Really really stupid question

[annliggins]

I know this is a stupid question and i know the logical answer ....T1 for 12 years and have always waited for my bolus to leave my system before eating again ....but .i guess its ok to bolus for food if eating before the pre bolus has left my system ...id only have a small amount to be sure or as sure as possible that the carb insulin ratio was ok and i wouldnt stack or od... am i right or not ?? Sometimes id like to eat inside 4 hours .

 

[Ushthetaff]

Hi first thing I got to say is no such thing as a stupid question cos if there is 8 am totally guilty of it all the time lol .
I don’t really know when quick acting insulin actually runs out and to be honest I don’t think it’s a hard nd fast rule , I do know it’s gone after a few hours but everyone is different. I’d even go as far to say the same person is different on different days , it’s one of diabetes anomalies.
I wouldn’t wait to eat until I think my insulin is away, I would just eat when I’m hungry and deal with the b/s. take b/ s after eating . If your bs is ok the way you do it now and you fancy more food then take a bit more if you go low eat sugar if you go high take insulin, complications won’t occur for small fluctuations in bs , it’s long term high bs that will cause probs, If I wanted my b/s to be “ flatlining constantly all I would be doing in my life is taking my bs ,
Years ago we took food for the amount of insulin we ate , it was extremely restrictive , now it’s a case of eat when your hungry . Sorry if I rabbit on a bit but I am welsh lol

 

[Shannon27]

It depends what you snack on really - if it's a low carby snack i wouldn't inject extra, as the insulin you already have in your system should cover any spike in BGs. If it's high carby, like a bag of crisps (if you'd inject for that) you could split the dose, with the second injection after the meal injection wears off. It's a pain but doable There are a lot of different ways of doing it - injecting but with reduced insulin works for me too i sometimes snack in between meals and try both ways, depending on what i'm doing at the time

 

[scotteric]

I know this is a stupid question and i know the logical answer ....T1 for 12 years and have always waited for my bolus to leave my system before eating again ....but .i guess its ok to bolus for food if eating before the pre bolus has left my system ...id only have a small amount to be sure or as sure as possible that the carb insulin ratio was ok and i wouldnt stack or od... am i right or not ?? Sometimes id like to eat inside 4 hours .

It isn't really stacking if you are taking insulin for more carbs that you are eating, since you need additional insulin to cover additional carbs. This is what pump users are taught to do from day one. I suppose the danger can be that when you eat a meal and then have a snack or eat more after, the meal could delay the digestion of the additional carbs, causing any additional insulin to drop you low, followed by a delayed high BG if food continues to digest after your insulin has been used up. It's all trial and error really, and I go off my past experience with what I am eating and use my CGM/Libre to making a dosing decision. I might delay the second dose if I am trending low from the first dose, or I might not if I have eaten a really carby meal and expect to see a rise. Sometimes I might use Regular (also called "Actrapid", "Novolin R", "Humulin R or S" or "Toronto" depending on your brand/country) for a dessert following a big meal, as it is likely the meal will significantly slow down the digestion of everything that comes after it (steak and potatoes followed by cheesecake, for example). Some desserts digest surprisingly slow as well, and you will drop low if you were to take NovoRapid, Humalog or Fiasp and then eat. It's all trial and error basically, and it's not always the same. The important thing, at least for my own treatment and in my own experience, is not to follow rules like "don't eat or inject within 4 hours after a meal" just because some medical professional who has never used insulin read that somewhere in a textbook from the 1980s. Rather, I experiment (as safely as possible) and use what I've learned in the past and from my own experience to make decisions.

 

[annliggins]

Thankyou all, most interesting !
I now embark on my next experiments ( i find it all facinating tbh) !!!!

 

[eventhorizon]

I just keep on eating and keep on pumping more fiasp at my normal ratio but don't correct for the spikes caused by previous food as that's still be dealt with by earlier insulin. However it's not something I make a habit of. Eating twice a day with a good gap between meals works best for me.