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Just out of curiousity

June_C

June_C

Well-Known Member
Messages
821
Location
West Sussex
Type of diabetes
Prefer not to say
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes, know it alls
Hi all, I'm a newbie T1 on mixed insulin and managing by bg levels well, 5 - 8.5. My question is - if you are on a basal/bolus regime, can you treat yourself now and again and then bolus for it? The reason I'm asking is that I have just totally succumbed to 5 After 8 mints that have a total of 33.75 grams of carbs. I'm going to pay dearly for this with a high before bedtime reading. Ok, no chance of a night time hypo, sorry I'm being flippant. I find mixed insulin restrictive and yearn for a bit more freedom. I don't often go off the rails and my diet is generally far more healthy than pre diagnosis, but every now and then I fancy something naughty - chips, chocolate or whatever. I follow a lowish carb diet (100g or less) but not a high fat diet because of my raised cholesterol. I'm not on statins and don't want to go there..........
So to repeat my question, if you're on basal/bolus, can you go off the healthy diet now and again and inject for it?
 
June_C said:
So to repeat my question, if you're on basal/bolus, can you go off the healthy diet now and again and inject for it?
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Yes you can :) Would it be worth asking your nurse for some separate bolus insulin if for the most part you are happy with mixed insulin?
Hope your numbers are not as high as you feared.
 
CarbsRok said:
Yes you can :) Would it be worth asking your nurse for some separate bolus insulin if for the most part you are happy with mixed insulin?
Hope your numbers are not as high as you feared.
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Hi CarbsRok, I have Humulog insulin in the fridge, which I understood was for sick day rules. Can I use this to bring down my bg levels due to my weakness for After 8 mints? Also, I don't know how many units to inject. Is it about 1 unit for 10g of carbs?
 
June_C said:
Hi CarbsRok, I have Humulog insulin in the fridge, which I understood was for sick day rules. Can I use this to bring down my bg levels due to my weakness for After 8 mints? Also, I don't know how many units to inject. Is it about 1 unit for 10g of carbs?
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Hi, yes you can use the Humalog for treating or extra bolus.
I can't say yes it's 1;10 as people are so different. Also being newly diagnosed I would be very cautious as to how much you use, due to your pancreas still having a cough and splutter. So perhaps be a tad conservative in the bolus. Also as you have already eaten the carbs it might be safer to just correct the high rather than cover the carbs.
I know on a pump they say not to bolus for the carbs if you forgot in the first place and to just correct the high.
 
June_C said:
Hi CarbsRok, I have Humulog insulin in the fridge, which I understood was for sick day rules. Can I use this to bring down my bg levels due to my weakness for After 8 mints? Also, I don't know how many units to inject. Is it about 1 unit for 10g of carbs?
Click to expand...
Hi June,
As we use the same quack, I don't know if you've had the second group session yet? We were told we could use our rapid acting for bolus injections if we wanted to.

Easy to fall foul of insulin stacking though, been caught out twice now. Does work if your careful.
 
Hi Urbanracer, what's the second group session you're talking about?
 
Didn't you get a standard photocopied pamphlet with basic information in it?

They go through the first half of it in the first session and then .....
 
Yes I did. I then got a second appt with the DSN (on my own) followed by a third, again on my own. Sorry, I was confused when you said group session as I never had one. I was treated, for whatever reason, to one to one sessions.
 
June_C said:
Yes I did. I then got a second appt with the DSN (on my own) followed by a third, again on my own. Sorry, I was confused when you said group session as I never had one. I was treated, for whatever reason, to one to one sessions.
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You must be special;)

So they didn't say anything to you about bolusing with rapid acting then?
 
Hi. Yes, you can bolus to match the meal which is why I'm happy to be on Basal/Bolus. I only typically have three injections per day (1 Basal and two Bolus) although if I'm away having big breakfasts I'll Bolus for that as well. With only three injections compared with two for mixed insulin the downside is very small for Basal/Bolus. As I take one Basal at night I just have to have the Bolus with me during the day and the risk of hypos is lower together with good control.
 
I'm far from special, just run of the mill ;) No, I don't remember them saying anything about bolusing with rapid acting, but then there was so much to take in, in such a short space of time and I was in shock at the time as well. My first appt was on a Friday pm, my next was on the following Monday and my next a week later. The script for rapid acting was dished out for sick day rules, no mention of using it for bolusing. I'm not complaining though, as my treatment couldn't have been better. My gp's DSN liased with the the hospital DSN and I had the most wonderful help within hours. Perhaps they were all worried about my high bg levels.
 
Daibell said:
Hi. Yes, you can bolus to match the meal which is why I'm happy to be on Basal/Bolus. I only typically have three injections per day (1 Basal and two Bolus) although if I'm away having big breakfasts I'll Bolus for that as well. With only three injections compared with two for mixed insulin the downside is very small for Basal/Bolus. As I take one Basal at night I just have to have the Bolus with me during the day and the risk of hypos is lower together with good control.
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That's interesting. 5 injections per day is putting me off basal/bolus at the moment, but if I could get away with one basal per day and perhaps only two bolus per day, it sounds more appealing along with giving me extra freedom.
 
June_C said:
That's interesting. 5 injections per day is putting me off basal/bolus at the moment, but if I could get away with one basal per day and perhaps only two bolus per day, it sounds more appealing along with giving me extra freedom.
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I'm also on 3 injections a day - basal at night and then bolus with breakfast and dinner (don't seem to need any at lunch)
 
robert72 said:
I'm also on 3 injections a day - basal at night and then bolus with breakfast and dinner (don't seem to need any at lunch)
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That's encouraging:) I'm going to have to have some serious thoughts about changing to basal/bolus. On a happy note, my bg has hit 8.9 tonight after the indulgent After 8s, so it looks as though I've almost got away with it. Won't be doing that in a hurry again;)
 
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