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Carb:insulin requirements

Hi @dani96xx my ratio at the moment is the same throughout the day 1 unit to 10g.I think I might have a try at changing it for lunch as it doesn't seem to work as effectively.
I don't eat breakfast and always get a dawn dump so have to correct for that but usually my total bolus units per day average around 6-10 units.
 
AM 1-20
Lunch 1-20
Dinner 1-10
13u Lantus

I find my bolus varies quite a bit, depends what I'm up to. Lazy days I can go 1-10 or busy working 1-30
 
SueJB said:
Hi @dani96xx my ratio at the moment is the same throughout the day 1 unit to 10g.I think I might have a try at changing it for lunch as it doesn't seem to work as effectively.
I don't eat breakfast and always get a dawn dump so have to correct for that but usually my total bolus units per day average around 6-10 units.
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Hello sue

I personally have to inject less at lunch than I do for dinner as I am more active in the day

I inject 1:5 for breakfast, 1:8 for lunch and 1:6 for dinner. My background is 14 units of tresiba, do you not use background insulin? maybe change lunch to 1:9 and adjusting every three days until you find what works
 
Richard F said:
AM 1-20
Lunch 1-20
Dinner 1-10
13u Lantus

I find my bolus varies quite a bit, depends what I'm up to. Lazy days I can go 1-10 or busy working 1-30
Click to expand...
Hi Richard,

Wow you're barely needing any insulin at qll!

I always find it strange how we are all type 1 but our insulin requirements are so different
 
dani96xx said:
Hi Richard,

Wow you're barely needing any insulin at qll!

I always find it strange how we are all type 1 but our insulin requirements are so different
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Hi there, I would say that's because we are all so very different diabetes or not. Non diabetics do not all produce or require the exact same amount of insulin as each other, their bodies produce what they need at any given time (as would ours if we were producing any of course and another variation is that some of us are). There are SO many variations between one human body and another, age, sex, weight, lifestyle, hormones, child, and on and on. It may seem 'strange' but do we all produce the same readings on a BP machine? I just think our bodies need whatever amount they need and there is no point comparing it with each other (I know you are simply curious of course), some people use 100s of units per day. Obviously there may come a point when someone is using insulin beyond their natural threshold and that may cause problems but in the main, vive le difference! xx
 
KK123 said:
Hi there, I would say that's because we are all so very different diabetes or not. Non diabetics do not all produce or require the exact same amount of insulin as each other, their bodies produce what they need at any given time (as would ours if we were producing any of course and another variation is that some of us are). There are SO many variations between one human body and another, age, sex, weight, lifestyle, hormones, child, and on and on. It may seem 'strange' but do we all produce the same readings on a BP machine? I just think our bodies need whatever amount they need and there is no point comparing it with each other (I know you are simply curious of course), some people use 100s of units per day. Obviously there may come a point when someone is using insulin beyond their natural threshold and that may cause problems but in the main, vive le difference! xx
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Hello! I agree there are so many different factors, I went on a stile course earlier on in the year and generally speaking those who were bigger needed more insulin both background and fast acting whereas im quite slim so only need 14 units for background but my fast acting is quite high. I suppose the word i was supposed to use was interesting and not strange hahaha thank you for your reply x
 
dani96xx said:
Hello! I agree there are so many different factors, I went on a stile course earlier on in the year and generally speaking those who were bigger needed more insulin both background and fast acting whereas im quite slim so only need 14 units for background but my fast acting is quite high. I suppose the word i was supposed to use was interesting and not strange hahaha thank you for your reply x
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I think there is a guideline from which they work based on weight & height but I guess that's just a starting point. Is a stile course a type 1 carb counting course? I went on a similar one if it is and found it very interesting. I'm sure they said that generally a person would require 1 unit of insulin per kg of weight (I could be wrong). I'm like you in that I am slim and use 10 units of Lantus and have a ratio of 1 to 20 carbs.....but it changes constantly as sometimes I don't use any novarapid depending on what I'm doing or eating. x
 
KK123 said:
I think there is a guideline from which they work based on weight & height but I guess that's just a starting point. Is a stile course a type 1 carb counting course? I went on a similar one if it is and found it very interesting. I'm sure they said that generally a person would require 1 unit of insulin per kg of weight (I could be wrong). I'm like you in that I am slim and use 10 units of Lantus and have a ratio of 1 to 20 carbs.....but it changes constantly as sometimes I don't use any novarapid depending on what I'm doing or eating. x
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It was a 4 day course which focused on pretty much everything from carb counting to exercise to alcohol and diabetes, it was very insightful! Mine is constantly changing too, but generally speaking I do inject quite a lot! X
 
Long-acting: 4 U morning 2 U night
Short-acting: I sugar surf. I don't eat many carbs. Less than 30g a day. I had 5 U today. But I also ran 21.3 km.
 
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Richard F said:
Can you explain in simple terms what sugar surfing is?
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This article explains it better than I could:
https://optimisingnutrition.com/insulin-dosing-options-for-type-1-diabetes/

I could do a calculation of 3.5 units of insulin for 200 g (7 oz) protein plus a unit for 10 grams of vegetable carbs, but this doesn't work well as protein will take longer to digest so I will drop early and spike later. Anyway, my calculation gives me a rough 5 U for my keto diet meal plans.
It's easier to sugar surf, start with say 3-4-5 U and decide later if and when I need another 2 U or so based on my Libre rise. Sometimes it depends on how many carbs I'm eating (between 10 to 30), and how much exercise I've done, (on exercise heavy days I need to halve my fast-acting and reduce my night basal - my diabetes consultant recommended this), for what dose to start with. Sugar surfing allows for variability.
 
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