What are everyone's carb/insulin and BS/insulin ratios?

[networkguy]

Ive seen people list them in various threads, but it would be nice to see a thread with every's numbers in them. Im still doing testing as I will be starting the pod in a week or two, but so far here's where I seem to be at:

1u lowers BS 25-30 points

I'll be using OJ as a measure for 1 carb raises BS by x points later today once BS is stabilized.

Just curious!

Im currently doing 18u Lantis at night 16u in the morning.

edit: I found this calculator Insulin Sensitivity & Carbohydrate Ratio Calculator (http://www.obfocus.com/calculators/Insulin%20Sensitivity.htm) and used 1800 as sensitivity constant ( I read thats what to use for Novalog) and it says 6.42 carbs per unit. I'll see later today.

[sugardumplin]

i have the pod. all that stuff is set up in there. mine is 1 unit/hour. and then for my meals i think its 1 unit per 12 carbs? i could so be wrong. thank goodness its all in there for me. i just test, calculate my carbs, enter my bloodsugar in the pump and enter my carb count and it calculates my insulin to keep it where it needs to be.

PM me if u have any other questions.

[jenb]

Hi. 1 unit Novolog reduced my BG 50 to 70 points, depending on injection site.

1 gram of carb increases my BG 6 - 10 points. This is, in my opinion, one of the most important numbers a diabetic can know and it's use is almost completely overlooked by the medical community. I have never used the commonly advised 15 grams of carb to correct a low...that would take me up 90 to 150 points! I even just saw a recommendation that one should eat 30 grams of carb for "lows" in the 60's?!? What the.....???? Talk about a prescription for entering the yoyo zone:eek: .

Jen

[mmissanne]

What is a pod? And where can I find information on it?

[networkguy]

What is a pod? And where can I find information on it?

Theres an entire thread dedicated to the pod in the pumping forum. Their website is Home - OmniPod Insulin Management System (http://www.myomnipod.com). Its a pump with no tubes basically.

[Subby]

Hey networkguy, not sure of the point of listing these things as everyone is different and there are so many other factors... but I'm happy to satisfy curiosity and you did ask nicely :)

I do a lot of tweaking through the day for periods of resistance, both daily and through circumstance (like stress and weather) but the most common figures for me are:

I:C ratio 1:6
ISF 1 unit drops me 1.2 mmol/l

[DCaplinger]

I am very resistant still, but not as bad as I used to be. I am now at a ratio of 1:2 for breakfast and lunch, and 1:1.5 for dinner.

Regards,

D

[owlyn]

Mine is 1 unit = 15 grams CHO = 30 BG points. Except on odd numbered Tuesdays or if the tide is in and Leo is rising. Or if there are more than 12 clouds in the sky. Or if the neighbor's dog outside is facing north and barking. Or...

[lilituc]

My I:C ratios are 1:12, 1:11, 1:13. 1 unit lowers bg 45 points. Currently taking 9.65u basal.

This doesn't fit the formula, but I can promise it works.

[networkguy]

Mine is 1 unit = 15 grams CHO = 30 BG points. Except on odd numbered Tuesdays or if the tide is in and Leo is rising. Or if there are more than 12 clouds in the sky. Or if the neighbor's dog outside is facing north and barking. Or...

LOL! Aint that the truth...

[e||ement]

my I:C is anywhere from 1:28 to 1:40 depending on the day, the meal and other variables like exercise. i'm honeymooning though so it seems to be more and more inconsistent. i usually bolus for 1:30 on an average, no frills day and see where that takes me and usually have pretty good outcomes. it's the best i can do at the moment!

i'm having trouble determining my ISF though, because of this honeymooning business. it seems 1 unit drops me around 6 mmol/l (typically).

[TommyC1]

Hey networkguy, not sure of the point of listing these things as everyone is different and there are so many other factors... but I'm happy to satisfy curiosity and you did ask nicely :)



Maybe just to show how different we all are?
Myself, being a completely average guy, in fact the mean against which all else is measured :T run a 1:10 I:C and a 1:40 mgdl (1:2 mmol) correction ratio. Note that my correction ratio goes south when I'm above 240 mgdl (13 mmol). I don't know if I can work out a ratio when I'm that high. Right now I either add a few units or wait a few hours and correct again.
I take one 22u shot of Lantus at bedtime. Avg TDD (including Lantus) is 40 u

Tommy

[kstreeter513]

Morning 1U=10 CHO=40mg/dl. Lunch 1U=25CHO=100mg/dl. Dinner 1U=20CHO=80mg/dl.

0000-1200 - .5U/h
1200-1400 - .45U/h
1400 - 1900 - .25 U/hr (at work here, very active job)
1900 - 1000 - .45U/hr
2200 - 0000 - .5 U/hr

This is my current protocol. When I'm heavy into training, I seem to be more sensitive.

[6angels]

One unit for every 6 carbs. and then for every 20 points over 120 I take 1 unit.

[mazea]

Mine is 1 unit to 15g carbs...at the moment. It jumps around and has been 2units Novorapid to 15g sometimes.

for every 20 points over 120 I take 1 unit.
interesting, I take it if you are over 120g carbs you take an extra unit then? Is that correct? I'd love if you could explain concept this to me.


Or if there are more than 12 clouds in the sky
ha ha. Clouds only effect though if you are eating marshmallows.

[6angels]

Mine is 1 unit to 15g carbs...at the moment. It jumps around and has been 2units Novorapid to 15g sometimes.


interesting, I take it if you are over 120g carbs you take an extra unit then? Is that correct? I'd love if you could explain concept this to me.



ha ha. Clouds only effect though if you are eating marshmallows.

For every 20 points I am over 120 ( blood sugar) I take one extra unit to bring it down. I take what I would normally take for the carbs plus one unit for every 20 I am high over 120.

[mazea]

I see , thanks for explaining that to me. At higher blood glucose levels there is more insulin resistance so you take a bit more insulin. That's a pretty clever way of keeping good control.:)

[DanG]

I see , thanks for explaining that to me. At higher blood glucose levels there is more insulin resistance so you take a bit more insulin. That's a pretty clever way of keeping good control.:)

The other way to accomplish this objective is to cut back on the amount of carbs at your meal. That is how I trained myself for 30 years using single shot per day of lente insulin. Old habit dies hard. I tend to merely eat less, rather than take more humalog when I see a high. When I take insulin to cover a high reading, it is one unit for each 50 points blood sugar over 100. i.e. when I go to bed and I am inappropriately high it is 1 unit for each 50 points I am over 100.

[Subby]

I see , thanks for explaining that to me. At higher blood glucose levels there is more insulin resistance so you take a bit more insulin. That's a pretty clever way of keeping good control.:)

6angels, correct me if I'm wrong, but the 120 mg/dl is your "target", the baseline where a normal correction factor is aiming back to. Such a target is usually a personal decision based on "what works". So, it's just normal correction practise, not taking increased resistance into account.

The idea of ramping correction up for insulin resistance at high levels (normally talking more like 10 mmol/l / 180 mg/dl upwards) is an intriguing one for those who get this problem. There was a recent post by Gary_W where he reported a successful additional sliding scale to allow for the resistance.

[shiftzor]

6angels, correct me if I'm wrong, but the 120 mg/dl is your "target", the baseline where a normal correction factor is aiming back to. Such a target is usually a personal decision based on "what works". So, it's just normal correction practise, not taking increased resistance into account.

The idea of ramping correction up for insulin resistance at high levels (normally talking more like 10 mmol/l / 180 mg/dl upwards) is an intriguing one for those who get this problem. There was a recent post by Gary_W where he reported a successful additional sliding scale to allow for the resistance.

I just try to avoid going high :D. I think this is something that would require practice although if I did experience resistance at that level I would simply increase the bolus by 20% over a threshold say 14mmol/L and test 1hour then 2 hours later to make sure I didn't go low. I would also follow up the test 3-4hours later just in case.

I had a funny experience, I tested at 14.3mmol/L and then ate a powerbar gel (containing 27gs of carbs), i corrected with 0.9units (isf 1unit to 4.4mmol/L) and proceeded to continue drinking a mix of water and lucazade sport :D. I then tested at 2:05am with a result of 6.3mmol/L. How did I do it I hear you ask? Participate in a 12hour team endurance race :D. Mind due I was a little out of breath for the first 10-15mins which wasn't good, the problem was that one of my team mates was longer than expected which resulted in too many carbs too soon.

My I:c is currently although I am still tweaking:

Between 11am-2am I use a 1u:20g carbs
Between 2am-11am I use a 1u:18g carbs

[6angels]

6angels, correct me if I'm wrong, but the 120 mg/dl is your "target", the baseline where a normal correction factor is aiming back to. Such a target is usually a personal decision based on "what works". So, it's just normal correction practise, not taking increased resistance into account.

The idea of ramping correction up for insulin resistance at high levels (normally talking more like 10 mmol/l / 180 mg/dl upwards) is an intriguing one for those who get this problem. There was a recent post by Gary_W where he reported a successful additional sliding scale to allow for the resistance.

Yes 120 is my target .Ive had trouble getting to target ( except this last week!!) so that is the only way I could get it down. I've cut carbs and it is coming down better. Unfortunally even one carb seems to make me sky high.

[lorilei]

looking at you pumpers, i was wondering how much your tdd dropped as i see ratios that are lower than mine (yes i know all is personal, but seems to be a trend for you guys...0

my tdd 19-26, roughly 1:20 am, 1:10 noon, 1:15 pm...though honestly i round numbers down and up for calculation purposes (bad, lori!). correction is pretty consistent at 1:40 unless I get above 250 or so..again, I try to keep that at a minimum..

also have to say this is dependent on what i eat...fairly low carb for breakfast and dinner typically...cereals would kill me for the day

[Subby]

Lori, don't forget that a lower ratio means more insulin, more needs, possibly more resistance! It's anti-intuitive, that's for sure...

I'd say your needs are lowish, compared to a non-insulin-resistant fully dependent adult. That's just my impression. In comparison to me, (fully dependent, lots of resistance, large male adult) with an I:C of 1:6, a lowish carb diet and a bucketload of basal needs (50 to 70 units, by the time basal fluctuations are accounted for with corrections) I'm pushing 100 units TDD.

Did you have Using Insulin? There should be a table in that for typical usage for different scenarios taking into account age, fitness level, etc. You could also try something like this to compare with the "standard" concepts of insulin usage for a type 1. Diabetes Mall Tools Section (http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_tools/tools_tdd.php)

Such tables and calculators, are to be taken with a huge pinch of salt - just indicators and suggestions that may well be very innacurate for the individual, especially given some unknown but possibly substantial internal contribution.

[Lizzie G]

Hi. 1 unit Novolog reduced my BG 50 to 70 points, depending on injection site.

1 gram of carb increases my BG 6 - 10 points. This is, in my opinion, one of the most important numbers a diabetic can know and it's use is almost completely overlooked by the medical community. I have never used the commonly advised 15 grams of carb to correct a low...that would take me up 90 to 150 points! I even just saw a recommendation that one should eat 30 grams of carb for "lows" in the 60's?!? What the.....???? Talk about a prescription for entering the yoyo zone:eek: .

Jen

i couldnt agree more with everything you said, the 15g thing is absolute bull! 2 * 4g glucotab will correct most lows for me unless i did a total carb miscalc

[lorilei]

subby..im not concerend necessarily with how much I take as long as its working and I keep the carbs low..im really referring to do pumpers find in general that they drop their insulin dose a bit after switching off mdi...sadly i see very little if any contribution from that insulin producing organ anymore..but it does make things a bit more predictable