how many units to inject based on food

[kasabian]

Hi everyone.

I know this is a really dumb question and something that should be obvious to all diabetics, but I'm really having difficulty figuring out how many units to inject every time I have a snack or meal. I really don't know what I'm supposed to be looking out for on food labels. :evil:

Is there a guide or something online that I can use, that goes through each type of food and tells me what I need to know?

I'm completely lost and I dunno what to do. I'm just guessing how much units I need to inject. Sometimes I'm spot on, other times I've overestimated or underestimated how much insulin I need.

 

[Abi]

Are you on a basal bolus regimen ie longacting insulin once ( or occasionally twice daily) and Rapid acting insulin before meals. If your basal insulin is properly titrated ie keeps you reasonabley level between meals and at night, then the amount of rapid acting insulin should be in proportion to the number of carbs in your meal. Carb counting is eay once you pick it up ( although some people struggle with the cocnept at first) There is a useful website- www. bdec-e-learning.com

 

[kasabian]

Hi thanks for the reply. Rapid acting insulin before meals, yes. I'm on HUMALOG.

I will look at that site. thanks a lot!

 

[erroneous]

Basically you have to count all the carbs in you snack or meal:

-cereals (wheat, rice, rye, oat, quinoa, millet...)--> bread, pasta, noodles, flour, cakes, biscuits, pastry, breakfast cereals

-fruit and vegetables --> potato and potato products, fruits and dried fruits, fruit juice

-dairy product -->milk (10g of carbs in 100ml), yoghurt, ice-cream

Beans and pulses contain carbs as well but i was told not to count them as the release of the glucose it contains is very slow.

You have to determine a ratio to use. Try to cover 10 grams of carbs by 1 unit of insulin. If this 1 to 1 ratio works for you, you can apply it to every meal or snack. You may need a 2 to 1 ratio (2 units for 10g of carbs) or more. It's up to you to determine it by counting the carbs in your meal and adapting your insulin intake. Obviously you can only see the result of this regim by testing you BG level. Try to test before meals (a BG test 2 hours after a meal can be confusing because your quick acting insulin is still doing its job). Look at the labels on your food. After a while you'll be able to estimate your meal just by looking at it. It's quite complicated and i hope i'm not confusing you.
Take care.

 

[martinbuchan]

" (a BG test 2 hours after a meal can be confusing because your quick acting insulin is still doing its job)."

I would disagree with that if you are type 2 or gestational. It is directly linked to cardiovascular complications. If you are high at 2 hours and low at 3 hours then fine (as in my type 1 neighbour). For myself, if I am high at 2 hours then it doesn't come down without a top up ( I am on Novorapid and Levemir). It explains why pre-diabetes patients have the same cardiovascular risk as diabetics but as not technically diabetic (fasting level not raised enough to induce microvascular complications of the eye, nerves and kidneys). It is a way of estimating how your carb count has been.


Marty B