Hey… I know everyone takes really different amounts of insulin, but I was wondering, how do the amounts of insulin which you bolus compare to your total daily basal?
The reason I’m asking this is because when I first got diagnosed, my nurse said that I could expect my total daily basal insulin to be about the same as my total daily bolus insulin, but it’s REALLY not.
I take three units of lantus a day, and my insulin to carb ratios are 1:5 for breakfast and 1:10 for lunch and dinner. I don’t do low carb much, so I end up taking about 30 units of novorapid a day. That means that my basal is only 1/11 of my total insulin, not half of it!
I keep having to lower my lantus dose because of lows, and I think eventually I’m going to get to the point where I won’t need any basal insulin at all! I used to be on 10 units of lantus a day, but it just keeps dropping, and my I:C ratios aren’t changing at all. Could this be some kind of super delayed honeymoon period?
Has anybody else got weird ratios like this, or ever experienced anything like it?
I take 5 injections a day: 2 x Determir (Levimir) and 3 x Novorapid, each injection is roughly the same amount of units. I guess it’s hourses for courses…i.e. whatever works for you!
Emma,
Do you think that it could be your Novorapid causing the lows? You said you are not low carbing, so you are taking a fair amount of that. You might try lowering your carbs and your rapid insulin a bit and see if that helps. I take 4 units of Levemir in the morning and about 3 of Novolog for each meal and I don’t go low from the basal as long as I don’t overdo the exercise.
Emma,
I have to agree with Libby about the cause of the lows. I stay pretty low carb now and have lowered my basal doses, but the best protection for me against the lows was to lower my fast acting insulin.
And just a question here, do you treat your lows when they reach a certain number or when you start having symptoms? I have my best kidney function when i keep me around 70 to 100. And i don’t have any problem with being lower than that if I don’t have any symptoms. I feel the most comfortable keeping me low. But i keep me low carb and always factor in extra walking or exercise when i shoot my insulin.
I’m new to this game, but one thing I do know is everyone is different There is a really good book called “Using Insulin” another good one is “Think Like a Pancreas”
I hate to give advice on this as I am new, but these two books explained a lot for me.
I agree that it’s usually the fast acting that causes lows. 1:5 seems pretty high, but of course everyone is different. I’m 1:10 for everthing and I take 15 units of Lantus everyday. Maybe talk to your endo about experimenting with your I:C ratios instead of just the basal? When I go low without exercise I can usually count on it being my Novolog and I work with that. If I’m going to be more active, I work with my basal dose.
Your story sounds very similar to mine. I started with a small amount of lantus and much higher one of Novo. Over time, I had to reduce the amount of lantus multiple times until I got to the point of not using latus at all.
In my case, the reason of this is that once my honeymoon kicked in, my pancreas started to produce insulin. Today, it produces all my basal requirements and I only need to inject to cover the carbs I eat.
I have gone in the opposite direction. I started on only rapid because my fasting levels were so low. A few weeks ago I added Levemir and now I don’t need as much rapid. We are all different!
I began to experience the Honeymoon phase a few months after being diagnosed, and it seemed to occur at 2 to 3 week intervals with carb ratios ranging from: 1:5 to 1:30. For the last 5 months my basal has worked it’s way up to 10 units and my steady ratio has hung around 1:15, that was until this month…
I’m now on my 14th day in a row of NO bolus shots, and for the past 3 weeks I have slowly decreased my basal rate down to 1 unit per day (for 3 days now).
There is a really good book called “Using Insulin” another good one is “Think Like a Pancreas”