• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

How long to wait between meals

samantha13

samantha13

Well-Known Member
Messages
392
Guys I apologise for the most basic question here. I have completed dafne and since then have been waiting 5 hours between meals as I was told novorapid is in the system for 5 hours. So... what if I want to eat my next meal say 3 or 4 hours post my last meal? I feel so stupid asking this but have just taken a brain freeze when it comes to this. Does everyone else wait till there qi is out of their system? X
 
I don't, I even correct in between meals.
If you're having another meal before the 5 hours then take your insulin as you normally would to avoid highs :)

Claire x
 
samantha13 said:
I was told novorapid is in the system for 5 hours
Click to expand...

That is what the manufactures say, but I've found it to be nearer 4 hours in my own experience, even if it were 5 hours you'd have less than 10% active IOB.
 
I take very small doses and find it only lasts about 3 hours. I would think it would depend on how much you took at your last meal, where your BS is when you want your next meal and what you are going to eat and dose accordingly. You will figure it out after testing a few meals. Just keep testing.
If I am hungry after a few hours I try to hold off for four hours by having a small fat snack like a few nuts, olives etc. if I am starving I eat and bolus. Sometimes I can sense I need insulin so if I am close to meal time I just eat / bolus. This is usually when bs is going up. If I just feel a weird hunger thing it usually means I dropped a little and need a snack to stop the drop. Eventually youn will probably feel and have a good idea of what's going on but it always requires testing.
 
My novorapid last 3.5, think like a pancreas book tells you to eat then check blood sugar every 30 mins, when it stabilise s that's your length of effect
 
Thank you guys. @debsugs do you recommend think like a pancreas? Is it easy to follow? I'm so keen to work out that and things like how many mmols a unit drops my bg/how many carbs brings up my bg etc x
 
samantha13 said:
Guys I apologise for the most basic question here. I have completed dafne and since then have been waiting 5 hours between meals as I was told novorapid is in the system for 5 hours. So... what if I want to eat my next meal say 3 or 4 hours post my last meal? I feel so stupid asking this but have just taken a brain freeze when it comes to this. Does everyone else wait till there qi is out of their system? X
Click to expand...

I don't wait for 5 hours between meals. The only time I had meals at specific times was when I was on mixed insulin. Now I eat when I like, within reason. I find I tend to have patterns of eating and so experience has shown me what works for me.
 
This is where recording results pays dividends, if you use an app like Diaconnect which will record your carbs eaten, times and doses it will show you patterns, and from this you can see what your adjustments will need to be. I learnt from this that quick acting only lasts between 3-4 hours. DAFNE recommends leaving a gap so that you can see if the qa did its job properly before injecting again, you have to live as near a normal life as possible so eat when hungry and take correct dose for food. Do remember it's never a constant though with type 1, things like stress, body weight, hormones, heat, weather etc affect your requirements somewhat could be perfect one week may change the next, it's important to have confidence with making the adjustments ;)
 
It's a bit of an odd one with fast acting. Most of the insulin is used up within about 2.5 hours, then there is a tiny amount that runs out for the next 1-2.5 hours depending on person.

If I am sedentary, I find that it has very little effect, however if I train at 4 hours, then the remaining bolus definitely has an effect.
 
I've found that Novorapid tends to last about 4.5hrs and seems to have a kick in its tail towards the end of its acting time so I just eat a jellybaby if I need to and don't worry too much
 
Hi. I take extra NovoRapid between meals if I have a snack of more than 30gm carb. It's OK to take extra insulin to match extra carbs. Just don't 'stack' insulin to correct for a high if you're not sure whether the last insulin has largely finished
 
I forgot to say that I use porcine regular insulin, so presumably should leave longer between meals. Although, having said that, when I first started MDI, I used regular insulin and was told to leave 4 hours between meals. That completely defeated the purpose of the flexibility of MDI so I've never done that. I also snack and bolus for snacks between meals.

The only time of the day I'm extra-cautious is in the evening. I try not to,eat late and I don't have a carby snack in the evening usually as I'd worry not being awake in the night to test.
 
samantha13 said:
Thank you guys. @debsugs do you recommend think like a pancreas? Is it easy to follow? I'm so keen to work out that and things like how many mmols a unit drops my bg/how many carbs brings up my bg etc x
Click to expand...


The book comes highly recommended by the type 1 members here, it's a great book and covers most aspects of type 1 management.
 
Hi
Yea I got the book after reading everyone else recommending it. It's help definitely, give you insight into what's going on! I think maybe I need to read again!!! My sugars dropped 6 mmols from 1 u but everything changed last week!! Everyone on here says test test test, and it's true, the more you test and chart the more u understand, I also use my sugr app to record.
 
Back
Top