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insulin to blood sugar ratio

Cliodb

Cliodb

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hello

I think i have just about figured out my insulin to carb ratio ( 1 unit of novorapid covers 4.5 carbs) but was wondering how to calculate how much insulin reduces my blood sugar ? eg if my blood sugar was high before food and i wanted to try and bring it down a bit by taking extra insulin with my meal ?

also how long dose it normal take to get your blood sugars under control after diagnoses, i found out i was diabetic almost 2 months ago and my blood sugars are still going high (somewhere in the 9's/ 10') about once a day.
 
1:4.5 is on the high side and would suggest a fair amount of insulin resistance. How is your weight and do you exercise regularly?

It's well worth doing this test to sort your basal insulin dose out, if this isn't set properly then bolus doses can be wildly out:

https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/

You could assume that your correction factor is somewhere between 2-3mmol/l, given your ICR is 1:4.5 - I'd reckon your correction factor would be closer to 2mmol/l rather than 3mmol/l.

An easy way to find your correction factor is to take 1u of insulin when your BG is steady at around 8mmol/l. Test your BG four hours later and that will give you a rough idea of what your correction factor is. When you're doing this, make sure that you've not eaten or taken any insulin within the pervious 4 hours.

When it comes to the time frame for getting T1 under control, how long is a piece of string? Everyone is different and some diabetics never get good control. One day at a time and be meticulous with your notes and logs:)
 
You can use the 100 Rule, what you do is divide 100 by your average Total Daily Dose (your basal & bolus doses added together) and the sum your left with is a rough guide to how much 1u of insulin will lower your bg by.

For example, if your TDD was 34u then 100 divided by 34 = 2.94 (rounded off to 3) so 1u of insulin should bring your bg down by 3mmol/l.

The 100 Rule is only a rough guide and many of us find our correction dose can vary depending on high our bg levels are, the more accurate approach is to do as @GrantGam has described above.
 
Hi @Cliodb :) Just to check - you say 1 unit of insulin covers "4.5 carbs". Do you mean 4.5g of carbs or do you mean 4.5 carb 'portions' (each portion being 10g)?

Don't worry about the 9s and 10s. Youre doing well as its still early days :)
 
I mean 4.5 grams of carbs. which i know seems like a lot of insulin, but i am on steroids which i am guessing is making me a bit resistant to insulin.
so for example my lunch today was 54 carbs of food so i took 12 units of novorapid insulin.

generally i take around 8 units with breakfast, 12 with lunch, 14 with dinner and then 12 units of toujeo at night. so that is about 46 units of insulin a day :O im kind of worried as well about taking so much insulin as im 27 years old at the moment and dont want my insulin increasing to crazy high amounts as time goes on. I have tried to reduce my carbs and have actually cut back a lot compared to what i was eating before (id say i was eating 250- 300 carbs before and now about 145-165) but i am a very fussy eater so i am not sure if could get my carb intake much lower. At the moment i find myself hungry a lot of the time and just counting down the hours until i can eat again as i haven't found low carb foods that i like to be filling.
 
The combination of the steriods and the condition they are treating can result in higher insulin usage @Cliodb , I'm sure when things are back to normal your insulin doses will reduce once again.

Being hungry is one of the side-effects of taking steroids, again this will pass once you stop taking them. Best wishes.
 
Cliodb said:
I mean 4.5 grams of carbs. which i know seems like a lot of insulin, but i am on steroids which i am guessing is making me a bit resistant to insulin.
so for example my lunch today was 54 carbs of food so i took 12 units of novorapid insulin.

generally i take around 8 units with breakfast, 12 with lunch, 14 with dinner and then 12 units of toujeo at night. so that is about 46 units of insulin a day :O im kind of worried as well about taking so much insulin as im 27 years old at the moment and dont want my insulin increasing to crazy high amounts as time goes on. I have tried to reduce my carbs and have actually cut back a lot compared to what i was eating before (id say i was eating 250- 300 carbs before and now about 145-165) but i am a very fussy eater so i am not sure if could get my carb intake much lower. At the moment i find myself hungry a lot of the time and just counting down the hours until i can eat again as i haven't found low carb foods that i like to be filling.
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Generally, your basal bolus split is supposed to be 50/50. You seem to be taking only 25% of your total daily dose in basal insulin. I would suggest you really need to be doing some basal testing - https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/ - to check whether you dose of toujeo is the right dosage for you. If it's too low, you could be on such a high insulin to carb ratio for your boluses because your bolus insulin is having to do the work that your basal insulin should be doing.
 
I have been on steroids for 11 years and will more then likely be on them for life, so i guess being a bit more resident to insulin is something i have to get used to.

ya i don't think my Basel dose is not right, when i first got diagnosed they just put me on novorapid for a few weeks and when they added the basel my units of novorapid only came down slightly but then worked their way back up. i did question it with my dibetic nurse and she said it should be 30 % basel and 70% bolus.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer. feel kinda lost and on my own with this so this forum has been a great help.
 
I am about 25% basal and 75% bolus.

I lived ravenously hungry all my life for 50 years. I know the feeling all too well. It's horrible.

Since you said you're a picky eater I don't suppose you like avocado?
Stops my hunger in its tracks. Something to try if you like it.
 
I have never actually tried avocado, would not have guessed it would be filling. now excited to give it a try :)
 
Cliodb said:
I have never actually tried avocado, would not have guessed it would be filling. now excited to give it a try :)
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Excellent!! So many ways to eat it. It's all I have for breakfast and it holds me for hours. I have some with lunch and dinner as well or I'm hungry within an hour. All that healthy fat and fiber are so kind to blood sugar as well.

Recently I'm topping it with a sprinkle of ho e roasted pumpkin seeds. I enjoy it with celery chunks too. I used to get fancy, now just sea salt and sometimes pepper. If you like spicy it's good with red pepper flakes. Or lemon squeeze. Or all of the above!

Let me know how it goes!!
 
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