Before the “Saturday binge” of Saturday a week ago, I was just experimenting with carb ratio of 11:1 (means I take the number of carbs in food and divide by 11) and it was working for most meals.
I went back to 10:1 because my insulin usage was up, and the 11:1 wasn’t working and I was chasing highs.
Now I’m chasing lows… (I write this stuff so if I screw it up, I can go back and look at it, even print it out and show the CDE or Dr.)
All weekend, two hours after I ate, I was in range of 120-130. If I am that “low” — the goal is 140, I tend to go low within two hours. I really don’t want to eat every two hours, it aggravates the GERD (the more often you eat with GERD, the more often you experience heart burn). In fact, in a perfect world, like tonight, I eat about 5:00 and don’t eat again until morning, and I sleep better. I ate enough slow carbs and protein to keep me going tonight, so far. Though I’m keeping a close eye.
SO, I think I’m going to try the 11:1 ratio again, though I hate that math (10:1 is the easiest, you just move the decimal point). If I do a 7 day average, the 500 rule works out, it’s just that nasty 70 unit day that is causing problems.
Besides, I’ll just be chasing highs rather than lows, and it takes less calories to chase a high — but more insulin.
I really hate making two adjustments at once, but that’s the way it goes — when you reduce insulin usage, you reduce it all the way around, basal AND bolus.
Fun stuff isn’t it?
And I decided to look this stuff up in Pumping Insulin. Interesting facts: According to Pumping Insulin, I should be taking 72.5 units a day, based on my weight. So at an average of 44 units over the past 7 days, I’m doing REALLY REALLY good. My exercising is paying off.
The book says decrease or increase by 5% and recalcuate everything, but I honestly am afraid that’s too much too fast.
And according to the book, I’ve done two things that cause my TDD to go down: changed my activity level (more weights, more time on the treadmill), and changed my weight — lost weight.
Anyway my goal is to make gradual changes without screwing up control. I really hate chasing highs.