Pumping Insulin advocates about a 50/50 basal/ bolus, but it seems to me that if you’re eating low-carb, you’re probably going to be at a different proportion than that. At least that’s what I’m telling myself because Clara’s 30 bolus / 70 basal or so. I belive I’ve asked this question before, but you know what they say, “Live and Learn … and then Forget.”
Great quote! I always use “the more I know the less I know,” but now I guess Ill change that too “the more I know the more I forget.” =^)
As for insulin. I am currently 80/20 basal/bolus. But my basal rates are dropping. So I very well may end up 70/30.
I never thought about this. My basil is 17.50 per 24 hours and I take around 6 units of bolus per day so, what does that make my proportion?
oops, never mind I found it on my pump 72% to 28%. Good to know.
I’m on a 33/66 basal/bolus. Literally 9 Lantus/18 Humalog. Total 27 units. Have been on this for over 9 years. Totally different. None of the usual formulas ever worked. But this removed all of what they called “brittleness”, and no one could argue with it.
The guidelines in Using Insulin and Pumping Insulin generally don’t apply to Dr. B. The guidelines are developed for a diet with typically 45% calories from carbs. In fact, if you go to diabetesnet.com (Walsh’s site) and use his calculator, it only goes down to 30% of calories from carbs.
Walsh’s method is based on calculating your total daily dose (TDD) as a combination of your basal needs and the amount needed to cover your dietary carbs. Your basal needs will stay (generally) the same as you lower your carbs, but since your I:C ratio is a function of your body’s insulin sensitivity the total amount of insulin needed to cover the dietary carbs will fall. All this throws off Walsh’s calculations for TDD and basal/bolus ratio. I think most low carbers take the 50/50 ratio as a starting point and adjust it from there.