Carb counting - different ratio for high carb meals?

[Levy]

Hi all,

I've been diabetic 15 years and have been carb counting for most of that time. Recently I've started to become more strict as I'm trying to tighten my control, and I realised something quite strange. My ratio is 1u:8g of carbs throughout the day - however - when I have a high carb meal, I have to take less insulin or it will make me go majorly hypo.

For example:
1 bread roll (35g of carbs) - I take 4u for this (or 4.5u depending on what my pre-meal BG is)
2 bread rolls (70g of carbs) - This would add up to 8.5u/9u of insulin, but I have NEVER taken that big a bolus for this or any other high carb meals before. Usually I will take 6, sometimes 7 tops, and that will keep me stable.

Is this normal? Is there something about carb counting for high carb meals I never realised? I never really thought about it before, but now I'm trying to adhere more strictly to carb counting it's kind of throwing a spanner in the works.

 

[Deleted Account]

A couple of things which may be contributing to this
- the rate at which your high carb meals are digested. I occasionally have a chocolate binge and eat one of those large bars of Aero or something similar. That is about 60g carbs. If I have my usual insulin ratio dose, I hypo after about an hour and then my BG goes sky high a couple of hours later. If I have a normal size bar, I don't get the same affect. I have learnt to manage this by splitting my BG ... when I can't resist the chocolate fix.
- the time at which you eat your high carb meals. Since I have been on the pump, I have realised my insulin needs vary even more than I thought throughout the day. This is not just my basal dose but also my I:C ratio changes depending on the time of day so, if you are having high carb meals at different times to your lower carbs meals, the higher carbs may be exaggerating the different I:C ratios.

Sorry, my response is all about Me, Me, Me but I hope my experience provides some insight into what is happening with your body.

 

[Levy]

Thanks @helensaramay that makes sense. I'm talking about literally the same meal at the same time though (both lunch), just more of it. I didn't spike later on after the two bread rolls, I stated stable with less insulin than my ratio would have suggested.