So, if i'm dropping down to 60's 5.5 - 6 hours after breakfast - bolus, that's my basal being too high correct? Geez, every time I have a couple days of good numbers on MDI's and think I'll just stay with MDI's, everything goes to pot..ha! I'm dropping, again, lowish in middle of the night, waking to eat and rebound highs in AM. So, should I drop my AM Levemir dose by 1 unit? I like my fasting around 90 - 100, i'm going to 60's with NO activity or exercise. Can't figure this out. Omnipod here i come.
When you say you eat in the middle of the night, what are you eating? Me? I pop a few glucose tabs or that new Level gel cuz if I don't, I'm in the kitchen drinking OJ, eating a banana, slamming a candy bar ... ALL of that ... and I can't stop because I'm shaking and ravenous. Those are the dangers of getting out of bed for me.
I can't really address the basal question because I'm not sure I have that figured out for myself, but man, I do love OmniPod.
i have the hardest time from say 1am - 4am every night. that's also when our bodies natural start producing more hormones. so, i drop, maybe not even LOW, but drop enough to give me a 'low response', which my endo said can release those hormones to make one feel low, etc...and get up and eat, sometimes it's peanut butter or just cheese, i don't slam a bunch of carbs, i don't even have them in my house, but then I wake up like sometimes at 200...
Yes, Sarah, I would suggest lowering your basal by a unit and see how that goes for a few days. You shouldn't have to get up and eat. But if you are low during the night, peanut butter or cheese are not particularly effective to raise lows, especially if you want to get back to sleep soon! If you are actually low I would suggest glucose tabs. You say "low response". Are you actually testing? If you are 80 or higher I definitely wouldn't suggest eating and waking up at 200. Also if you are doing that it's pretty hard to see what your basal is doing. But, yes, if you are low at night and low 6 hours after breakfast, I would reduce your basal.
You will definitely find it easier to manage your basals when you get on the pump!
thanks. i don't know what is going on, i just ate 36 grams of carbs for lunch, bolused 4 units 1:9 and my blood sugars aren't even moving above 78...that was 1.5 hours ago, afraid insulin is gonna kick in and hit hard.
I have a CGM and i'm dropping then eat in middle of night, but not carbs, then wake up high so it's rebound effect, i guess. IDK. endo said too many lows and depleting my glugacon response, liver too.
zoe, should i eat more...1.5 hours after bolus and i haven't gone up at all, is the bolus gonna peak? sometimes i just don't know what to do, so frickin sensitive sometimes.
i usually do 1:9...i don't know. i just ate some jelly beans, don't understand this. have to just wait it out i suppose. glad i have a CGM. maybe i shouldn't have bolused 10 grams for protein now? every day different from the day before, it seems. thanks for your replies.
You'll work it out ... it just takes a bit of time. Does your doctor have a nutritionist you can spend time with? I've found mine to be a wealth of valuable information.
I personally don't bolus for protein unless I am eating very low carb, like when I just eat an omelet for breakfast if I only bolus 3 carbs for vegies I will be high, so I bolus for 6. We are all different, but bolusing for 10 grams of protein sounds like a lot. Since you are new at this you might want to stick to bolusing for carbs for now;the more variables the harder it is to figure this all out; just my opinion. Ultimately it works out the same because we alter our I:C to adjust for our results.
I wouldn't worry about it too much, Sarah. Remember that in addition to your insulin working, your carbs are digesting as well. If you ate "a few jelly beans" that should be more than enough to compensate for your perhaps over-bolusing a bit.Personally I don't treat unless I have an actual low. That's why I have no interest in a CGM - speaking just for myself it would make me obsess too much!
Ren - we all have different I:C ratios. All a person can do is see what their own results are. If 1:9 always results in lows, than it's too much for that person. Also, many of us have different I:C ratios for different times of day; mine for example are 1:6, 1:11 and 1:15 for the three meals.
