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Ratio

Hi @grahamrb and welcome to the forums.

Can I ask what type of diabetes you have and what medication you are on for it?

If your question is about carb counting for insulin then your team probably need to have some records of your food and bg levels in order to calculate a ratio....
 
@grahamrb
Would you mind if I merged your two threads together? They seem to be related questions and are probably going to generate the same queries from responders (the forum is pretty quiet now because most of the UKers are asleep.) I (or another mod) could change to the title to Ratio and carb counting ?
 
Hmm, not sure what point you are making.

What do you do with the results of your counting?
Are you injecting insulin?
What type of diabetes do you have?
Who asked you to count carbs?
 
grahamrb said:
I have given up carb counting since it appears to be pointless if you haven’t been told your Ratio
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Well I didn't have much confidence in the ratio that was suggested to me by my nurse, and of course it can change. It is really up to you to work it out from experience of your own body's responses....?
 
Hi, I’m not sure it’s possible to be given your ratio, I believe they suggest 10:1 to begin with, then you tweak it from there yourself.
 
Unfortunately there's no way for anybody to just know what your ratios are, we're all different and what works for me may be completely different to what works for you, same as working out your basal or doses of many other medications. I'm sure your DSN would be able to offer guidance if they have full access to your BG results but that would mean using the ratio they gave you as a starting point to see where changes need to be made.
 
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I think from all the other replies here you will realise you have to work it out for yourself , Too much insulin too little carbs you will go low and vice versa , it takes a while and you will make mistakes but you will get there , Certainly don't give up with the carb counting there is no other way !
 
I was never "given" my ratio. Like most people 10:1 was suggested and I learnt to tweak it to suit me.,
But one insulin to carb ratio is only a fraction of the story. You also need to know what your correction ratio is plus how and when to adjust your ratios and how to test your basal rates and ...
This is why a course such as DAFNE is beneficial and, if you can't get a place on that, you can do bertie online.
 
I was told years ago that for every 1 over what you would expect your bg to be inject half a unit of insulin extra , Indeed this morning I wakened to a bg of 16.9 so injected 5 units extra and went for a walk , Two hours later and after my 30 carbs for breakfast it has come down to 7 , Works every time for me .
 
I was told at the beginning 1 unit to 20 grams carbs. I used that for some time but that no longer works. I was told 1 unit to correct BG by 5 mmols. Now I use 1 unit to 15 grams carbs and 1 unit to lower BG by 3 mmols.
 
jaywak said:
I was told years ago that for every 1 over what you would expect your bg to be inject half a unit of insulin extra , Indeed this morning I wakened to a bg of 16.9 so injected 5 units extra and went for a walk , Two hours later and after my 30 carbs for breakfast it has come down to 7 , Works every time for me .
Click to expand...

But that would be your insulin sensitivity factor ratio (correction dose), that's also very different for every individual. For example if I took half a unit for every 1mmol I wished to come down by, and was at 16, so took 4/5 units, I would plummet to well under 4 because my ratio as a correction is 1 to 3, ie 1 unit lowers me by 3 points. I guess that's why we are not allowed to give medical advice as it really is a very personal ratio.
 
EllieM said:
Hi @grahamrb and welcome to the forums.

Can I ask what type of diabetes you have and what medication you are on for it?

If your question is about carb counting for insulin then your team probably need to have some records of your food and bg levels in order to calculate a ratio....
Click to expand...


jaywak said:
I think from all the other replies here you will realise you have to work it out for yourself , Too much insulin too little carbs you will go low and vice versa , it takes a while and you will make mistakes but you will get there , Certainly don't give up with the carb counting there is no other way !
Click to expand...


Thank you for all your comments
I joined the forum since my wife was misdiagnosed in November last and then diagnosed with type 1 in May 2021 which at the age of 78 is a bit of a shock. So for 6 months I have been on a steep learning curve.

As suggested I have calculated the three ratios breakfast, lunch and dinner 5,6 and 8 respectively based on 7 consecutive days las
So starting from today I calculate the carbs we will have for a meal and then inject the insulin to suit immediately prior to eating.
 
jaywak said:
I was told years ago that for every 1 over what you would expect your bg to be inject half a unit of insulin extra , Indeed this morning I wakened to a bg of 16.9 so injected 5 units extra and went for a walk , Two hours later and after my 30 carbs for breakfast it has come down to 7 , Works every time for me .
Click to expand...

So I guess that means you have a correction ratio of 1 unit of insulin to 2 mmol/L. Bear in mind that correction ratios can also vary drastically between people, (eg my nurse told me to divide 100 by my daily insulin total as a starting point for how much 1 unit of insulin would bring me down), so this is yet another ratio that has to be calculated for the individual.

@grahamrb I can only imagine what a shock it must be to get a T1 diagnosis at 78, so it's sounds like you are doing an awesome job at working out what to do. Just remember insulin ratios can change, and here's a link to bertieonline which is a useful T1 resource.

www.bertieonline.org.uk

And don't hesitate to contact your diabetic team to get advice. Though we can give you moral support and information here, we are not doctors and don't know your wife's medical history. Dosing advice needs to come from your team.

And one more proviso, at 78 hypos may be a lot more of an issue than at 28 or 58, so your team may (or may not) want your wife to run at higher levels than the younger T1s on these boards. Hopefully they have given you advice on this. If they haven't I urge you to talk to them.

@grhamrb, can I ask (feel free to ignore the question if it is too personal), are you a carer for your wife (ie making food and dosing decisions for her)? Hypos become even more of a potential issue if the person suffering from them is unable to deal with them without help...
 
grahamrb said:
Thank you for all your comments
I joined the forum since my wife was misdiagnosed in November last and then diagnosed with type 1 in May 2021 which at the age of 78 is a bit of a shock. So for 6 months I have been on a steep learning curve.

As suggested I have calculated the three ratios breakfast, lunch and dinner 5,6 and 8 respectively based on 7 consecutive days las
So starting from today I calculate the carbs we will have for a meal and then inject the insulin to suit immediately prior to eating.
Click to expand...

Again thanks for the info.
We were advised to do the Bertie course by the team so I thought that it was a good idea to learn about Type 1 so I started it. At the last meeting with the nurse and nutritionist they said we should not do the Bertie course for at least 12 months after diagnosis ie next May!!
I have still got to learn a bit more about the correction ratio, that's next.
So far in the last 6 months the support team have not mentioned anything about ratios or correction ratios so I am doing it myself.
They also said that it is not neccesary to do the thee monthly check every 3 months to get the average; we thing that the next check will be in October
 
grahamrb said:
They also said that it is not neccesary to do the thee monthly check every 3 months to get the average; we thing that the next check will be in October
Click to expand...

I only get an hba1c every 12 months, though my GP volunteers to do it more often. As I self fund a dexcom, I don't see the point of doing it too often. How are you managing the blood tests? Is the NHS funding a libre?
 
EllieM said:
I only get an hba1c every 12 months, though my GP volunteers to do it more often. As I self fund a dexcom, I don't see the point of doing it too often. How are you managing the blood tests? Is the NHS funding a libre?
Click to expand...
I dont know what a dexcom is.
The team have told me that it is too early to have a libre so it is still finger pricks
 
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