Blood Sugar level vs. Insulin amount?

[31YrsType1]

Hello,

As my nickname implies I am a type 1 diabetic and have been so for 31+ yrs of my life.  I'm now 34 and have been using a MiniMed 712 for about 2.5 yrs.  I use Novolog in  my pump and it works great for me.  So, my question is this, I've heard that 1U of insulin will generally lower your blood sugar between 20-25 points(at least thats what my endocrinologist told me).  I know that number may even vary more from person to person based on alot of factors.  But, does that sound fairly accurate?  The reason I ask is, up until recently(last few months), I was a couch potato.  In my early years, I had my parent to watch over me & control what I ate some what, then when I turned 20 and moved out I got a taste of freedom and did ok, but not as well as I should.  Then when I hit 30, I said this is the year I try harder and it sort of never materialized until recently.  My last visit to the doctor, my AC1 was 9.6 and I said thats it.  So, long story short over the last couple of months I've been exercising in some fashion just about every day(gym 3-4 days a week, walking my dog the others) and portion control.  And it's really, really paid off and I'll never go back to the way I use to be.  I've lost 15lbs, and I have a ton of energy now.  But, with my active life style and eating better I get alot of low blood sugars.  I've scaled back my insulin alot, I probably only take 30-40U a day now as a result.  But will that 20-25 vs 1U change drastically as a result of just weight loss or other factors like hormones?  Just curios.

Thanks in advance.

[neko0127]

ever been to singapore specialists?

http://www.emedihub.com/search_rs.php?mode=2&specialty=37

[JDRF-Team-RL]

Hello!  It's great that you've returned to trying to get tight control over your disease!  That's awesome!  I'm not a medical professional, just the parent of a kid with type 1 (and who is using the Minimed 522 pump).  Each person's insulin sensitivity is different, that's the ratio for how many points a unit of insulin covers.  For example, my daughter's been diagnosed for almost 2 years now and is still in her honeymoon, and her sensitivity is 98.  Our endo used a formula to figure that out based upon total daily insulin usage.

Lots of factors go into BG scores, exercise is just one of them, but it's a biggie.  When you exercise your muscles take in the glucose from your blood stream without needing insulin.  It has something to do with adrenalin, but I can't explain it very well.  So if you don't change your basal rates when you exercise, you will get lows because your body is getting more insulin than it needs.  Swimming makes my daughter's BG drop like a rock, so we take her pump off ahead of time and make her drink juice partway through, or she'll be low when she gets out and for an hour afterwards.  So your challenge is to learn how your body reacts to exercise.  If you go for a walk, do a temp basal before you take off, for example.  You've already figured out a lot of this already, since you know your insulin needs are lower.  I doubt your 20-25 range will change much, but the insulin you need will change depending on the exercise you do.

Keep up the good work!!