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Extra Levemir Units

H

Happyhaley

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi everyone... Looking for some advice please. I stopped smoking in March and have managed to gain around 2 stone in weight. Unfortunately I am now struggling with high blood sugars. I am type 1 and have been for 31 years. Can anyone advise me how much extra levemir I should be taking to compensate the extra weight. I have split the dose and take every 12 hours. My Novo rapid is calculated by the amount of carbs I eat as I am trying to cut them out to lose the excess weight. Hope this makes sense
Thanks
 
Hi @Happyhaley,
Please discuss this with your doctor/dsn./dietician.
If you wish to lose weight then it does not seem to make sense to keeping eating what you like and up the Levemir to maintain the extra weight.
If you are not wishing to lose weight then again you need professional advice.
 
kitedoc said:
Hi @Happyhaley,
Please discuss this with your doctor/dsn./dietician.
If you wish to lose weight then it does not seem to make sense to keeping eating what you like and up the Levemir to maintain the extra weight.
If you are not wishing to lose weight then again you need professional advice.
Click to expand...
Hi kitedoc
I understand where you are coming from, unfortunately I am unable to see my doctor until next month. I do intend to discuss this with them, I was just after some advice about the units until then. Obviously weight loss is not quick and I would prefer to keep my levels down until I can get back down to my original weight. I have tried to contact my dsn but had no luck as yet. In the mean time I thought this might give me some advice.
 
Hi and welcome

Well done on kicking the habit.
I gave them up about ten years ago.

Are you saying you are eating more to stop the desire for a fag?
Or you've gained weight because your metabolism has changed due to giving up the fags?

Tony
 
Hi Happyhaley, hav you basal tested? If you know what your Levemir’s doing then you can slowly increase/decrease the am and pm doses yourself.
https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/
When you’ve seen what’s happening then I’ve found that it’s best to make small adjustments where I think they’re needed, small because I don’t want to have lots of hypos.
Basal testing’s a lot of work. If you don’t use a continuous glucose monitor, like the Dexcom or Freestyle Libre then you’ll need to test frequently during the time you’re basal testing. Keep a record of all the test results and use them to analyse where to make adjustments to dosing.
 
there's no formula that works for everyone in terms of your mass and basal insulin needs....

you need to do a basal test, and you keep doing that test and adjustment until you achieve the numbers you want....

its the same approach to bolus too......trial and error......the basic foundation of dose adjustment....;)
 
Hi @Happyhaley As others have suggested basal testing is the best starting point for you to assess where changes need to be made. No one is allowed to advise on insulin changes as it's giving medical advice which is not allowed in our forum rules.

Please call up your Diabetic Nurse asap and speak to them about your high BG levels too - you should also get them to sign you up to Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE) which will help you make insulin adjustments and more importantly to know when to adjust, this course for any insulin dependent diabetic is essential as it will give you confidence with making your own changes and also help you to see if your basal is the right insulin for you.
 
Tony337 said:
Hi and welcome

Well done on kicking the habit.
I gave them up about ten years ago.

Are you saying you are eating more to stop the desire for a fag?
Or you've gained weight because your metabolism has changed due to giving up the fags?

Tony
Click to expand...
Hi Tony
I gained weight when I stopped smoking because I was eating in place of the fags for the first 2 month's! I have stopped eating more as the craving has stopped but obviously have already gained the extra weight. Until the extra weight comes off i am keen to keep my levels as normal as possible. !
 
I assume that you know that when eating a low carb meal that you need to count the protein when working out how much insulin to use. From reading the postings from people with type 1 it seems that a reasonable starting point is to count the protein at half the rate then you do carbs.

(From reading your opening post on this thread it sounds like you are trying low carb to lose weight and hence think you don't need to take short acting inslin.)
 
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