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Type 1 Bolus to basal ratio?

sharpe5000

sharpe5000

Newbie
Messages
2
Location
Rayleigh, Essex
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
I use levemir and novorapid and recently upped my levemir (basal) injection due to reading the ratio should be around 60/40 basal to bolus. I tried this and it's worked quite well in reducing the spread of my sugars. Does anyone else use this ratio or anything different?
 
Mine changes daily depending on what I'm eating or how much exercise I'm doing, but on most days my basal dose is nearly twice my bolus total. When I first started pumping I was told to take 50/50 and adjust from there as needed. That was a very very frustrating hyperglycaemic time period of my life I'll never get back! ;)
 
Whereas I'm completely different - I'm the other way round - 16 Lantus and about 34 Novorapid in total (so that's 32/68 or about twice as much Novorapid as Lantus).
I was told to try 50/50 at some point but my attempt to get close to that only lasted for a week as every morning I woke up hypo (luckily my boss was very understanding and was fine with me working from home or being late in) and what with living on my own I got scared funnily enough and wasn't willing to continue.
 
the ratio of basal / bolus is a guideline , we are all different.

my ratios vary each day as I don't eat the same amount of carbs each day , but the basal stays the same generally
yesterday I was 54% basal and 46% bolus

and welcome to the forum too @sharpe5000 :)
 
Mine is as close to 50/50 as I can keep it as I reduce both as I lose weight but was 70/30 mixed insulin shots.
Although my basal is just under 3 times as strong than levermir or lantus. (Toujeo300)
I'm currently on 51basal and 50-60novarapid. Depends on how carby my evening meal or if porridge or egg breakfast.
But I'm a type2 not a type1. ;)
 
yes its why ive dropped 6 units in the last 2 weeks. i really should stop the nova rapid as im down to 2 units per jab. covers my carbs. i thinki will see what the doctor says tomorrow
 
paulus1 said:
yes its why ive dropped 6 units in the last 2 weeks. i really should stop the nova rapid as im down to 2 units per jab. covers my carbs. i thinki will see what the doctor says tomorrow
Click to expand...
Don't stop any meds without Dr consent. You are a type1 not a type2. So no reserve like us if still need insulin for shock or anything similar. Don't think like a type2, think like a pancreas!
 
a wobbly floppy thingy . your right i wont. it just seems silly for 2 clicks. and yes ive noticed even feeling just a little off bumps me up. im also going to question if i can get a monitor to see what by bgs are doing over night.i think i may be having some sneaky hypos
 
Basal Bolus ratio should only ever be used when someone is diagnosed as a starting point from which to progress. Why? I hear you ask?

Well the two are doing different things. When you take a basal shot it is counteracting the glucose production that your body has in homeostasis and shouldn't be doing anything more. Your bolus should relate to food intake. On a day when you eat 300g carbs, you'd expect to have a very different bolus dose to a day where you ate 50g.

In the first case you may find that you are 30% basal, 70% bolus, and in the second, you would expect that your TDD will have reduced dramatically, but your basal will remain mostly the same, so the percentages may invert.

That's why the "ratio" model really isn't all that useful for most people, most of the time.
 
tim2000s said:
Basal Bolus ratio should only ever be used when someone is diagnosed as a starting point from which to progress. Why? I hear you ask?

Well the two are doing different things. When you take a basal shot it is counteracting the glucose production that your body has in homeostasis and shouldn't be doing anything more. Your bolus should relate to food intake. On a day when you eat 300g carbs, you'd expect to have a very different bolus dose to a day where you ate 50g.

In the first case you may find that you are 30% basal, 70% bolus, and in the second, you would expect that your TDD will have reduced dramatically, but your basal will remain mostly the same, so the percentages may invert.

That's why the "ratio" model really isn't all that useful for most people, most of the time.
Click to expand...

Well explained and very reassuring. Thanks!
Leeanne
 
this was my basal test last evening. peoples views please. i suspect the slight blip was the morning lantus running low before the evening one kicked in.
6.30pm 5.1
7.30pm 5.4
8.30m 5.5
9.30pm 6.1
10.30pm 5.1
11.30pm 5.1
12.30pm 4.8
 
well that was an interesting meeting with my consultant hba1c down from 106 to 51 my insulin cut to a mere 7 clicks thats down from 68 and 6kgs weight loss in 6 weeks. not bad.
 
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