# food/how much insulin?



## ninjatuck (Nov 29, 2012)

Hi,im hoping someone can help me! ive been type 1 for 14 years,but i have now been told about carbs and the levels for how much insulin(nova rapid)but i dont know how much insulin to take with other foods?im completely lost,if i was to have 2 eggs and 3 rashers of bacon,how do i work out how much insulin to have as they dont have carbs in them! i take levimere twice a day,,please help


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## Northerner (Nov 29, 2012)

Hi ninjatuck, welcome to the forum  The simple answer is that, if the meal does not contain carbs then you should not need to inject any insulin. However, some people find that, if they eat a meal containing only fat and protein, then they do need a small amount of insulin. It's very much a case of trying it and seeing what happens by testing before and frequently after the meal to see how your blood sugar levels are affected


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## ninjatuck (Nov 29, 2012)

so if i was to have 2 eggs on toast,i only account for the bread?if i was to have 2 eggs,2 sausages and nothing else,i dont need insulin? but i would have to adjust the levimere to do the work?


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## ninjatuck (Nov 29, 2012)

Northerner said:


> Hi ninjatuck, welcome to the forum  The simple answer is that, if the meal does not contain carbs then you should not need to inject any insulin. However, some people find that, if they eat a meal containing only fat and protein, then they do need a small amount of insulin. It's very much a case of trying it and seeing what happens by testing before and frequently after the meal to see how your blood sugar levels are affected



hi ya,so i have to start adjusting my levimere(more or less)to work on any food that isnt carbs?at the moment i have 2 bits of brown bread toasted with cheese spread nearly every morning,i have 8-10 units of novarapid,usually my bloods are around 8 at lunch,but if i was to have eggs and bacon,i wouldnt take insulin if my levels are ok?


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## Northerner (Nov 29, 2012)

ninjatuck said:


> so if i was to have 2 eggs on toast,i only account for the bread?if i was to have 2 eggs,2 sausages and nothing else,i dont need insulin? but i would have to adjust the levimere to do the work?



No, you don't adjust the levemir - this is there to work on the small amount of glucose that your liver constantly trickles out in order to make sure you have energy when you are not eating. As far as food is concerned, you only ever adjust your novorapid according to what you are eating. Be careful of things like sausages - some contain carbs, always check the labels!



ninjatuck said:


> hi ya,so i have to start adjusting my levimere(more or less)to work on any food that isnt carbs?at the moment i have 2 bits of brown bread toasted with cheese spread nearly every morning,i have 8-10 units of novarapid,usually my bloods are around 8 at lunch,but if i was to have eggs and bacon,i wouldnt take insulin if my levels are ok?



As I said above - you wouldn't adjust your levemir at all when food is concerned, only novorapid. Also, as I said in my earlier post, you _*may*_ need some novorapid with bacon and eggs, you would need to test and see if your levels increase without it. I would suggest that you ask your nurse about a carb counting course, like DAFNE, for example. How long have you been using novorapid and levemir?


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## Austin Mini (Nov 29, 2012)

Hi there ninjatuck, I found over the years, by trial and error, to guess how much to inject. I am now (after twenty four years) getting it about right. I never inject unless its in front of me or I actually did the cooking/preparing of the meal. I just guess, after doing a test of course to see where I am, and inject. I cant relate how much one piece of toast (one exchange) is in insulin amounts. Overnight I use a long acting Humulin.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Nov 29, 2012)

Hi Ninjatuck

Good to hear you are getting introduced to the 2 different 'jobs' that your insulins do. Your Levemir is 'background' and nothing to do with food. That's not to say it will always be exactly the same - a number of things can mean you need a bit more or less background from time to time through the year (warmer or cooler weather, stress, illness). You can test and check that it is doing its job right - speak to your nurse about how to do this.

Your NovoRapid deals with the carbs in the food you eat - so it's a question of working out (or guessing) how much carbohydrate is on your plate, and then giving yourself the insulin that matches. 

Simplest way is to start with one flat 'rate' eg 1 unit of insulin for 10g of carbs and then adjust by taking BG tests and writing them down to see if its working. You might find that you need a tiny bit more or less insulin at different times of day, but your nurse can help you with that if you keep a note of your doses, food and BG results

Hope it goes well!


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## trophywench (Nov 30, 2012)

Austin

Hum*alog* is *fast*-acting insulin..  Does often last a bit longer than Novorapid, and much longer than Apidra.  Hum*ulin* on the other hand, isn't.


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## PhilT (Nov 30, 2012)

As Northerner says, you need to be careful with sausages as unless they are 100% meat they will contain things such as rusk, soya, dextrose, sugar etc as a bulking agent.


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## Austin Mini (Nov 30, 2012)

TW got that wrong didnt I. Should have put Humulin, sorry.


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## ninjatuck (Dec 4, 2012)

Northerner said:


> No, you don't adjust the levemir - this is there to work on the small amount of glucose that your liver constantly trickles out in order to make sure you have energy when you are not eating. As far as food is concerned, you only ever adjust your novorapid according to what you are eating. Be careful of things like sausages - some contain carbs, always check the labels!
> 
> 
> 
> As I said above - you wouldn't adjust your levemir at all when food is concerned, only novorapid. Also, as I said in my earlier post, you _*may*_ need some novorapid with bacon and eggs, you would need to test and see if your levels increase without it. I would suggest that you ask your nurse about a carb counting course, like DAFNE, for example. How long have you been using novorapid and levemir?



ive been on nova for around a year,levimere is around 4-5 months,i cant do a dafne course as im self employed(tattooist)so i cant afford to have 5 days off.i have only just had last week)a chat to a nurse who told me about carbs,i know i was told in 1998 when i was diagnosed,but obviously didnt take it in,my readings(3 month blood test)we're around 9,but the last 2=2 and a half years they are around 7.


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## trophywench (Dec 4, 2012)

Would you be willing to do an on-line course then?

Here it is

http://213.106.147.101/bdec2/index.shtml

Click on 'e Learning' on the right of that page.

Your Novorapid is fast acting insulin which you just have with food to deal with the carbs, and fast insulins taken in this way are called 'Bolus' insulins.

Finally here's something written by a fellow Type 1 to help you understand about 'Basal' insulins - ie your Levemir.

http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

Don't do anything about the part at the bottom of that page regarding adjusting basal insulin, yet, let's do it a bit at a time and get you comfy with expertly counting carbs first!

Good luck ! - and let us know how you are getting on.


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