Taken too much insulin

[Livergirl]

hi, need some help and advice Asaph. Just off to bed with normal blood sugars and injected 14 units of nonorapid instead of lantus. I don't get warnings of night hypos so decided not to have any lantus on top if this tonight. How much should I eat to avoid hypo through night as I am on my own?

 

[himtoo]

Hi @Livergirl
ok -- starter for you is what is your normal Insulin to carb ratio
if 1 to 10 then easy answer is to eat 140 grams carb with a mix of 30-40 fast acting and 90 -100 slow.

but that is just a guess

also -- set a couple of alarms to test at 1am and 3am --

 

[Livergirl]

Normally 1 unit of fast acting reduces bg by about 3, so would you suggest 42g of carbs to wipe the fast acting out? What about long acting insulin, should I just omit it to be on safe side?

 

[robert72]

Ohoh - I did the same thing a few weeks ago. Agree with @himtoo.

 

[himtoo]

hi there -- it is not quite that simple in my opinion
you are looking at your dose as though it was a correction -- but as your pre injection BG was in range -- you need to look at the injection as though it was for a meal.

I would take my long acting pretty much as normal ( slightly reduce by 15-20% for safety )

think of it like this -- starting BG = 6.0
would you give a correction before bed = NO most likely

so 14u injection on a 6.0 is the same as eating an evening meal -- not the same as trying to reduce a high BG from 14 back down to 6 ( 3u correction on those sort of numbers )

hope that makes sense

 

[robert72]

Also, I think I would stay up for the next 2 hours to keep a check on BGs

 

[Livergirl]

Thank you everyone, I will stay up and set alarms through night, will also take a lower dose of lantus. Think I just panicked when I realised what I had done.

 

[Munim786]

Hi how are you getting on?

 

[Munim786]

What time did you inject the novorapid?

 

[Livergirl]

I had novo rapid about an hour ago, have since eaten about 60g of carbs, just rechecked and it's gone down by 3, so am going to have to keep eating, stay up longer and recheck in an hour or so. Literally feel like I couldn't fit any more food in.

 

[Munim786]

I think it's best you sacrifice some sleep until you become stable. It be wise to keep your blood sugars higher than normal for tonight and check your bloods whilst your sleep.

 

[Natalie1974]

How're you doing today?

 

[Livergirl]

Am good, thanks for asking. Got up every hour, didn't go to bed till three and woke up with a 16, but back on track now.

 

[himtoo]

Am good, thanks for asking. Got up every hour, didn't go to bed till three and woke up with a 16, but back on track now.

YAY !!!
glad you are sorted today.

really happy to have you on "the team" now - do keep posting