counting carbs

[novorapid]

i would like an information my doctor tell me that i should be injecting insulin to the ratio of 1 unit for every 10g of carbs does this sound right or do you guys count differently. with my novorapid i inject morning 16 lunch 12 suppertime 18, then with my NPH overnight i inject 25 units, any advice will be appreciated.

[Cyborg]

Everyone is different when it comes to their I:C ratio. That is something you will have to determine for yourself as everyone is different. After awhile you will learn exactly how much insulin you need per gram of carb.

If you eat food lower in protein and higher in carbs, it can help you to determine what your I:C ratio is, just in case protein also affects your bg. Ideally, your bg should return to it's pre-meal value in 4-5 hours with a bolus given with a correct I:C ratio.

[HollyB]

It sounds like a place to start, and as Cyborg says will likely need to be fine tuned -- and might end up different for each meal.

Do you know how many carbs you normally eat now at each meal? Divide that by the number of units of insulin you take, and that's the I:C ratio you've been using up to now. So with the doses you listed, a 1:10 ratio would give you 160 carbs in the morning, 120 for lunch and 180 for supper. That's like a breakfast of two bagels, a banana and a glass of milk. Yowsa.

If your doc has adjusted your NPH (like added a morning shot), that will change things of course.

[bjphilly]

My insulin to carb ratio is 1u insulin to 10g of carb and I'm a pumper. Since Diabetes is an individual thing for all of us our 1:c ratio is also individual.