro allow cells to use glucose. BUT you are also providing some of your own insulin. If this were not the case your BG would be very high.

You might not even need the base insulin at the moment so the idea of reducing it is a very good one.

Unfortunatly your imune system will get around to killing off a few more beta nothing that you can do to stop this, and you will then need more insulin. You must keep testing.

 

[Ivostas66]

I had similar issues for just over a year after diagnosis, with spikes and drops linked to the 'honeymoon period' (whoever coined that phrase needs shooting as it is anything but a honeymoon!) You will start to work out how your body reacts to certain foods and also bolus insulin on different days. For example, I know that when I have a full day teaching (5 period day, with meetings) I will need much less bolus with meals as I am constantly 'on the go', but a day when I am fairly sedentary (one or two lessons and then in my office marking or planning) I will need more.

As others have suggested a carb counting course or meeting with a dietitian would be really useful. Also when you inject your bolus can have a big impact upon its effect. I know I have to inject about 30 mins before breakfast otherwise I will have a spike, but then can inject much closer to eating at lunch and evening meal. I also inject more at breakfast than later during the day (1-7g carbs at breakfast and 1-11g later in the day), which is something that only really comes from trial and error over the past couple of years.