Novamix 30 questions

[daffy1]

After having Metformin diareah for the second time I was told to stop it so for two months I was dependant on Levmere insulin but it wasn’t having any effect and my bg was high teens and twenties eventually I saw my diabetic nurse and she prescribed novamix 30 2 x 36 units to get my sugars down and a dexcom sensor. So far my sugars have come right down but what I’m not sure about is the timings of the dose.
If I went for a big meal at lunchtime should I inject early or wait till I had a snack in the evening. And if I hadn’t eaten a lot in the evening should I reduce the amount of novamix. I’ve already phoned the nurse twice today but don’t want to keep bugging her withe little questions

 

[EllieM]

Hi @daffy1 I have to be a little careful what I say as we can't give dosing advice here.

https://www.pinnaclepractices.co.nz/assets/Resource-files/Novomix-30-guide.pdf

If you look at the above guide you'll see that novomix 30 is a mixture of short and long acting insulin. So the idea is that when you inject before a meal the short acting part covers the rise in bg from the meal and the long acting part covers your background insulin needs when you aren't eating.

That's all well and good, and it sounds as if it's working better than your previous regime, but it doesn't give you that much flexibility in changing you food amounts. If you increase the novamix for a big meal you risk having too much insulin on board when you aren't eating.

Now I suspect you may have a lot more freedom in your dosage than a T1 such as myself who isn't producing any insulin at all, as hopefully your own insulin will cover some of the fluctuations caused by changing the amounts of food you eat. But I think you really really need to ask your (very good) questions to your nurse. Changing insulin types is a big deal and they aren't "little" questions - they are very relevant.

Good luck with it all.