Fast acting insulin

[purrpleness]

Hi guys, I've noticed 2hrs after food I spike, I can go from 5, 6 or 7mmol before food then end up about 15 or higher 2hrs after food. It can differ some days, like a roast won't spike me much but 2 slicess of toast will, so I've been abit worried about taking fast acting insulin. I contacted my diabetic team and they suggested take 1-2units of fast acting 15-20mins before eating something "carby". Anyway I am currently 2hrs after eating a pasty and I'm in the 15mmol range now. It will linger there now for the next few hrs, going down slightly, then rising again then it'll drop to normal eventually. Can you take fast acting 2hrs after or does it have to be before food? I'm worried I'll have a hypo, so haven't used it yet. Seems to be happening on a daily now. Should I just maybe leave it and let it settle?
Thanks

 

[Antje77]

like a roast won't spike me much but 2 slicess of toast will, so I've been abit worried about taking fast acting insulin.

Do you count the carbs in your food and adjust your doses based on the amount of carbs in your food?

 

[purrpleness]

I haven't been told to do that or explained how to do it, after I posted the above I went up to 17.2 and am now on 13.8.

 

[Antje77]

I haven't been told to do that or explained how to do it, after I posted the above I went up to 17.2 and am now on 13.8.

Ah, I see you're relatively newly diagnosed.

Can you ask your diabetes nurse about doing a DAFNE course to help you dose the right amount of insulin for different meals?

How do I access a course? - DAFNE

You can see where your nearest DAFNE centre is here. If your current DAFNE service does not offer DAFNE, you could discuss with your GP the possibility of transferring your diabetes care to a neighbouring centre where DAFNE is offered. DAFNE can only be offered by a diabetes unit that has DAFNE...

dafne.nhs.uk

 

[rayq81]

A little late for a reply, sometimes my level starts to spike like this however as soon as it gets to 11+ I get on my treadmill for 15 minutes and this reverses it quickly and works every time, not practical for everyone but this works for me to keep the level from hitting that 15 where I would need emergency Insulin

 

[In Response]

Do you check your highs with finger pricks?
Libre is designed to be most accurate at "normal" levels and has a tendency to over estimate highs
Do your levels return to "normal" before your next meal? If so, your dose is fine but the carbs in your food are being digested before your fast acting insulin reaches its peak. Therefore, you can take your insulin a little earlier.
Do you have a half unit pen? If the advice is to dose 1 to 2 units, this is low so you may benefit from taking the middle ground

Even if you do not adjust your insulin dose according what you eat, it is worth starting to practice carb counting and keep a food/carb/insulin diary. This seems tedious but it becomes easier over time and is useful practice when you have to do it
Focus on the "big hitters" like potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, pastries, cake and check their carbohydrate (ignore the "of which is sugar" part) on the packaging or internet. (If using the internet, be aware to avoid US sites as they carb count differently.)