Re: Snacking, insulin, and hypos

[Guest guest]

I second that Barb. I have been on ultralente twice a day (6AM-6PM) with

humalog before each meal for about a year now and it is working fine. The

humalog is on a sliding scale. I check my BG before and after each meal plus

at bedtime. JerrySteg

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My nightime insulin is " Human Insulatard Penfill " , it's a cloudy type and

the manufacturers leaflet says it is intermediate acting and is used to

control blood sugar throughout the night - so I guess I need the nightime

snack - what do you think?

I've been reading your posting about using a pen for injections. I've

always used a pen and it did take some getting used to - pushing the button

down - it's easy now. I find the pen really convenient.

Do you leave the needle in for a a few seconds after you inject? - maybe

this will help with the drop problem.

I don't have to pay for my insulin so this leakage hasn't caused me any

concern. I did have to pay for the pen needles (syringes were provided free

by the National Health but I chose to use a pen) - recently though after a

lot of campaigning the pen needles were addded to the prescription list - If

you have Diabetes you are exempt from any prescription charges - so I don't

have to pay anymore - Another battle won!

Talk to you soon

Snacking, insulin, and hypos

> I always have a nightime snack partly from fear of having hypos at night

and

> partly because I can't get to sleep if I'm hungry. I don't have any fast

> acting to cover it though. I have noticed that my morning readings are

> sometimes high - maybe I should give it up.

, please remind me, what type of insulin do you take at bedtime? If you

are

taking one that peaks in the middle of the night, you risk a hypo if you

haven't

had your snack. If you have some carb with some protein, the protein extends

the

life of the carb (i.e. a couple of crackers with cheese).

It is also possible that you are having a possible mild hypo in the night,

which

can cause a rebound high in the morning (one of the signs is a slight

hangover

feeling in the morning, and a higher bg reading). If you think this might be

you, set your alarm at the time your insulin peaks, or shortly after, and

take a

bg reading ... personally, I find this really hard to do

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[Guest guest]

I do not know how much insulin my body still produces. I am sure that my

liver is producing a good amount of glucagon. I am probably insulin resistant

due to being overweight. I tried intermediate insulins and they did not work

for me. The only other thing that worked (besides ultralente twice a day) was

getting up at about 3:30 AM and taking a correction shot of humalog. My

problem was morning highs. I do not eat any snacks on my present regimen. I

also have to be careful of what I eat in the evening. If I eat a " High

Protein " meal (say a 10 oz steak) I will have a higher BG in the morning. At

the present time I have a fasting BG reading of about 105 . I am below

100mg/dl the rest of the day. Before I started the ultralente my fasting BG

ran 130 - 140 mg/dl. It would take until noon too get down to 100. Also my

postprandial rise is almost nonexistent on this regimen. Of course the foods

I eat help this. JerrySteg

[Guest guest]

>...the manufacturers leaflet says it is intermediate acting and is used to

>control blood sugar throughout the night - so I guess I need the nightime

>snack - what do you think?

****, I had nighttime hypos with intermediate acting insulin, then I'd

be higher than I want in the morning, because of the insulin peak. I

switched to an ultra long acting insulin with no peaks, which I inject twice

12 hours apart, and no more night time hypos and fasting bg's around 90. I

am very pleased with the constant background cover and no peaks of the very

long term action.

Barb

--------------

RAINBOW FARM UNLTD.

Breeding Premium Oldenburgs,

and fancy sport ponies.

http://www.rainbowfarm.com

[Guest guest]

Barb and JerrySteg: A question for both... Ultralente seems to work for some

people... but I'm wondering if it may be more effective with those who still

produce insulin on their own (just throwing the idea out there).

I switched from NPH (intermediate) to Ultralente, and ended up needing to

increase the U dosage substantially, and still had morning highs (just not

enough in my system). The downside with the N is that it peaks sometime in the

wee hours of the morning. For this I must have a bedtime snack (carb/protein).

But my a.m. bg's are much better. It seems that there just isn't enough

background with ultralente to do the job effectively.

The difference for me was 30 units of Ultralente plus 5 units of Humalog, and my

bg's were still rather high. Now I take 18 units of NPH and no Humalog. To me

this seems to be a better program.

Barb Young wrote:

> >...the manufacturers leaflet says it is intermediate acting and is used to

> >control blood sugar throughout the night - so I guess I need the nightime

> >snack - what do you think?

>

> ****, I had nighttime hypos with intermediate acting insulin, then I'd

> be higher than I want in the morning, because of the insulin peak. I

> switched to an ultra long acting insulin with no peaks, which I inject twice

> 12 hours apart, and no more night time hypos and fasting bg's around 90. I

> am very pleased with the constant background cover and no peaks of the very

> long term action.

>

> Barb

> ----------

[Guest guest]

Neil A Francis wrote:

> so I guess I need the nightime

> snack - what do you think?

Yes. I think so.

> I've been reading your posting about using a pen for injections. I've

> always used a pen and it did take some getting used to - pushing the button

> down - it's easy now. I find the pen really convenient.

I also like the convenience, and I think that is what is keeping me going on

this one. I'll give it a while longer.

> Do you leave the needle in for a a few seconds after you inject? - maybe

> this will help with the drop problem.

Yep... I do... up to 20 seconds... and the drops are still there. No difference

at all.

> I don't have to pay for my insulin so this leakage hasn't caused me any

> concern. I did have to pay for the pen needles (syringes were provided free

> by the National Health but I chose to use a pen) - recently though after a

> lot of campaigning the pen needles were addded to the prescription list - If

> you have Diabetes you are exempt from any prescription charges - so I don't

> have to pay anymore - Another battle won!

I am also lucky... we have private coverage for prescriptions through my

husband's work. I wouldn't be testing half so often if we didn't have coverage.

This is a very expensive disease if you are not covered (as many on this list

will attest to).

[Guest guest]

Barb, did you use the same number of units of U as you did of your

intermediate insulin? I'm on NPH at night and wonder if I should switch to

U, however I have had no night time lows, so maybe it's not necessary. This

morning my FBG was about 20 points higher than I like.

nn

Type 2, Dx Oct 98, Avandia, Glucophage, Lopid, Prinivil, MDI H & NPH

tottie@...

> ****, I had nighttime hypos with intermediate acting insulin, then

I'd

> be higher than I want in the morning, because of the insulin peak. I

> switched to an ultra long acting insulin with no peaks, which I inject

twice

> 12 hours apart, and no more night time hypos and fasting bg's around 90.

I

> am very pleased with the constant background cover and no peaks of the

very

> long term action.

>

> Barb

> --------------

> RAINBOW FARM UNLTD.

> Breeding Premium Oldenburgs,

> and fancy sport ponies.

> http://www.rainbowfarm.com

>

>

>

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> Public website for Diabetes International:

> http://www.msteri.com/diabetes-info/diabetes_int

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

As we always say, , YMMV - Your mileage may vary. The one thiing we

can count on is that individual bodies are just that, individual. And what

works for one us may not for another.

Good job trying new things, testing testing, and figuring out what works for

you.

Barb

--------------

RAINBOW FARM UNLTD.

Breeding Premium Oldenburgs,

and fancy sport ponies.

http://www.rainbowfarm.com

>Barb and JerrySteg: A question for both... Ultralente seems to work for

some

>people... but I'm wondering if it may be more effective with those who

still

>produce insulin on their own (just throwing the idea out there).

>

>I switched from NPH (intermediate) to Ultralente, and ended up needing to

>increase the U dosage substantially, and still had morning highs (just not

>enough in my system). The downside with the N is that it peaks sometime in

the

>wee hours of the morning. For this I must have a bedtime snack

(carb/protein).

>But my a.m. bg's are much better. It seems that there just isn't enough

>background with ultralente to do the job effectively.

>

>The difference for me was 30 units of Ultralente plus 5 units of Humalog,

and my

>bg's were still rather high. Now I take 18 units of NPH and no Humalog. To

me

>this seems to be a better program.