Newly diagnosed, missed meal do I still take insulin shot or wait for next meal and take then?

[Tillyao2]

Hi I am on basal and bolus - take basal with meals theee times a day and bolus at bedtime.

However today I missed breakfast and had early lunch took my first basal of the day, now don’t know if I should have a dinner plus shot and supper plus shot and then my bedtime bolus?? I have checked my sugars throughout the day and all okay - just not been that hungry. Any advice please on what is best is very much appreciated

 

[MeiChanski]

Hello, welcome.
If you are not hungry, then you don’t need to take your fast acting. Your basal insulin is there to keep you steady throughout the day and night.
But if you are running high, either your basal is not the right amount or your bolus insulin wasn’t enough or you are unwell, then you might need to contact your nurse about correction units.

 

[Tillyao2]

Hello, welcome.
If you are not hungry, then you don’t need to take your fast acting. Your basal insulin is there to keep you steady throughout the day and night.
But if you are running high, either your basal is not the right amount or your bolus insulin wasn’t enough or you are unwell, then you might need to contact your nurse about correction units.

Thank you so much for this - only been swapped to the two types of insulin yesterday!

 

[Tillyao2]

The purpose of your mealtime insulin. bolus, is to convert the carbs in the food you eat into energy ... break down the sugar from the carbs.
In a simplified way, if you eat no carbs, you do not need to take any insulin.
So, if you miss a meal, you have no need to take the bolus insulin.

The purpose of the basal insulin is to "mop up" the sugars that is dripped from your liver throughout the day regardless of what you eat. Therefore, you should always take your basal insulin.

(BTW, I think you have switched you basal/bolus around - bolus with meals, basal at bed time)

 

[Tillyao2]

Thank you so much, I only started using the basal and bolus yesterday I had co fused them. I am double checking my instructions each time I use to make sure I am using the right one

 

[Antje77]

Thank you so much, I only started using the basal and bolus yesterday I had co fused them. I am double checking my instructions each time I use to make sure I am using the right one

I remember by basal meaning the base. It stays the same every day on the same time.

To avoid confusion, I found it helps to keep them in different places. For instance, your basal with your toothbrush, where you will see it at injection time, and the bolus in your pocket/purse, as you'll need it multiple times a day.

And yes, as said above, the bolus is taken before meals, as it deals with the carbs from that meal, so no meal (or no carbs), no bolus

 

[EllieM]

Although you will not be the first to do so. It is almost a rite of passage amongst people with t1.

Yes, I still remember that sinking feeling on a camping holiday when I realised I'd injected bolus instead of my night time injection of basal. Then a panicked hunt to gather every piece of carb in the car and a blood test every ten minutes as I watched my levels go down, down, down before finally heading up....

But the good thing about bolus/basal is that you can not only miss meals or adjust the time of them, you can also add them in if you want to have a snack at a weird time of day. It gives you so much more freedom. (As a child I was on the old style one or two injections a day till my early twenties, when my clinic gave me basal/bolus with the added selling point of a glucometer so I could actually see what my blood sugar levels were doing. It made a massive difference to my diabetic control.)

 

[becca59]

Like Antje77 I keep mine in a different place. The basal stays on a top in the bedroom whilst the bolus is kept in my portable bag of tricks. As the others have said no food no bolus. I had an upset stomach a couple of weeks ago and decided not to eat at all for 24 hours. I took no bolus only basal and my levels stayed good.