Yes but I also eat and exercise accordingly. I have a lot of muscle mass which helps. I eat lower carb (not no carb or keto) and take long walks AM and PM. Typically I just need the one shots 14 units. On my pump I didn’t bolus I only needed 12.95 units per day.
BUT and it is a huge but, my life on the pump was awful I has site failure almost daily by the end. My active lifestyle and the pump outgrew each other. At one point it was my life line turned into a ball and chain.
My meal sugars yesterday were… 79, 81, 72, 92 and 77 with a peak of maybe 120. Banner day! But some are better than others as I’m sure you know!!! I consider 150 high now.
Still your control is incredible even though you do exercise and eat low carb, same as me. Your numbers yesterday were perfect! I’m using the OmniPod pump and Dexcom cgm and find both of them extremely helpful. I don’t find them problematic for activities and thank goodness, knock on wood, I’ve had no issue with sites. I’ve only been using them for about 2 years. I don’t think you need a pump though since your control is already excellent! 
Physiology textbooks say that a person with a normal pancreas produces about 30 to 50 units of insulin per day, depending on weight.
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@Ahnalira, while your TDD is highly dependent upon your weight, your daily carb diet, and your own insulin sensitivity, I am surprised nobody mentioned the “standard” equation:
TDD = 0.55 * (weight in kg) = (weight in lbs)/ 4.
Lots of caveats – I discussed some of them here:
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I was just about to post the same equation
To continue the standard, your bolus would be about half your TDD and your basal would be the other half.
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A long time ago I read a study published in the 1970s which found that in type 1 diabetics needing less than 0.5 units of insulin per day per kilogram of body weight per day, there was less development of complications.
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The insulin the better is my philosophy… as long as blood sugars are tended, of course 
When I started using the medical cannabis tincture in March 2017, My basal dosage averaged between 23 and 25 units, and my bolus dosage averaged between 19 and 22 units, totaling 42–44 units per day. I eat low carb and intermittent fast for the past 3 years and have maintained these amounts for the whole time.
After two weeks of using the tincture, insulin requirements have slowly continued to drop. It’s October now… so 7 months later, and my average basal is now 19 to 20 units per day, and average bolus is 11 to 13 units per day, with a total of between 30 to 32 units per day.
From these equations, it would appear to say–to me at least–that the mc tincture improved my insulin sensitivity considerably. I’ve had type 1 diabetes for almost 35 years now so I would be surprised if my pancreas started producing insulin successfully again… but I’m willing 
Speaking to the study you cite @Seydlitz my experience concurs 
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A significant drop, @Ahnalira. Anecdote is not proof – but it is still interesting!
How do you use the tincture, exactly? And what made you decide to use it for D control?
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TDD = weight lbs/4…so for me 140/4= 10 units which is what I take now. But my total insulin produced per day is what? 30 units? Is there a measurement for how much a person produces for their weight? I think I am producing some insulin myself without the 10 units of Tresiba I inject daily?
@Yoga62 I am not quite sure I understood what you wrote. Do you mean you use 10 units per day altogether, Basal+ Bolus? This is extremely low for your weight. Are you a T1 or a T2? Or, if LADA, are you still in honeymoon?
The “standard” formula has many caveats. It’s both an average across many people and an approximation. Essentially, what it says is that, if you are 140 lbs, you would expect 140 lbs T1s across the US to average out using 35 units of insulin per day, adding both basal and bolus.
So I take it that you use 10 units of basal per day. What average amount do you use for bolus?
I assume you mean if you were glucose-normal? That would be what the standard formula gives you, roughly – since you would likely use as much of your own insulin as you use exogenous insulin (that’s an assumption I am making, I don’t know that for a fact).
Hi West of Pecos! I don’t need any bolus! YAY! I take 10 units of Tresiba at night. They still don’t know what Type I am. I believe I must be producing my own insulin, just insulin deficient as I need 10 units per day. I am also taking Victoza which has helped with weight loss and decreased my blood sugar. I was 127 pounds one year ago when I started insulin. I gained 30 pounds in one month of starting insulin! I have tried everything to lose the weight and could not. So I went on Victoza July 18 2017 and have steadily lost 15 pounds. I have 15 more to go to my pre insulin weight. I was at 19 units per day of Tresiba but with Victoza have been able to decrease the insulin to 10.
I am wondering how much insulin my body is making on its own. I eat a very low carb diet. Usually 15-20 carbs 2-3 times per day max…Thanks for the help!
@Ali4 what do you mean by “moderately” low carb? Like under 60g a day?? I am trying to find my magic number, but so far I have had no luck. Tomorrow I’m attempting for one week to try BP Coffee in the a.m. followed by a lunch of protein and veg (some starchy veg, some green) and at dinner soup, salad and 1 low carb cracker with cheese. I am estimating I’m about 60g carb. I also exercise about 40 minutes every evening (elliptical, bike, weights and stretching). I’m on omnipod and I am taking more insulin than I’ve ever taken the last year and gained weight…I’m pretty miserable about it.
You are so lucky! I hope it stays that way as long as possible!
We can do the calc to figure out roughly what your body makes. The standard formula says that for 140 lbs you need about 35 units of insulin, for an average diet. Of that, “normally” half would go to basal, and half to bolus. Your basal needs are only 10 units. So, based on average numbers your body would be making about 7.5U to make up the rest.
As for bolus, an average, reasonably active 140 lb woman needs about 1,700 calories, meaning about 225 carbs for the average carb portion of the food. If you are only eating, say 60 carbs, then you are using only 60/225 = 27% of the bolus portion of the standard formula, i.e. about 5U.
So, altogether, if we use the standard formula, your body is making about 7.5 + 5 = 12.5U of endogenous insulin. This is very approximative, of course! We cannot assume that the average formula applies to you exactly, for instance. There are many sources of error in this calculation – but, for approximation purposes, it probably is not a bad eval.
Btw, if you are only using basal insulin, there is pretty much no doubt that your body is still making some insulin if your BGs are even close to reasonable, even with a low carb diet.
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Wow! you sound like a doctor! OK I will read this over again tomorrow when I am fully awake! I have fasting around 110 sometimes a little higher or lower. Have not seen any reading above 180 after eating or anytime for past 11 weeks. I hope it lasts. I am only able to get away with no bolus by the Victoza. Thanks so much!
I guess 60 but I think I eat a ton of fat and protein calories. I am more active than you so that could be a factor. I teach yoga so I am moving all day and do low impact walking AM and PM after breakfast and dinner. Plus I LOVE toning like barre workouts and pole. I have never had this much muscle.
Two things 1. I never tried BP coffee but for me personally and a few other DB I worked with all spiked with coffee even if there was no sugar or carbs in it. I refused to keep fighting with the spikes it just wasn’t worth it for me. I drink vanilla bone broth protein warm with almond milk. No blood sugar spike and healthy protein.
2. I wore an omnipod for 1.5 years and I took more insulin than I ever did on any pump or injection. It just wasn’t for me and I was convinced it was the angel on the cannula. Some people love it but my a1c was the highest it had been in over 10 years on it, finally I gave up.
Your plan doesn’t sound like there us enough calories in it. Are you hungry? I would be starving!
You are doing really well, knock on wood!
I am no doctor by any means – just comfortable with numbers 
I’d love to know what types of meals you eat! I have the biggest issue w breakfast. Even if I eat nothing till lunchtime, I rise until into the high 14s the second I get out of bed. But it’s not something I can fix w my basal rate because I’m fine until I get out of bed…be that 5am or 10am. It’s literally only when I stand up that I start rising. So annoying!!
That’s pretty typical for lots of folks—it’s a natural response the body can have to getting up. If someone’s pancreas is still producing some insulin they may not have that issue so much. Some people just take short-acting insulin/bolus with getting up (feet on the floor insulin) to cover it. I found adding metformin to my regimen as a T1 helped a lot with morning spikes. Alcohol (even just one drink) the night before pretty much eliminates it for me as well by suppressing liver output. But it’s also why I try to eat a carb-free breakfast usually, since that’s one less thing to figure into it all.
Many of us report a blood glucose rise that seems completely dependent on when we get out of bed. It is so dependable that we take an immediate dose of “when feet hit the floor” insulin.
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