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Tips for type 1

Olifa

Olifa

Active Member
Messages
33
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
My diabetes is always going either up or down.
Some tips to help me keep them stable would be grand. I'm on insulin (novo rapid and lantis)
Some things to keep in mind, anything u have I'll take right now. Help help help

Also should I be on any pills or other medication for my diabetes other than insulin?
 
Hello,

I am certainly no expert as I have only been diagnosed since September but how often do you test your BG? How many units of fast acting do you take per X amount of carbs?
 
Many times a day I test. Sometimes 3-4 per hour depending on what it's doing.

I'm doing currently 1unit per 10 carbs
 
Olifa said:
Many times a day I test. Sometimes 3-4 per hour depending on what it's doing.

I'm doing currently 1unit per 10 carbs
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Ok well it's good that you are testing regularly! What range do you typically get?
 
I'd say my average is 15.0
I normally wake up anywhere between 13-17
 
Olifa said:
I'd say my average is 15.0
I normally wake up anywhere between 13-17
Click to expand...
As a novice I could only suggest more exercise and better diet. I saw that you mentioned in another post that you don't eat during the day and eat late at night, that can't help. Low carb and plenty of exercise keeps me between 4-7 generally. I wake up 6.5-7.5 driven by the lack of activity whilst sleeping and I notice that when I eat dinner later than normal its always higher the next morning. Having type one for the majority of your life isn't easy so I would avoid feeling down about it but I would do everything in your power to control as well as possible, the reward outweighs the risk. All the best.
 
@Olifa, normally high glucose levels are a sign of incorrectly set basal, incorrect carb counting, wrong IC ratios or just eating the wrong things.

In your position I'd start by going back and testing your basal is correct. Then recheck your ratios. Once you know these are good, you should be able to step your glucose levels down systematically.
 
I find eating after 8 pm really impacts my fasting blood sugar , particularly fatty / carb rich foods. When I was first diagnosed I wasn't given any bolus (for at least 3 months) , only basal and I had to go ultra low carb to keep things under control. I always go back to this method when I lose control of blood sugar or gain weight, only this time with bolus.

Also exercise helps alot !
 
the logical steps to take when trying to adjust the insulin doses is basal testing and then bolus testing.......

can you do any of these or have you had any experience doing them?

with a single dose Lantus I would say its best to take this before bed every night, of course everyone is different.............getting a basal test done overnight first is wise as you have no carbs of bolus working......
 
tim2000s said:
@Olifa, normally high glucose levels are a sign of incorrectly set basal, incorrect carb counting, wrong IC ratios or just eating the wrong things.

In your position I'd start by going back and testing your basal is correct. Then recheck your ratios. Once you know these are good, you should be able to step your glucose levels down systematically.
Click to expand...

Regardless of whether you might need to change the basal doseage first before you change the bolus, I would recommend that you address the high bg levels either by reducing the carb that you eat or by increasing the bolus in the carb ratio. The 1u to 10g carb ratio is just a starting guide. It can be changed to suit how the basal also affects bg levels. As long as bg testing is done to monitor the bg levels, most people can find their way and don't necessarily need to fast as basal testing involving fasting could well reveal higher bg levels in the morning but lower bg levels in the afternoon so it might be easier to change the bolus ratio to suit.

Good luck with mdi....you will find your own carb ratios with bg testing and writing it all down every day.
 
No1 rule is to get the basal dose right, once you get that right your half way there (goes for those on MDI & Pumps).
 
I've been reading up on best ways to test. It's not overly clear. Any quick guides on how to test basal and bolus? I know the basal is the background insulin and I do that twice a day. I've also read it's best to do it more at night and not to eat after 8pm.
 
I will also add a lil extra to my bolus injections for a few days and see if I go as high. I'm told I'll know if I have the correct dosage within 5hours after eating. My problem with this is after a meal my blood sugar goes very high and I'm just meant to wait around like that for 3-5hours to see if it'll start going down.
I understand I should eat less carbs but shouldn't the insulin work a lil better than it is?
I'll put it up half a unit n go from there I think
 
Thank you.

I had no food before bed lastnight and have woken up with an 8.3 which is already better.

My bs will keep rising from now though so I'll have to work a good meal out to keep me steady.
 
Right I woke up with an 8.3
An hour later I've had a quick walk and my blood sugar is 9.2

What do I do now? Do I eat to keep it stable or or what? My doctors have told me nothing n I have to wait over a month for an appointment.
 
Olifa said:
Right I woke up with an 8.3
An hour later I've had a quick walk and my blood sugar is 9.2

What do I do now? Do I eat to keep it stable or or what? My doctors have told me nothing n I have to wait over a month for an appointment.
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Just keep monitoring it with tests, for my personal range 9.2 is too high, so I personally wouldn't eat, but just keep testing and either inject or eat to stay in your target range.
 
I have to eat something and inject or it'll keep going up won't it. I did a test not long ago n I was 10.2 so I've risen two levels since waking up. I had a tiny bowl of cereal n injected a lil extra to hopefully go down. Let's see how it goes
 
You don't have to eat every time you inject.
You don't need to eat unless you're hungry.
You can inject to correct your blood sugar. However, as already said above, keep testing and don't overcorrect.
Do you have a meter that tells you how much to inject?
As 9.2 and 10.2 are a bit too high, you could try injecting 1 unit of NovoRapid and then test at 15 minutes and 30 minutes to monitor the drop in blood sugar. Keep testing!
 
No my metre only tells me what my blood sugar is.
My nova pen let's me do half units so I will do half a unit every time I'm high. I did that earlier and I'm on my way down now with dinner on the way.
 
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