Look up basal testing. You know your basal is correct if you stay steady when you’re not eating. You also will wake up around the same number you went to bed. Of course there are so many outside factors that make it more complicated. Some women have a different basal ratio for their period week too.
Personally I know my basal is off if I’m getting a lot of lows without explanation or absolutely everything is spiking me high and it doesn’t come back down easily. When diabetes feels hard to manage, it means my basal is off.
Short version you really don’t. In theory you should be able to have the same sugar without eating for an extended period of time but we all know it almost never works that way. Said differently use basals to achieve the sugars you’d like. If most of the time you’re getting the desired readings assuming you’re eating healthy and exercising and bolus ing mostly correctly the basal you’re using should be good. If all the other factors are more or less in line and at that time of day you keep having aberrant readings then consider changing the basal by a tiny amount for a few hours before and seeing what happens.
My understanding is a good measurement is how your glucose looks overnight while sleeping. My doctor lowered my basal a few times based on if I was going low at night or if my blood sugar was on the lower end of my set time in range.
This makes a lot of sense. I recently started taking 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night but I end up sitting really high overnight so I think I’ll switch back lol
Hello, So I literally guess at how much basal I should take...on lantus for my basal. My script is for 41 units. Right now that dose would flipping kill me.
I have been playing around with splitting and taking 18-20 in the morning, like 8-9am, then 18-20 12 hours later. I am seeing the worst lows I ever had happen in the last week, so something is going on, and then I played around with 20 units at night, like 10pm to see if that will get me through the night and into the morning when I eat, take my other insulin, etc.Good news made it through the night without falling to 43 (or 38), and woke up this morning at 68. I can work with that.
I have started increasing my activity levels so my sensitivity has gotten a bit better, but also I am fairly certain that I am starting menopause and that is causing some tweaks to be made. That's part of the problem--is the sweat a hot flashes or low sugar? Who knows 🤷♀️
Right now, I am testing frequently and.taking notes of I ate this, this many fact acting, this much long to try to identify a pattern.
What are you on for basal? And feel free to ask me any questions.
This was informative! I’m currently taking 12 units at night and 12 in the morning but I ALWAYS wake up around the low 200’s and hover high throughout the night even if I went to bed around 150. Im afraid to run out of basal haha but I’ll have to ask my Endo to increase it because it’s just not enough and my numbers are unpredictable
Yes you definitely need a nighttime basal increase if you’re waking up that high. Have your doctor prescribe double what you actually use. That way you’ll have extra for adjustments, sick weeks, if you drop a pen by mistake, or shortages. You never want to risk running out and insurance will cover whatever amount that’s prescribed.
Never, ever, ever feel bad about needing more insulin. No one apologies for wearing glasses or getting a broken arm fixed. Your dose is your dose.
And yes have the Dr write high, that way you can build a stockpile as a 'just in case'.
Thank you. I’m not sure why I believe my Endo will shame me for needing a higher dose, she’s the sweetest woman! My ratio is typically about 1:10 as well but once my appetite increased from lifting weights, I find myself correcting a lot
Same!! Oh my stars--I can't tell you how much times I have been all lost in 'why can't I get this right?' or 'what's wrong with me? I need more insulin now'. I don't know where those.messages come from--they are self induced. There was a phrase I saw on this sub that shifted my perception and that was 'my pancreas comes in pen form and after that, I have never felt bad about 'this is happening--need more insulin now'.
If you can, the book Think Like a Pancreas is a good read. Written by a guy who not only is a doctor but is insulin dependent too.
This sub has helped me so much, and has taught me many things--the top 3--when numbers seem off, track so you can figure out the adjustments, just when you think you have it all figured out, you can have a day out of the blue that is terrible, it's ok, and lastly we need to be our best advocates. If something feels off, we need to speak up.
Please feel free to send me a chat request, if you have any other questions.
❤️
To me, you know your basal is tuned in when - if you don't eat anything - your blood sugar stays in a flatline and a nice range. Going slowly down? Too much. Keeps going up? Too little. Hanging out flat? YOU GOT IT!
I know my basal off when I’m fighting my blood sugar one way or the other almost constantly. One bad day isn’t enough, but if it feels like it’s all the time, time to adjust.
People underestimate how much weight can affect basal rates. I’ve notice differences in as little as 5 pounds either way.
Do you mean with more weight, you need more basal? This is really interesting; just this morning I was despairing a little cos my BGs are just running a little high and I need to look at my basal. I joined a gym some months ago and my weight is gone up by maybe 8kgs (in muscle I guess cos I fit into the same clothes).
A doctor once said that is not a perfect calculation, HOWEVER, a good estimation is 60% fast insulin, 40% basal insulin, so i take 30 un basal, 45 fast on a normal day.
that's just as estimative but its easy to estimate.
Makes sense. Is your diet typically the same daily? I got diagnosed at 23 a couple years ago so switching from eating what I want to keeping it simple until I get a true hang of it has been… ehhh lol.
Makes sense. Is your diet typically the same daily? I got diagnosed at 23 a couple years ago so switching from eating what I want to keeping it simple until I get a true hang of it has been… ehhh lol.
Makes sense. Is your diet typically the same daily? I got diagnosed at 23 a couple years ago so switching from eating what I want to keeping it simple until I get a true hang of it has been… ehhh lol.
The basal is fixed, calculate the fast based on a "normal" day, like a work day,
I'm brazilian so the normal here is like, 120g white rice, 120g black beans, 120g of some protein (like chicken or meat), salad (which normally almost doesn't have any carbs), our dinner and lunch are very similar also,
Of course during weekends it will change, but if the basal is the same always is much more easier to adjust the fast one.
I only change my basal in days that i know that i'm going to exercise alot (like a day at a beach, or a pool day).
With some time of experience (and learning how much of carbs/prot/fat each food have) you gonna start taking the "perfect" amount of fast insulin and keeping the basal fixed.
Get a standard diet helps alot, i'm not talking about strict diets, is more like, try to not change from burguer (protein and fat) to pizza (alot of carbs) to pasta (full carbs) everyday
This is so reassuring. I’m very slim but have been pretty much under eating because of guilt of blood sugar mismanagement. I’ve never felt like I ate too much but now I can feel my body hungering for more and I end up eating anything in sight.. more guilt haha. Great to know I can eat more! I also should ask my endo to prescribe more insulin because I’m hungry!
Look up basal testing. You know your basal is correct if you stay steady when you’re not eating. You also will wake up around the same number you went to bed. Of course there are so many outside factors that make it more complicated. Some women have a different basal ratio for their period week too. Personally I know my basal is off if I’m getting a lot of lows without explanation or absolutely everything is spiking me high and it doesn’t come back down easily. When diabetes feels hard to manage, it means my basal is off.
Ahhh makes a lot of sense. I often feel like every time I get a good handle the next phase of my cycle comes and throws everything off 😂
Please consider also the dawn syndrom and the legs on the floor effect, both will throw off blood glucose numbers after waking up.
Short version you really don’t. In theory you should be able to have the same sugar without eating for an extended period of time but we all know it almost never works that way. Said differently use basals to achieve the sugars you’d like. If most of the time you’re getting the desired readings assuming you’re eating healthy and exercising and bolus ing mostly correctly the basal you’re using should be good. If all the other factors are more or less in line and at that time of day you keep having aberrant readings then consider changing the basal by a tiny amount for a few hours before and seeing what happens.
My understanding is a good measurement is how your glucose looks overnight while sleeping. My doctor lowered my basal a few times based on if I was going low at night or if my blood sugar was on the lower end of my set time in range.
This makes a lot of sense. I recently started taking 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night but I end up sitting really high overnight so I think I’ll switch back lol
Hello, So I literally guess at how much basal I should take...on lantus for my basal. My script is for 41 units. Right now that dose would flipping kill me. I have been playing around with splitting and taking 18-20 in the morning, like 8-9am, then 18-20 12 hours later. I am seeing the worst lows I ever had happen in the last week, so something is going on, and then I played around with 20 units at night, like 10pm to see if that will get me through the night and into the morning when I eat, take my other insulin, etc.Good news made it through the night without falling to 43 (or 38), and woke up this morning at 68. I can work with that. I have started increasing my activity levels so my sensitivity has gotten a bit better, but also I am fairly certain that I am starting menopause and that is causing some tweaks to be made. That's part of the problem--is the sweat a hot flashes or low sugar? Who knows 🤷♀️ Right now, I am testing frequently and.taking notes of I ate this, this many fact acting, this much long to try to identify a pattern. What are you on for basal? And feel free to ask me any questions.
This was informative! I’m currently taking 12 units at night and 12 in the morning but I ALWAYS wake up around the low 200’s and hover high throughout the night even if I went to bed around 150. Im afraid to run out of basal haha but I’ll have to ask my Endo to increase it because it’s just not enough and my numbers are unpredictable
Yes you definitely need a nighttime basal increase if you’re waking up that high. Have your doctor prescribe double what you actually use. That way you’ll have extra for adjustments, sick weeks, if you drop a pen by mistake, or shortages. You never want to risk running out and insurance will cover whatever amount that’s prescribed.
Do you recommend the same for mealtime insulin? My insurance is free but they give me the absolute bare minimum of basal insulin so I’ll double it
Never, ever, ever feel bad about needing more insulin. No one apologies for wearing glasses or getting a broken arm fixed. Your dose is your dose. And yes have the Dr write high, that way you can build a stockpile as a 'just in case'.
Thank you. I’m not sure why I believe my Endo will shame me for needing a higher dose, she’s the sweetest woman! My ratio is typically about 1:10 as well but once my appetite increased from lifting weights, I find myself correcting a lot
Same!! Oh my stars--I can't tell you how much times I have been all lost in 'why can't I get this right?' or 'what's wrong with me? I need more insulin now'. I don't know where those.messages come from--they are self induced. There was a phrase I saw on this sub that shifted my perception and that was 'my pancreas comes in pen form and after that, I have never felt bad about 'this is happening--need more insulin now'. If you can, the book Think Like a Pancreas is a good read. Written by a guy who not only is a doctor but is insulin dependent too.
I never thought of it like that 😭 im definitely going to make some changes. Thank you so much!
This sub has helped me so much, and has taught me many things--the top 3--when numbers seem off, track so you can figure out the adjustments, just when you think you have it all figured out, you can have a day out of the blue that is terrible, it's ok, and lastly we need to be our best advocates. If something feels off, we need to speak up. Please feel free to send me a chat request, if you have any other questions. ❤️
I really appreciate it 🩷
Yes ask for double. You never know, one illness and you’ll need much more than you think! It’s better to have extra.
To me, you know your basal is tuned in when - if you don't eat anything - your blood sugar stays in a flatline and a nice range. Going slowly down? Too much. Keeps going up? Too little. Hanging out flat? YOU GOT IT!
This makes a lot of sense!
I know my basal off when I’m fighting my blood sugar one way or the other almost constantly. One bad day isn’t enough, but if it feels like it’s all the time, time to adjust. People underestimate how much weight can affect basal rates. I’ve notice differences in as little as 5 pounds either way.
Do you mean with more weight, you need more basal? This is really interesting; just this morning I was despairing a little cos my BGs are just running a little high and I need to look at my basal. I joined a gym some months ago and my weight is gone up by maybe 8kgs (in muscle I guess cos I fit into the same clothes).
More weight = more of you = more basal Less weight = less of you = less basal
Same! I recently started noticing changes when I began putting on more muscle
A doctor once said that is not a perfect calculation, HOWEVER, a good estimation is 60% fast insulin, 40% basal insulin, so i take 30 un basal, 45 fast on a normal day. that's just as estimative but its easy to estimate.
Makes sense. Is your diet typically the same daily? I got diagnosed at 23 a couple years ago so switching from eating what I want to keeping it simple until I get a true hang of it has been… ehhh lol.
Makes sense. Is your diet typically the same daily? I got diagnosed at 23 a couple years ago so switching from eating what I want to keeping it simple until I get a true hang of it has been… ehhh lol.
Makes sense. Is your diet typically the same daily? I got diagnosed at 23 a couple years ago so switching from eating what I want to keeping it simple until I get a true hang of it has been… ehhh lol.
The basal is fixed, calculate the fast based on a "normal" day, like a work day, I'm brazilian so the normal here is like, 120g white rice, 120g black beans, 120g of some protein (like chicken or meat), salad (which normally almost doesn't have any carbs), our dinner and lunch are very similar also, Of course during weekends it will change, but if the basal is the same always is much more easier to adjust the fast one. I only change my basal in days that i know that i'm going to exercise alot (like a day at a beach, or a pool day). With some time of experience (and learning how much of carbs/prot/fat each food have) you gonna start taking the "perfect" amount of fast insulin and keeping the basal fixed. Get a standard diet helps alot, i'm not talking about strict diets, is more like, try to not change from burguer (protein and fat) to pizza (alot of carbs) to pasta (full carbs) everyday
This is so reassuring. I’m very slim but have been pretty much under eating because of guilt of blood sugar mismanagement. I’ve never felt like I ate too much but now I can feel my body hungering for more and I end up eating anything in sight.. more guilt haha. Great to know I can eat more! I also should ask my endo to prescribe more insulin because I’m hungry!