Basal doses

[hale710]

Hi guys

I'm trying to work out if my basal dose is right. I'm currently only on 3u a day, I do it at 6pm every day. I was told by my DSN to snack before bed if my BG is below 8mmol/l, so Ive been rolling with that

My issue is when I don't snack my BG drops quite a few points overnight. So should I be reducing my basal even further? 3u really doesn't seem like a lot.

This is my bed and morning BG for the last week or so.

Bed 11.7, morning 8.8
7.9 and small snack, morning 7.6
Bed 10.6, morning 8.9
Bed 6.2 and small snack, morning 6.1
Bed 5.4 and small snack, morning 7.1
Bed 6.8 and small snack, morning 7.9
Bed 8.2, morning 5.1
Bed 4.9 and snack, morning 6.2
Bed 6.8 and snack, morning 6.8

Anyone who has any advice that would be great!

 

[amyrebecca]

Have you been on the dafne course? I read one of your previous posts and you mention carb counting...

Im not a medical professional so I cant tell you what to do but if your night time basal is sending you low in the night or on waking, then you should reduce it right away. That is what I would do. But if you haven't been on a dafne course you should speak to your nurse first before adjusting

Amy.

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[hale710]

Have you been on the dafne course?

My dietician is trying to get me on, but the first available slot is in November so that's a long wait. I lived with my cousin in uni and she's a Type 1 too so I learnt it all passively with her before I was diagnosed myself. My nurse and dietician contradict each other constantly so I never know what I'm meant to do

 

[amyrebecca]

It seems like you are doing okay though. If you are 8 before bed, dont have your snack. If you are lower then maybe you should carry on havig your snack as it seems to bring you up by about 1 for when you wake up. As long as you aren't having any hypos don't worry too much for now as you seem to be handling it quite well. Are you on set doses or are you carb counting?

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[amyrebecca]

Try to get on a dafne course asap so you can adjust your doses yourself without worrying

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[hale710]

I've been carb counting since I first saw the dietician, about a week after diagnosis. I've been on a course for it so that's no bother now. Just the long acting that confuses me, especially because its such low doses anyway.

There's a DAFNE in may but it's full so the first class after that is November and even then I'm not guaranteed a place

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I'm on nightly basal Levemir 10 units. My nurse told me to aim for 6mmol reading in the morning which made sense. Typically I'm 4.x which we have agreed is OK but I need to be careful but so far haven't had any hypos. I'm slightly surprised at the advice to have a snack if you are below 8mmol. There's nothing wrong with it but as your morning levels are usually above 6 I would allow them to drop just a bit and only have a snack if you are, say, below 7mmol. This is purely my opinion as a non-expert. Is there any reason why you have your basal at 6pm? It takes several hours to start working and 6-8 hours to peak. I have mine at bedtime (perhaps 11pm) which reduces the risk of a night-time hypo and enables the basal to be more useful during the next day. This is quite important for Levemir which only works for around 18 hours whereas Lantus works for up to 24 hours?

 

[hale710]

Hi. I'm on nightly basal Levemir 10 units. My nurse told me to aim for 6mmol reading in the morning which made sense. Typically I'm 4.x which we have agreed is OK but I need to be careful but so far haven't had any hypos. I'm slightly surprised at the advice to have a snack if you are below 8mmol. There's nothing wrong with it but as your morning levels are usually above 6 I would allow them to drop just a bit and only have a snack if you are, say, below 7mmol. This is purely my opinion as a non-expert. Is there any reason why you have your basal at 6pm? It takes several hours to start working and 6-8 hours to peak. I have mine at bedtime (perhaps 11pm) which reduces the risk of a night-time hypo and enables the basal to be more useful during the next day. This is quite important for Levemir which only works for around 18 hours whereas Lantus works for up to 24 hours?

I take it at 6 as its a time I KNOW I can hit every day. I'm 23 and have a fairly active social life, if its day 10pm I don't want to be dragging my levemir out with me if I'm not at home. Enough to carry around with testing meters and Novorapid etc. 6pm I'm always home as my dog gets fed then

The consultant said levemir acts for 24 hours and that 6pm is fine. I've seen the 18 hour thing a few times on here so I'm wondering why the consultant disagrees!