How much insulin do you shoot up a day
This actually a follow up to my earlier would you shoot up in public post
I am a type 2, but I have recently started shooting up Insulin as part of my diabetes management and while I have raving reviews for the diabetes life saving juice, I am a pure newbie to the Insulin discussion.
As a T2 I also take Metformin so I take 15 units at lunch and 10 units at dinner and while I might adjust up or down depending on where my daily management goes.
I know t1 diabetics have to take much more insulin on their daily regimen, I know of only one t1 and that is Lisa B from the Lisa from scratch blog. Lisa has takes so much less Insulin than the majority that she wondered if this was normal.
During a recent foray into insulin , I came across this article on Huffington post titled, Diabetes treatment: How much Insulin do you need
DR. Mark Feinglos, M.D., division chief of endocrinology, metabolism, and nutrition at the Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, N.C. an expert contributor stated that every individual has unique insulin needs,
“You need to tailor the regimen to an individual’s needs.” A person with type 2 diabetes might start off on half a unit of insulin per kilogram of body weight per day, especially if there is not much known about the nature of his or her diabetes. Still, it is not unusual to need more like one unit, says Dr. Feinglos. (One unit per kilogram would be 68 units per day for someone who weighs 150 pounds, which is about 68 kilograms.)
That would mean that being 200 pounds I would be taking about 90 units a day.
For someone taking just 25 units a day, this seemed a bit excessive, so I wanted to ask how much insulin most of you shoot up in a day, t1 or t2 and is this rationale excessive to you?
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To me Ronald, 25 units of insulin per day is far from excessive. On a normal day, I take 12 units of Novolog at breakfast, 9 units at lunch and 20 units at supper. I also take 26 units of Lantus every night for my basal, and I am a type 2 also like yourself and I am insulin dependent too. I’m also interested in hearing others comments to your question.
My husband is t2 recently diagnosed diabetic. He takes about 40U 75/25 humalog/day. He is on 10 at night, 15 in am and on sliding scale during day. It seems to work good for him. His 14day avg glucose is 158. Given his hgba1c was 17.9 which was off the charts he is doing great. He hasn’t been on insulin long enough for another hgba1c run. Hope this is helpful.
My kids are on ratios, so it depends on what they eat or if they are covering a high. They take long acting insulin, Lantus, in the morning and at night. They they are on a carb ratio for the short acting, so for example for most of the day they are on 2:15 which means two units for every 15 carbs they eat. Then they are on a scale to cover if they are hi.
I am a type 1 on an insulin pump so I only take short acting insulin. I also take Symlin which sometimes cuts back (a little) on how much insulin I take. My average is 63 units a day. I think I take that much because I tend to over eat. I would rather only be taking 50 or less units per day.
When I was pregnant with my last child, due to hormones, etc. I was up to 150 units a day. I am glad I am past that point!
Thank you for your article.
I’m a Type 1 on an insulin pump and I average about 18 units a day, so I would guess I’m not insulin-resistant.
I’ve heard of people who were really resistant taking 400 units a day or switching to U500 insulin, so I don’t think that sounds like a lot.
I was diagnosed as an adult with T1 and just started a pump a few months ago …my TDD is around 50 but my daughter’s is almost half that around 25 at 9 years old and not even 60lbs soaking wet..but of corse she has puberty hormones starting in causing craziness to help get up to that 25
the way i look at it …nothing is excessive, you need what you need…If your pancreas was working like it should it would make what you needed
Hello,
I have also had to start doing the insulin thing. I have 3 different items that I have to shoot up a total of 7 times a day. It is not fun or hip. I am thinking about trying to get a meter to help me with this because I always for get to do the evening injections and meds. After working night shift for a several years it has been hard for me to switch complete from being a vampire to a human. So when I come in the evenings it is a real struggle for me to stay awake after 6 pm. After the power nap is over I will awake up at 12 midnight and cat nap. Believe me at this hour shooting up is the last thing you think about let alone checking my levels.
My endo told me to do 5cc at every major meal. I have been doing 15cc. I thought 5 would be too conservative. I will admit in the mornings at my job I have dropped below 100. Right now that causes me to become dizzy. So I am happy with the results but I have to work on the physical activity because I know insulin therapy will store fat on me.
I use about 20 units of lantus every 24 hours and about 15 units of humalog every 24 hours. I get so much humalog from my insurance (based on my weight and how much insulin they think I need) that a 3 month supply lasts about 9 months
I am a Type 2. I have been a Diabetic since 2009. I haven’t been taking my insulin like a should. I know I have been in denial. Hence my AC1 is at a 11.3. So….I have since started reading blogs, which has help tremedously with the denial part. I am not that anymore. Thank goodness. I take 1000mg of metaformin twice a day and take 60 units of Levimer at night. In the past two weeks my sugars have come down tremedously from the BS machine just saying High to 75 in the morning and running 150 in the evening. So hopefully, I will be in the normal range in three months it might take a little longer, but I am up for the challenge. I will WIN this battle. I will control the numbers.
way to go Tammy, that’s the spirit and I wish you the best
The amount of insulin people need varies TREMENDOUSLY!
I’m on a pump, and take about 35 units of Novolog a day. I currently weigh 150, so that’s about 1/2u per kilogram. I’m supposed to be insulin-resistant, but apparently I’m not.
In the final analysis, you take what you need — it’s like how much water to put out a fire? As much as is needed!