OH newly diagnosed T1 - insulin dose?

[Petal85]

Hi all. My OH (39 yr old male) was recently diagnosed T1. Started insulin on 25/8. Advised 10 units of lantus with 2-4 units of novorapid with meals. Levels still high teens and twenties so clinic advised to go to 15 lantus and up to 7 novorapid. Levels still high teens. Is this normal to still have such high readings? Are we still at the ‘low’ end of insulin units? I know everyone is different and it’s not advised to share doses but just wondering if there’s still a lot of room to go with units or if this is already a lot? Got no point of reference. Thank you

 

[Japes]

Hello, @Petal85 and welcome.

It took the best part of a month from starting insulin for me to come down from high teens and twenties, and it was all increased slowly and carefully until we were all satisfied it was right for me. It's frustrating, (Oh, how well do I remember the frustration!) but there's so much to learn/take in.

Everyone really is totally different and what's a high dosage for me, (small, round-ish, pretty active, female, mid-50s who doesn't eat a vast amount of carbohydrates) won't work for someone else. It's changed several times over the last year as my pancreas has given up more and more. My Novorapid has remained very consistent, but my Levemir doses have changed a lot, though currently pretty settled.

 

[Antje77]

Perfectly normal! 10 units of long acting is a pretty standard starting dose. They tend to start out pretty careful, as the only way to find out the right dose is trial and error. Insulin needs vary from something like 4 units of long acting to over a hundred units. Imagine starting at 30 units and then finding out 8 units would have been enough. That's a lot of sugar you need to consume in the next 24 hours to prevent hypo's!
So usually long acting insulin is upped every 3 to 5 days to stay safe, it simply takes time to find the right dose.

Good luck!