Guessing my insulin doses

My ratios are 1.5 units Novorapid to10g carbs in the morning, and then one unit per 10g the rest of the day - these were seduced in the DAFNE course I did about seven years ago.

I’m eating low carb (aiming for less than 30g a day) now, have been for about five weeks, but my ratios seem to be the same.

mine set me on roughly 1 in 10 you then twiggle it.

Did you not get any information on how to use the Novorapid when you got it?
The leaflet I got said to use 1 unit for every 10g of carbs to start

sarahm723 said:

Every day every meal I have is a guess I have no clue. Terrible I know I’m awaiting A dafne course but will be waiting a year at least. I need stable bloods. What’s a rough carb counting guide or what are people’s doses I know we all different .. just wondering how people perfect it . I’m 27 type 1 on nova rapid morning roughly 7-9 with 30g porridge, Lynch and dinner are always a guess and it’s between 12& 16 depending and lantus 25 units. I’m recovering from eye surgery and need stable bloods. Would love to know some of your daily foods and ratios. Thanks in advance

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It's trial and error, I figured it out on my own mostly when I got my pump years ago. It's still a lot of guessing and going with your gut instinct unless you eat very predictable meals and weigh every portion, which I don't. Make sure you do basal testing because if your basal dose isn't right there's no way you can carb count correctly. Start by eating something very predictable like a slice of bread. Remember your ratios may be different at different times of the day and depending on how strong your basal dose is at a given time of day. Also, it isn't consistent across foods at the different GIs of different foods mean they digest at different rates. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure it all out, and after 11 years I'm still working on it! It's more an art than a science too as they are so many factors out of your control that influence how insulin will absorb and food will digest at a given point in time. If you can get a CGM or Libre combined with a pump I highly recommend it. I make a million adjustments a day based on my CGM and taking small amounts of insulin or extending a dose over a period of time using my pump. I could not get the excellent control I have eating the things I do without these technologies, and I've never found carb counting to keep me in range well enough without making adjustments throughout the day.

I would love to be a 1 unit to 1 carb person. Each day is different, each meal different.
Dawn phenomenon and issues with Adrenalin caused by swimming/excitement/stress mean I take each day as it comes and act accordingly. As I am retired I can suit myself, so tend to eat a low carb breakfast and one meal a day at 2/3 ish, with absolutely no snacks. When on hols that all goes to pot and I don’t worry. As long as the majority of the time I am in range.

sarahm723 said:

Every day every meal I have is a guess I have no clue. Terrible I know I’m awaiting A dafne course but will be waiting a year at least. I need stable bloods. What’s a rough carb counting guide or what are people’s doses I know we all different .. just wondering how people perfect it . I’m 27 type 1 on nova rapid morning roughly 7-9 with 30g porridge, Lynch and dinner are always a guess and it’s between 12& 16 depending and lantus 25 units. I’m recovering from eye surgery and need stable bloods. Would love to know some of your daily foods and ratios. Thanks in advance

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Hi @sarahm723 ,

Personally? I would be looking at basal testing the Lantus first.. (I do Lantus & Novorapid.) link here. https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/
If the foundations of your house is dodgy? (Lantus, the long acting one.) The cracks in the walls will keep appearing & constantly need repair..

Then have a look at the insulin to carb ratio bit..

Hope this helps.!

Mel dCP said:

these were seduced in the DAFNE course

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sorry, but my inner child is giggling at this autocorrect typo

How often do you test your blood sugar? I figured out how much insulin I approximally needed for what foods pretty quick by testing right before eating and two hours after the first bite. If the second measurement is over like 2 mmols/l higher than the first I knew I needed more insulin for that meal and I used that knowledge next time I ate a meal like that. I still always test (or scan my libre) before and after meals to keep on top of it; my ratio's tend to shift over the weeks.

Antje77 said:

How often do you test your blood sugar? I figured out how much insulin I approximally needed for what foods pretty quick by testing right before eating and two hours after the first bite. If the second measurement is over like 2 mmols/l higher than the first I knew I needed more insulin for that meal and I used that knowledge next time I ate a meal like that. I still always test (or scan my libre) before and after meals to keep on top of it; my ratio's tend to shift over the weeks.

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My excuses, forgot to refresh the page and my computer had just been sitting there with pages loaded, so I didn't see the other reactions.
If you had an operation today, give yourself some time to recover. Those things mess with blood sugar, so don't worry too much about it for the next couple of days. Good recovery!

sarahm723 said:

Thanks everybody ... basal etesting so test in middle of the night is that it ... I have surgery this morning in a lot of pain glad it’s over just want to move forward in control I find it so impossible to figure out I could eat same thing for a week and bloods different ... I find it impossible to find what’s right for me the only think I have to a tee is the 7 units with my 30g porrige it’s perfect for me the rest is a mess

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Change the porridge for an egg and so no bolus

i do a 1-10 ratio while i am waiting to go on my dafne course in april if bgs go high i correct at next meal not in between i find this works for me

sarahm723 said:

Really ? No carbs for break so no insulin ? Really that would scare me ? I’d be starving with just eggs though .. Is low carb always the best way to go
Thanks

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I switched to low carb about five weeks ago, and I’ve been astonished by how hungry I’m not. Before, I’d be constantly craving more food, half an hour after a porridge or some toast for breakfast I’d be wanting more food. Sandwich or some pasta for lunch and by mid afternoon I could eat a scabby cat. And as for the evening after dinner, I would be seriously eyeing up my (not) scabby cat - and scoffing whatever I could find. Just hungry all the time, even with big portions of food. And I was getting heavier, needing to take more insulin, and then feeding that.

Now... I’ll have an avocado with mayonnaise or three boiled eggs with a bit of cheese or butter for breakfast (assuming I’m actually hungry from the night before, I often miss breakfast because I’m not hungry and just have a coffee with some butter in), maybe some cheese, olives, nuts and a bit of salad for lunch, or a Lidl hi protein roll full of cheese. I like to cook, so I’ve been making low carb curries, stroganoff, Moroccan couscous (using cauliflower), all sorts of things. I can’t eat meat, so it’s a bit trickier for me, but you can fill your boots with bacon, steak, roast chicken... Portion sizes are much smaller, because the food is so much more filling. I’ve felt very little urge to snack, other than through habit, which I’m breaking now. While there are small an]mounts of carbs in the food I’m eating, ecause there is a lot of fat, they are absorbed so slowly that no insulin is needed. I can go a whole day without taking any Novorapid.

Lots of love for your surgery, I hope it goes ok and you recover quickly xxx

sarahm723 said:

Every day every meal I have is a guess I have no clue. Terrible I know I’m awaiting A dafne course but will be waiting a year at least. I need stable bloods. What’s a rough carb counting guide or what are people’s doses I know we all different .. just wondering how people perfect it . I’m 27 type 1 on nova rapid morning roughly 7-9 with 30g porridge, Lynch and dinner are always a guess and it’s between 12& 16 depending and lantus 25 units. I’m recovering from eye surgery and need stable bloods. Would love to know some of your daily foods and ratios. Thanks in advance

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Do you mean you have to guess carbs as the easiest way to remember is: (Some stuff i just remmeber like fruit)
1. Add carbs up it always says on the back of the packet of what your having how many carbs your having.
2. Divide by your carb ratio

For example at lunch i had:
1. Sandwhich= 12g of carb per slice, 2 slices so = 24g
2. Small Mandarin= 12g of carb
The filling in my sandwhich was tuna and mayo but there's hardly any carb in that so i don't include that So 24g+12= 36g of carb in total. So i divide by 7 because of my carb ratio for lunch so 36 divde by 7 is approxamitly 5 as 5*7= 35 and i didn't need to correct as blood was 6.3. So there for 5 units.

sarahm723 said:

Really ? No carbs for break so no insulin ? Really that would scare me ? I’d be starving with just eggs though .. Is low carb always the best way to go
Thanks

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Low carb doesn't suit every one but I've never been a big fan of breakfast so I might not eat till lunch