I ate some ice cream and now my sugar is high. SHould I correct it and if so how much ? Do I need to set an alarm ?? Its 16mml which i thinkis like 220. Was thinking 2 or 3 units humalog
Char, do you know your ISF? That is how much one unit of insulin lowers your blood sugar? It's different for each of us. The only way to know what it is for you is to do it by trial and error. For me, my ISF is 30 during the day and 60 at night. So at night, if I was 220 and had no more IOB from meals, I would use a bit less than two units. Depending on how insulin sensitive you are, you might try 1 unit and see how it goes. I don't know what time it is where you are, but it sounds like close to bedtime? If so, I would definitely be conservative and only use one unit and then set an alarm. Keep records of how much your blood sugar is lowered so that you can begin to determine what your ISF is so you can do it with more confidence next time. Bottom line is you might consider if the ice cream was worth it, especially close to bed when you have to worry about going too low or staying high for 7-8 hours. Hope it works out.
And fyi, 16 is 288, not 220! That's really high!For me, it would take a little less than 3 units to lower that. But again, be conservative if you don't know your ISF
I would certainly set an alarm going to bed at 288. One approach might be to correct to a target of 150 and then see where you are in 2 hours or so. You might find that you need an additional bolus when you test later. That's my experience when I go to bed very high.
By the way, did you wash your hands and confirm your reading?
Maurie
Yeah, I don't like going to bed unless I'm in range, or I know what correction will work. If I'm at like 190 or 200 after a later/night snack, I'll take a unit along with my lantus for correction and usually wake up right where I want to be.
Just watch out for ice cream, as I find it has a lot of fat in it to go with all the sugar and sometimes causes an even more delayed high.
I hate to be harsh about this, but you have had D for ten years, you really know the right thing to do. Nobody is going to give you the magic number of units that will make this ok. We all slip up and do things. But the right thing to do is just bite the bullet, take a correction bolus and either wait for 2-3 hours to see that you aren't going to have a hypo or to set an alarm. That is the penalty. That is what it takes to take care of yourself.
ps. And as a consolation for my not being very nice, here is my recipe for homemade ice cream (1/2 c serving, 11g fat, 4g carb, 6.5g protein). Eat this not "that."
I also see that the OP has an A1C of 9, so perhaps she "doesn't really know the right thing to do". You might want to go back to the drawing board and reevaluate your diet, your basal rates, your I:C ratio and figure out an accurate ISF for corrections. Also increase your testing and promptly correct for lows. You're young and have way too many years to accumulate complications; you don't want to go there! If you are having depression or other emotional things getting in the way of doing all the above, do find a counselor who has experience with Diabetes or other chronic illnesses. My consolation is that you will live a long and healthy life. (Got you beat, Brian, though homemade ice cream (low carb??) is a pretty good one)
Hi All
Okay thanks for all the advice :) I have just finally found a diabetes couch and have started seeing my diabetes team every week or so. Learning a lot and looking forward to understanding everything a lot better ! Thats just one thing Im never sure about . Find that a normal correction doesnt work at bed time. So anyway did the 2u humulgo woke up at 3am and was still 17 did another 2 u . No more ice cream for me !! Still figuring out my basal and carb ratio - changed to Levemir recently and still figuring it out - never had a base insulin for the day before that.
PS what does everyone go to bed with and wake up with ?
Ha coach not couch :)
Sounds like you have a good team and are working on getting things in line; good for you!
If I'm over 130 at bedtime, I'll correct. I used to be nervous to do that but I've tweaked my basals until they're perfect, so now I know if I go to bed at say 140, that's what I'll wake up at. (More or less). When I was on shots I wasn't that confident, though. I'm also confident in my ISF so I don't worry about over correcting. If I'm below 80 at bedtime I'll take a couple glucose tablets. I like to go to bed say between 90 and 120, not that I always achieve that! Ditto for getting up in the 90s. That I do achieve a lot of the time.
I'm kind of fond of my diabetes couch.
i would like to say i go to bed and wake up with a young antonio banderas, but no. i usually go to bed a little over 100, lower than that im afraid i will go low. if my honeymoon is cooperating ill wake up in the 90s. if not, from 100-120.
I haven't started pumping yet, and take my lantus dose at night. That usually (if I don't have a snack) drops me about 20 to 30 points overnight. So right in the 120 range I tend to wake up between 70 and 90. Not always perfect, but for now I'm pretty close most days.
If I've eaten, or I am too high I'll correct and stay up until things are more in line. Obviously if I'm low it's 1 measured cup of OJ and test again in 15 minutes....
1 measured cup of OJ (8 oz) is 30 grams of carb. I probably wouldn't take that much unless I was in the 20s.
If I'm a little low for bed with no insulin on board (60s -80s), I'll eat a bit of Greek yogurt - more if I'm 60 and very little if I'm 85- to bring me up to range gradually.
I try to be below 130 going to bed and always correct to 95 if I'm over 100. I wake up between 90 and 110 most of the time although that sometimes takes a 4AM mini-correction.
Just a quick question: do you take one shot of Levemir per day or do you split the dosage in two shots?