New to Basal

I was nervous about another drop like that last night because I went to bed lower (100). I set an alarm for 3:30 to check my BG, and then my kids woke me just about every hour after I went to bed, so I was able to watch my completely flat (@100) line all night long. Thanks, kids. :laughing:

So I’m not sure why I dropped so much the night before, though I’m guessing I had a delayed response from my remaining beta cells in response to the high from my late snack.

When I was newer at this, my bg could be at just about whatever at bedtime and it would drop overnight, usually to the 90s or so, and then level out on its own. But, if I went to bed with it in range, it stayed steady, so I figured it wasn’t a too-strong basal. I assume it was my remaining beta cells doing their thing (thinking they worked better at night when under less stress/no meals to contend with?). As time has gone by this has pretty much stopped happening, but it sounds similar to what you’re experiencing.

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During the day that Tuesday graph shows the basal to be perfect. No downtrend at all, so I would not increase the basal at all, based on that. I was going to mention the drop from 12am to 4am as an important reason to decrease the basal, but (a) Thomas and Sam already mentioned it, and (b) you clarified that it didn’t happen the next night and you have an explanation other than too much basal.

So as others have said, I’d just watch it for a while. And if you are going to increase it, I’d make small changes rather than a huge jump like 4 to 6. Like 4 to 4.25 if you are using a syringe (just go between the lines to estimate a quarter unit) and then do it again after a few days if you need more. Decreases may be done more quickly because lows are immediately dangerous whereas highs are not.

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There was no action taken - I slept right through it (I don’t have any way to set alarms on the Libre). And just a reminder - the Libre for me reads low, so that 50 at the lowest point was probably only 70 (pretty consistently reads 20 lower, unless it’s very high, then the gap is wider). Would you still assume excessive basal despite the fact that I stayed flat around 100 the next night (last night) - no drop at all at the 4am mark?

Oh, and one other thought - I have had compression lows at times, and I do sleep on my side, so it’s possible it was just a compression low, though the up and down trend after suggests otherwise to me.

So last night our usual routine was off…and I forgot to dose my Tresiba. :woman_facepalming: So do I just take a dose now then another at my usual time tonight? Wait til tonight and resume dosing? @Sam @cardamom @Michel @Chris @Thomas

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Same concern here, which is why I’m thinking of just waiting…I woke to a 107, so not terrible.

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Oops!

But Tresiba is VERY forgiving. I am away from computer now, but believe you should take your dose asap right away, then simply wait 8 hours for the next dose. You should check if you have computer access, but what I remember is Go for it.

They actually say you can take your daily dose any time during the day.

Make sure you do wait at least 8 hours before the next dose though.

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Thank you! That’s what I’d seen on the website, and it just seemed odd, but then I’m new to all this, so what do I know? :woman_shrugging: I usually dose it at 9p (and it’s almost 9a here), so I’m well within that 8 hr window to resume normal dosage if I give a dose now.

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If you want to optimize, you can wait as long as possible tonight for your next dose, say 11pm or midnight, depending on when you turn in :slight_smile:

Well, my forgetfulness made the decision for me. My son was throwing up this morning (thankfully doesn’t look like a stomach virus), and I was trying to get out of the house for a therapy appointment, so I was distracted and forgot (again) to give myself a dose. I even forgot to grab a jacket…and it’s in the 40s out here; way too cold for this Southern gal. :laughing:

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I think you have a received a good answer, and will be in good shape. For us, using a different basal (Lantus) we would have subtracted the number of hours and reduced the dose accordingly and injected when we remembered. As has been mentioned, I don’t think this logic applies to Tresiba (which we haven’t experimented with yet)

That’s what the package instructions would say—- to separate the “daily” doses by at least 8 hours. But your doses are so small that I would think that either way would be fine.

I agree with the suggestions to take changes slowly. After 40+ years of using Lantus, I’m now on Tresiba. I like it a lot, but I do find that I can find myself more suddenly low. Since I’ve had T1 for so long, I also have hypoglycemic unawareness. So – I’d say don’t panic about post-prandial spikes, they aren’t dangerous as ending up super low.

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Things worked out really well despite my forgetfulness. I dosed 3u Tresiba when I got back to my house (around 1p), and then my usual 4u nightly dose I pushed back to midnight. Once I came down from my bedtime snack (a more sensible apple and peanut butter, lol), I flatlined in the 80s and have stayed there so far today. That may sound low to some, but that’s what I was used to before things got wacky, so I’m happy.

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Glad it worked out. That is a nice result.

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Today was great - flatlined between 80-100 all day (ate less carbs than normal, which helped). Unfortunately, it seems my son actually has a stomach virus, and now my husband isn’t feeling great, either. I’m nervous about being sole caregiver to everyone and maybe being sick, not able to hold anything down…my fastings only get to 120-130s without basal, and I don’t usually rise much when I’m sick, so I’m debating skipping tonight’s dose, just to be safe and not have to worry about that side of things right now.

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I wouldn’t recommend skipping doses.

I assumed that wasn’t the best idea. :slight_smile: Guess I’ll have to figure things out as I go if I do get sick, then.

Things have been going well, waking up around 85-100 most days. Only problem is I forget my dose all the time most often remembering when I’m in bed about to fall asleep. :woman_facepalming: I don’t think a reminder on my phone will be helpful, as I do think about it in the hour or two leading up to bedtime; I’m just always distracted by one thing or another…

I do really well with “first thing in the morning” things. It’s a habit from taking meds for 14 years now. Will there be much of a difference if taking my dose in the morning vs at night? @Sam? @cardamom?

I wouldn’t expect it to make any difference

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