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Type 1: Low carb and bolus insulin

H

Hwrightyoga

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Can you do without bolus short acting insulin if you are on low carb and stay healthy with only basal? Or do you always need to take short acting to make sure your body has enough energy?
 
@Hwrightyoga No, is the brief answer. Unless a person has Type 1.5 with a slow onset, that means they initially don't need insulin. That's slightly different.

But for Type 1s, even if you never eat another carb again you'd still need to bolus for,protein as in the absence of carbs your body will get glucose from protein and that will put your blood sugar up. Fat also has an effect on insulin needs for Type 1s.

In addition, if a person eats very low carb, they can get something called physiological insulin resistance, which means their insulin needs actually increase.
 
your blood testing meter will provide all the answers you need.
 
Thanks @azure - I am taking a small amount of bolus along with my basal just working out quantities and reactions to lower carbs than I am used to. It's quite a change. I have good control and told by consultant to keep doing the same. Just wanting to keep carbs down a little and have less spikes with high carb and taking more short term than I think i should.
 
I'm lada type 1. I do most days on Basel only. 7 units of Lantus 2 times a day. Meals make me go up to around 120 usually and I slowly drop back down. I can still skip meals and have stable blood sugar. If I eat a higher carb meal , over 10 net carbs, I may take 1/2 unit of Novolog. This can drop me from 130 to 90.
 
Hwrightyoga said:
Thanks @azure - I am taking a small amount of bolus along with my basal just working out quantities and reactions to lower carbs than I am used to. It's quite a change. I have good control and told by consultant to keep doing the same. Just wanting to keep carbs down a little and have less spikes with high carb and taking more short term than I think i should.
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Bolus timing works wonders for any spikes. You'll see me mention advance bolusing a lot : D That's because it's an amazing tool to control post-meal spikes.

Before I learnt about it, I'd go up to 11 after breakfast. I then got my bolus timing the right amount in advance and now can eat that same large bowl of cereal with a spike to around 6 normally.
 
I'm LADA and agree with everything @azure said.
I eat less than 20 carbs per day and I still need to bolus for protein and fat. At DX I ate more carbs and of course more insulin. Dropping the carbs meant dropping the insulin. I only take lantus before bed, not in the morning. I use 1/2-1 unit per meal. Bf is trickier. I keep rising. So I take 1 unit then an hour later another shot. I keep rising until 1ish. Sometimes I need another around noon. Lunch is 1/2-1 and dinner is bigger so 1 unit.
Bernstein says to bolus for half your protein. So if I eat three ounces (21 g) I bolus for 10 carbs.

Bolus timing is an amazing tool as well. If I don't time it right I can go low first and then high or just spike and stay there until I inject again. Another trick I use is to eat avocado with every meal. Keeps me low and slow. No big drops or spikes. Of course not everyone want avocado 3 times a day but I do! It's medicinal for me.
 
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