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New to Carb Counting - Type 1

P

poacher_joe

Active Member
Messages
34
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi Everyone

In the last 2 days I have started to carb count and adjust my dosage accordingly. Since diagnosis I have eaten large meals but want to cut down, if I cut down and inject but find myself hungry due to my smaller portion is it possible to inject the additional units after the initial injection after like 20 mins?

Thanks

Joe
 
It's possible to inject again to cover later carbs or a higher than expected blood sugar. It's usually called a "correction dose". It's also possible to eat something else that doesn't contain carbs to fill up, of course. The only problem with "late" insulin is that the extra food you eat may hit your blood stream before the second insulin jab does, giving you a spike in blood sugar. But it's better than starving or not correcting. And with time you learn to manage the timing.
 

thanks, I found that when I took my bloods before lunch they were 5.5 but around 2 hours after eating it was at 15.2, do you think it may be because I didn't inject enough correction dose?

joe
 
If your 5.5 you wouldn't need a correction............

if you want to eat further carbs so soon after the first injection then yes, you could just inject for the carbs.......no correction doses though..........if you actually test your BG so soon after injecting anyway, which would be meaningless really....

being so close to the initial injection I wouldn't envisage any overlapping/stacking issues........

if your looking to get the post meal spikes down, try injecting 15 minutes before eating..........increasing this time can also be tried if your still getting higher numbers......
 

thank you i will try and take my humalog 15 minutes before and then i can see how my numbers are for a couple of days. if they persist try to take 30 mins before?
 
Hey @poacher_joe can you give a days readings to see how your sugars are during throughout the day? For example, what are your sugars when you wake up, before lunch etc. If you are going from 5.5 to 15.2 you need to increase your insulin dose or reduce your carbohydrate intake. You should be expecting a rise no more than 2 mmol/l two hours after meal.
 


Before breakfast: 8.2
Before lunch: 5.7
Before tea: 15.5
Before bed: 8.8

I am increasing my lantus today to try and decrease my morning readings, but during the day the readings are fluctuating?
 
Have you contacted your diabetic team about the increase in the afternoon? Just seems to be that you are having more carbohydrates and not enough insulin, or the wrong snacks in between meals because that is a very high rise between meals. Are you feeling tired with that? It's not good that your levels are rising that high (10) and then dropping down again (7).

Have you done any basal testing? This needs to be correct before anything else, @noblehead provided a useful link about basal testing -

http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007

and this is also helpful -

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/managing-diabetes/treatment-approaches/getting-down-to-basals/
 
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