I've seen posts that refer to "correcting" for highs. Is this just a pump thing? Or is it a MDI thing, too? No one has ever said anything to us about correcting for highs. I'll get back to this in a few paragraphs.
When my son was diagnosed (April22), his A1C was 13 something. May 14, it was 11 something. July 16 it was 6.4. My son and I gave each other a "you got to be kidding" jaw-dropping-on-the-floor look. Nobody's bragging. If anything, we're just all the more confused by this diabetes gig. Nobody's taking credit. Could be honeymooning. Could be running too low and chasing lows. But I guess we do like to keep tight control.
Anyway, we're headed to Munich middle of next week for a one week vacation (thank you, mother-in-law). We don't want to live in American fast-food places, but, uh, Calorie King doesn't seem to have a Bavaria section. We're still so new at this (just three months) that I don't trust us to fly by the seat of our pants and guess at carbs in foreign food.
So, do you lovely people have any advice to offer about correcting for highs (because I fear we might encounter more of those on foreign soil) or guessing at carbs in strange food?
correcting for highs is for both pumpers and MDIs. im surprised that no ones explained that to you even at this point.
for me, i'm on MDI and if my blood sugar is say...10mmol/l(180), i would give myself a shot with 2units of novorapid. my correction ratio is 1:2. so every 2 mmol/l's over 5 my bloodsugar is, i give myself 1 unit of insulin.
if i were say, 17mmol/L(306) i would give myself either 5 or 6units of novorapid to bring my bloodsugar down. if i happen to be able to eat a meal when i do my correction dose, i would add it to my meal dose. so if i was taking 5units to cover dinner, i would add the 5 or 6 units for correction and take 10 or 11units total in that shot.
a correction ratio is something your endo should set up for you. i've been on a 1:2 correction ratio for as long as i can remember, but some people need more or less.
Like Batts said correcting is for both MDI and pumpers. What kind of insulin is your son on? If he is on Lantus and a fast acting insulin you should definitely correct for highs. It is almost like being on a pump anyway. For me 1 unit of insulin takes me down 50 points. I am not sure what your doctor suggests for your son but, you should ask before you leave this way you will know and it will be much easier for you to correct highs in case some foods do make your son go higher.
That being said, when I went to Spain in April the food I ate surprisingly had little to no effect on me. I was even having gelato and my blood sugar hardly raised at all. Must have been from all the walking. So if you plan on doing a lot of activity your son may actually have lower blood sugars rather than h igh so be prepared for that too.
Congrats to your son on the 6.4 a1c. even if he's honeymooning, he must feel a lot better! wow!
I'm so glad you noticed abut correcting for highs on this site. Otherwise, how will he get his sugars down? The dr. must have just forgotten to tell you in the craziness of a new diagnosis... I think 1:50 is a pretty typical starting point, but I'm on 1:40 now. His dr will of course have advice!
My advice for travel ... He may need a higher dose of long-acting insulin for travel days b/c he'll be stuck sitting on a plane for hours w/o much moving. You could ask his endo for advice about how much to go up. As for counting carbs ... when I lived in europe, I tried to stick to things where I could tell what each ingredient was (i.e. a sandwich or meat & rice rather than a casserole w/ lots of unknown ingredients). Then, I could guess ... well a slice of bread is usually between 15 & 30 grams depending, that much rice is probably 2/3rds cup or around 30 grams, etc. When I lived there, I had just started counting carbs, so I wasn't great at it. But, I survived and my sugars were pretty ok... I think the extra fat of all the european cheeses slowed down my carb absorption. lol. I second the idea that lots of walking around kept me on the lower side anyways so I could enjoy some treats there. (:
Our son is injecting, and is on Lantus and Humalog. If his BS is over 150, we give additional Humalog to correct using two different formulas given to us by the endo. During the day we use (BS-100)/50 and at bedtime we use (BS-100)/100.
When it comes to correcting for Highs's you need to know what your target range is as well. But yous hould talk to your doctor to see what he suggests if he had not already told you what to do. Each person things are different. For me 1 unit of humalog brings my sugars down roughly about 30 points, where for Gina it is 50 points. Your best bet is to go with what your Doctor tells you.
As for your trip. First of all, have fun and don't stress to much. No matter where you go you will run into common foods and Calorie king can help you there. If you order a chicken meal while traveling, the count should still be roughly the same. The flavoring might be different but the base foods should be the same. Enjoy the foods and do the carb counting based upon the individual ingredients you are dealing with. You should be fine, just make sure you know what you are eating. If you are not sure about what you have to eat, do your best to figure it out. You can always underestimate slightly so that way you are safe. If the sugar goes high afterwards you will know what you got from your doctor what you need to do to bring your sons sugars down to the acceptable range.
Okay, here's the part I may be misunderstanding. Aaron has a correction factor of 1 unit of Humalog for every 50 over 150. He figures that in, when needed, when he is giving Humalog prior to a meal. But some of the posts (e.g., BS=257! Time to go correct!) led me to think that some people correct for highs when it isn't mealtime. Am I misunderstanding?
If I check and I am high, I will correct. Whether or not I am getting ready to eat, I correct so that by the time it's time for the next meal, I'm back down, instead of higher. I've always done this, before and after getting my pump.
You are not misunderstanding. If your son checks his blood sugar and he is high, you may correct with your 1 unit of Humalog for ever 50 points over 150 even if not at meal time. Just be sure you remember when his last meal was. If your son is high only 2 hours after his meal, I would wait another another hour because there could still be active insulin that would bring down his blood sugar and the last thing you want is a low in two hours. If he's still high 3 hours after a meal, then you could correct.