Just wondering what everyone's insulin/carb ratio is. I was on 1 unit to every 15 carbs, but my numbers would tend to run high 100's so about 2 months ago I changed my ratio to 1 unit to every 10 carbs. My numbers have been basically perfect on that ratio. I am trying to stay in a close range of 80-130. My diabetes nurse sounded kind of upset with me when she found out I was doing 1:10. She told me if my numbers were running high I should just up my basal a touch and go back to the 1:15. Personally, I think my insulin regimen is working just fine and I don't want to mess it up. I think my basal is good (.5 unit every hour) because my fasting numbers are always right in range.
So I'm just wondering what other T1D's carb/insulin ratio is? Does 1:10 sound too high?
My 8 year old's ratios range from 1:13 to 1:15. Have you done basal testing to see if your rates are good? I would say if your basal is good then adjusting your ratio seems like a reasonable thing to do. Do you check your bs 2-3 hours after your meals? If your I:C ratio is too high, your bs would be too low. Good luck with getting everything adjusted!
for about 2 years, my I:C was 1:5. It's changed to 1:7 now and I'm thinking about going to 1:8. As a diabetic, if you feel your basal rates are correct, then it would make sense to change your I:C. I fiddle with both (but only one at a time) until I am happy with the numbers I see.
I've tried 1:8, but I always rounded to 1:10, so we just went with that..but that wasn't working (i can't remember now why..I think I had too many lows or something), so we switched to 1:15..that recently stopped working so we are trying 2:15 which seems to be working now.
If the 1:10 is working, then I don't see why your D educator would care. Do you have a higher than expected A1c or high fasting or pre-meal numbers that makes the D educator think your basal needs to be adjusted?
The math for 1:13 has to be tough! I'm 1:10 in the mornings and 1:12 the rest of the day. There's nothing better about a higher or lower carb ratio. It's based on your weight and insulin sensitivity. I've heard of kids with a 1:50 and people with strong insulin resistance having a 1:5.
My son's I:C ratios are different all thru the day 1:37 for breakfast, 1:55 for snack, 1:42 for lunch, 1:50 for pm snack and supper. (Thank goodness for the pump because I would not be able to do that math in my head.) We arrived at them by just making small tweaks until we were happy with the pre/post meal numbers.
I also don't understand why the nurse would care. If you do basal tests and are always fine, then your basal would seem to be good. If you up your basal (if you are on shots) then you have to worry about it causing lows at other times (like overnight, yuck). Our endo and CDEs don't care what we do as long as the BGs are fine and aren't experiencing lows or highs.
Yes, I do basal testing and my numbers are normally right in range. I also test 2 hours post meal and my numbers are good.
OK, so I was diagnosed in December of 2009. I was 18 yrs old and weighed 82 lbs. My fasting numbers were running around high 300's. But apparently I was still in the honey moon phase. I started out on only Lantus. They put me on 20 units Lantus daily. Soon figured out this way WAY to much for me as I went really, really hypoglycemic. So anyways, I was doing 8 units Lantus daily. My fasting numbers were always a touch high (high 100's). But I couldn't up my Lantus dose any. I was always ULTRA sensitive to Lantus. If I tweaked my dosage up by just 1 unit my fasting numbers would drop like 70 points. So I guess when I started Humalog my doctors and nurses were afraid I would be sensitive to the dosage also. They were very hesitant and started me out on a 1:40 ratio. My numbers were contantly running high and I told them this repeatedly, but they didn't want me to up my dosage. So my A1C was 9.7! After the high A1C they told me I could try a 1:25 ratio. Didn't work either. So I went to 1:15. This was doing OK for a while but again I was running 180's 190's post meal and although I know that isn't terrible I would rather see some lower numbers. On the 1:10 ratio my numbers are generally 120's -140's post meal. I'm happier with those numbers. Oh and by the way, I'm not on Lantus anymore. I am on a pump so I do .5 humalog once an hour for basal.
Without looking at actual charts of numbers, it would look good to me. You could still be honeymooning - our endo feels our son is because his basal rates are so low and he gets the majority of his insulin with meals (still really small amounts though 1-2 units each meal). If your pancreas is still spitting out a little bit of insulin, it may be able to keep up with just a little support (the 0.5 unit per hour), and it just has trouble with the big increase in BG after meals - which you now cover with a higher I:C ratio. Our endo believes that by 'supporting' the pancreas thru the honeymoon phase with good control, that you can actually extend it. They have had kids with 4-5 yr honeymoons. Our sons is about 19mos now. And having your own pancreas still work is a great thing.
Like I said, unless you are having lots of lows, it wouldn't look like you need to change your insulin regimen. Maybe you do want to have a consult with a different endo or different CDE just to get a second opinion - you don't have to fit into a 'standard' guideline for insulin usuage - you have to use what is right for you and for your body.
I'm not really sure how this works, but my endo told me judging by my last c-peptide test she thought I was out of the honeymoon phase, or very close to it at least. But I'm not really certain what the c-peptide is? LOL
Based on weight, it makes sense why the diabetes educator put you on a higher carb ratio. But it sounds like 1:10 is working for you.
FYI I first set my carb ratio when I was 19 and a lot skinnier. Because I'm now 37 and have gained weight I should now have a lower carb ratio, but when I've tried it the lower rate doesn't work. Insulin sensitivity doesn't always play by the rules.