Question how many of you have a snack? When I went to the endo the other day and was put on insulin they just said 1 unit of novolog for every 15g before meals and 6units of Levemir at bedtime, this is just to start out with and then I'm guessing I'll adjust. But they never told me how many times I should eat do I just eat 3 meals a day? Do I have snacks? If I have snacks do I give myself insulin for them? Thanks in advance for any advice. The place I went too was a volunteer place because I have no insurance so it's not like I can call them an ask and now I'm not sure. When I was pregnant and found out I was on a mixed pen and had to have 3 meals and 3 snacks but these are 2 separate insulin's and this is different so I'm not sure.
Hello Denise,
Yes, I do snack and I have to account for my carbs in that. Most of the time its a good healthy snack and sometimes not. My advise to you is if you can get the book "The Calorie King Calorie Fat and Carbohydrate Counter". It is an awesome guide to foods and their carb counts. As for what to eat you have to be careful but if it has carbs you should bolus for it.
I have snacks and I bolus for them. The "standard" is to figure out a carb-insulin ratio, like 10G of carbs/ unit so if I eat a bag of carrots (20G), I'd have like 2U of insulin? The mixed insulin is a bit different and, in my opinion, is probably the worst kind of insulin because it doesn't consider the ratio.
AR: Yes well I'm not on mixed I'm on novolog before meals and levemir at bedtime. I was saying I use to be on mixed while I was pregnant, but now I'm not and trying to just figure everything out with the 2 separate insulin's. I'm suppose to do the ratio 1 unit for every 15g to start with.Thank you all for your advice. :)
I always bolus for food unless my BG is way under my target range and I add or subtract correction insulin. I almost never snack because I suffer from low BG related to active insulin so 3 meals 5-6 hours apart is eliminating active insulin this gives me a fresh start when calculating my meal bolus. I will only snack if my BG is low...it's a free pass to the fridge or pantry but it's not a everyday thing.
Your treatment plan is typical, I would suggest that after you get more comfortable with
insulin and prove out your I:C and Basal insulin you should ask for a correction factor to add or subtract insulin from your bolus taking into account your BG at the time of your bolus....Your Postprandial blood sugar will be more predictable...The books that where suggested are excellent books...in fact these books are (text books) in the insulin world.
Good luck
Another reason i asked about snacks is because I'm very active and don't want to have lows. I walk my kids to school every day then back and usually go for 1 or 2 more walks during the day, plus i babysit am always on my feet, cleaning etc. So I just want to make sure I don't go low ..more then actually just having a snack to have one. I remember how I felt every time going low before and I just hate it and any possible way to avoid it I would like too.
Just a thought, Denise. Once you get your basal and bolus as close to right as possible, you shouldn't have to eat snacks to avoid lows. That's called 'feeding the insulin'. The goal is to gear insulin to food not the other way around. So if you have lows a lot after meals you need less bolus and if you have lows other times, less basal. It is hard to get basal perfect on shots because our needs vary over the course of the day, but you can get as close as possible.
Thanks Zoe that's what I always felt like to when I was on insulin before that I was feeding the insulin...it was annoying and scary. That's why I'm trying to avoid that. I will definitely take all of everyone's advice and will definitely be going to the library soon as well for those book, thanks.
Here is the Calorie King website: http://www.calorieking.com/ I prefer to use the book, but some people prefer the site.
Hi Denise!
I do snack. It doesn't seem to be the norm here, but I often find that a small snack (5-15g carbs) around the 3-hour post-meal point gets covered by the tail end of my previous meal's insulin and gets me to the next meal. (For example, insulin with lunch around 11:30, snack without insulin about 2:30, and dinner with insulin at 6 or 6:30) This currently works well for me and the insulin isn't stacking. But everyone is incredibly different and you'll need to see what works for you. Good luck!