Insulin requirements for weekends/holidays

[Kristina13]

Hi all

Our son (11yrs) has been diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1 last November and we are slowly getting into a routine. His levels are usually quite good during the week, but we still struggle with weekends and holidays, when he is a lot less active.

We upped his insulin requirements for half term by 20% and had a good start. But by mid week his levels went up again and we adjusted the basal, which brought his levels down again. This weekend we went up with his bolus requirements by 40%, which worked fine on Saturday, but his levels were high again on Sunday (over 10). This is just so frustrating!

When do you usually adjust the requirements? Friday evening or Saturday morning? Do you adjust Bolus or also Basal? By how much do you adjust? We have been told by the care team that it can take 2 to 3 days to see any change with a basal adjustment. If this is correct, it probably does not make much sense in adjusting the basal over the weekend?

Hi is on Novorapid/Lantus and will hopefully get a pump in August. His basal requirements went from 12 to 34 since dx, so does this mean he is out of the honeymoon period or is it just him growing a lot?

Thanks for your help!

Kristina

 

[novorapidboi26]

Back when injecting and not on the pump I would be looking to adjust the basal over the bolus.....as it makes it much simpler....keeping your insulin/carb ratios the same would be my preference anyway.....

Lantus, they say, takes a few days to see proper results and for this reason, I was on Levemir and thought it was brilliant for these kind of short term adjustments....some, however, do manage on Lantus.....I don't have that experience though...

as far as by how much reduction to adjust by at the weekends, well that has to be worked out by trial and error....

I think I seen myself reducing by 25% on some occasions.....

no doubt the adjustment will be complicated by the growth spurts of a young lad....

 

[1Sarah1]

Hi @Kristina13 my 2yr old was diagnosed in Dec and struggled whilst she was on injections depending on how active she is (now on a pump which is easier). I've been type1 since I was 2 but I've been pumping for a few years now as I could never quite manage to get my sugars sorted. I've been through 2 pregnancies now with the pump where you have to have fabulous control.
First of all are you sure his carb ratios are right? You could try a zero carb meal for a few hours and see what that does. It normally does take a few days for basal to work through. Are his waking sugars ok? I used to have two rates one for a weekday and one for a weekend which I would change on a Friday night.
Do you think it's just about the activity that is having an impact or change in eating habits too/times he is doing things? Could you try splitting his lantus dose (speak to your dsn though)? I suffer from dawn phenomenon where my sugars rise on a morning and always find it hard to mitigate this. Times like this and illness etc tend to need a bit more basal rate I've found (and my mum always said too). I'm not sure there is an exact rate to increase by depends on the individual. Hope you find something that suits your son.