How much insulin do you take?

[spring]

Hey guys!

I was reading over some threads and they reminded me of a comment a guy made in my carb counting refresher course. He said that when he was growing in his teens and required more insulin than before, he felt like a 'bad diabetic'.

I've read that the more insulin you take the more likely you are to become resistant, so obviously there's good reason not to blindly take as much as you please, but as long as the amount you're taking is as required and not so you can eat spoons full of sugar for breakfast lunch and dinner 'just because you can', it's fairly self evident that you should take whatever you need to maintain good blood sugar levels. Now if more is needed becase of insensitivity then medications to mitigate that come in to play.

What's your total daily dosage of insulin? Do you feel guilt when you need to increase it? Would you consider yourself sensitive, insensitive or 'average' and do you take anything like symlin or indeed metformin in addition to insulin?

Just something I was pondering. :cool: For my part I take 16 units of Levemir in the AM, 8 in the PM and about 25-30 units of Humalog throughout the day. This ends up with about a total of around 50-55 units/day.

[Funnygrl]

Yesterday I used 37 units of Novolog. Since I pump I just use Novolog.

[gobbly2100]

I take 100 units a day.

50 in the morning and 50 at night, am on Humalog Mix 25

My levels are pretty perfect as long as I watch the carbs :)

[rocky]

I am taking 64u/day on average right now, but I have had to increase it the past 2 weeks from 53u/day (on average) the first week and 58u/day (average) the second week. I find I am becoming more resistant to insulin by the day. years ago I was only taking 8u/day.

[sofaraway]

I use 16 units of lantus at night

over past 10 days i have used an average of 13 units of novorapid, (max 17, min 8).

when i started on insulin (june 2006) i was using 22units lantus and average of 23 units novorapid a day, so my insulin requirements have gone down.

i would say i'm pretty average in sensitivity- i don't think I have any insulin resistance.

I was pleased that i have been able to reduce the amount of insulin that i use.

[REDLAN]

I think everyone is different...

I certainly don't feel guilty for putting my insulin dose up - I do it to maintain control - feeling grotty today and therefore I need more insulin, so I'm putting up all my ratios.

On an inactive day I take about 40 units, when I'm busy it's typically 32-35 units, I generally eat between 200g and 250g of carbs per day, and I average between 7mmol and 8mmol - I make 5 the lowest I aim for, simply because I need a safety margin as I have to drive, and I'm generally on the go during the day - trying to hit 4 increases my hypo risk and also tends to cause me to rebound - last week my 2 highs were rebounds following hypos - ironically I actually get worse control if I aim too low (",)

[DeusXM]

I don't understand this mentality that 'taking more insulin' is a bad thing. I think it stems from the idea that insulin is a 'medicine' and so if you need more of it, you're doing something wrong.

Insulin isn't a medicine. It's a hormone, and if you need to inject more, all you're doing is replacing the insulin your body would produce normally. Provided your BGs are under control, you're not in DKA and you're not putting on weight, then whatever amount of insulin you happen to be taking is the right amount for you.

Your friend will definitely need more insulin. He's growing. Does he feel bad when he needs to buy new clothes because he's getting taller? Does he get upset because he needs to get some bigger shoes?

I doubt it - your friend should understand that what is the 'right' amount for a much smaller child is by no means the right amount for him. Also remind him that the hormones floating around in puberty tend to cause insulin resistance anyway, and things will settle down eventually.

[Penny]

I take 65 units at night and 20 in the morning of Lantus, and Novolog as I need it, during the day. I seldom eat anything made with sugar, rarely eat pasta,rice, potatoes or bread, I am careful about everything I eat. The worst "cheat" I had in the last week, was 1/2 cup of regular icecream...it listed 15 carbs. Yet my levels are still erratic, and I seem to need more insulin, just to keep from going too high. The only reason I feel guilty about using more insulin is because our insurance is paying for less, and I hate adding the expense to our family budget.

[June91]

The amount of insulin you use depends on your basal requirements and insulin to carb ratio, which you can do nothing about, and in a small way depends on your weight and the amount of carbs you eat, which you can mostly control. I can do nothing about the fact that my basal requirement is around 30 units (on the pump), I am not overweight and try to limit my carbs, but not to the extent of proper low carbing and still end up with at least 40-42 TDD (total daily dose).

Hope this is not a hijack:

I think we would be amazed at the amount of insulin "healthy" people use up within 24 hours. I know for example, that the amount of carbs my sister eats is staggering (and she's not overweight), and that her mealtimes are extremely erratic, so I'm presuming her basal would also be high. In fact, according to preliminary calculations, were she diabetic, she would probably use 70 units for boluses and 36 as basal.

Does anyone know if insulin produced by our pancreas has the same efficiency unit per unit as synthetic insulin, i.e. does a healthy person on a regular high carb diet actually secrete more than 100 units per day?

[mark-TN]

Does anyone know if insulin produced by our pancreas has the same efficiency unit per unit as synthetic insulin, i.e. does a healthy person on a regular high carb diet actually secrete more than 100 units per day?The insulin that we inject is diluted about 25 times compared to indigenous insulin. So 1 unit of indigenous insulin is equivalent to about 25 units of the stuff we inject.

Mark

[Injecto]

Currently I have a TDD of around 10 Units/day.

The only thing that sucks about taking more insulin per day is the cost associated with it, otherwise it's not really an issue. It is possible that if you start taking huge amounts per day that there is another thing wrong, but you'd have to be doing something like 200+/day...and w5 on this board can tell you about taking HUGE amounts of insulin in a day, and other than being a nutcase himself :T there is no other issue with taking more insulin.

[Gangrel]

Yes, it all varies drastically per person. As an example, for basal insulin, I am currently taking 36u of Levemir a day (20/16 split)

Belyro, who I've swapped Levemir notes with on, takes around 6u ONCE per day I beleive. Now, there could be an argument made she's a heck of a lot, er, healthier (i.e. less padding!) then I am, but I'm by no means a whale! as I'm 185 pounds.....

But it still amazes me that I take 30!!! more units a day.

I think I Just need more to combat my natural sweetness. ;)

[Cyborg]

Does anyone know if insulin produced by our pancreas has the same efficiency unit per unit as synthetic insulin, i.e. does a healthy person on a regular high carb diet actually secrete more than 100 units per day?

The insulin we take as diabetics is very diluted compared to natural insulin secreted by the pancreas.

Back to the topic, I'm insulin resistant and I probably average around 80 units a day. I generally eat low carb...

[Stuboy]

not that it matters, but im currently taking 10u Lantus at night, 8 units in the morning. then usually between 3 and 5 units, sometimes up to 7unit of novorapid at each meal.

Im adjusting my lantus shots at the momen tho and they are on the up, will be changing to 11 units at night and 9 units in the morning from today.

[belyro]

Yes, it all varies drastically per person. As an example, for basal insulin, I am currently taking 36u of Levemir a day (20/16 split)

Belyro, who I've swapped Levemir notes with on, takes around 6u ONCE per day I beleive. Now, there could be an argument made she's a heck of a lot, er, healthier (i.e. less padding!) then I am, but I'm by no means a whale! as I'm 185 pounds.....

But it still amazes me that I take 30!!! more units a day.

I think I Just need more to combat my natural sweetness. ;)

Yup. I'm odd. My CDE actually goes around telling people that she has a diabetic patient who's on only 6u of basal (Levemir) a day. I used to be on 12 and my I:C ratio was about 1:8 and 1:10, but I kept having huge drops in bloodsugar about 2-4 hours after a meal. When I realized I was really on waaaay too much basal (thanks to a lot of people here), I went down to 6u daily, but that brought my I:C ratio to about 1:7 or 1:8 for breakfast (I walk to work right after breakfast), and 1:5 or even 1:4 for the rest of the day. That puts me at about 22 units of rapid (Humalog) in a day. It's really weird. I'm an odd case I think. And I've had D for 25 years, so I'm definitely not honeymooning. (For perspective, I'm about 130lbs....a liiiiiiiittle bit less)

[Scratch]

I usually average around 40 to 42 units per day. My basal shot is usually 16 to 17 units of Lantus per day.

[Funnygrl]

Does anyone know if insulin produced by our pancreas has the same efficiency unit per unit as synthetic insulin, i.e. does a healthy person on a regular high carb diet actually secrete more than 100 units per day?

Injected insulin is far from efficient compared to natural insulin. We take it via subq, as oppose to natural production, which goes straight into systemic circulation. Some it bound to be lost. Natural insulin also works far faster.

[grace girl]

I take 24 units of basal (lantus) and average around 12-15 units of basal. On average, around 36-40 units a day.

[jen_slc]

I take 15u basal per day and about 16u bolus per day. I understand the "guilty" feeling of more insulin. I felt it too, until recently, in the last year or so. It doesn't make any sense - if your body requires more insulin, so be it. I vaguely remember one of my older docs when I was a teen telling me something about how it's bad to be on a lot of insulin, it can cause heart problems, yada yada yada. Obviously it freaked me out cause although I understand that different bodies require different amounts of insulin, I still do feel a bit guilty when I have to raise my doses (for stress, illness, whatever). It's hard to shake. It's probably one of the big reasons why I exercise as much as I do - to keep my insulin doses down.

[jjames]

Ok - well . . . I'm one of those diabetics that take as much insulin as I want so I can eat however much I want. Anyway, in the evening i take ABOUT 57u of lantus, and throughout the day it'll be between 19-27 units of humalog per meal, depending what i eat. how, if i'm just snacking it could be as low as 10 units.

Mind you, i've gained nearly 50 pounds over the past 11 months since starting back on my insulin care. However, I would say a good 30 pounds was put on in nearly 10-14 days and the rest has been over time. I knew it would happen once I REALLY grabbed control again...talk about back pain.

[Scarlett]

34 yrs as a type 1 this month-diagnosed @ age 9-2 yrs on Lantus-Dr started me at 50U daily and now at 32/split 17U/am 15U/pm Novolog as needed- I still spike sugars and now I don't know the difference btwn.LBS and DKA-Lantus has leveled my BS but I don't avoid carbs anymore-I take the right amt for the carbs I eat-I've lost over 25 lbs. in the past yr. and now weigh btwn.130-135 I've increased my water consumption and I was walking while unemployed last summer-back to work now and sugars have been a little less manageable due to the lack of daily walking- everyone needs carbs- that's the most important food item your body needs for energy-yes, moderation is a key factor but start eating some and see how well your body reacts-I used to avoid them also and then the OLD "Heart" decided to "attack" due to some artery thing-thanks to 1)stress 2)family 3)diabetes and probably too many other reasons to mention- I'm only 43!!!! as long as the sugars stay normal as possible the better off you are-the thing is to get there!

[spring]

interesting to see the range. :)

Deus, not exactly a friend, just a guy who was in the group they were doing the refresher for. (And don't worry, this isn't one of those "a 'friend' of mine" type situations. I don't feel guilty about it because as you say, it's a hormone and if it's what you need, then it's what you need. :cool: )

[am1977]

I take about 19 units basal rate and about 9-12 units bolus... I, admitedly, don't like any additional insulin- I guess I equate more insulin with weight gain. I was taking about 10 to 15 more units in the past and I weighed significantly more.

[tanyatype1]

I take 26-44 units per day total. I just looked back on my pump's history for the total daily dose. Most of them were in the 30's. I don't care anymore about the number of units that I need to take, as long as my numbers are good, then I'm good!

[daryop]

I have been taking 15 units lantus. and average 5 units humalog before everymeal . So total 30 units per day.

[tcc123]

Hmm. my 10 day average was 14 units. 4 of that for basal. My honeymoon is still very strong. At one point 3 months after being diagnosed I was only using an average of 3 units a day. 80:1 carb to insulin ratio. I really wonder if at that time 3 units a day made any difference. Oh well. I just went back to shots for a little while and am taking 4 units of lantus and between 3 to 5 novolog for each meal

[Just_Plain_John]

What's your total daily dosage of insulin? Do you feel guilt when you need to increase it? Would you consider yourself sensitive, insensitive or 'average' and do you take anything like symlin or indeed metformin in addition to insulin?

I take a total of 75 units per day, of Lantus and Humalog. I weigh 200 lbs, and am pretty muscular, but am trying to sensibly lose about 15lbs of fat that isn't healthy weight.

I *DO* feel guilty if I go up, because _for me_ I have shown that keeping my exercise routine going means I am more sensitive on the following day or two. I have a modestly lower basal in the mornings, and tend to take a unit or two less for the same meal when I haven't missed 3 days of exercise.

[HollyB]

I have just heard of parents whose child has been diabetic since toddlerhood -- he's now 9 or 10. Apparently they truly believe the best dose of insulin is the minimum possible, even for a growing child. As a result they restrict his carbs. He is very small for his age -- it certainly seems his growth has been affected. And his BGs are very erratic, so it's hard to see how all this denial has benefited the poor kid at all.

[Linn]

I average around 32-36 units per day - Humalog in a pump

[DanG]

Back to the topic, I'm insulin resistant and I probably average around 80 units a day. I generally eat low carb...

Did you ever do animal insulin... in the "olde" days?
Were you insulin resistant in the "olde" days?
Do the new dna insulins cause us to be more "resistant" than the older animal derived insulins?

On to other questions about "olde" days:
I was searching to purchase testape. Nowhere to be found. Does anyone know if testape is something that can be purchased today?
I did find clinistix or diastix which were about $16/100 strips for glucose urine testing. Anyone remember doing glucose urine tests with the little test tube? - I was diagnosed in '74, so, yes, that was a looooong time ago.
I am thinking that if I do blood glucose testing once per day and urine glucose testing 3 or 4 times per day, there might be some cost savings and adequate control. However, now that I think about it, my insurance makes blood glucose testing better money savings. Can we ever imagine urine glucose testing all the time... again? I recall being amazed at blood glucose testing... back in... like 1987 or so.
Ah, memories...

[BlueSky]

.... Do the new dna insulins cause us to be more "resistant" than the older animal derived insulins?...
The problem with the old animal insulin is that it was seen as a foreign substance by the immune system and became less effective over time. I remember this happening to me very clearly. At one stage, I was on over 100 units a day (I am now on about 30 units of Lantus/Novorapid a day). Switching from beef to pork insulin sorted the problem out.

Human insulin doesn't have this problem, because it is identical to the insulin humans make. And no, I don't believe it makes us resistant. INMHO, T1s become insulin resistant because they inject ever increasing amounts of the stuff to cover excessive amounts of carb.

[KickStart101]

I take Lantus: 12 units first dose/ 8 units second dose.
I usually take 15 units Humalog.

No, I do not feel guilty if I need extra Insulin. That is
what I was advised to do by my Endo. I don't usually
eat much anyways except once a week we go to the
buffet or order take out.

I have average sensitivity.

I do not take any other drug for Diabetes.


Yes, I used the animal Insulins.
I found the fast was taking longer to work so my
Endo switched me to the newer Insulins.

No, I am not more resistant to the newer Insulins yet.

Yes, I used the test tube and Clinitest tablets.

I do not feel that they would be of any value to
test with now. They weren't even good back then. :D

[ant hill]

Did you ever do animal insulin... in the "olde" days?
Were you insulin resistant in the "olde" days?
Do the new dna insulins cause us to be more "resistant" than the older animal derived insulins?
Yes i did and used the Porcine insulin.

Anyone remember doing glucose urine tests with the little test tube? - I was diagnosed in '74, so, yes, that was a looooong time ago.
whoa!! yeah that's going back a bit. I was Dxed in '71 36 years ago!!. :eek:
With that Porcine insulin, Just think what the pig eats, Nothing like us heh!! and so then we had to really watch what we eat. Nowdays we can eat what normal people eat with the much better insulins now. Now that's a little off topic. :topic: But as for my intake of insulins are 66U of Novomix30 in the morning and 44U of Lantus at night and before lunch i have 26 - 30U of Novorapid and i consider that to be quite high intake of insulin. :nurse: :eating:

[xMenace]

Last 10 days:
90.15
112.5
83.45
95.55
84.65
64.45
67.6
70.95
90.95
78.05

[Lloyd]

Hey guys!

What's your total daily dosage of insulin? Do you feel guilt when you need to increase it? Would you consider yourself sensitive, insensitive or 'average' and do you take anything like symlin or indeed metformin in addition to insulin?



I took 99 units of Lantus then
97 unints of novolog 70/30 then
80 units of Apidra when I started pumping.
After pumping for a month I now average 61 units/day and this is going down all the time. Some times of the day I need so much less than at other times.

I'm insensitive to insulin.

-Lloyd

[Starlight]

Hmm I use

38 units of protophane (intermediate/long acting) and 12 units of humalog daily. These are evenly split between breakfast and dinner so its 19 and 6 x 2. The humalog changes depending on the food, but 6 is the base.

[shabbie6247]

[QUOTE=spring;203579]Hey guys!
What's your total daily dosage of insulin? Do you feel guilt when you need to increase it? Would you consider yourself sensitive, insensitive or 'average' and do you take anything like symlin or indeed metformin in addition to insulin?
QUOTE]
i take levemir 9 units every evening; novorapid 19 units average daily. most of my meal sizes are the same so i dont usually need to increase unless i'm sick or pre-menstrual/menstrual.
no other drugs
sensitivity is normal i think.

[Penny]

Today is my second one with my increased bedtime dosage of 70 units of Lantus(20 in the a.m.). Yesterday, my fasting was 104, today, 105......maybe that extra 5 is what I needed. My fasting was been120 to 160 for weeks. I have also increased my Novolog as needed....between 10 and 20 units per meal.

[It Ain't Over]

After nearly 28 years on this stuff I am using no more than when I started.
Read off my meter, average 25 units Novolog over the last month, some days up to 30, a few days at 20.
Basal 16.3 units/ day.
Yes, I do remember the days of the testape and those ridiculous attempts to control the insulin. I was thinking that one over, I don't recall being taught to take regular at meals? Am I just not recalling that?
Surprise any of us survived those dark days.

[owlyn]

How much insulin do you take?

Usually either too much or not enough. :banghead:

[Nikki]

I take 30 units of Humalin N and 10 units of Humalog in the morning
I take 10 units of Humalog before supper
I take 30 units of Humalin N before bed

[grace girl]

Since this thread got bumped I'm going to reply again, because since my last reply I've realized that I'm using too much basal.
Currently I'm at
5 units lantus pm
15 units lantus am
(and both of these doses are going to have to come down more, I'm still testing)
Around 8-10 units of Humalog a day.

That would put me around 30 total.
I don't low carb, I eat what I want, I'm an adult, and I've had type 1 for almost 7 years. I'm not over-weight, and though I do have a tummy issue I don't think it's the insulin injections, but rather the three pregnancies!
The only time taking more insulin bothers me is if I get paranoid and think I'm going to end up hypo.
I'm currently using less insulin than ever, though eating the same. Doing the proper tests for all of your insulins to make sure your on target is, IMO, vital.

[andypoo]

right now I'm doing a sliding scale with the lispro 10-20 u. before each meal. Nph humulin.........anywhere from 40-60 units in the morning........40-60 in the evening. So,yes I take a lot of insulin,I hope I didn't scare anyone. I actually was scared to answer this,I'll be honest with you. I figured someone would freak out and say something like OMG! That's too much insulin! I've even taken as much as a total of 200- units a day. But,I should know better than to think anyone would be judgmental.I've had diabetes for 37 yrs.

[Rebecca]

How much NovoLog I use, depends on the day of the week, the month, how I am feeling physically and then again how much I eat.
It ranges from 34-60.35 (just checked my pump memory for the last 3 weeks) units per day.

As for the amount of insulin you use causing resistance, I have personally never heard of that.
Hormones will cause resistance, expecially hormones that teenagers are naturally recieving from either their pituatary gland, thymus gland, ovaries or testies. Hormones for the menstural cycle of a female can also cause resistance.
ALL teenagers will require more insulin than the general public... sometimes as 200% more than what they would have used before the hormones kicked in, also their control in 90% of all cases is uncontroled and complicated, because of the hormones that they are producing naturally.

What causes resistance is a multitude of reasons. Some examples are weight gain and obesity, inactivity, and then the genetic predisposition to become insulin resistant (some medical problems and medications also can and do cause insulin resistance).

[BlueSky]

... As for the amount of insulin you use causing resistance, I have personally never heard of that ......
My understanding is that this relates to the the down regulation of insulin receptors on the cell membrane, in response to an increased supply of glucose and insulin in the blood stream. It is a bit like walking into a smelly room. After a while, we don't notice the smell as much because the smelling response has been down-regulated. If we supply excess glucose/insulin to the cells via the blood stream by eating excessive amounts of carb, the number of insulin receptors that enable glucose to enter cells, is down-regulated. Conversely, when cells require more glucose to convert into energy, the number of insulin receptors is up-regulated, allowing glucose to more easily enter the cell.

We are all aware of the insulin-sensitising effect of exercise. As a T1, I am very aware of the insulin-desensitising effect of high blood glucose. As BG rises, the amount insulin required to bring it down again increases exponentially. A high-carbohydrate way of eating that persistently maintains an excess supply of glucose and requires large amounts of insulin has a similar effect, but over a long period of time. The number of insulin receptors is down-regulated to keep unwanted glucose out. Insulin levels rise in T2s and T1s find that they have to inject increasing amounts of insulin to keep BG down. In other words, increased insulin levels/requirements demonstrate increased insulin-resistance increases.

[Horsman]

I have Averaged about 13 units of insulin total per day for the last 8 months.

Its hard. Most of that insulin is for basal too. I don't understand why this is.

[dmbfan_21]

I use Novolog in my pump and average about 40 units for close to 340 grams of carbs.

[kel4han]

Whoa! OMG! YIKES! EEEKKKKK!

Just 13months post diagnosis, no basal insulin...just a 1:15 ratio, so typically about 6-15units a day at most. Thats AMAZING! I cant imagine injecting 30 units at a time!

[blue eyes]

9 units lantus
And 4, 2.5, 2 novorapid.

My doses keep going up. I don't like it!

At the beginning of this month I was at 7 lantus and 3.5, 2, 2 NR.