How to calculate insulin sensitivity?

[KEVIN88GT]

my endo told me it might be a good idea to figure out how sensitive I am to insulin. Currently using Levemir at bedtime and novolog to cover food. How do I figure my sensitivity? Do i Inject one unit and then see how many mm/dl it drops me in 1 hour? Should I repeat several times and take an average? Is there a definite formula? Thanks in advance.

Kevin L RN.

[Tyler]

my endo told me it might be a good idea to figure out how sensitive I am to insulin. Currently using Levemir at bedtime and novolog to cover food. How do I figure my sensitivity? Do i Inject one unit and then see how many mm/dl it drops me in 1 hour? Should I repeat several times and take an average? Is there a definite formula? Thanks in advance.

Kevin L RN.

That statement kind of means nothing without context. I assume what he means is to try and figure out your carb ratio. How many units it takes to cover carbs. There's no definite amount that implies insulin sensitivity or resistance though. High carb ratios would mean you are more sensitive, etc.

I know that for pumping, the insulin sensitivity factor or ISF is calculated by taking your total daily dose and dividing it into 1800.

[JediSkipdogg]

Kevin...you are dead on. Your doctor is trying to figure out how much insulin you should take if you are say 300 mg/dl. You have the formula figured out.

To do this though you need to be fasting so you have nothing else in your system. Basically, when you are running around 150 (that's a generally safe number to use) give 1 unit of insulin. Test every hour for 4-5 hours. Take those readings every hour and average them along with the final 4 or 5 hour average (FYI....5 hours is better to use if you can do that.) The readings between on each hour just give you a profile picture of how fast it works for you, the final reading will tell you what 1 unit of insulin does to you.

Good luck.

[Cyborg]

Here's (http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/howto/bgi.html) some info on how to measure your ISF...

[right2fight]

Thanks Cyborg, great link, tons of info.
Margaret