How many units of basal insulin do you take per day?
Just curious to know what other peoples 24 hour daily basal needs are. I am LADA, been on insulin for 2 years. Started off on only 2 units basal a day! I am now up to 12 units of basal (pumping) per day. Is this a small amount? I'm 26 years old, eat pretty low carb, and weigh 100 lbs. I'm noticing my basal needs have obviously increased over the past two years is this normal and do they continue to increase over time? How many units of basal do you take?
HAPPY TUESDAY!!!
-Jenn
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ren on -
Hi Jenn ... I started pumping about a year and a half ago. At the time, I was .35/hr so 8.4 units per 24 hour period.
About 2 weeks ago, I upped it to .40/hr which means 9.6 units per 24 hour period.
I'm afraid that I don't recall what I was shooting up prior to the pump. Maybe 12 units of Levemir??
My uneducated hypothesis is that as time goes on, our basal needs increase because our own pancreas is producing less and less insulin with each passing year, but others will likely have more accurate information on that.
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Permalink Reply by Zoe on -
I also take about 12 units basal a day. I think this is a typical Type 1 amount, though of course it varies for us all. Mine varies up and down over time, but I don't think it has gone up. But I was on oral meds for 15 months misdiagnosed as Type 2, so I obviously missed the period of time when I'd have very low insulin needs. I seem to recall my basal on MDI being around 16.
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Permalink Reply by t.clayton on -
I was diagnosed 3 1/2 years ago, shots was 6u, pump is around 5.1u per day with all the different rates.
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Permalink Reply by Shawnmarie on -
I'm at two right now (diagnosed 10/1/11). The only reason I want it to go up a bit is so I can seriously start considering a pump. I don't know if a pump is realistic when my hourly rate would be so small.
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Permalink Reply by LiL MaMa on -
A pump is much more realistic the lower your daily dose is. I went on the pump right away and was approved through my insurance through a very low c-peptide result on lab blood test. I LOVE my pump! Especially since I take such small amounts I can even take .1 units per hour, turn my pump completely off when I'm low, take tiny amounts every few hours for a high protein/fat meal, etc. I HIGHLY recommend it! ESPECIALLY if you are on tiny doses!
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Permalink Reply by Shawnmarie on
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Good to know! It just seemed to me that 1 unit is so tiny when you see it come out of a pen that it would be really dificult to do the tiny fraction of that per hour that I would need. Maybe next endo appointment I'll bring it up.
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Permalink Reply by Shawnmarie on
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Did you end up wasting a lot of insuling when you were using such tiny amounts since the pump holds way more than you need? What's the smallest amount you can put in a reservoir when filling it?
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Permalink Reply by Ren on
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Excellent question ... I hadn't even considered that aspect of it so it makes much more sense now. The minimum is 85 units. I waste some every time and that is certainly a consideration.
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Permalink Reply by Ren on
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It never occurred to me that one would need to have X as a basal rate to make pumping possible/warranted.
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Permalink Reply by juliannaergrl on -
I have a basal rate the fluctuates between 0.025u/hr and 0.3 u/hr. I use a pump because that's the only way I wouldn't go low in the early afternoons. Also, I can put as little as 30u in my pump and use it. It just depends on the brand I suppose and how quickly you go through insulin.
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