BASAL is BOSS

Basal insulin amounts change often for us. We use Lantus and I split our dose AM/PM. It’s not an even split, but when I started, I split it 50/50 and adjusted from there.

Meal insulin dosing is much more consistent then basal for us. When meal dosing stops working right, I usually look at our basal needs first. I cannot give information on Tresiba or Levemir, however if you join the group TYPE ONE NORMAL on Facebook, you can find help there. 

Things that I’ve discovered that may affect basal for us:

- growth spurts

- season/weather changes

- seasonal sports (starting or ending)

- seasonal allegories

Signs of a basal need change: - multiple corrections needed - meal insulin not working right - corrections that don’t stick - lows/highs after lunch (AM basal for us) - lows/highs early morning (PM basal for us)

I always wait for a pattern before adjusting basal. I adjust in .25-.5u increments. Some people need higher adjustments.

I do NOT adjust basal when sick. Sickness may exit the body suddenly and too much basal on board can be very dangerous. Instead, I use corrections as needed. Sometimes I may add R insulin to a correction if I feel my basal is not enough.

If we ate high carb, I would never feel confident making these changes. The graph wouldn’t be clear and I wouldn’t be able to see his needs accurately.

BASAL is the BOSS. It’s the baseline for normal blood sugars. Once you understand basal needs and pattens, things get much steadier and easier. If you pump, I suggest you search The T1D Mimi- she has a lot of good info on figuring out basal needs that way.

What works for Will, might not work for you. Please understand the action profiles for your insulins before making changes. Be SMART with insulin! If you aren’t confident in making changes, ask your doctor.

I hope this is helpful.

#typeWON