Type 1 Advanced bolus?

[Catherine4188]

I'm a newly diagnosed type 1. I have seen people talking about advanced bolusing before meals. I understand what this is but I was just wondering what the advantages were? Can you only do this a certain amount of time before food? Can you only do this if you BS are higher than a certain value?

Thanks for any responses. X

 

[db89]

Taking a bolus in advance should give fast acting insulin a chance to start working before you eat and blood glucose starts rising from the food @Catherine4188 - it doesn't work exactly the same for everyone so you could experiment in 5 minute increments with similar meals to find what works for you? The aim is to lower the peak of glucose rising after you eat so it doesn't spike then fall.

 

[noblehead]

Have a look at the following article called Strike the Spike, it's written by the author of the book Think Like a Pancreas and covers most of what you need to know about bolusing in advance to reduce postprandial spikes:

https://www.diabetesselfmanagement....blood-glucose-management/strike-the-spike-ii/

 

[himtoo]

Hi @Catherine4188
this is a great question -- and a question that is open to an abundant amount of interpretation.

ultimately you must decide based on trial and error.

an example tonight for me -- I was 7.6 before meal of 38 carbs ( I took my bolus dose approx. 25 minutes pre meal and 2 hours post meal was 8.5 ( so I consider that a decent result )
but not an excellent result as I would prefer all the numbers to be in the 5's and 6's

hope this helps !!!!!