I recently got my Diabetes Solution book and am reading through it. My question is after or even before a small meal if my sugars are running high 100’s to mid 200’s should I go ahead and take some Humalog? Last night I finally experienced two low sugars, over correct the last and woke up with a sugar of 279. I am trying hard for the last 3 weeks to low carb it and now that I have the book I am trying to learn it all as fast as I can. Any help from this knowledgeable group is much appreciated!
Yes, you should bolus for all meals & correct highs. Do you feel that your insulin:carb ratio is correct? Do you know your insulin sensitivity factor to correct highs? To correct highs after eating, be aware of how much active insulin may be in your body. Rapid acting starts working in about 15-20 minutes, peaks at around 2 hours & lasts 4-6 hours. You may need to change the timing of your insulin as well look at your ratios.
Thank you Gerri for your help. I am pretty sure I am getting close to the 6-12-12 carb ratio more or less. I still haven’t finished the book to see what else the DR. recomends. Right now I would be happy to stay in the 100s range for my BG. I just checked my BG and it read 289 so I took 10 units Lantus and 8 units Humalog. I ate two hard boiled eggs and a cup of spring salad with oil/vinegar dressing. I don’t want to get low again tonight. But I took I think enough insulin to cover my dinner and bring down the high before dinner number. I guess I am just confused. It is hard starting a new lifestyle. I don’t have a DR. and am with out insurance so can’t get any adivce from the medical community. I just want you and the other people who have changed their life on the DR. Bernstein diet to know that I have a lot of respect for all of you and just hope I can be successful to.
Dr Bernstein is having a webinar tomorrow night. It is to late to ask that question for this month but if you submit it you could get an answer from him next month if you haven’t found your answer by then. He has good webinars , free and 1 hr of question, pre submitted, and answer
Yolanda, you’ll be successful. We all began confused & started from square one. What is your insulin:carb ratio & your correction ratio? That’s where you need to start so you’re not shooting in the dark. Once you feel comfortable that your insulin doses are accurate, then you can start fine-tuning & experimenting with timing.
Lantus can cause lows because Lantus peaks. I had an awful time with Lantus lows. Best thing I did was change to Levemir.
To sign up for Dr. B’s web cast, go to www.diabetesincontrol.com.
One more question regarding all this diet and insulin stuff. So, now that my BG’s are running in the 100’s range my question is when I go to bed at night and I am at 119 BG should I eat something not to get low in my sleep? I tried last night to eat a couple slices of cucumber and almonds and woke up with a BG of 206? Not sure if I should or shouldn’t eat a snack to avoid low blood sugar in the middle of the night. It scares me. At the same time I am working on bringing all my BG numbers down to 80-90.
I’m not an insulin user but I read lots of discussions so I will be ready if and when I have to start. I see the books Using Insulin and Think Like a Pancreas recommended again and again. I would check them out. Since you are cutting carbs you will need to rethink your doses.
What time do you take Lantus & when do you go to bed? Do you take split doses or one? How soon after eating do you go to sleep? Sometimes morning highs are due to eating dinner too close to bedtime. High protein/high fat meals take longer to digest & we all usually eat our biggest meal at dinner. BG is going up from food that’s digesting & we’re not awake to catch the spike.
Everyone is different, but I don’t eat before bed. What did you do before changing your diet. Would help to know your BG pattern to give an answer.
I am currently taking 10-12 units of Lantus in the morning, and before dinner. So a total of 20-24 units in 24 hrs. I usually eat dinner around 5:30pm-7pm. I go to bed between 10-11pm. I ate two hard boiled eggs and about a cup of salad with vinegrette. I checked my sugar at 8pm and was at 159 and I checked it again at 10pm and was at 119. I ate a small snack because I really don’t want to falll asleep and wake up low in the middle of the night. Before I started this diet, I ate a lot of veggies, salads and cooked veggies, with a carb on the side. I did eat sweets but really tried to watch them. Oatemeal in the morning. I would take about the same amount of insulin and my BG would be in the high 200’s -400’s. That was Pre-DR. B. Everything is different now. And I am so greatful I found this site to learn a new way of living with Diabetes.