Variable BG corrections

Medicines Insulin
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This topic came up on a different post, so I am curious if other people have a similar variability.

For me, 1 unit of insulin does not work the same for different levels of BG. For instance, the higher I am, the less it works.

An example would be, if 1 unit brings you down 50 points when you are 150, does it also bring you down 50 points if you are 300? Or would it only bring you down 40 points?

Not look for specific numbers for people’s correction factors, what I am curious about is if the higher your BG gets, the more insulin resistant you become.

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YES. For us, it’s very much a 3-tiered zone.
At less than about 100, our son becomes extremely insulin sensitive. 0.1 could drop him 40 points.
At more than about 180, our son becomes insulin resistant. 0.1 will not drop him more than about 10 points.
At more than 300+, we just dump in the insulin like buckets of water and are always shocked at how little effect it has. At that point we don’t even mess with corrections less than 0.5 or 1 unit.
Then again, it’s also possible it’s that the high blood sugar is a symptom of the underlying insulin resistance, not the cause, but we definitely use a three-tiered rubric for how much to give him

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Oh so thiiiiiiiis is what you meant! :smiley: Now I understand! Yes, our sons sensitivity seems to vary based on what his BG is (and what trajectory it’s currently following). Our trajectory is similiar to @TiaG’s experience with Samson. Double arrows up is especially bad news when Liam’s sensitivity when he’s near, or over 200.

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Yeah, I kinda botched the earlier discussion because I mentioned time.

This is what I was referring to, the PDM doesn’t let you program different correction numbers depending on how high you are.

But it seems reasonably common, the higher you are the less the insulin works.

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On a couple of occasions when I’ve too high (275ish, usually carb-counting errors) I find that a correction dose alone takes forever to work so I give myself 2 units, wait 30 minutes, and then hit the elliptical for 20 minutes. And drink lots of water the whole time. That usually works quite well, phew!

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@Eric Yes, absolutely. Far quicker and less insulin to Bg ratio for a correction from 150 than from 250. Also works the other way. Lower I/C for when I’m at 75 than when I’m at 130

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I thought it was fairly common, but I didn’t find much in terms of references. I am probably just using the wrong search terms.

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Let me search my little database of studies I’ve saved. I know I read a study about insulin sensitivity as a function of blood sugar for sure.

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Hi @Eric Eric,
Here’s the one study I found previously. Hope it provides some insight!

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Exactly! That’s what I couldn’t find. I was looking for “correction factor”.

Apparently the correct term is “insulin effectiveness” (IE). So “nonlinear” and “insulin effectiveness” are the terms to search for.

Nice work! Thanks!

You and @britt_j need to have a “Google Battle” one day!
:slight_smile:

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