how much insulin do you use in a day

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Permalink Reply by Natasha Bowlds on October 20, 2009 at 6:00am

My son only uses about 14 units a day, but he only weighs about 70 pounds and was only diagnosed a year ago. From what I've read, and heard from other parents of teens, they need more because they eat more, but they also just need more because of all the hormones going around their bodies. Some of the parents of teens I know say their kids use huge amounts. It's supposed to settle down after puberty though I guess!

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Permalink Reply by Bradford on October 20, 2009 at 6:36am

When I went through puberty the amount of insulin I needed varied substantially from what I have been using on average over the last few years. I am sure the info you received from your nutritionist is great.
My daily totals average between 40-60 units/day, depending on if I'm eating a big meal (I LOVE carbs :-) or if I'm exercising a lot that day. For this reason, my basal/bolus distribution is not the coveted 50/50 split...

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Permalink Reply by Eric Rizzo on October 20, 2009 at 6:59am

I use about 30-35 units per day on average. My basal rate is usually .85/hour except for some pod-change days (depending on pod location) when I bump it up 50-75% for a few hours.
By the way, my insulin usage dropped significantly when I switched from MDI to OmniPod. On MDI I would take 25-30 unites of Lantus or Levemir and anywhere from 25-40 units of Humalog/Novolog depending on meals.

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Permalink Reply by marty peters on October 20, 2009 at 7:13am

I average about 75 units daily. This is down from an average of 95 after starting Symlin about 3 weeks ago.

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Permalink Reply by Renee Hunter on October 20, 2009 at 7:19am

My 8 year old, 100 lb daughter uses anywhere from 12-27 units per day depending on what she eats. I'm trying to get her to minimize carbs just to keep her numbers where they should be. She was diagnosed in February this year.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on October 20, 2009 at 7:58am

Insulin use is a very personal thing that varies for each person. I currently use 60-70 units a day on my Omnipod. Before I started the pod in February I was using 80 units a day on a regular basis. There are, of course, days when I'll eat cake or ice cream or something else and that will kick up my insulin usage. My "perfect" day according to my doctor is a day when I eat nothing with any fat in it and then I generally use about 55 units. As for Carbs, if you're doing what the nutritionist recommends then that's your best bet. When I first started using these boards I flipped out at how few carbs people were eating, then I realized that we all have individual needs. I usually eat about 150 carbs / day. My doctor says the most important thing is to try to keep this consistent. Good luck with a teenage boy though, I'm a 26 y/o girl and can't do it. :) If what you're doing is working for you don't stress about what people on here say. What matters is that you've got it under control and the sugars are where they need to be. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by MelissaBL on October 20, 2009 at 7:59am

We've had a couple threads on this topic. It comes up every few months. You should check out:

Poll Results: How many units of insulin do you get per day?

We had a community poll with a lot of responses.

Yes, your son will use a LOT during puberty and teen years. Remember that body weight, age, activity level, carb intake, insulin sensitivity, method of treatment (pump vs. injections), etc. can all have an effect on the final number.

I current use between 50 and 60 units per day of Apidra most days.

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Permalink Reply by Janice L Cotton on October 20, 2009 at 10:31am

Bolus avg. of 22.65 Basal avg. of 22.25 for an avg. total of 44.90 units a day. The total insulin usage is down from an avg. of 65/day when I was using Levemir (32units/evening) with the rest being meals and corrections. My A1c went down from 8.3 to 5.9 since I started the OmniPod.

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Permalink Reply by Emily Joy on October 20, 2009 at 2:24pm

i average around 25 units of insulin a day.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff on October 20, 2009 at 5:13pm

Wow after reading some of the other usages I feel like a freak. I am going through 80 to 95 units per day (working days). As a result I am going through a pod every 2 days, if I am lucky I will get 21/2 days.

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Permalink Reply by Tifany Kondraciuk on October 20, 2009 at 5:44pm

Same here Jeff. I change my pod every other day. I average about 100 units a day. I dont even get a FULL 2 days. This is better than giving myself shots 4-5 times a day though. I just started on the Omni pod 1 week ago.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Rizzo on October 20, 2009 at 7:10pm

Tifany and Jeff,
What is your insulin/carb ratio? What is your correction factor? Basal rates?

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