I don’t really understand by the discussions if I am taking a lot more insulin than others considering their high numbers. I take 78 Lantus at night and 16 Novalog 2xaday and 20 Novalog at dinner. My blood sugar average is 151. I do go low at times and higher at times. Any feedback would be appreciated.
hope this is what you are looking for…Everyone is different - some are insulin resistant and some are insulin sensitive. I am very sensitive-- I am on a pump and take a total of 17 - 19 unites per day. My BS drops 100mg for every unit I take and my insulin to carb ratio varies depending on time of day— 1 to 30 in the morning
1 to 15 at lunch
1 unit to 25 carbs in the evening.
So my bolus(shot) amount is determined by how many carbs i am going to eat at that time.
I was not always this sensitve…when i was on shots, Iook about 60 units per day…NPH and Regular (Beef/Pork)
I use a pump so its a little different but here it goes …
I take 1.2 units per hour all day, that is like your lantus so that comes to approx 28 per day.
I take 1 unit per 7 grams of carbs each time I eat or drink anything with carbs in it. Amount differs each day depending on what I eat.
The insulin I use is Humalog.
Sherry,
You have Type 2 diabetes, which means your body is resistant to insulin. So it takes a lot more insulin to lower your blood sugar than it does for someone who is NOT insulin resistant. That’s why you are taking more insulin than many of the people who post here, who have Type 1.
One thing, though, that you can learn from the people who have Type 1 is that they don’t use a set dose, but instead they match the amount of insulin they use to the amount of carbohydrate in their meal. This is the “Insulin/Carb” ratio. If you can learn how much insulin you need for a given number of grams of carb, you can get better control. This works best, though, if you don’t try to eat huge amounts of carbs. Thirty-forty grams per meal are much easier to match with insulin without risking lows than is more.
Often nutritionists and doctors tell people to eat a lot more carbs than that with a fixed dose of insulin because it is easier than teaching them how to use insulin properly.
A very helpful site that you could use to help get your blood sugar down is http://alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm
I know you aren’t “newly diagnosed” but the technique described there has helped hundreds if not thousands of people with Type 2 get A1cs in the 5% range, many of them starting with blood sugars much higher than you are now.
But your current average is too high. The endocrinologists suggest staying under 140 by 2 hours and keeping the A1c at 6.5% or less. Doing that usually requires cutting back on carbs.
Thank you all so much for your imput. I will look up the web site and see what I can learn. I never could understand how to figure the carbs and insulin. That is why I am on a set amt.
I’m a T2 on insulin. I take 15u of Novolin NPH twice a day and 1:10 for the Novolin R (one unit of R for every 10 carbs I’ll be eating). I also have a sliding scale of 1 unit for every 30 points, starting at 160 on up. Though, I’ll take that sometimes if i"m at 150. I’m still afraid of having a low, if I’m any lower than 150 and try to correct that. I’m rarely over 140 though, and that’s usually only two hours after a meal, and it continues to go down.
I agree tho, that you need to learn your I:C ratio. They usually have you start out at a 1:15 ratio, and go from there and fine tune it to what works best for you. :0)
Further to other replies, it also depends on your weight as well.