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Lowest dose

M

mickj

Member
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guys and ladies, my 6 yr old was diagnosed 1 month ago Type 1, he has 4 injections a day ( 3 novorapid and 1 lantus). we started of at home with 4 mmol and a 6 lantus. We had some very low readings and although he didnt look out of sorts we treated hypos nearly daily with biscuits and juice as the readings were down to between 2 and 3 sometimes.
Now, we reduced novorapid to 2mmol and lantus to 4, he is still getting low readings. in the morning he was 5, gave him 2 mmol before breakfast - he eat a heathly breakfast and at lunch he was 2.9, so we have him juice and he has lunch straight away, i am expecting tea time to be a reading of 5 ish and i will give him another 2mmol.
Question is what is the lowest dose worth giving... what is a 'normal' dose for a 6 year old?
any help is gratefully appreciated ( i know it was a long ramble).
thanbks in anticipation
 
my nine year old sometimes has 1 or 2 units for a meal it all depends on the carb content in his meal, are u carb counting yet if not ask about a course it all helps we have an insulin pump now which gives very small amounts of insulin which has help loads.

those first weeks are a difficult and confusing time hang in there it gets easier as time goes by, the most important thing is to try and cut out the lows but do bear in mind he could be in the honeymoon period and producing some of his own insulin which complicates things some.

good luck in getting things sorted we are all here to help where we can

anna marie
 
they generally have a honeymoon period when first diagnosed but u cant tell how much insulin is produced so u just monitor levels and find the amount of insulin needed for him then all of a sudden he will stop producing insulin and may need more given then but keep giving him insulin and take advice from DSN sure there is prob some info on here about the honeymoon period, put it in the search engine sure someone can explain it better than i can

anna marie
 
My son was started on 2 1/2 units of Levemir (equivalent to lantus).

I don't know if you've been taught how to carb count, so you are matching insulin with the food as this is really the only way to get some sort of control. We kept food diaries for our children which identified when they were having too much insulin and not enough which helped to work out insulin doses.

Regular testing is also vital to try and anticipate lows and correct highs, We used to test 2 hourly at the beginning, now it varies a lot, but we average around 6- 9 tests a day.

Speak to your DSN about a carb counting course and a half unit pen would be useful if you haven't already got one.

Those early days are hard, and I understand how frustrating things can be. it does get easier over time and things will get back to normal.
 
Nearly all newly diagnosed type 1s go through a honeymoon period, and we were also told to give 3 units of novo rapid before meals at first but we found that this had no relation to the carbs eaten and we had frequent highs and lows. We tried to match the carbs to the insulin given but this was very restrictive so we asked if we could turn it around and give enough insulin to match the carbs in a meal. This was a revelation and we have not looked back since. I know a lot of people advocate doing a course like Dafne but we never did and we have done well.
Counting carbs can be a bit daunting at first but it gets easier and eventually you will just know how many there are in foods regularly eaten. In fact our hospital do not even offer courses and all the type 1 kids we know (and we know a few now) are doing nicely with the help of our dietician and the rest of the team.
A course in some areas is mandatory to be accepted for a pump but I guess we are lucky with our area. I can't praise the Diabetes team enough for all their help and support. Also this site has been a huge help.
Stick with it and you will soon find your feet and it does get easier.

All the best

Harry
 
It is even possible that it's worth coming off insulin (at least the novorapid) for a little while if he's "honeymooning" - I know some people do. Keep testing of course to check the blood sugar isn't drifting up again.

(There's even research going on at the moment at my university looking at certain ethnic groups who are T1 but honeymoon for years at a time, actually coming off all insulins... which I find fascinating!)
 
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