Do you think I should basal? I wouldn't say my consultant refused basal, as I more suggested / enquired about it.... And he said he didn't think I needed it yet as I was doing well with the novo rapid.... And so I accepted his advise.
I started on basal (Toujeo) but am not bolusing yet, so kind of a reverse of your situation. I supplement with metformin/gliclazide but have made up my mind that I want to ditch the gliclazide and start bolus, as I'm gaining a lot of weight due to the gliclazide and the med is giving me mixed results. I have good fasting values in the morning thanks to basal (usually between 4.8 - 6.5, a huge improvement for the 8+ I had without basal), but during the day I sometimes get rollercoasters like no tomorrow. I biked for 45 minutes and barely dented my values today, which means I'm not producing enough insulin. A few weeks ago I was having constant hypos on the same diet/exercise regime and had to shovel tons of carbs into my face to stay steady between 5-6, which means I was producing too much (which the gliclazide does, but in a somewhat unregulated way as I can't control the amounts).
I'm talking to my doctor on Monday to make the request for bolus because I feel the gliclazide is making me miserable and fatter, and it doesn't really work on days where my insulin production is obviously lower, and gives me trouble when it runs higher. I have to eat to meet my insulin output half the time (leading to weight gain) and other days it doesn't help to produce enough insulin to curb the spikes. The oral meds kind of work but not in the way I'd prefer.
Soooo I guess my point is this: my situation tells me I will do
better with bolus (like NovaRapid) because basal alone isn't doing it and oral meds still give me ups and downs that I can't really control well.
Your situation sounds like the basal could help control your fasting values in the morning. It could also help you take less insulin during the day, as basal works long term (12-24 hours) and provides a baseline of insulin to work with. It does take more shots, but it sounds like you're a lot like me and don't care much about whether or not you have to inject more often, so I don't really see why you couldn't try it.
It's worth a shot. I followed my doctor's advice on trying medication. I tried for 2 years, added basal, and now I feel ready to reduce my oral meds and try something else that has high potential of working better for me. While I do listen to my doctor's suggestions and try them, I also find it important to make decisions for myself. I'm confident this will work for me. If you're confident basal will work for you, go for it 100%. The worst that can happen is that you may need to inject less units every day overall, from the sound of it.
