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Basal vs Bolus "units"

BeccyB

BeccyB

Well-Known Member
Messages
465
Location
Birmingham, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Does anyone know if a unit of basal insulin should have the same effect as a unit of bolus insulin, albeit over a much longer time period?

I think I missed my Levemir dose last night and am wondering how much I can expect to correct throughout the day for it.
I should've taken 10units, so should all my novorapid corrections throughout the day add up to about 10units? If so I'm thinking a correction dose of 1unit every 2.5hrs should keep me straight-ish?!

At least I have a libre so I can keep an eye on it without loads of tests!
 
Based on my experience, it's more complex than that as amount also affects duration. I've tried modelling it in the past and ended up in a place where 1u of basal lowered my bg level by approximately 3mmol/l when I injected a large enough dose to cover me for a specific duration.

I haven't tried looking at what happens with larger or smaller doses and the effects.
 
Thanks Tim, I suspected it wouldn't be simple but not that complicated! I'll persevere with the libre and lots of jabs.....
 
Similar experience to Tim, I found that small doses didn't seem to be as effective or certainly not consistently so for me to trust them.
I have found that anything less than around 3 units of either basal or bolus is inconsistent but if it is part of a larger dose then the two seem to be fairly close but not exactly the same.

I think part of what may screw things up is that the bolus doses may have their peak action occur during a period when your insulin sensitivity is fairly consistent whereas the basals insulins can potentially cross times of the day when your sensitivity changes. Well that has been my general working theory so far.

All that said for me I have found that for the purposes of calculating a quick change for basal it seems to be pretty good for a first approximation and then I fine tune over the next couple days. It is certainly faster than the titration method they tried to teach me on DAFNE, I had already found my own way that seemed to work by that point.

/A
 
I know this is a few days late however.....
You're correct in dividing up your basal into bolus'. Although at bed time ( I'm taking it you only take the 10 units once a day? ) I'd set an alarm on my phone, if you've a phone charger next to your bed as I usually do, wrap something around the cord before you charge it so it gives you a reminder to inject, we all forget at some stage in our lives.
I used to tie a scarf on the front door handle before I left for work in order to remember my lunch from the fridge, these daft ideas do work.
Hope your sugars are back to normal now anyway
 
Just a bit more info if anyone stumbles across this post. According to "Think like a Pancreas" 1 unit of insulin should have the same effect whatever the type (but over different period of time) EXCEPT for Levemir, which it says is 25% 'less potent'
 
BeccyB said:
EXCEPT for Levemir, which it says is 25% 'less potent'
Click to expand...
Which is one of the reasons why I found Think Like a Pancreas a bit annoying. That statement just isn't true for everyone. Some of us needed less Levemir than Lantus,,,
 
That has happened to me so I remember I took half, which would be five.
 
I am not sure if this helps but - When I switched from my Lantus Basal to my pump using Novorapid - I ended up needing pretty much the exact same 'bolus rate'

On Lantus i was injecting 12units every evening, which is 12u/24hr = 0.5units per hour. When i switched over to my pump I was able to set the basal rate to the exact same (0.5u/hr) and had to make very little adjustments.

From this I can say for me at least - It is a really good place to start lol It should get you through a day of missed basal without TOO much thinking.

For safety I would dial it back a bit as the rapid acting insulin will act in small waves, so it will be alot of ups and downs as well as compounding so maybe inject every like 1-1.5units 3-4 hours instead of 0.5 every hour.

I would suggest giving your doctor a call just to find out what they would suggest, or to run your solution by them.
 
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