Night time insulin (or not)?

[WhoKnows?]

Hi.
Can I ask what others do at night? Sometimes my bedtime glucose reading is fine, or even a little low for bed, yet I ‘know’ it’s going to rise (due to what I’d eaten, hours ago) - I don’t give a correction dose as it’s too low at the time (for bed), but hate the fact that I’m very high in the morning! Do I risk it and correct at night?
I’m using finger prick testing, and Novorapid pens. I give my basal dose at nighttime, regardless.
Thanks.

 

[EllieM]

Hi @WhoKnows?

It's a tricky question and one that I feel is going to vary from person to person.
Are you in the UK? If so you could try contacting Abbott for a free trial of the libre sensor so that you can tell what your bg is doing at night in this situation. Could it just be dawn phenomena?

Otherwise you could set an alarm for say 2\am and test then?

Personally I quite often correct at night if my bg is at the high end but I have a dexcom g6 which I know will wake me if I go too low. If it's already low I probably wouldn't inject.

But I know some T1s do a second bolus for things like pizza so maybe that is your situation?

And we have to be very careful what we say here because forum rules don't allow us to advise on medication doses...

 

[WhoKnows?]

Thanks for that. I am in the UK and I’m in the process of thinking about the libre actually - am undecided as I don’t want to have to rely on my phone for the app (which I’ve been told I would need to do). Thanks again for your reply.

 

[RoughcutAU]

I’m loath to do any corrections before bed - besides not wanting to stab myself twice (take long acting before bed) finding my ISF is very high atm. On the flip side I’ve gotten more comfortable going to bed above 5 without snacking when originally everyone in the team was saying i had to take in carbs if my BGL was less then 7.

 

[miahara]

Thanks for that. I am in the UK and I’m in the process of thinking about the libre actually - am undecided as I don’t want to have to rely on my phone for the app (which I’ve been told I would need to do). Thanks again for your reply.

With Libre 1 and Libre 2 you don't have to rely on a phone as you can use a Libre Reader which is what I do as I find the reader much handier as it's small and I also seldom use my phone unless away from home for any length of time.
Now, after a few years with Libre, I've got a pretty good awareness of how my food and basal and bolus insulin impacts my levels and very, very seldom need to think about a correction dose before bed, but I do often take in around 20 g of carbs to keep levels up overnight if my bedtime level isn't high enough for my liking.
It's very much a learning game as we all process food and insulin in slightly different ways. So really you just have to try different strategies, take notes, review results and react accordingly.

 

[Ushthetaff]

This is only my personal opinion and what I do , insulin dosage for me aren’t just related to the number I see on a meter ( whether it be Libre or finger prick) it depends on a few factors, bs reading , type of food eaten , time taken and experience to name but a few.I’ve had instances when blood sugar is low but I still take insulin even if it’s late at night especially when I’ve eaten pasta pizza etc . It’s definitely a bit of trial and error , which I like to call experience , without a bit of “ trial and error “ diabetes can become a real jail sentence

 

[WhoKnows?]

With Libre 1 and Libre 2 you don't have to rely on a phone as you can use a Libre Reader which is what I do as I find the reader much handier as it's small and I also seldom use my phone unless away from home for any length of time.
Now, after a few years with Libre, I've got a pretty good awareness of how my food and basal and bolus insulin impacts my levels and very, very seldom need to think about a correction dose before bed, but I do often take in around 20 g of carbs to keep levels up overnight if my bedtime level isn't high enough for my liking.
It's very much a learning game as we all process food and insulin in slightly different ways. So really you just have to try different strategies, take notes, review results and react accordingly.

I’ve been told that Abbott are not issuing any readers/scanners for the Libre, and I’d need to use an up to date phone My diabetes nurse suggested I ring them to ask about the A5X reader, which I plan to do.

 

[Sallyw]

I have been on the Libre 2 for about 5 weeks with mixed feelings! However I phoned Abbot and requested a reader as their literature said you could! A heated argument ensued with tem saying they no longer supply them,to which I countered that it was in their documentation. End result, I got one!