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Type 2 insulin

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Charl

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Type 2 here, on metformin tablet form and insulin mix, have been on the insulin for about a year, had a few problems, hypos through the night, usually because i was having a salad and perhaps 1 jacket potato, discussed with my nurse where she advised lowering my dosage when i wouldnt be eating many carbs, i did that by maybe a couple of units and everything was ok no hypos and readings in morning ok, this coming weekend im off for a couple of days away with friends and they've booked somewhere for evening meal at 9.00pm where the menu consists of pizza's and pasta dishes where i will be having one or the other, my insulin is taken around 6.30 in morning and around the same time evening with food, has anyone changed there times to suit, was thinking about having morning one around 8.30 then the evening one before my meal, would it be wise to have 2 units more to counteract the evening carbs, sorry for such a long story.
 
Depends on type of insulin that you are using!
 
Hi Charl,

At diagnosis i was put on Novomix 30 and after a few months found the inflexibility a draw-back just as you have. Eventually I was offered the option of moving onto separate basal and bolus which gives the flexibility to adjust with food choices and meal times.

Maybe a good option for you?
 
The trouble with your Novomix is that if you increase it to cover the extra carbs in your meal, you also increase the basal/slow insulin it contains which could put you at risk of hypos in the night.

Were you given a carb amount to aim for each meal?
 
That’s probably safer @Charl As said above, a basal/bolus regime would give you a lot more flexibility around meals. It does mean more injections but most people feel the pay-off is worth it.
 
Let me give you my thoughts on this.
Changing the dose to suit the meal will, as explained above will not work very well unless you can use a short acting insulin. You wouls need a long acting insulin as well and use four or five shots each day. Such very small doses would be difficult to adjust, which is why this is not often used for type 2.

You need a certain amount of food for fuel, usually as carbohydrate, each day. Let us call that amount 100%. In a non-diabetic it matters little if this is taken at one meal or even if more than 100% is taken at one meal, as long as the average over a period is about 100%, weifgt will not be lost or gained. "Fuel" will be stored or released as needed.

As a diabetic you do not have the ability to deal with such large amounts of carbohydrates, an if you try this you get high BG all the complications that that might bring.

The best way to deal with this, I think, is "little and often". You should try to eat 33% at each of three meals or 25% at each of four meals. Does not need to be exact just spread it out through the day. High carbohydrate then low will cause problems.

In practical terms - eat half your pizza with some salad and your salad with half a pizza.
 
I take Novomix 30 but I take a large dose and it is more like using sledgehammer to force my BG somewhere in the 'normal' zone. I have no precise control and have never had a hypo.
 
It is rare for a T2 to need (or to be able to use) "large doses" pf insulin. Most would use a toffee hammer not a sledge.
 
It is rare for a T2 to need (or to be able to use) "large doses" pf insulin. Most would use a toffee hammer not a sledge.
As I understood it Type 2 diabetics often need much larger doses of insulin than your average Type 1, due to insulin resistance.
 
It is rare for a T2 to need (or to be able to use) "large doses" pf insulin. Most would use a toffee hammer not a sledge.
I’m not sure I agree with this. T2s are often very resistant to insulin and may use really large doses (though equally some may use lower doses, I’ve used 1:20 ratios before). I’ve been told my doses are very low for a T2 as they’re more in line with the doses a T1 might take.
 
At the moment I take a total of 68 units of Levemir daily and about45 - 55 units of Novorapid. I don't think this is unusually high for a Type 2.
 
Hope you are enjoying your break away, and your BGs are playing nicely @Charl

Let us know how your experiments worked out 🙂
 
No, think i will just stick to the same dosage and have my evening one later if that makes sense.
That’s what I would do
Im also taking NovaMix 30 & Metformin and would usually take both @ breakfast and evening meal times
 
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