Insulin sensitivity

[Cbmod]

Morning!

I was wondering if anyone notices a daily change in insulin sensitivity based on whether they have eaten or not? I don't eat breakfast, and when I eat lunch my basal seems to be ok with the bolus. However, if I ever skip lunch too, I need a 60% basal rate on for the afternoon or I go hypo. I therefore don't know whether to check my basal rates during this time and change them for every day, as lunch and bolusing disguises the wrong basal rate, or whether my sensitivity has probably changed and therefore need to eat breakfast (not ideal) to be able to check my basal rates?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Chas C]

In my case if this happens then my basal rate is wrong and needs adjusting, if you drop a meal then your BG's should remain reasonably level using your basal dosage. But remembering that all sorts of other things can impact your BG's (exercise, sickness, cannula, I've even had a bad set of insulin too) assuming these have already been eliminated then its your basal rate that needs adjustment. ;-)

Not sure I understand why you feel you need to eat breakfast to run a basal check, when I do this I miss meals not insert them.

 

[Cbmod]

This is a consistent thing for me so it looks like my basal rate is wrong, thanks!

I was thinking I may have needed to insert breakfast to check afternoon basal rates in case the fasting is the reason for dropping, due to increased insulin sensitivity as the day goes on. I do not go low when I eat lunch and use what I believe to be the correct bolus for lunch, although this could mean that I also need to work on my bolus ratios.

Thank you again! I shall wait until I can get a libre sensor and check all my basal rates

 

[Chas C]

I certainly found it much easier to make adjustments with a CGM. But if you need to eat breakfast to stop going hypo when doing basal checks then your pre/post basal's are too high to start with. Possibly your bolus for your breakfast is too low too, causing you to raise your bolus to counteract it.

I have always had issues with breakfast, I now eat a sugar free granola and take 50% of my bolus immediately with remaining 50% spread over 90 mins, this seems to work well for me. If my pre-BG is over 8-9 then I miss breakfast (happens maybe once every few months now). If my pre-BG is below 5 then I adjust the % pre-bolus to a lower %.

Hopefully you'll find it much easier with the CGM.

 

[Cbmod]

Yes, it is so much easier!

I have actually found that it is better for me to skip breakfast, as that way my blood sugar stays stable for longer. It took a while but I don't get hangry any more!
I will try your technique for lunch though

Thanks!

 

[Bluey1]

I skip breakfast, but the liver dump gets me. If I don't do a bit of sugar surfing I can go over 10mmol/l. I must set a couple of different basal patterns as I have breakfast on a weekend and then there is no problem. If I skip lunch as well I'm headed for hypo town, even if I didn't sugar surf in the morning, so you are not alone.

 

[Cbmod]

Ouch! I haven't noticed any liver dump for me, but I have found that my morning coffee raises my blood sugar with or without a dash of milk due to the caffeine.

Ooo I have just started reading the sugar surfing book, and I'm finding it very interesting so far.

Do you know if your basal rate is correct if you don't miss lunch? I'm thinking after today that my problem may well be the longer fast too, as today I had a low carb lunch, dialled up the correct carbs and my blood sugar remained good after without dropping!