1unit

[Stuboy]

Does anyone else ever bolus for a snake that should need 1 unit of insulin?

It just hardly seems worth the hassel to inject 1 unit. Does anyone find it makes a difference?

[notme]

:laugh: My snakes always require more than one unit!!!!

Actually, I do bolus one unit sometimes less, but that is so easy with a pump.

[Stuboy]

Well, i had a banana which apparently is 20carbs (large banana). So technically i need to bolus 1 unit for that. carb:insulin ratio is 0.5u:10g

I think i over bolus'd for my lunch cuz i hit 3.9 2 hours after (although it was low before hand, 4.6) so i had a banana and didn't know whether to bolus for it or not... so i did, but it just doesn't seem worth it with 1 unit!

Prehaps next time i should take a little less unsulin than i need if im in the low 4's before the meal?

[poodlebone]

Sometimes I bolus for 5g of carbs. I love being able to dose in 1/10 of a unit. I know some pumps can do 1/20th. If I ate 20g of carbs without bolusing (unless I was really really low) I'd go sky high. Depending on the time of day, 20g would mean 1 unit or .8 unit.

[Stuboy]

So it does make a difference then? Just when i push the button when it's wound up to 1 in open air, it's litterally a couple of drops that come out... does that really spread out across the entire body!?

[notme]

It really does Stu. I was surprised when I would pump out a unit of insulin through my pump and watch it. It isn't very much. It will make a big difference.

Insulin is a powerful drug.

[Cyborg]

i take boluses less than 1 unit also. It just depends on how many carbs and the insulin to carb ratio for that time of the day. One of the coolest things about the pump is the ability to take as little as 0.05 units for a bolus...

[Stuboy]

I guess i could do 0.5bolus, but it would be a guess on the pen as it's a novopen3 and clicks up 1unit at a time, but you can pull the end out and wind it down slightly lol.

ill stick to full units. But thanks for answering the question!

[karen]

I have to bolus for all carbs unless I am between 80-90 and I am only going to have about 10 carbs. It also depends if you might be heading downward bgs wise or if you are going to be moving around a lot.

Lots to think about, but no way could I eat 20 carbs and not cover with insulin, especially a banana which is a high glycemic food.

Lots to think about.

Karen

[BriOnH]

Hey Stu,
Sorry I missed it somehow, but notice you are off the mixtard and on the good stuff now. Do you have a pen for your novolog?

I often shoot up 1 unit here and there.

[JasonJayhawk]

I find it makes a difference, Stu! For your half-unit injections, you could try pulling the pen needle out at 3 seconds rather than 7 seconds. It's not accurate, but it's a good rough guess.

Also, you'll soon discover your own system for counting carbs. It doesn't matter if you're 30 carbs off, so long as you always judge the same food the same way in the future, so that you can know how it works. Consistent judging is key for me!

[spike]

Does anyone else ever bolus for a snake that should need 1 unit of insulin?

It just hardly seems worth the hassel to inject 1 unit. Does anyone find it makes a difference?


Yes, 1 unit "makes a difference". For me, 1 unit will drop me about 38. It drops my wife over 60. It covers 10 carbs for me, and 20 carbs for her.

[JediSkipdogg]

Since I'm on a pump, like other pumpers here, I will bolus for 1 unit or less. For me, 1 unit drops me 35 points. On an A1C level that is about 1.2%, which is a huge difference each time I can bring it down some.

[Funnygrl]

When I was on MDI I often took even just half a unit. I had a 1:40 insulin to carb ratio for awhile, and often wished I could inject 0.25 units because if I had a 10 gram snack I couldn't inject, yet still found it raised my bs.

[Tokyo Cate]

I rarely give myself a bolus less than 2 units, though it is possible with my pen. I am on Novorapid and use the Junior pen which delivers in 1/2 units, so I could potentially give myself a 1/2 unit bolus. I often will use 1/2 unit dosing with higher numbers, but figure a walk around the block will do the same as a 1/2 unit for a very light snack or I can skip the snack and wait for the next meal.

[grace girl]

I gave myself 1 unit of humalog the other night because I was a bit high...brought me down about 50 or so points, which was what I wanted. I wouldn't hesistate to use a half a unit, either.

[corwin]

Like most others here, if I need 1u I'll bolus just that. Why get your bg higher when you can keep it on target? The "hassle" of the extra injection is insignificant for me after over 1000 injections. I find it more of a hassle to be 160 or so untill my next meal.

[sofaraway]

For me personally i won't bolus 1 unit, but then that doesn't happen that often that i eat between meals, apart from at work.

when i work an early shift 7:30-3:30, we get a tea break between 10-11am and i'll eat an apple and an orange or a banana, but i won't bolus for it. I'll wait and see what my blood sugar is at luch- somewhere between 12-2pm, and then add a correction in if i need to. i'm almost never above 8-9mmol/l at lunch so i don't worry that i've been too high from not bolusing that couple of units.

I'd say see what happenes if you don't bolus, if it send you higher than you'd like then you know that you need to bolus 1 unit, if you stay in range then you won't need to.

and congrats on getting onto BB, hope it works better for you

[Stuboy]

oh it is!!!

It's only tuesday i know, but so far this week i haven't got out of target with my logged results. Targets set at 4.0 - 7.9!!! How good is that!?

One more reason that 1 unit doesn't seem worthit to me, other than hardly owt coming out, is that when i pull the needle out after injecting 1 unit, i still get a drop or two hanging off the end of the needle... and 1 unit is just that... so when i bolus 1 unit.... am i ACTUALLY getting it? if that makes sense...

[Funnygrl]

Not to be a pessimist, but you are probably honeymooning, and you are gonna start noticing that unit making a difference.

If you are having drops come out, you may need to hold the pen in a little longer.

[Stuboy]

that's, 10seconds after holding it in!!

[Cyborg]

We also take correction boluses that do not involve eating...

[poodlebone]

I was just reading some info on an insulin pen that said if some insulin drips out after you remove the needle from your skin, it's normal and you don't have to worry that you didn't get the full dose. When I used a Humalog pen that often happened to me and I know that I was getting the insulin, even on small amounts like 1u.

[Emm]

Yep! I often inject just one unit. And because I'm on the demi-pens I can inject half units too. My most common correction jab is 1.5 units, seems to cover just about anything (touch wood lol)

Certainly couldn't get away with 1 unit for a banana though. The spike on those things is dangerous! I didn't realise how bad they were til I had half a banana after breakfast the other day (my first in months) and hit 11.3 (203) afterwards, where my normal breakfast would be pushing it to get over 8 (144). AND that was after having an extra couple of units! I was shocked to say the least!

I used to see bananas as a great healthy thing to eat, now I see them as EVIL! Evil I tell you!!! :evil:

[Erin]

I don't usually bolus 1 unit for food, unless I am high and need a correction bolus as well (making the total bolus 2 or more units)

I'll take 1 unit if my bg is a little high before bed, but for food, if my bg is good to begin with, it doesn't seem worth it. 10g of carbs (which is 1 unit for me) just doesn't do that much to my blood sugar.