Hi Sue, I think you may be stressing unnecessarily and getting caught up in the idea of the dosing formulae following a logical pattern for all of us.
The longer I’ve lived with T1 and the more I’ve seen of other people’s needs, the more convinced I’ve become that we’re all individual and can vary hugely.
I’d be very wary of altering your basal unless you find yourself having too many hypos which aren’t created by overdosing with bolus. The basal is there to ensure that vital organs have enough energy to function and thus we keep ticking along. If you think of insulin as being like a key that opens the door for energy to enter a cell then this might help explain why we need a constant supply so that our brains, liver, kidneys, heart, muscles, et al continue working. If your 8u works then that’s good. You may find that you need to reduce it if you lose weight or become more active. You may need to increase it as the honeymoon progresses, if you’re ill or if you step on the cracks in the pavement - sometimes this T1 thing throws a funny wobbly
. The basal is individual to each of us.
Bolus is to deal with the food we eat. But you know this already.
Please forgive me if I seem just to be stating the obvious!
I think the root of the problem is that you want to lose weight and are struggling to find ways to do so. It’s so frustrating isn’t it when the lovely slim feelings begin to go. I clearly remember that brief two months before diagnosis when I felt my weight was perfect. Looking back, I was probably too skinny.
The most efficient weight loss experiences I had post diagnosis were getting amoebic dysentery (I don’t recommend that); picking up a tapeworm (I don’t recommend that), and having two colon-investigation things - starve for 36hours and do the Princess-Di-Type clearing (I really don’t recommend that); regular acquarobics and swimming lengths (I do recommend that!!!!); lots of walking (yup, really recommend this, and great for mood and bs control), and the 5:2 diet (this worked for me).
I eat about 90 - 110 carbs a day, though it varies, so knowing a bolus ratio’s vital. I use Levemir as a basal, 8.5u am and 8u pm, and novorapid as a bolus, ratio 1:1. When I was using Lantus I had 14u pm, but it didn’t last the 24hours. Despite this I was getting hypos with it because for me the profile was full of peaks and troughs. Some people find it works fine for them. We’re all individual and the key is to find what works for you.
Try not to get too hung up on what doses etc ‘should’ be and think of yourself as an individual crafts-person made piece of art: the way you put your own components together will come from a greater understanding of how your own fine and valued materials work.
You’re doing really well so far. The honeymoon’s not easy but you seem to be making it through with blood sugar results that look perfect. Wow!
You may be upset about weight gain now but I expect that once this initial phase of the evil fairy T1’s done you’ll get that equally sorted.