Insulin ratio to Carbohydrate portions

[Claire M]

I'm hoping someone can advise me.
I've been using the ratio of 2 units of Novorapid per 10g of carbohydrate for about 8 months. I am still getting high BG readings after eating. For example at lunchtime I'll have 30 portions of carbohydrate so I will inject 6 units of Novorapid. Then when I take my BG reading before my evening meal it will be far too high. I'll then use a corrective dose plus the right amount of insulin to correspond to what I'm having for the evening meal. Then before I go to bed the BG reading will still be too high.
It makes sense to me to up the insulin ratio but is using 3 units of Novorapid too high or do people use an even higher ratio?
I've left a message with my diabetic nurse but I'm waiting to hear back.
Thank you for reading!!

 

[xfieldok]

Welcome to the forum. What type of diabetes do you have?

Are you on any other medication?

 

[Claire M]

Hi there,
I've been a Type 1 diabetic for about 20 years and after attending a DAFNE course last year I raised my insulin/CP ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 but my BG readings are still far too high. I don't recall hearing anyone mentioning a 3:1 ratio so I'm a bit nervous at raising it on my own in case I start having hypos.
I'm taking Omeprazole, Simvastatin, Ramipril and Co-Codamol at the moment.
Thank you

 

[Rokaab]

Remember different people need different amounts, the carb counting course I went on 2 years ago showed a range, one person needed 1 unit of insulin per 2g carbs, whilst another only needed 1 unit of insulin per 50g of carbs! Others were on 1u:5carbs, 1u:15carbs etc, so what you need is what you need, dont worry about it being too much or too little, you need what you need.
If you're going high and staying high after food (for numerous hours) then you may well need to change your ratio - but it can be dependent on many different things and we are not allowed to advise on that

If you do raise it just make sure you have some hypo treatments nearby to deal with it Changing ratios can be a bit of trial and error even for experienced people

 

[Grumpy ole thing]

Hi @Claire M , have you tried a basal check?

 

[Rose22]

I'm hoping someone can advise me.
I've been using the ratio of 2 units of Novorapid per 10g of carbohydrate for about 8 months. I am still getting high BG readings after eating. For example at lunchtime I'll have 30 portions of carbohydrate so I will inject 6 units of Novorapid. Then when I take my BG reading before my evening meal it will be far too high. I'll then use a corrective dose plus the right amount of insulin to correspond to what I'm having for the evening meal. Then before I go to bed the BG reading will still be too high.
It makes sense to me to up the insulin ratio but is using 3 units of Novorapid too high or do people use an even higher ratio?
I've left a message with my diabetic nurse but I'm waiting to hear back.
Thank you for reading!!

I think you may need to look at adjusting doses with help of your diabetes nurse. Are you able to email your numbers to her? They tend to like to see 3 days worth then adjust the units and see 3 days... I agree you may need to ask about your basal too as that should keep you more steady in the background, you take that whether you eat or not. What’s your waking bs? My nurse said to do before breakfast, before each meal and bedtime. Then can see patterns.
Stress hormones illness can also make your numbers go up by quite a lot suddenly.
Good l uk finding the right level. I have only been on insulin around 3 months so I’m still trying to find out my ratio too, when I think I’ve got it I seem to need to increase it. I think as long as remember it’s not a set amount for ever but will need changing over time it’s not as daunting when you find you have to change doses. I know I feel more confident when I run my numbers by my diabetes nurse. Take good care.