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Levemir split dose basal testing

Levy

Well-Known Member
Messages
312
Location
Leeds
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all, I'm planning on testing my daytime Levemir dose tomorrow now I've got my nighttime one right. The question I had is, what's the best time to start it?

I take my morning dose at 9am (evening at 8pm), but I was thinking that in the first couple of hours there'll be some overlap with my night dose, and it might take a couple of hours to get working. Also, my BG starts rising as soon as I wake up so if I don't bolus 2u at 7am I'll end up high, which means I've got short acting in my system until around 12pm.

So would it be OK if I have breakfast at 7am, Levemir at 8 or 9am and start testing from 12pm onwards throughout the afternoon/evening?
 
I know that when I was on long acting insulin I had to take it when I get up for breakfast and test straight away for 4 times and take the second lot before my dinner and that was my 2 insulin doses for the day but now I am on 4 does a day and I still have to check at 4 a day and that was when I was on 2 doses a day take first one in the morning and then at night so that you don't get any high sugar's but I am still sorting out my insulin for the day so I am having the odd high sugar level but that's not a problem for me nor is the low one's
 
If you always bolus 2u and always inject levermir at the same time, then test at 9am and every 2hr til your evening basal. And don't consume any carbs while testing. You will still be doing the 2u bolus normally so your basal dose needs to account for this (if it didnt you would hypo).
 
Normally I tend to take the bolus at 7am and the Levemir with my breakfast at 9am, does that matter?
 
I wouldn't think so. The first test result is just to see where you are at the start. If you are low at the second test its likely caused by the bolus, but if you have a hypo you have to treat it and abandon your basal test anyway. Use your second result as your baseline, if your basal is correct you shouldnt fluctuate much from this until the next injection. If bloods trend down, treat hypo, abandon rest of test and repeat next day, hypo again then reduce basal. Then repeat as above. If bloods trend up, again look for a repeat, and increase basal if this is the case. Only change one thing at once else you don't know what works and what doesn't. (that's why you don't complicate things by taking carbs or boluses)
 
Thanks. I use Libre so will have a full few of exactly what's going on. I know the general rules about basal testing (I was on a pump years ago) but just wasn't sure if there were any differences if I'm using 2x Levemir in terms of overlap or time it takes to start working properly.
 
Im opposite now pumping was on x2 levermir. Worked good for me but couldn't combat dawn phenomenon, now on pump my basal is 3x higher than normal between 3am and 6am which i couldn't get with levermi.
 
Dabeast said:
Im opposite now pumping was on x2 levermir. Worked good for me but couldn't combat dawn phenomenon, now on pump my basal is 3x higher than normal between 3am and 6am which i couldn't get with levermi.
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I used to do the same on my pump. I'm lucky it only starts as soon as I wake (rather than in the middle of the night) so it's quite easy to take a bolus when getting up.

I'm personally better on MDI. Tried everything but I couldn't get it to work around exercise as I'm super sensitive to short acting even when doing something low intensity like walking my dogs. Levemir keeps me perfectly stable without the need for extra carbs. Just need to check the daytime dose is right
 
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