How many units do you take a day?

[Deleted member 391597]

As the title suggests, how many units of insulin do you take each day? I seem to be taking different amounts of bolus insulin every day in the quest for perfect blood sugars.

Also, sometimes my number is lower post meal than pre meal but still in the 4-7mmol range. So would this be considered ok or does it just mean I have taken too much insulin?

Thanks.

 

[Ann1982]

I think it all depends on what you eat, how your body reacts to carbohydrates etc. I would say if your sugars are within the 4 - 7 range that's fine but usually it's after meals are the higher figures. I need to bolus 1 unit for 5 carbs in the am and 1 unit for 10 in the pm. I only got to this by trial and error. Everyone is different.

 

[Deleted member 391597]

Thank you @Ann1982 - I feel like it's all trial and error for me at the moment!

 

[mentat]

Hi Hollieo4,

I had some weeks where I needed to take 16u of basal a day, and my carb ratios for breakfast, lunch and dinner were 1u:6g, 1:3, 1:8. I had other weeks where I needed 8u of basal, and my ratios were 1:10, 1:17, 1:18, despite eating and exercising similarly. And everything in between. No pattern. It was ridiculous.

In the first case that would have been about 65 units a day. In the second case it would have been about 25u a day.

Thankfully things aren't too bad at the moment. But sometimes it happens and it makes it **** hard to function.

 

[SugarBuzz]

A lot. . . and it's always been that way. I never really thought about it before but I possibly have some kind of insulin resistance.

Currently I'm on around 45-60 units of bosul (short) and 22 basal (long). I guess that's a lot :-o

 

[EllsKBells]

@Hollieo4 it's normal to be taking different amounts every day - if I remember rightly, you are quite recently diagnosed, are you carb counting yet?

@SugarBuzz do you carb count? Back before I did, I was taking 48 units of basal, and probably about 70 units of bolus. Now, I have reduced my carb intake a little bit, but it is 22 units of basal (although that is down from 38 when I was on levemir) and around 30 units of bolus. But it does vary a lot from person to person. So many things affect it - body size, physical activity levels and many more than I can think of off the top of my head. It also depends on your diet

 

[azure]

I take as many units as I need - and that can vary each day, each month, according to the weather, etc etc

Don't worry about what others take @Hollieo4 The right dose for you is what's important.

 

[ickihun]

I'm taking 90, 90 and 70units of mixed insulin.
Changing over on 12th may now!
It should be a lot less on seperate basal and bolus.

 

[tim2000s]

Technically, if you are type 1, you will generally take a lower amount of insulin than a type 2 on insulin, as the key driver of T2 is insulin resistance. Having said that, in either case, you take what you need in order to cope with your body's needs, and this can vary by insulin type as well as foods eaten.