How early before your meal do you inject?

[goodfood]

I have been insulin dependent (type 1) for 45 years. I do not yet have any compl;ications. I started the dafne regime 5 yrs ago. (I am 73) and still am not totally happy with it. I find the previous comments most interesting and agree with the majority. However, I have found that when I have a meal with red meat my nos. are low after 2 hours but then rise hugely. If I have a veggie meal or one with turkey or lamb I can keep nos. on an even keel;.Has anyone else experienced this. And thanx for the info re when to inject - the dafne folks insist on it being immediatley before meal. And I have found that not to my taste -Sorry for that comment !! ------

 

[Kristin251]

IF I ate large portions of fatty red meat I would spike much later. I also think 100% grass fed makes a difference. For me saturated fat in general makes a difference too. I mainly eat fish of all kinds, turkey, eggs and chicken. I love burgers and lamb but I keep portions small. This is a case where 'some' is better than none for me.

 

[Dan87]

Is there a period which could be too early? My novorapid starts working after about 15mins and for some meals I have injected 30mins before, and my blood sugar has not dropped even though I've had extra insulin as my level has been high.

 

[noblehead]

Is there a period which could be too early? My novorapid starts working after about 15mins and for some meals I have injected 30mins before, and my blood sugar has not dropped even though I've had extra insulin as my level has been high.

Certainly, last week I found out that bolusing 20mins before my breakfast caused a dip in bg levels, I felt low postprandial and looking at the Libre graph I'd dipped into the low 3's, so my insulin kicked-in before my food began to digest, but must add that my pre-prandial bg level was in the 4's (think it was around 4.4-4.6).

 

[Dan87]

Certainly, last week I found out that bolusing 20mins before my breakfast caused a dip in bg levels, I felt low postprandial and looking at the Libre graph I'd dipped into the low 3's, so my insulin kicked-in before my food began to digest, but must add that my pre-prandial bg level was in the 4's (think it was around 4.4-4.6).

How about the other side of the coin, where the insulin is a bit too early for the food so your levels rise due to this? Think this has happened to me but hard to be sure it's the cause.

 

[noblehead]

How about the other side of the coin, where the insulin is a bit too early for the food so your levels rise due to this? Think this has happened to me but hard to be sure it's the cause.

Trial and error Dan, by experimenting and keeping a note of the results will determine when you should bolus for food.

 

[Kristin251]

How about the other side of the coin, where the insulin is a bit too early for the food so your levels rise due to this? Think this has happened to me but hard to be sure it's the cause.

Dan I think both could happen depending on what's in your meals. I could never get insulin there att he same time as my food when even when I was only eating 20 C per meal. Once I went to above ground veggies as my only source of carbs BG became MUCH steadier. I believe I saw on another thread you were drinking juice and eating sandwiches If I ate/drank those things I would expect erratic numbers which is why I don't .

I don't pump but I am not sure with MDI that you can achieve a steady line eating those foods without splitting doses. I think pumpers can get much closer but again as I don't pump I can't say for sure

 

[azure]

Which shows we're all different in the level of carbs we can manage

I've only bolused 'too early' once before and I found that was due to illness. Still, it's always good to bear in mind the possibility of going too low, even if 99% of the time you're fine. Diabetes likes to spring surprises sometimes!