how many total basal units are u on a day??

ams162

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so we went for a checkup last thursday and the DSN was surprised by how little insulin dylan is on she said she would expect someone on so little to be making their own insulin but we have done the c peptide test and he isnt making any himself.

anyway just made me curious about how much other people are on dylan has 5u of basal spread over a 24hr period in varying degrees and is 9 years old, he might then have varying degrees of bolus but usually around 1 to 2 u per meal

thanks

anna marie
 

Jen&Khaleb

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Khaleb is MDI but just for comparison I thought I'd let you know that he is on quite a lot. Basal is usually 13 units Levemir and he's getting 2-3 units Novorapid with meals. Khaleb is about 16.5 kilos. In Winter he constantly has some sort of virus and in Summer he drops a few units of insulin a day being well most of the time and doing swimming.

I think if Khaleb was generally more active like "normal" kids he would be on less insulin but he can barely run and can't jump, hop or skip.
 

ebony321

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I guess you can't really compare to me as i'm a 23 year old woman, but i thought i'd post mine anyway as it could be interesting..

i'm currently on 24.4uph basal over 24 hours. I think that's relatively high compared to some i've seen , but been told it's close to expected for my age, and should apprently decrease as i hit 25, but we'll see!

i have ratio's that are around 2.5 units per 13g. So if i have a high carb meal this can be easily in double digits!

i seem to remember you saying Dylan is quite active and quite slim, that could be a factor in his small requirements maybe..
 

ams162

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He is very slim and very active lol but the nurse seemed so surprised by his amounts i was just interested it doesnt matter on age really just being nosey to see how he compares. may have to reduce things furthur tho we have had 2 days with results in 2s so soon will be less again be more like 4s as now hes low 5 over 24hrs.

all very interesting tho :D
 

sugar2

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Well, I am 38 and weigh about 9 1/2 stone, and I am on 16 units of basal. I think Dylan may just be very senstive to insulin? (I think Jopar has said she is too???) I think this has good and bad points, but if his levels are OK, nothing to worry about!
 

ams162

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they were ok till this week sugar when he has some real lows first time for a while, i wasnt worried about it was just interested to know what amounts others used as for me what dylan uses is the norm so i was surprised when the nurse said how little it was just got me thinking really :D
 

ebony321

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Just shows how different everyone is doesn't it!

My nurse thinks my basal is too low compared to my ratios. but it seems to be what works so she doesn't care either way :lol:

At least you don't have to change the cartridge as often!! :lol: :lol:
 

Cheryl

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According to my consultant, most people have at least 0.5u per kilo of bodyweight per day in total basal + bolus) My DSN said the typical ratio is about 50/50, though internet research tells me 40-60% of total insulin intake as basal insulin is average range.

I usually have 35-40% of my daily insulin as basal on the pump. I'm told that's on the low side, but the DSN didn't ask about my total carbon intake pet day and the more carbon you have, the more bolus you need which will naturally increase the percentage of daily intake as bolus & reduce the basals percentage.

I hope I'm not rambling too much. Calculate his basal insulin as a perentage using this formula:

basal insulin divided by total insulin. If the result is 40-60% is in the average range.

I also take very little insulin per kilo of bodyweight and at or below 0.5u per kilo per day.

My hba1c is 6.5 & I'm very prone to hypos, so if anything I'm trying to cut back my insulin. So I'm a good example of not fitting in the DSN's box and I know that she doesn't like non-average people, it makes her job harder.

My figures are adult ones, I've no idea if it's different for children. But don't worry if Dylan is different, it just keeps the professionals on their toes!
 

Cheryl

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Apologies for the awful spelling! I'm using my phone & predictive text can be terrible sometimes! I hope you can make sense of my reply. For "carbon" read carb & "pet day" should be per day. Those are just the ones I noticed on a quick read back. :cry:
 

donnellysdogs

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Agreed...it is blood levels and being the correct weight that matters.....

I weigh 10st 5 and 5'6", all muscle-size 10 (GP says I am lean and mean and fit)....Attendant at hospital last week couldn't believe weight-bacuse it makes me 'overweight!!!!'-and yet not an inch to spare.....I am on a basal of 17 at the moment.

My DSN never comments about qty of basal/bolus-just whether it comes within the 50/50 or 60/40 ratio, and it is always around 48/52 ratio...and that is without watching what I eat in terms of bolus qty....I never worry about what I eat, as long as I count it as healthy 90% of the time and have the occasional treat...and that I am not hungry...I eat 2 meals a day and I am happy with that.

Don't forget the weather can have an effect on basals....I have a different basal set up for hot weather for myself.....but living in Wales-that is far less often than the East Coast of UK!!!! I switch over as soon as I get up in morning if I know it is going be abvoe 20degrees....(rare!!)
 

ams162

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i think the weather is def the factor the last few days but the trouble is its so unpredictable its hard to know what to do for the best weather wise but i think ur right that that is the prob with dylan anyway
 

SophiaW

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Jess is on about 6.5 units of basal per day, she's 10 this month and probably less active than Dylan. Her bolus with meals is higher than Dylan, she has about 3 - 3.75 units per meal (60g carb meals, 30g carb breakfast) and then two snacks during the day about 1 unit per snack.
 

jopar

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I use 3 different profiles, 1st is 9.6 units, 2nd is 8.4 units and my 3rd is 7.8 units... 5'4 and 8 1/2 stone on a good day...

HCP's tend to look at the TDD and see what percentage is being given as Basal and bolus, most will like to see around the 50/50 split in adults, but with children the split is normally aroun 40% for the basal..

Insulin is part of the growth hormones, so more will be needed when a child has a growth spurt as well has adjustments either increase or decrease to combat the effects of all the other hormones that jiggle around as they grow... Hence why parents carering for a diabetic child have extrem problems trying to keep up with it all to maintain stability in control

But I think that yes there is a rule of thumb guide that gets us started, but then we tweak to find our own level that suits/works for us..

If I use the rule of thumb that 1 unit of insulin will drop my BG by 3mmol/l I''ll be in trouble, as it will drop my level by 7 or 8 mmol/l :shock:
 

ams162

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im finding it very interesting reading all ur stories and theories on dylan my nurse has always said hes a challenge but i do think all diabetic children are hard to get control with like jopar says with hormones and growth spurts and the unpredictability of their lives its a hard job and all we can do is try our best.

ive been looking at his units of insulin and its no wonder he used to have severe hypos on MDI our lives were complete chaos at least with the pump we have alot more control over what is happening.

thanku all for ur input
 

ebony321

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I'm not surprised that many children struggle to get good control on MDI, seems as though children especially need very tailored doses of insulin, which insulin pens quite often cannot give.

Are you due another HBA1c soon anna? I bet your looking foward to it! I'm due on the middle of this month and i'm hoping it's either the same or slightly down, i think I've controlled my swinging better and have far less hypo's so i'd be happy with another 7 :)
 

josie38

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My basal rate for 24 hrs is 21.35u. its made up all different rates per hour from smallest of 0.8 to 1.15. I am very sensitive to any change in insulin or dosage. have the low ones for when i have to do school runs - 3 at mo until sept til son goes to reception. So i'm going to make changes to my hourly doses then.

Josie
 

Unicornz

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ams162 said:
so we went for a checkup last thursday and the DSN was surprised by how little insulin dylan is on she said she would expect someone on so little to be making their own insulin but we have done the c peptide test and he isnt making any himself.

anyway just made me curious about how much other people are on dylan has 5u of basal spread over a 24hr period in varying degrees and is 9 years old, he might then have varying degrees of bolus but usually around 1 to 2 u per meal

thanks

anna marie

I'm a 23 year old woman and I'm on 20.5 units of basal spread over 24 hours (18.7 in the weekends because I sleep in then and I don't need the increased basal in the morning for Dawn Phenomenon). Relatively active myself I do at least 1.5 hours of walking (not voluntarily lol that's how I get to work and back).
 

ams162

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the 9.0 is the latest hba1c ebony was hoping for in the 8s this time but wasnt to be still we will keep plugging at it, dylan had a sensor fitted for 3 days so we r going in tomorrow to review the results and see where we can make some changes he came out of school hypo again yesterday so something needs to change somewhere
 

ebony321

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Was it 9.2 before if i remember correctly?

Almost in the 8's! i'm sure you'll get there!

ah that's good then, hope it helps you work out a few things!

My nurse is sending me a form in the post today so i should be able to get mine in the next week or so hopefully.

As Dylan seems to need little insulin i'm guessing any changes can be quite dramatic, a 0.05 change for me is very minimal but may affect Dylan much more.

Your doing a great job, i'm always impressed with all the parents on here who look after their childrens diabetes. Being a mum is a full time job, diabetes is a full time job. How do you find time to sleep!!
 

ams162

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yeah it was 9.2 so it still came down just not as much as i had hoped for but any reduction is a reduction i suppose, yes any change makes a huge difference to dylan for example he was 2.0 yesterday and i made a reduction in his insulin just one small change and today he was 12 feel like we just cant win sometimes never mind keep smiling and battling on we will get there im determined.

surprisingly i do have time to sleep lol