Insulin/Carb ratio

[carolyn]

Can anyone, on a pump, please tell me what their insulin/carb ratio is. I am quite new to pumping and would like to hear from others what their ratio is. Thanks. Take care. Carolyn.

[xMenace]

Ratio? Try ratios. I vary from 1u:10g to 2.5u:10g.

[Alice]

Is a pump ratio for bolus and different than an MDI ratio? My MDI bolus is about 1 unit Humalog for 15 carbs. I add an extra unit for "super-sugars" or "stubborn starchs". Or a few units, but I use 1:15 as a base for most healthy eating.

[xMenace]

The insulin is the same regardless of the delivery method ;) Basals can make them different as MDIers may be covering imbalances with their boluses.

[Lloyd]

Your insulin/carb ratio will usually be a bit different on a pump than with MDI, because rapid acting insulin is more efficient than slow acting insulin.

In my case, my TDD was only 80% as much when pumping, as with injecting. That seems to be about average.

-Lloyd

[Cyborg]

Mine is 1:5 all day, everyday...

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

You can also use this (http://www.insulin-pumpers.org/howto/HOWTO-estimate-BIR.shtml) as a starting point estimation.

:vroam:

[palefacegirl03]

Mine is 1:7 for breakfast and 1:6 for the rest of the day.

[RobiJo]

1:8 for breakfast and lunch, 1:6 for dinner/evening

[BlueSky]

A rule-of-thumb calculation is to divide the your daily carb intake by your total daily meal bolus insulin dosage. Someone who consumes 250grams of carb a day and uses 40 units of insulin a day for meal boluses would have an insulin:carb ratio of about 1:6.25 (250/40 = 6.25). They usually reduce the MDI insulin dosage by 25% when doing initial pump settings, which would change the ratio to 1:8.3 (250/30=8.33).

[Fred&CharlesFan]

I have been running @ 1u : 10gm (breakfast), and 1u : 13gm for all other meal boluses.

[kgm0612]

I have the same carb/ratio all day......... 1:10

Karen

[Alice]

Lloyd, I use the same rapid acting insulin a pump uses...Humalog, right? I'm not understanding why a pump bolus would be figured different than an MDI bolus.

[shabbie6247]

breakfast 1:10
lunch 1:13 today but think should be 1:15, still tweeking ;)
dinner 1:10

[BlueSky]

.... I'm not understanding why a pump bolus would be figured different than an MDI bolus.
I went from using Novolog with MDI to Novolog in a pump and immediately noticed that I needed smaller bolus amounts. I think the main reason is better absorption. The pump is set up to deliver boluses over a minute. And I use the extended bolus a lot, and the bolus is spread out over 2-3 hours. Gradually infused boluses are absorbed better and work more efficiently than injecting it all at once. The basal rate is also more in line with background insulin requirements. Using boluses to fill a basal gap is unavoidable with MDI. This does not have to happen with the pump.

[Alice]

Right, but they are still the same insulins...the ratio may be different due to absorption (I wouldn't think it would be a major difference). But Lloyd seemed to refer to only pumps using fast-acting...or maybe I'm reading too much between the lines.

[Lloyd]

Lloyd, I use the same rapid acting insulin a pump uses...Humalog, right? I'm not understanding why a pump bolus would be figured different than an MDI bolus.

You can pump humalog or Novolog, I happen to pump Apidra.

Excuse me, I misspoke earlier.

Your bolus will be the same on injections or a pump. Your basal will be considerably less, because Apidra/novolog/humalog are much more efficient than Lantus/levimir. So... Your TDD ends up about 80% of what you injected (basal+bolus).

My TDD kept falling and falling as I reduced my carbs and lost weight. Now, my TDD is 50.6 units average (after 7 months of pumping). I injected 99 units of 70/30 novolog before I pumped.

I will be switching from Apidra to Novolog, due to my !@#@#@#$ insurance. I seem to need 7% more of the Novolog than Apidra in my pump (I tested with 1 vial, about 15 days).
-Lloyd

[Cyborg]

Right, but they are still the same insulins...the ratio may be different due to absorption (I wouldn't think it would be a major difference). But Lloyd seemed to refer to only pumps using fast-acting...or maybe I'm reading too much between the lines.

I agree... When I first started pumping, they changed my I:C ratio. After all the testing and fine tuning of the pump, I ended up back with the I:C ratio I had on MDI. :hmmmm:

I'm more likely to think it's due to basal requirements being met more accurately on the pump...

[Richard157]

When on MDI my ratios were 1:6 for breakfast and 1:10 the rest of the day. Now that I am pumping I have 1:4 for breakfast, 1:6 for lunch and 1:5 for the evening. Many things are very different now that I am using only Humalog while pumping. It works very well though.

Richard

[Alice]

My ratio seems to be about 1 unit for 15-20 carbs...I run a little low two hours later with 1:15 though...I'm amazed at the differences in insulin tolerance!