A question specifically about Honeymooning...

[Lucieni]

I was diagnosed with LADA 18 months ago and have been able to control my BG with a low carb diet so far. I have experimented with fast acting insulin in the past but reverted to diet control while I still can. Has anyone else here experience with long acting insulin at a low dose ie 2-4 units instead? My thinking is that while honeymooning we still have a small amount of our own insulin swimming around in the background but as soon as something carby is eaten BG spikes. Could a small dose of long acting flatten those spikes (in theory)?

 

[ert]

I stayed off insulin for two years after my type 1 diagnosis. My blood sugars were going over 14 mmol/l overnight night eventually, even though intially I managed to run them down during the day so I started long-acting insulin 2 units in the morning and 1 unit at night. It had a levelling effect, stopping the rise overnight. I took fast-acting with my meals a week later so that I didn't have to run so often. I didn't find the long-acting stopped the rise after my meals. I would have had to be taking a lot more units for this to have an effect but it would have caused me to hypo.

 

[KK123]

I was diagnosed with LADA 18 months ago and have been able to control my BG with a low carb diet so far. I have experimented with fast acting insulin in the past but reverted to diet control while I still can. Has anyone else here experience with long acting insulin at a low dose ie 2-4 units instead? My thinking is that while honeymooning we still have a small amount of our own insulin swimming around in the background but as soon as something carby is eaten BG spikes. Could a small dose of long acting flatten those spikes (in theory)?

Hi there. I started off on short and long acting insulin 3 years ago, when diagnosed on the basis that it helped preserve my remaining beta cells and my levels were sky high too and I was in DKA etc, (there are varying thoughts on this). I quickly reduced my starting doses as I was constantly going hypo. Now I use 6 units of bolus (long acting) a day and a unit or two of short acting (Novarapid) if I have a particularly carby meal, mostly I don't have any novarapid as I am fairly low carb. My Consultant said that generally, both insulins work in conjunction with each other, so the long acting helps to keep levels down in between meals but used on its own it may not be enough to control after meal levels. Again, short acting on its own may be enough to keep meal levels down but won't necessarily keep in between levels down. It's a balance he said. Personally I prefer to have the use of both insulins available to help any insulin I do have left. The spikes caused by food (if over 15 or so carbs) probably won't be covered by the fast acting hence the novarapid. What are your numbers like because in the end that's what matters along with not having debilitating hypos or hypers. x

 

[Maco]

I think everyone is different when going through the honeymoon period. I was diagnosed when I was 14 & didn’t accept it at all, never took any sort of insulin long or quick acting but my levels still managed to stay in some sort of control. Kinda the same as what you said though, when I ate something high in carbs I would spike.