correction doses

[karen8967]

i keep reading on here were people say they give themselves correction doses of insulin post meal if levels are high say 2 hours after food would that not affect next mealtime insulin my levels do go high 2 hours after meals but do come down by the time my next meal is due only been diabetic for 4 months so sorry if i sound a bit simple lol x

 

[Deleted Account]

When we take correction doses, we need to consider the insulin on board (IOB).
Typically, a fast acting insulin such as NovoRapid will stay in our system for about 4 hours. Whilst the profile of how we use it has a peak after about 30 minutes, calculations for IOB are usually much simpler - we divide by 4 and assume this is the amount of insulin we use per hour. It is not surprising if your BG is a bit high after 2 hours as there is still some fast acting insulin in your system.
If your BG is fine by the time of your next meal, you have nothing to worry about.
If your BG is still high at the time of your next meal, you could take add a correction factor to your dose for the carbs in your meal.

Personally, I do not take readings between meals (apart from bedtime) unless I feel something is wrong. I have always assumed the 2 hours post meal reading is more relevant to type 2 who want to understand the affect of carbs. I have also assumed the insulin our bodies produce (or used to produce) was faster acting that the stuff we inject.

 

[azure]

i keep reading on here were people say they give themselves correction doses of insulin post meal if levels are high say 2 hours after food would that not affect next mealtime insulin my levels do go high 2 hours after meals but do come down by the time my next meal is due only been diabetic for 4 months so sorry if i sound a bit simple lol x

If you've only been recently diagnosed, I'd be wary of correcting as your body might still be making some insulin of its own. So if you were to correct at two hours and then your body added some of its own insulin, you could go low.

You could speak to,your DSN and ask their advice about how high you'd have to be to correct, and when you should consider a correction dose.

If you're in range by your next meal, then that's ok. If you're spiking high at two hours, then you might like to,consider moving your meal time injectiin slightly more in adavance to give it a chance to get working and thus reduce any spike.

 

[iHs]

I haven't used MDI since changing over to a pump but I try to get my basal and bolus to be ok to give me a bg of about 6mmol before a main meal but allow for a rise upto 8.5mmol 2.5hrs later. If I am higher than 8.5mmol post meal, I will use my pump to work out a correction dose for me so that my bg will drop to somewhere between 5-6 mmol by the time the bolus has finished it's action which is about 4.5hrs for me. For MDI users, the 100 rule works fairly well but needs to be based on the basal and bolus being ok. Gary Scheiner has done a good guide as a pdf all about IOB and how to try to prevent insulin stacking......google Accounting for Unused Insulin

 

[db89]

If you've only been recently diagnosed, I'd be wary of correcting as your body might still be making some insulin of its own. So if you were to correct at two hours and then your body added some of its own insulin, you could go low.

Fell for this trap this morning so this is good advice for someone newly diagnosed. Shot up to 12.0 at 2 hours after breakfast this morning and took 1u suggested by my meter thinking I'd underdone the bolus only to find myself at 3.7 less than 2 hours later.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I only do a correction dose if I'm quite a bit too high and then err on the safe side to avoid a hypo.

 

[karen8967]

When we take correction doses, we need to consider the insulin on board (IOB).
Typically, a fast acting insulin such as NovoRapid will stay in our system for about 4 hours. Whilst the profile of how we use it has a peak after about 30 minutes, calculations for IOB are usually much simpler - we divide by 4 and assume this is the amount of insulin we use per hour. It is not surprising if your BG is a bit high after 2 hours as there is still some fast acting insulin in your system.
If your BG is fine by the time of your next meal, you have nothing to worry about.
If your BG is still high at the time of your next meal, you could take add a correction factor to your dose for the carbs in your meal.

Personally, I do not take readings between meals (apart from bedtime) unless I feel something is wrong. I have always assumed the 2 hours post meal reading is more relevant to type 2 who want to understand the affect of carbs. I have also assumed the insulin our bodies produce (or used to produce) was faster acting that the stuff we inject.

i dont normally take reading s 2 hours after food helenaramay like yourself only when i feel unwell its just that i read alot on here about correction doses and didnt really understand it .my diabetes consultant said she wants my bloods around the six mark of a morning because of constantant hypos i was having and when im around 5 i still feel awful but thats because my body has been used to running very high b4 diagnosis so should settle eventually x

 

[Deleted Account]

For MDI users, the 100 rule works fairly well

What's the "100 rule"?

 

[karen8967]

If you've only been recently diagnosed, I'd be wary of correcting as your body might still be making some insulin of its own. So if you were to correct at two hours and then your body added some of its own insulin, you could go low.

You could speak to,your DSN and ask their advice about how high you'd have to be to correct, and when you should consider a correction dose.

If you're in range by your next meal, then that's ok. If you're spiking high at two hours, then you might like to,consider moving your meal time injectiin slightly more in adavance to give it a chance to get working and thus reduce any spike.

hi azure just to clarify what do you mean when you say give my meal time injection more in advance do you mean give it earlier b4 i eat x

 

[karen8967]

Fell for this trap this morning so this is good advice for someone newly diagnosed. Shot up to 12.0 at 2 hours after breakfast this morning and took 1u suggested by my meter thinking I'd underdone the bolus only to find myself at 3.7 less than 2 hours later.

im only on 2 units of apidra of a morning plus 1 5oo metformin tablet but find after breakfast which is usually 2 weetabix with skimmed milk no sugar my bg spikes to about 15/16 then 2 hous later right down to about 5.6 although i am in work during these hrs so am probably alot more active at this time my average readings range from 7.2 / 10.5 by bed time i take 4u apidra at lunch 7u at tea and 12u of lantus at bed sorry for the essay haha x