How much insulin do you take?

[Erin]

I'm curious about members here taking insulin: your dose, time taken, type, if you are T1 or T2, side effects? I would like to compare your insulin treatment with mine and if you adjust it from time to time.

 

[In Response]

I take as much insulin as I need to manage my blood sugars.
As far as I am concerned, that is all I need to know. What other people take is irrelevant.
They may weigh more or less than me, they may eat more or less carbs than me, they may exercise more or less than me, their lives may be more or less stressful than mine, they may be more insulin sensitivity or insulin resistant than me. It doesn't matter. My diabetes is my diabetes not anyone else's and the insulin dose for my diabetes is all that matters.

I adjust my dose regularly because no two days are alike.

As for side effects? High blood sugars if I take too little insulin and low blood sugars if I take too much.

 

[Fenn]

Hi, the reason you won’t easily get answers is, no good can come from the answer, if it’s less than you take, you could potentially fear you take too much, causing anxiety, more than you, relax and take a little more than the minimum, risking hypos, or exactly the same, meaning you are bang on the money and it didn’t matter lol, then we have the problem of no right answer anyway because of the gazillion variables, so the best answer is…

Just take as little as you need to have good numbers. Best of luck

 

[Antje77]

I would like to compare your insulin treatment with mine and if you adjust it from time to time.

I don't mind sharing my doses, (which are adjusted day to day and meal to meal),but before I do I'd like to know why you ask.
How is my dose relevant to your diabetes?

Some people need only a couple of units throughout the day, others need a couple of hundred units.
As long as it works, it's the right dose, regardless of how much someone else takes.

 

[Sarah69]

I’m on lantus twice a day, morning dose I take is anything between 5am to 11am and that’s 14 units and bedtime dose is usually around 9/10pm and that’s 12 units.

 

[Erin]

I don't mind sharing my doses, (which are adjusted day to day and meal to meal),but before I do I'd like to know why you ask.
How is my dose relevant to your diabetes?

Some people need only a couple of units throughout the day, others need a couple of hundred units.
As long as it works, it's the right dose, regardless of how much someone else takes.

I just thought there may be an average dose for personal variables. "As long as it works

Everyone's dose is different. For me, it's about fifteen units a day, because I still have a certain amount of pancreatic islet function and I'm taking metformin. Of course, the premise is that the food you eat is similar. If you eat a lot of carbohydrates in one meal a day, you will need more doses.

Thank you Cassise; it does seem to be variable from person to person and their particular diet and pancreatic condition.

 

[Erin]

I’m on lantus twice a day, morning dose I take is anything between 5am to 11am and that’s 14 units and bedtime dose is usually around 9/10pm and that’s 12 units.

That's much lower than mine; I tried lowering mine but noticed that the morning reading was higher than usual so I went back to the 39-41 range. I have been taking Humulin N for about 5yrs now. I think the Humulin ones last for 12 hrs. but I notice that the first few hours reduce the sugar faster and then gradually decrease. I don't like the mid-night hypos, though, so I eat a snack before going to bed.

 

[Ushthetaff]

I cant tell u cos some days I eat loads others I eat hardly anything some days I do more exercise than others , plus even if someone ate the same as me did the same exercise as me , they would probably still take different amount of insulin to me , what insulin you take depends on how much u need to keep bloods within range , and trying to compare in my humble opinion doesn’t Ofer a good comparison ,

 

[pamod]

Hi all as I am on a DAFNE course atm I am adjusting my dose every day to meet my bodies’ needs I am on levemere and have reduced Night time down to 7 units morning is sitting at 8.5.
Fias is my QA and it varies to match what I eat.
By the way I can highly recommend DAFNE

 

[PIPPO_PIPPI]

Hi Erin.
If it's not for a mere curiosity, your question is useless, because the insulin quantity depends from a number of variables.
IMHO the right question cpuld perhaps be:
"what is your CHO/I.U. factor?"
All my insulin shots are based on calculation of total CHO I'm going to eate, the type of CHO (I mean with short or long digestion time), glicemic value (BG or readen from CGM) before starting eating, and my recent phycical activity.
At the end, all these information are applied using my CHO/I.U. factor.
About this, I recorded the last two years values, so I can say that it has varied from 10 to 34 CHO/I.U., without any repetition, simply a broken line.
And this is the most important reason to thank the CGM sensor and the bluetooth transmitter that send my glicemic values to phone and smartwatch, because using them I can identify the value variations of CHO/I.U, and modify my calculationd in the appropriate way.
Hope to have been clear, I'm not English speaking so I apologige if I have not been.
Bye
Andrea

 

[Erin]

Hi Erin.
If it's not for a mere curiosity, your question is useless, because the insulin quantity depends from a number of variables.
IMHO the right question cpuld perhaps be:
"what is your CHO/I.U. factor?"
All my insulin shots are based on calculation of total CHO I'm going to eate, the type of CHO (I mean with short or long digestion time), glicemic value (BG or readen from CGM) before starting eating, and my recent phycical activity.
At the end, all these information are applied using my CHO/I.U. factor.
About this, I recorded the last two years values, so I can say that it has varied from 10 to 34 CHO/I.U., without any repetition, simply a broken line.
And this is the most important reason to thank the CGM sensor and the bluetooth transmitter that send my glicemic values to phone and smartwatch, because using them I can identify the value variations of CHO/I.U, and modify my calculationd in the appropriate way.
Hope to have been clear, I'm not English speaking so I apologige if I have not been.
Bye
Andrea

Thanks for your reply Andrea. I am not getting such tests. This stuff is too deep for me. Where can I get these gizmos, i.e.CGM sensor - that would help.

 

[PIPPO_PIPPI]

Hi Erin.
I have not seen before you are a Type 2, so I'm sorry that you belong to the small number of Type 2 needing insulin.
I don't know the rules in your country, but in Italy the FGM sensors (Flash Glucose Monitoring) are allowed freely to Type 1 and Type2 patients if they need at least 4 insulin injections/day and have severe probabilities of LOWs, as declared by their ENDO.
This is my case, and I have a full supply of Abbott Freestyle Libre sensors (26/year, each one valid for 14 days).
I and many other like me add to this the MIAOMIAO, a Chinese bluetooth transmitter that, applied over the sensor, transmits glicemic values, readen by FGM every 5 minutes, to a free App named xDrip+, that analyzes it, puts its values in curve, gives you the main data on your glicemic value (actual trend, forecast, etc.) and, most important, sounds alarms if any unwilled thing happens, e.g. if your value is rising/lowering too fast, if it reached the max/min chosen value, if the app missed data reception, if the transmitter has LOW battery, and so on.
A very well done app, evolving continuously, so that now I have these values and alarms on my smartwatch, too.
If all this looks to you too much complicate, Abbott developed the new Freestyle 3, comprehensive of the transmitter, so it's a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring), all in a small disc large as one 5 Eurocent coin, and thick as two of these.
It makes all the work, collects data, transmits them to your smartphone on its App, that makes all the calculations and, if/when this is necessary, alerts you of what wrong is happening.
The Freestyle 3 is already available in Belgium and Germany, but in a short time it will be the same in most of Europe too, at the same price of Libre 1 and 2, about € 70,00# for a 14 days usable system.
I'm sure your ENDO knows all this, so I suggest you to contact him.
Hope to have not confused you, anyway if you need more information, I'm here.
Andrea

 

[PIPPO_PIPPI]

Hi Erin, perhaps this image can explain more...
Andrea

 

[Standard4]

I’m on an Insulin Pump and my daily Basal dose over 24hr is 55.875unis it is at a different rate most hours. My Bolus varies day to day depending on amount of Carbohydrates contained in meal and other normal factors It varies for each meal. Total average daily Bolus is between 52units and 128 units. I am Type one Diabetic for 60 years this year, and now have Insulin resistance and absorbs at different amounts in all areas wherever Infusion set put.
My ratios vary between 3u:10g Carbs to 6.8u:10g Carbs. Also use continuous 24/7 monitoring and also do backup checks with blood tests separately.
Not really your average rates etc main reason for Pump etc.




inserted

 

[NicoleC1971]

That's much lower than mine; I tried lowering mine but noticed that the morning reading was higher than usual so I went back to the 39-41 range. I have been taking Humulin N for about 5yrs now. I think the Humulin ones last for 12 hrs. but I notice that the first few hours reduce the sugar faster and then gradually decrease. I don't like the mid-night hypos, though, so I eat a snack before going to bed.

I think type 1 comparing insulin usage amongst each other is fairly pointless (depends on body size, if you still make a little of your own and of course how many carbs you eat?) but type 2 s need insulin because you are insulin resistant generally as well as the variables mentioned above for type 1s! Other variables will be if you are ill, taking steroids or how long you've had diabetes and of course how much carbohydrate you eat.
As you've noticed the basal insulin doesn't quite have a flat profile as advertised 'on the tin' ; some of us split the dose to ameliorate both the spike at the beginning and the drop off at the end. I am on a pump and my total dose dripped in hourly amounts adding up to about 18 units.

 

[Erin]

Hi Erin.
I have not seen before you are a Type 2, so I'm sorry that you belong to the small number of Type 2 needing insulin.
I don't know the rules in your country, but in Italy the FGM sensors (Flash Glucose Monitoring) are allowed freely to Type 1 and Type2 patients if they need at least 4 insulin injections/day and have severe probabilities of LOWs, as declared by their ENDO.
This is my case, and I have a full supply of Abbott Freestyle Libre sensors (26/year, each one valid for 14 days).
I and many other like me add to this the MIAOMIAO, a Chinese bluetooth transmitter that, applied over the sensor, transmits glicemic values, readen by FGM every 5 minutes, to a free App named xDrip+, that analyzes it, puts its values in curve, gives you the main data on your glicemic value (actual trend, forecast, etc.) and, most important, sounds alarms if any unwilled thing happens, e.g. if your value is rising/lowering too fast, if it reached the max/min chosen value, if the app missed data reception, if the transmitter has LOW battery, and so on.
A very well done app, evolving continuously, so that now I have these values and alarms on my smartwatch, too.
If all this looks to you too much complicate, Abbott developed the new Freestyle 3, comprehensive of the transmitter, so it's a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring), all in a small disc large as one 5 Eurocent coin, and thick as two of these.
It makes all the work, collects data, transmits them to your smartphone on its App, that makes all the calculations and, if/when this is necessary, alerts you of what wrong is happening.
The Freestyle 3 is already available in Belgium and Germany, but in a short time it will be the same in most of Europe too, at the same price of Libre 1 and 2, about € 70,00# for a 14 days usable system.
I'm sure your ENDO knows all this, so I suggest you to contact him.
Hope to have not confused you, anyway if you need more information, I'm here.
Andrea

Wow! Had a nasty hypo last night; I felt so weak and had respiratory depression; struggled to recover; I think I am taking too high a dose, but I have never been monitored; followed Oxford Diabetic Care booklet; reducing by 50% tonight as I have the glyclazides. I didn't know that type 2's do not usually take insulin; interesting. I don't have an Endo to ask about the CGM (sounds wonderful); I don't even have any diabetic care. These are tough times during the Pandemic in Canada. Following my books, and this site is my guiding light. Thank you.

 

[EllieM]

I didn't know that type 2's do not usually take insulin; interesting. I don't have an Endo to ask about the CGM (sounds wonderful); I don't even have any diabetic care. These are tough times during the Pandemic in Canada. Following my books, and this site is my guiding light. Thank you.

I think that very much depends where you live and which T2s you know. (eg of my T2 family members my UK dad and inlaws haven't used insulin whereas my US cousin and his wife both use it.)

It certainly used to be the case that it was assumed that most/many T2s would "progress" onto insulin after ten years. My googling suggests that here in New Zealand 15 to 20% of T2s take insulin (This based on 23% of NZ diabetics take insulin and roughly 5% to 10% are T1, all the T1s take insulin, and the rest are T2). I appreciate there are other types of diabetes but this is just a ballpark calculation).

So @Erin you are certainly not alone, or even rare, in being a T2 on insulin. I just wish more insulin dependent T2s would post, as your experiences would benefit the many T2s who are on this medication.

I don't understand how the Canadian health system works unfortunately. Do you have a GP who prescribes insulin and gives you some sort of diabetic care? Cgm supplies for insulin users seem to vary very much by country unfortunately. In the UK I believe you would have to self fund, as only a few T1 diabetics currently qualify for free ones. My cousin in the US has one, but he works for a hospital so has a very good employer supplied health plan. Here in New Zealand I don't think anyone gets a state funded cgm, though I'd be happy to hear if that has changed recently.

Lots of virtual hugs. Oh how I hate hypos.

 

[Erin]

I think that very much depends where you live and which T2s you know. (eg of my T2 family members my UK dad and inlaws haven't used insulin whereas my US cousin and his wife both use it.)

It certainly used to be the case that it was assumed that most/many T2s would "progress" onto insulin after ten years. My googling suggests that here in New Zealand 15 to 20% of T2s take insulin (This based on 23% of NZ diabetics take insulin and roughly 5% to 10% are T1, all the T1s take insulin, and the rest are T2). I appreciate there are other types of diabetes but this is just a ballpark calculation).

So @Erin you are certainly not alone, or even rare, in being a T2 on insulin. I just wish more insulin dependent T2s would post, as your experiences would benefit the many T2s who are on this medication.

I don't understand how the Canadian health system works unfortunately. Do you have a GP who prescribes insulin and gives you some sort of diabetic care? Cgm supplies for insulin users seem to vary very much by country unfortunately. In the UK I believe you would have to self fund, as only a few T1 diabetics currently qualify for free ones. My cousin in the US has one, but he works for a hospital so has a very good employer supplied health plan. Here in New Zealand I don't think anyone gets a state funded cgm, though I'd be happy to hear if that has changed recently.

Lots of virtual hugs. Oh how I hate hypos.

Thanks for the update on international trends EllieM. I did have more diabetic supervision from my now retired doctor (40 yrs. bless her). My new dr.'s forte does not seem to be diabetic specialties. But wait.... it just occurred to me-- those nasty nightly hypos; why did my past dr. prescribe taking insulin at bed time? What if I take it in the morning, after Synthroid 2 hrs. or more? D'oh!

 

[EllieM]

Thanks for the update on international trends EllieM. I did have more diabetic supervision from my now retired doctor (40 yrs. bless her). My new dr.'s forte does not seem to be diabetic specialties. But wait.... it just occurred to me-- those nasty nightly hypos; why did my past dr. prescribe taking insulin at bed time? What if I take it in the morning, after Synthroid 2 hrs. or more? D'oh!

Can your doctor refer you to someone who understands insulin? Ideally you'd explain your current issues and they would advise on dose or time changes.

We're specifically not allowed to advise on medication amounts here because we're not doctors or medical professionals and don't know your details even if we were.

 

[Erin]

Can your doctor refer you to someone who understands insulin? Ideally you'd explain your current issues and they would advise on dose or time changes.

We're specifically not allowed to advise on medication amounts here because we're not doctors or medical professionals and don't know your details even if we were.

I understand. Thank you for reading and answering this tickly question.