Hello all,
If you don’t mind sharing, how much basal insulin do you take per day? I understand your rate may vary per hour if on the pump, but I’m interested in the total for the day not including boluses (as that will vary wildly based on your diet).
Right now, I’m on a split dose of Lantus: 18 units in the a.m. and 7 in the p.m. (total of 25 units).
I was on lantus and Levemir for decades until I got a CGM and was finally able to prove to my endocrinologist that basal insulin was 100% responsible for my daily nighttime lows. Without telling the Doc, I discontinued Basal insulin and only used Humalog MDI. Next visit my Dexcom Clarity reports showed no more lows, 98%+ TIR and std dev of 20. She said that she would continue to leave the Lantus in my prescriptions in case I would ever want to go back on it.
The basal insulin was causing both night time lows as well as causing weight gain. I finally regained control of my life after going off of Basal insulin. So for me my total Basal insulin units/day is 0
Tresiba 12 units
From 7,5 to 10 units, Fiasp, Omnipod.
Novolog in pump, 12-13 units per day.
My Lantus dose changes depending on the time of the month. It tends to change when I get my Cimza. As the med works on helping with inflammation causes due to my other many AI conditions, it goes up a bit; could also be because inflammation from crohn’s is increasing. However, at the 2nd or 3rd week, my numbers are beautiful. Today I’m at 16u, during this month I’ve been as high as 25u and have gone as low 15u.
Sounds like I take 2x as much as some of you! And my Endo says I don’t take very much compared to his other Type 1 patients.
My daily basal is 18 units. Some set sights require more and some require less.
I’m even worse. I just checked my pump history and I’m anywhere between 21 and 50 basal units a day, not counting boluses. I guess it’s a little confusing with a semi-closed loop pump, though, since the numbers are always changing and food does play a factor. Like, I don’t bolus anymore for low carb counts if there is also protein and fat to slow the carb absorption, I just let Control-IQ ramp up my basal as needed.
The short answer is 19 units/day, 13 from my pump and 6 units of Tresiba delivered via pen.
The longer answer is that it’s a tough to tease out my actual “basal” insulin each day as I use an automated insulin dosing system (pump + CGM + iPhone algorithm) that employs pump temporary basal rates in response to CGM readings. So part of my basal delivery is actually doing some of the work of meal boluses and corrections.
My current total daily dose is about 25 units per day.
My daily basal dosage is 14 Units (Humalog, via pump)
20 units with medium active DP right now. I say that because DP really makes mine vary.
Weeks, months who knows…
24 units Levemir.
Daily basal is 19 units.
30 units. Pretty consistnet over the past 20 years.
5’9", 160 lbs.
In general, theres a formula that they use to see if your close to where they expect…
The general calculation for the body’s daily insulin requirement is:
Total Daily Insulin Requirement(in units of insulin)
= Weight in Pounds ÷ 4
Alternatively, if you measure your body weight in kilograms:
Total Daily Insulin Requirement (in units of insulin)
= 0.55 X Total Weight in Kilograms
My total is about 20 units give and take, if I use the formula it should have been 35 units. I do high carb and don´t excercise. So I guess it once again boils down to YDMV.
I think they use formula as a starting point, but hopefully most don’t use as “expected” use if you have a different number with good control. And primarily its based on weight, which can flucuate for many, but hormones and monthly cycles can also impact insulin sensitivity.
The article to calculate ratios is under the heading of type 2 diabetes. But it is the same chart they use under the type 1 category too…
It seemed low for me. But, I think my endo has used it. I think they use it in the hospital to deliver MI. I think that’s why I tend to run ultra high there.