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before bed levels

C

coolpot

Member
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13
Hi all,

Some of you may of seen my other post today. im wanting to get my control better, i think one of my biggest problems is my before bed test. i suppose i am worried about going low while asleep, i live on my own too. I wonder what levels you expect and are happy going to bed with?

also what sort of things do you eat at this time? :)

thanks , steve
 
coolpot said:
Hi, During the day i use Novorapid, and at night i take the lantus solostar.

what is MDI? :)
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Hello Steve

MDI stands for multi daily injections which is what you are using. Basal/bolus is also the same.
What is your fasting before breakfast blood glucose level? It should be somewhere around the 5 or 6 mark. If your bg is a lot higher than that, then its because you probably are not giving yourself enough Lantus or you are eating too much carb before bed.

During the years that I used Lantus, I always ate some carb before bed as my bg levels were nearly always around the 7 mark. If Lantus is going to cause hypos it usually does this around 2am.
 
coolpot said:
my morning levels are 12ish! :/!
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What are your bg levels before going to bed and if you eat - how much carb? Usually people should only need to eat about 5-10g carb at bedtime.

Do you know how to do correction doses with Novorapid at all? If your bg level is 12 and your target is 6, then a correction to cover 12 minus 6 is needed, equals 6. If 1 unit of bolus lowers your bg level by 2, then you are looking at giving yourself a correction of 3 units Novo plus an insulin to carb ratio for the food you are going to eat. Figuring out your correct ratio takes some time, but is fairly straight forward if you start testing your bg levels every 2 to 2.5hrs after breakfast and making a note in pen of the amount of carb you are eating. Once you start to get somewhere towards targets, say for instance 6 before your main meals and then 2hrs later you aim to get a bg level of 8-9 and then back to 6 before your next main meal.
 
hi only just saw this, think we posted at same time, erm, my evening and morning are the biggest problem for me, lunch and tea results arent usually so bad.

at 10pm my bg would proberbly be about 14, maybe higher. i eat cheese / crackers usually, its quick and easy, id say a small amount of cheese, duno what carbs are in that 2bh, theres about 6-7grams of carbs in the crackers, they are small ones.
 
hi RE: correction doses, no i have never discussed this, however i have done it before, it isnt that rare that on a evening my sugars might go uptoward 18, if so i have had a couple of units novorapid as well as my lantus, - never had a problem from doing that...but am i about to be told thats a terrible thing to do? ;p

im going to have another read through what you said so i understand fully :)

*addition

looks like thats roughly what i have been doing, but not to the same rules, i had no idea you could or were sposed to do that, so its useful to have those guidelines, as ive just thought ahh a coupole of units wont make it go too low! but not knowing if you should do it and indeed by what amounts etc meant that i have only ever done small amounts.

thanks for that knowledge too ;)
 
coolpot said:
hi only just saw this, think we posted at same time, erm, my evening and morning are the biggest problem for me, lunch and tea results arent usually so bad.

at 10pm my bg would proberbly be about 14, maybe higher. i eat cheese / crackers usually, its quick and easy, id say a small amount of cheese, duno what carbs are in that 2bh, theres about 6-7grams of carbs in the crackers, they are small ones.
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Try and use a bit more Novo for your eve meal so that your bg levels are a bit lower. 14 is on the high side so on that level you wouldn't need to eat any carb before bed. 18 is dreadfully high befor bed so you definately need to think about either eating less carb or injecting more Novo for your eve meal
 
Have a look at Noblehead's posts about insulin to carb ratios. Some people will need just 1 unit bolus to cover 10g carb, some will need anything from 1.5 units to 2 or 3 units per 10g carb. Some only need 1/2 unit for 10g carb. Once you start to get somewhere towards your desired targets, everything comes together. DAFNE goes into it all in a bit more detail and for a lot of people they usually end up giving their basal dose (Lantus) twice a day instead of just once. Actually, that's probably what you need to do with your Lantus. What I mean is split it :)
 
hi yea i figured that, might of gone too far ;) was just feelin a little bit weird! you know the feeling, ;p sugar is now 4.3 i guess the healthier meal and extra unit of rapid has gotten things lower - what sort of things would you eat to get things upto the 5-7level then, without sending it off into higher numbers? nay suggestions? :)
 
coolpot said:
hi yea i figured that, might of gone too far ;) was just feelin a little bit weird! you know the feeling, ;p sugar is now 4.3 i guess the healthier meal and extra unit of rapid has gotten things lower - what sort of things would you eat to get things upto the 5-7level then, without sending it off into higher numbers? nay suggestions? :)
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Good question. If my bg level is on 4 I eat my meal but instead of bolusing for say 30g carb, I just bolus for 20. 10g carb will usually raise you up by about 2
 
Hi look at my message again about adjusting your insulin using ratios. Start to have a look at the carb content of all the food you eat and then it will all start to make sense. I can't tell you what ratio you need to use to get a bg level of 5-7 as I dont know what you eat and what your bg levels are before you eat and 2hrs after you've eaten. You just increase or decrease your bolus so that your targets can be met.
 
ihs - and everyone, thanks so much for help - yes i will. i have already told doctor i want to do a DAFNE course, so hopefully that will come through, also ordered a couple of books off amazon. just found a carb counting book too htat i obviously bought but never looked into!

i intend to get this sorted :) thanks so much for support. have to get off for a bit, but will see you on here again im sure ;)
 
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