Breakfast

pebbles22

Member
Messages
16
My son is five and was diagnosed with type 1 when he was 3. He is currently on HUMALOG MIX 25. Are anyone elses children taking this insulin, as frequently as much as 2 hours after his breakfast his reading is between 15 - 20, I have raised this with the clinic and they have said their not worried about this. Im wondering is this the best type of insulin for him and should I be asking for something different. Im worried that his levels are staying too high for too long.

Thanks for any information

karen
 

cugila

Master
Messages
10,272
Dislikes
People who are touchy.......feign indignation at the slightest thing. Hypocrites, bullies and cowards.
Just a thought.....what does his breakfast consist of and what was his pre-breakfast reading ?
 

pebbles22

Member
Messages
16
Hi there

He usually has a bowl of cereal such as branflakes / cornflakes / readybrek followed by a slice of wholemeal toast. His reading before breakfast is usually between 4 and 8. At the moment he is having 7 units of insulin.
 

cugila

Master
Messages
10,272
Dislikes
People who are touchy.......feign indignation at the slightest thing. Hypocrites, bullies and cowards.
Thanks for that.
Cereal and Toast, dependent on the portion sizes, would seem to be a large amount of carbs ? Do you know the actual carb count of what he eats including any drinks ? The level may also be higher after 2 hrs as both would be slower acting carbs.

Just getting the information so that when some of the Mum's come along they have a clearer picture of what is happening. Hopefully they can advise you better.
 

leggott

Well-Known Member
Messages
533
HAven't heard of this, but assuming it's mixed? We came off mixed insulin sometime ago as we too were having higher bg than desired. The problem with mixed is that the morning shot is supposed to cover lunch as well as it has slow acting insulin, which often means it takes a bit longer for blood sugar to come back into target range. Best to speak with your Dr, but the basal/ bolus regime may be more suitable. This regime is designed to mimic the pancreas so you should obtain tighter control. To be honest, I would be very worried if my children's blood sugars were regularly that high two hours after eating. I like my kids to be under 8 at that point and then they can normally have a small fruit snack to get them through to lunch.
 

pebbles22

Member
Messages
16
Hi

Thanks for all replys, what is the bolus basal regime, would it mean taking insulin at lunchtime, at the moment he has two jabs a day one in the morning and one before dinner. What sort of breakfast does your 6 year old have, maybe I am giving too much breakfast ?.
Thanks for any advice
 

leggott

Well-Known Member
Messages
533
Yes, the bolus is the insulin given with each meal and the basal is the slow acting insulin given once or twice daily to deal with the glucose produced by the liver. I know it means more injections, but they soon get used to it and my son has been doing his own Injections since he was five, so he only needs someone to oversee what he is doing at school. Putting all that aside, from a control perspective the basal/ bolus regime will probably be better. A typical breakfast for my son would be a small bowl of bran flakes or toast and small glass of diluted apple juice totalling about about 40 - 50 grams of carb. Two hours after breakfast so about 10am he will have a small piece of fruit (no injection needed for this). I always try and make each meal consist of slow and quick acting carbs, which seems to avoid too many peaks and troughs in bg.
 

Jen&Khaleb

Well-Known Member
Messages
820
Dislikes
Not having enough time. Broken sleep.
My son is on basal/bolus so is on 5 injections a day. We've never used a mixed insulin but I believe you have to be quite regimented in the amount of carbs per meal and the times of the meal. I know one other person using a mixed insulin and he and his Mum are in the hospital at the moment because of DKA. Is it not possible to use some extra short acting insulin at the same time as the mix if there are regular times that require extra insulin? The person I know is not given any short acting insulin to make corrections because of extra food or illness?? Someone must know if this is an option.

What do you do when your child is sick or eats extra treats?
 

Mini-Mimi

Well-Known Member
Messages
67
i am still very new to all this so please dont take my word for it but....
we're on novomix30, twice a day, it is strict, (we tried the 4 injections a day and it didnt work for us) but i get great levels with it, i also use novorapid to correct, 0.5 units brings her levels down by 5, 1 unit by 10 ect, but saying that, since she was diagnosed she's only had 2 correction doses.
maybe asking about that as a option too?
 

pebbles22

Member
Messages
16
Thanks for the replies everyone they have been very useful, I just find it odd that we have never been offered any other type of insulin, when I have queried other types I was told the one he is on is all we have, but that is obviously incorrect. My son has a consultant appt in the next couple of weeks so I will bring it up again.

thanks again
 

leggott

Well-Known Member
Messages
533
I think the mixed tends to be prescribed for people who have small insulin requirements, so young children, people still in the honeymoon phase and for people with whom a lunchtime injection is difficult. There is no reason why you should not be allowed to change if this regime will be better for your son.
 

ams162

Well-Known Member
Messages
572
Type of diabetes
Type 1
hello
we were on the mixtard insulins at diagnosis for a short period but i think DSNs generally get u on basal and bolus doses as the regime begins to generate high BG readings, however we tend to get results in the 20s no matter what we do hence why we are getting a pump everyone is different but if the insulin isnt suiting u i believe u should be offered another option. its the long term effects i worry aboutwith dylan after 4 years of poor control and very hard work too it has left me frustrated just hoping we r on the right track now, good luck
anna marie x
 

lexie32

Member
Messages
8
Hi Karen,

my son also has this problem, he has 30g carbs for breakfast (dry cherios or special k and a yoghurt) and 3 units of novorapid around 7.30 am , he usually starts the day around 5 and 7 then is between 15 and 20 at 10am then he has a piece of fruit at 10.30am no matter what his reading is, as if he doesn't he goes low by 11am then his usual lunchtime reading can be anything between 5 and 12, the rest of the day he seems to stay quite stable but our diabeties team dont seem that concerned as his hab1c have been below 7.5 they just mutter about it being his age and stomach emptying , i just worry as it cant be making him feel that great and future damage.

Alex
 

pebbles22

Member
Messages
16
Hi everyone

Just had our consultant appt and the long term reading was 8.3 which is higher than 3months ago. Asked the consultant about the high readings 2/3 hrs after breakfast and he said to increase his insulin by 1 unit and to see what effect this has, and then to increase by a half each time if this is not working. I asked about other insulins but did not get anywhere there were no suggestions from the consultant to try an different one. I will have to try the increase, but if the HB figure has not reduced at his next appt I will start getting assertive with them.

thanks

karen
 

leggott

Well-Known Member
Messages
533
That's very poor advice! I would insist on speaking to someone else about your options as this person is clearly not giving you all the information so you can make an informed choice.
 

cugila

Master
Messages
10,272
Dislikes
People who are touchy.......feign indignation at the slightest thing. Hypocrites, bullies and cowards.
I agree with Leggot......

I wonder have you spoken to a Dietician about this ?

The child should be able to control Bg levels using a combination of Insulin and diet. That shouldn't always mean that the first thing to do is increase the Insulin, even a child can benefit from reducing the amount of carbs whilst still eating nutritious healthy food. It's a balance but not insurmountable.

Before anybody shouts at me I am NOT advocating a low carb diet, just small reductions. :|
 

pebbles22

Member
Messages
16
hello

I am going to re visit the diet aspect of this, I need to look at his breakfast and maybe try and reduce the amount he has and try different cereals / breads.
 

leggott

Well-Known Member
Messages
533
This is one of the downsides of the mixed insulin. If you increase the morning injection you my find that he needs more food at lunchtime as you are not only increasing the fast acting but also the slower acting Insulin. just make sure you only make one change at a time. So if you up Insulin dose keep breakfast the same etc and always only increase by 1/2 a unit at a time. If you still aren't getting stable readings in a few weeks time then you probably do need to speak to them again and raise your concerns.