How do you bolus? specifically, I would like to know how you time for the meal bolus. Novolin R is slow, compared to Novolog. I wonder about the timing.
I’ve experimented with R a fair bit. Yes it’s slower but it’s not a whole different ballgame… I try to prebolus a little earlier, and it’s tail lasts a fair bit longer…
It’s not uncommon that this profile actually makes things easy for me… particularly with high fat / high protein/ moderate carb meals which is actually what I tend to prefer (for taste preferences not necessarily for diabetes management)
I’d not lose a wink of sleep if I had to switch to R. Based on all the feedback I’ve gotten— switching times N for basal is much more challenging likely
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Yup, I understand. A balanced meal for me may contain: Starch (rice/pasta/bean/bread…etc), protein (beef, chicken, fish, pork…etc) vegetables. Almost always, I tend to have a delayed BG rise 3-4, sometimes 5 hours later. Would you take a small amount of each, both Novolog and R? For example,Instead of taking 5 units of Novolog, maybe split 50% Novolog and 5% R? The starch may spike or cause BG to rise earlier rather than later. The delayed digestion is well… fats and proteins and maybe still somemore carbs.
If you wanted to experiment I’d start by keeping it simple and just switching to R instead of convoluting the issue… maybe once you got familiar with it try experimenting such as you described… there’s no benefit that I see to doing what you’re describing vs taking follow up bolus of novolog…
I can understand what you mean.
Two shots of novolog would work too.
If on R only:
While the R would address the delayed BG rise, what would take care of the faster digesting food?
Well the only tool at your disposal for that is longer prebolus time… but honestly it’s never going to be ideal because it’s just not ever going to be fast enough to match fast foods, so it’s just all a matter of balance and doing the best you can… then again novolog or anything else is never ideal for one reason or another either
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I usually give the my shot right before the meal. Maybe a 5-10 minutes before for breakfast as I’ve always needed more headstart due to morning insulin resistance, dawn phenomenon, higher counter regulatory hormones in the morning.
The protein and vegetables usually have a slow effect on sugars, so in my experience there’s not much of rise or a need to give too far in advance of the meal.
I do keep my shots consistent and the amount of protein consistent.
I don’t change the amount of R I give. It’s the same every day. This also allows you to know how the insulin acts, so you can fine tune the timing, dosing, and meals etc.
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