Thats exactly what I was about to ask! How many times and when to test after eating tonight when I do my first shot. So after the 2 hour mark the risk of going low is small?? I was trying to figure it all out…so it starts working in 15 minutes, peaks in an hour and half, and is gone in 4 hours correct? Do I need to test after the 2 hour mark or how does this all work? Do you continue to drop after 4 hours or does it just stabilize?
I have read Bernsteins but only when I thought i was a type 2 so I will be rereading it. I currently am reading Using Insulin and next will be reading Think Like a Pancreas which I already bought.
I personally think I would test positive for GAD antibodies bc I have other autoimmune diseases and my cpeptide is so low but I’m not gonna push for one if I already have my LADA diagnosis and insulin thatd just be a waste of money at this point.
I was trying to figure out the carb thing…okay so if you eat slow digesting carbs such as beans does your bg go low until they are digested?? I will not be eating any white carbs. The closest thing I will be eating is diff types of rice I LOVE rice but will be sticking to 1/4-1/2 a cup only. I am planning on eating about 25 carbs tonight, he told me 15 for every unit but I think I’ll start wih 25 lol. I am going to have 1/2 a cup of red beans and rice (20carbs) with turkey sausage and a sugar free chocolate popsicle (4carbs)…I ACTUALLY GET DESSERT!!! I don’t know what to do with myself!! Rice and dessert!? haha
I am still going to be low carbing only eating a total of about 60-70 carbs per day and just still exercising after my breakfast and lunch carbs until I get more comfortable with the insulin thing and using it without my husband being here to save me lol.
-Jennifer
Hope that’s interesting…so when you make some of your own insulin you actually have LESS lows?? That’s good to know. I plan on eating about 60-70 carbs per day, I would like to take the insulin thing very slow and still semi low carb.
Thanks for he reassurance Natalie I really needed to hear that. 
Ive already bought glucose tabs trust me they will be in every pocket and in every room of my house lol and I plan on ONLY using those for lows as I have gone a year without sugar and do not plan on ever eating it again because I was a sugar/carboholic before diagnosis. I want to use only glucose tabs so I am not feeding my insulin and gaining weight by eating whatever I want to raise my lows.
Thanks Anthony but I just finished reading it lol great read! I’m about to start reading think like a pancreas now.
Thanks for the advice…I think I am going to continue eating low carb though so I can use as little insulin as possible for as long as possible I’m not a big fan of bolusing for whatever and risking hypos and weight gain lol but more power to ya! Eat up girlfriend!
At the moment I am using blood oranges to treat lows. I normally have to bolus for them which is a shame as I love them sooooo much. It’s like having OJ but with extra fibre, so all is good. They are also my night-time treat if my BG is a little low before going to bed.
Lows happen, I presume you will be hypo aware. With a bolus insulin, you will have several different kinds of lows. These are described in books like “Using Insulin.” Each can be differnent, but with just bolusing for major meals, treatment should be straightforward. First hypo type is an error in timing, typically you take your insulin too soon, like at a restaurant and they tell you your meal is delayed. Since you will have insulin on board, you may need to be ready to eat as many carbs as your meal. Hopefully, your meal comes quickly and you don’t hurt anyone.
A second class of hypo is a bolus mismatch, generally dose is too high either from carb counting error or just stuff happens. In this case, unless you made a huge mistake, you will typically have a mild hypo and can treat, sometimes with even less than a glucose tab.
A third class of hypo, which you may not have is after 3 hours or so, when the tail of you bolus reacts with your basal insulin and causes your fasting number to drop, again, this is mild and can be treated with a very small correction.
Finally, while the above hypos are all things that happen, you will over time learn to avoid them, stuff happens. Life is unpredictable. Stress can make your blood sugar high, exercise can make it low/. Everything, and I mean everything from carb counting, activity estimation, the math of figuring your dosing, and even dialing the right injection is prone to errors, not just operator errors, but variations. So you just deal with what life shoves your way.
I’ve actually not had any problems with lows, I’ve had a few mild ones. I can tell they are coming on and have been prepared to treat them. The hardest part is treating appropriately, managing your fear. It is all too easy to just chomp down on some of those tabs and be safe, only to find your blood sugar is high. Then you are just tempted to correct. The best way to get off the rollercoaster is to not get on it.
ps. I bought a bag of valentine sweet tarts for cheap, individual plastic bags (6g each I think), pure dextrose like glucose tabs, but each heart is only like 1g. 1g of carb may well raise your blood sugar 5 mg/dl.
Thanks BSC for the thorough explanation. When you say fasting do you mean during the night after my dinner bolus through the morning I could go low or what?? Good idea with the valentines sweet tarts…I’ll look for those as long as they are the same thing as reg glucose tabs because I don’t want to get into the habit of treating with candy. So say I am at 50mg does that mean I would only need to eat 4 sweettarts and get my bg to 70 or how does this work? I def do NOT want to overtreat! So say I went low after my dinner bolus and I treated, do I only treat once and that fixes it or do I fight lows all night??
The standard rule is 15/15, i.e. eat 15g carb, wait 15 minutes and test again.
However as always each person’s mileage varies. Try 15/15 first and see how it works for you. It could be that you need more or less than 15.
For me 10g is enough so once I figured out that, I started keeping pre-measured 10g carb hypo cures in little bags around the house.
The temptation initially will be to panic-eat but you will soon get out of this habit once you realize that only a very small amount of carb is enough to treat a hypo.
Yeah thats all I hear reiterated in every diabetes book 15 carbs 15 minutes BUT if as BCS says 1 carb raises you about 5mg then 10 carbs would raise me 50g. so say I’m at 60 and eat 10 carbs then I’d be at 110 so that makes more sense. I think if I am not freaking out too much lol I will try the 10 carbs 15 minute thing.
I also read to chew first glucose tab up then let it dissolve under your tongue so it goes straight into the blood stream…never even thought of this!
Well, i’d recommend trying out the standard advice at least once before tweaking the rules lol. It also depends how low you are to begin with of course. E.g. if I am at 3.5 (63) and above, and I know I don’t have any more rapid-acting insulin on board, or if I’m going to eat soon, I don’t bother to correct.
Humalog has a peak that is over in about 2 hrs, so if you eat at 6pm, any mismatch with your bolus covering your meal will occur in that time frame. But humalog has a duration of 6-8 hours, so later in the evening if you usually have a perfect fasting number, that tail action may drive you slightly low. What I would do is just test before bed and just eat a cracker if you seem a little low. Some people actually suggest a protein meal like cottage cheese which is digested over time and gives you just a little blood sugar boost.
If you actually go low (< 70 mg/dl) then treat. On Sunday, I bolused for lunch, I actually underbolused and was 168 mg/dl 2 hrs after lunch. But by dinner time I was 70 mg/dl. The long action of my Regular insulin had stacked up on top of my basal. I ate a cracker and I was fine.
When I treat, I target 80-85 mg/dl, the “normal” fasting. May CDEs will tell you to target 100 mg/dl. Thus if you had a blood sugar of 50 mg/dl, and if you target 85 mg/dl you would eat seven 1g sweet tarts. You would get to eat a whole little package!! An overtreat is a big bowl of ice cream, a chocolate bar and an entire package of dorittos. You will do fine. And remember as Lila notes, give it time, you won’t feel better immediately.
I don’t think there is a “standard” amount that a carb raises blood sugar. It is indiviudal and people respond differently. It is not even consistent for me, all the time. Sometimes 15 grams raises it more than other times. Time of day, what you have already eaten, when you last exercised, and hormonal flucttuations all play a role. You will probably need to experiement a little to see what works for you. But 15/15 is a good starting place.
How do you know if you do not have anymore insulin on board? After the 4 hour mark??
Good examples thanks bsc! So what range would I be in before bed if I needed to eat something? Under 80 or what??
The average life time of Humalog is 4 hours, but that differs from person to person. Children tend to use it up faster, and very old people more slowly. As with everything else, you’ll have to do a lot of testing and experimenting to find out where YOUR mark is.
My bet is since you don’t have a basal, you probably won’t have to worry about anything. But have cracker if you are below 80mg/dl. Things will be different with a basal insulin.
Yeah thats when I’ll be a nervous wreck lol I’ll def have to get a cgm when I’m onbasal!! I just got back from the store and got a big bag of 44 packets of those sweettarts, you were right they had the same ingredients as the glucose tabs I bought. But in the sweettart baggies I got theres only 8 hearts& 9 carbs per bag…hmm…wonder if one bag;ll do the trick. Thanks for the advice!
Well I probably disremembered. Don’t forget to read all the sayings on the hearts so you fully appreciate each and every one.