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Insulin dosage

A

ankit_sharma9

Newbie
Messages
3
Hi,

I've been a diabetic for around 9 years now, Diabetes Mellitus that is. I used to be quite regular with insulin dosage during school and most of the times in college too. But now as I've started working, I travel a lot and sometimes the meals become quite erratic and so does the insulin dosage. Now my daily insulin shots vary between 3 and 4 for a day.
Sometimes when I feel hungry and have an evening snack too, then I take the fourth shot (of short acting insulin) also. I wanted to ask whether varying my dose like this has any negative impact. Any one knowing kindly reply. Thank you.


Regards
 
Hello ankit_sharma9,
i assume you're on a basal bolus regimen. If that's the case then you'll have the
flexibility to alter your rapid(bolus) doses however you choose. just so long as
you're doing enough rapid insulin to cover the food you've eaten. There
is no real limit to the number of rapid doses you can do in a day, although
you may need to be more careful with how you rotate your injection sites.

all the best,
timo.
 
Hi Ankit,
Well, it makes life really difficult..but I guess that as long as you are still managing to balance insulin to carbohydrate, it should be OK. What is your HbA1C at the moment? That should tell you how it is impacting you diabetes. Of course, There is the little matter if the rest of your life that can be impacted as well. I was similar, whn I forst got a full time job, but as long as you care able to adjust your insulin to suit your new lifestyle it should be OK. If you are struggling with this, then there is a great deal of advice on here that might help!
 
@ timo & sugar

Hi,

Guys, thanks for the advice.
I take a mixed dose of short acting Actrapid and long acting Insultard. It is Actrapid that I manipulate. My current HB1A is 7.1, wich gives me an idea that I'm not fairing all that well. But with this manipulation that I've started I hope to get better results, lets see.
Thanks once again.


Regards.
 
Hi Ankit,

I think the thing to watch out for is your bolus insulin doses overlapping too much. Even the fast acting can still be lowering your blood sugar after 4-5 hours sometimes, depending on things like food type and exercise. What you don't want to do is bolus for a snack with a dose that doesn't take into account the fact that your blood sugar may already be falling due to your previous dose.

That's caught me out once or twice!

All the best,

fergus
 
@ Fergus

Hi,

Yeah, I do take into account that fact. And thats paramount too. Well obvioulsy everytime I don't have the time or convinience to check my blood sugar levels but after 9 long years I can tell high from low. So considering that I take the required dose.
Thanks.



Regards.
 
hi ankit,
fergus is right with the snack bolus, if your mealtimes are closer together or
you've been busier than normal then you may be able to forget about a
rapid dose for any snack between meals.

as far as the hba1c is concerned, i'd say 7.1% is pretty good for somebody
with a variable daily routine.
(Also, 7.1 was my last hba1c result - so i can't shout too loud :wink: )

according to this link your hba1c puts your average sugar at around 8 mmol/l
http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/prevention/what_is_the_hba1c.htm#example

take it easy,
Timo.
 
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