I don't understand my sons correction rate, he has to carb count now and hi ratio is 25g to 1 unit insulin. His correction rate is 1 unit per 10 mmol/l. Can someone please help me.
Correction rate
- Thread starter saffie547
- Start Date
saffie547 said:
for every 25 g of carbs he eats then he has 1 unit of insulin so 50 carbs = 2 units.
Correction
1 unit of insulin will drop him 10mmo/l
so if he had say a reading of 15 and he should be 5mmo/l then that 1 unit will drop him 10mmo/l down to 5mmo/l
Same as if he was 10 then half a unit will drop him by 5.
Also you can work it the other way as well if he low before a meal and you know he is going to be active then you can drop his insulin by say half a unit to save a hypo
Does that explain things for you?
saffie547 said:
Ok tell us which bit is the problem. I'm sure someone else can explain it a bit better than I can :lol:
Hi saffie
I have a feeling that you might find calculating the correct amount of insulin using the ratio you have been given, a tiny bit difficult especially if your son is going to eat less than 25g carb. Have you been given insulin pens that deliver in 0.5u increments at all.
What will probably make things a lot easier for you to manage the insulin doses is to ask your dsn for a bg meter that also serves as a bolus wizard. Accu chek do one called 'Expert' and Abbott Medisense also do one as well.
If you tell the bolus wizard meter that the carb ratio is 1u to 25g carb and the correction factor is 1u for 10mmol drop, the meter will work out exactly how much insulin will need to be injected to cover the carb to be eaten and the correction factor will also work and tell you how much insulin is needed to make bg drop to the correct target level. So.... the bolus wizard on the meter does all the thinking so you dont have to
If using an insulin pen, the bolus wizard will work out the correct amount of insulin to within 0.5u. It should also tell you how much carb needs to be eaten to bring a low bg level up to the target level.
Hope this helps you a bit......
I have a feeling that you might find calculating the correct amount of insulin using the ratio you have been given, a tiny bit difficult especially if your son is going to eat less than 25g carb. Have you been given insulin pens that deliver in 0.5u increments at all.
What will probably make things a lot easier for you to manage the insulin doses is to ask your dsn for a bg meter that also serves as a bolus wizard. Accu chek do one called 'Expert' and Abbott Medisense also do one as well.
If you tell the bolus wizard meter that the carb ratio is 1u to 25g carb and the correction factor is 1u for 10mmol drop, the meter will work out exactly how much insulin will need to be injected to cover the carb to be eaten and the correction factor will also work and tell you how much insulin is needed to make bg drop to the correct target level. So.... the bolus wizard on the meter does all the thinking so you dont have to
If using an insulin pen, the bolus wizard will work out the correct amount of insulin to within 0.5u. It should also tell you how much carb needs to be eaten to bring a low bg level up to the target level.Hope this helps you a bit......
His numbers need to be between 4-7 and he is coming up on days around 11, so what would his correction amount be??
saffie547 said:
If you look at CarbsRok's msg to you on the thread you will see that she has tried to explain the principles behind carb counting using a ratio and how to understand the correction factor.
You say that your son should have bg levels between 4 - 7mmol but using the carb ratio set by your dsn, his bg levels are around 11mmol. I take it that this bg level (11mmol) is before your son is due to eat a meal again (4hrs) or is this level 2hrs after he has eaten?
To work out a correction amount of insulin, you need to take away your target bg level (6mmol) away from the higher bg level you get (11mmol) that leaves you with 5mmol. If 1u of insulin lowers his bg by 10mmol, then 0.5u will lower by 5mmol. So, you would need to use a correction dose of 0.5u to lower his bg level back to the target of 6mmol.
Are you sure that you are working out the exact amount of carb that your son is eating only if you are not, then using the carb ratio that your dsn thinks you need to use, is not going to work very well. Also, if you are working out the carb accurately, the higher bg level that your son is getting probably means that the insulin to carb ratio needs adjusting so that your son starts to get lower bg levels. There is a lot of trial and error involved in calculating carb ratios correctly...... means doing a lot of bg tests, writing the carb down, looking at amount of insulin injected and then adjusting the insulin up or down so that bg levels start to become within target levels.
Ideally your son's bg levels need to be within 4-7mmol before he eats a meal and probably 7-9mmol 2hrs later, then returning back to 4-7mmol again within the next 2-3hrs. Once you've figured out through bg testing the correct carb ratios to use, then things will all start to fall into place and you wont be so baffled. From what you have written... sounds like the 1u to 25g carb ratio is not enough insulin, so if I;ve understood you correctly I think you need to adjust that ratio and use for example 1.5u to 25g carb.
Hope that what I have just said, explains things a bit more..........
An American diabetes educator and a type 1 himself has done a lot of work with children who are diabetic and along with his book - Think Like A Pancreas, he also created a website to make carb counting with kids a lot easier. Hope you might find it useful if your son is very young. http://www.thinklikeapancreas.com/pierrepancreas.swf
