How do you know how to cut your insulin? Ive been type 1 for 41 years and was always told I needed carbs. It seems weird to me to suddenly cut them out, wont my insulin (as I need so much) cause me to be unconcious all the time? I take 45 units of Hypurin mix in the morning along with 5 units of Hypurin neutral. Then about an hour later I have about 8 more units of neutral. I leave the insulin then until about 10pm when I see what my levels are and have 8 or so units of mix. Isnt it the carbs that balance out the insulin or vice versa? I am a "complex" diabetic so its all very hard for me to grasp. Thanks in advance.
I am going to try the low carb diet but
- Thread starter Lily47
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Patch
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I know this can't be easy. I'm T2, so I don't have to deal with insulin (yet...). In my mind, the insulin is used to balance out carbs - NOT the other way around. If you didn't have high blood sugar (from the carbs) you wouldn't need to balance it out (using the insulin), right? <<<Very simplified, I know...
But, if I was in your situation, I'd be cutting my carbs in half. And so I would also kut my insulin, in half. And I'd be testing all before, +1hr and +2hrsof eating/injecting.
You have to be SUPER careful with all types of insulin though - so make sure you have your usual hypo rescue at hand. Only you can predict how you will respond to less carbs, and less insulin, so do be vigilent.
Good luck to you, Lily!
But, if I was in your situation, I'd be cutting my carbs in half. And so I would also kut my insulin, in half. And I'd be testing all before, +1hr and +2hrsof eating/injecting.
You have to be SUPER careful with all types of insulin though - so make sure you have your usual hypo rescue at hand. Only you can predict how you will respond to less carbs, and less insulin, so do be vigilent.
Good luck to you, Lily!
phoenix
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The hypurin mix that you use contains two types of insulin .
Hypurin porcine 30/70 contains 30% soluble ie regular and 70% isophane which is an intermediate insulin.
The isophane part of the mix is meant to cover your basal needs ie the normal glucose produced by the body and not the carbs that you have eaten.
Unfortunately with mixed insulin you do to a certain extent have to eat to the insulin because if you reduce it you also reduce the basal.
However,on top of this you're also taking extra regular insulin, presumably because the 30% in the mix is insufficient for your present needs .
To be honest I don't know how you should change your insulin, except with extreme care. Maybe I'd be looking at reducing the extra regular whilst reducing the carbs but only making very small changes in both ie very gradually. Have you asked your DSN/consultant about how they would go about reducing carbs?
Sorry not much use, I can see potential problems and I'm hoping that someone will come along who has used a similar regime.
Hypurin porcine 30/70 contains 30% soluble ie regular and 70% isophane which is an intermediate insulin.
The isophane part of the mix is meant to cover your basal needs ie the normal glucose produced by the body and not the carbs that you have eaten.
Unfortunately with mixed insulin you do to a certain extent have to eat to the insulin because if you reduce it you also reduce the basal.
However,on top of this you're also taking extra regular insulin, presumably because the 30% in the mix is insufficient for your present needs .
To be honest I don't know how you should change your insulin, except with extreme care. Maybe I'd be looking at reducing the extra regular whilst reducing the carbs but only making very small changes in both ie very gradually. Have you asked your DSN/consultant about how they would go about reducing carbs?
Sorry not much use, I can see potential problems and I'm hoping that someone will come along who has used a similar regime.
Liliy
my t1 husband cut back on his carbs over a period of about 3 months. His insulin demand halved. do remember that if you have too big a dose of insulin, you need carbs to correct that In fact the carbs feed the insulin. Other than for that, you don't actually need any cqarbs at all to be healthy.
So try cutting back a bit at a time, keep testing and cut your insulin dose in proportion to your carb cut. Also Read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution book, for More information
Hana
my t1 husband cut back on his carbs over a period of about 3 months. His insulin demand halved. do remember that if you have too big a dose of insulin, you need carbs to correct that In fact the carbs feed the insulin. Other than for that, you don't actually need any cqarbs at all to be healthy.
So try cutting back a bit at a time, keep testing and cut your insulin dose in proportion to your carb cut. Also Read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution book, for More information
Hana
