Samantha Walsh
Samantha Walsh has lived with type 1 diabetes for over five years since 2017. After her T1D diagnosis, she was eager to give back to the diabetes community. She is the Community and Partner Manager for T1D Exchange and helps to manage the Online Community and recruit for the T1D Exchange Registry. Prior to T1D Exchange, Samantha fundraised at Joslin Diabetes Center. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelors degree in sociology and early childhood education.
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How often do you bolus before eating? Cancel reply
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Food “enters” my systemvery slowly, often the insulin wuld kick in before the food did. So I bolus at “first bite” Since I don’t have much of an appetute, that allows me to not “clear my plate”. If something has “fast/simple” carbs, I might bolus 5-10 minutes prior to actually eating. At least I know I don’t have gastroparesis – been this way all my life – slow to get things down the pipe as it were.
Sometimes. Prior to gastroparesis, the answer would have been always. Now gastroparesis plays a game with digestion that could well be entitled like that old TV show, “You Bet Your Life,” because digestion may or may not occur. And with low BG you are literally betting your life. So much fun. Sigh! 🙄
I am on a zero carb diet and rarely if ever take a bolus before eating.
always unless I’m low
Rarely. Most days, I eat the internationally recommended regimen of 230 – 250 grams of carbohydrate for a healthy adult who is not concerned with obesity and only bolus prior to a meal when my current BGL is substantially higher than my meal-time 110 mg/dl target.
Whether or not I bolus depends on what I am eating and my blood sugar. I answered often, but it depends on the situation.
I can be hungry, have a BG of 70 and eat raw vegetables with cheese and or nuts and need no insulin if I am waiting to eat carbs in a bit.
I can be low and eat carbs and need no insulin.
There are other situations also where insulin is not required, but thanks to control-iq, they don’t happen as often.
I said, “always.” But, in afterthought, I don’t bolus when I’m eating for a low blood sugar.
I always bolus before eating unless my sugar is low to begin with. Then I will wait until my sugar reaches about 70 before bolusing.
I selected “Often”, but I think I should clarify that.
On the vast majority of occasions I do bolus prior to eating, but if my blood glucose level is lower than about 5.0 mmol/l [90 mg/dL] I wait until I’ve eaten as I have gastroparesis … delayed emptying of stomach contents … which frequently means that my insulin has ‘kicked in’ before my body has started to ‘breakdown’ the food(s) that I’ve imbibed and I, therefore, suffer with hypoglycaemic [hypoglycemic] events.