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    • 15 hours, 52 minutes ago
      Kristi Warmecke likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Unlike most of the comments on this subject matter, I have needed glucagon several times per year. I am very active, and work hard around the house. I have a Tandem X2 pump with Control IQ and a Dexcom G7 sensor. However, from time to time, my blood sugars drop quickly, or I spend too much time between taking my meal insulin dose and eating my meal, where I need help. The glucagon has come in very handy. For me, it would be fool-hardy to be caught without it. Regarding cost, the price on glucagon has shot up, drastically, over the past year or two, even with health insurance. Luckily, I was able to find a generic, NOT pre-mixed glucagon. It is referred to as "Glucagon Emergency Kit For Low Blood Sugar 1MG." It's the old fashioned kind where you have to mix it yourself. But, at least I have something in case of an emergency.
    • 19 hours, 15 minutes ago
      eherban1 likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      I use InPen and it's great. Except they aren't keeping up with iOS so you now have to unlock your phone and open the app to check IOB instead of simply looking at the home screen. You can tell when app developers aren't users, otherwise they'd know how much of a pain this is when you check 50 times a day
    • 20 hours, 16 minutes ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Insurance won't cover and it was several hundred dollars.
    • 20 hours, 18 minutes ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Glucagon is $425 for me on Medicare. It is cheaper to get an ambulance! I have an expired one that will work if I ever need it, but I won't.
    • 20 hours, 19 minutes ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No. During the past century I threw out many glucagon doses about 5 years after each had expired - having never used a single glucagon dose.. This century, two dose kits were disposed of and never used. At this point, in my opinion, with modern tools for accurately monitoring one's body glucose levels, AND common awareness of how one is feeling, severe low BGL can be easily avoided thus not needing "emergency' glucagon. NOTE WELL!!! what I wrote in the last sentence, does NOT apply to the very young, and some newly diagnosed who have not yet mastered insulin dosing and who have not yet been accustomed to recognizing low or quickly dropping BGL.
    • 20 hours, 20 minutes ago
      Trish Bowers likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      I do because it Costc me over $300 to replace it. Too expensive.
    • 20 hours, 46 minutes ago
      John Barbuto likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      Medicare has added FIASP for 2026! Besides the great news of being able to use this once again, it is one of the few fast acting insulins that works with the inPen. I am considering doing that in the new year
    • 20 hours, 46 minutes ago
      John Barbuto likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      Been using fiasp for 2 years (in the UK) and it's significantly better than novorapid. Would highly recommend to everyone, especially if you find your insulin a bit slow to act.
    • 21 hours, 39 minutes ago
      Lozzy E likes your comment at
      Multiple daily injections (MDI) users: Do you use an app or other device to track your insulin dosing? Share the tools you use in the comments below!
      Medicare has added FIASP for 2026! Besides the great news of being able to use this once again, it is one of the few fast acting insulins that works with the inPen. I am considering doing that in the new year
    • 1 day, 1 hour ago
      Ahh Life likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      The last Glucagon prescription that I purchased was 15 years ago. Now it's way too expensive because my insurance doesn't cover it. They just want us to either die or use ambulance service to use or send us to ER. Pretty stupid to me. I've had T1D for 52 years and never needed it really. Only 3 times during early morning hypos in 2015-16 I needed rescue to wake me.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      My experience over the past 65 years is that a sugary drink and patience will bring me out of a low satisfactorily. If I’m unconscious, as has happened four or five times over that period, the EMTs know what to do.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Glucagon is $425 for me on Medicare. It is cheaper to get an ambulance! I have an expired one that will work if I ever need it, but I won't.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No I haven't a glucagon in yeans. Reason being:, every time I had a prescription, the glucaagon was never used and expired.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No. During the past century I threw out many glucagon doses about 5 years after each had expired - having never used a single glucagon dose.. This century, two dose kits were disposed of and never used. At this point, in my opinion, with modern tools for accurately monitoring one's body glucose levels, AND common awareness of how one is feeling, severe low BGL can be easily avoided thus not needing "emergency' glucagon. NOTE WELL!!! what I wrote in the last sentence, does NOT apply to the very young, and some newly diagnosed who have not yet mastered insulin dosing and who have not yet been accustomed to recognizing low or quickly dropping BGL.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      I do because it Costc me over $300 to replace it. Too expensive.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Insurance won't cover and it was several hundred dollars.
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      René Wagner likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No,insurance won't cover it. T1D for 45+ years and haven't had a situation where I needed it - so far so good
    • 1 day, 8 hours ago
      Vicki Breckenridge likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Glucagon is $425 for me on Medicare. It is cheaper to get an ambulance! I have an expired one that will work if I ever need it, but I won't.
    • 1 day, 15 hours ago
      Richard likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      No. During the past century I threw out many glucagon doses about 5 years after each had expired - having never used a single glucagon dose.. This century, two dose kits were disposed of and never used. At this point, in my opinion, with modern tools for accurately monitoring one's body glucose levels, AND common awareness of how one is feeling, severe low BGL can be easily avoided thus not needing "emergency' glucagon. NOTE WELL!!! what I wrote in the last sentence, does NOT apply to the very young, and some newly diagnosed who have not yet mastered insulin dosing and who have not yet been accustomed to recognizing low or quickly dropping BGL.
    • 1 day, 16 hours ago
      Dennis Dacey likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      My experience over the past 65 years is that a sugary drink and patience will bring me out of a low satisfactorily. If I’m unconscious, as has happened four or five times over that period, the EMTs know what to do.
    • 1 day, 16 hours ago
      Dennis Dacey likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      Expiration dates are put on by the manufacturerbecause they have to, and almost never indicate the product won't work. I am confident if I need it , it will work.
    • 1 day, 16 hours ago
      Dennis Dacey likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      With the latest monitoring technology I will probably never need it. I did need it a couple of times in the past, many years ago, and I do have expired Glucagon on hand. I do question whether expiration is real, since until it is mixed, what is there to expire?
    • 1 day, 19 hours ago
      ConnieT1D62 likes your comment at
      Have you been diagnosed with neuropathy? If so, please share your top management tips in the comments.
      My endocrinologist is very good about following the standards of care and looks at my feet every three months when I’m in as well as once a year he does a thorough test with a microfilament and a tuning fork regarding my feet. He says that there is mild neuropathy and at this point, it has not caused me any real problem no pain, numbness, tingling. I recently had a nerve conduction test on my hands because there was concern that there might be something going on with my spine and the neurologist did tell me I had some neuropathy in my hands along with carpal tunnel syndrome in both of them. This all was a surprise to me. I have had a complaint of periodic numbness in some fingers of both hands which he said at this point is mainly being caused by carpal tunnel syndrome. So I think a lot of people with diabetes may be unaware of some mild neuropathy unless their doctors are doing regular thorough testing. my cardiologist also suspects that the fact that my blood pressure tends to go all over the place, sometimes being high, and then crashing to extremely low levels is caused by autonomic neuropathy, and I suspect that some of my chronic gastrointestinal distress may also be caused by some neuropathy. diabetes for 64 years so not a surprise.
    • 1 day, 21 hours ago
      Bill Williams likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      I have been a T1D for 57 years. I have not had Glucagon on hand in 25+ years. Normal carb/sugary items seem to be ok.
    • 1 day, 21 hours ago
      Lee Tincher likes your comment at
      Do you have Glucagon on hand that is not expired? If not, please share why in the comments.
      With the latest monitoring technology I will probably never need it. I did need it a couple of times in the past, many years ago, and I do have expired Glucagon on hand. I do question whether expiration is real, since until it is mixed, what is there to expire?
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    How often do you pre-bolus at least 5 minutes before eating?

    Home > LC Polls > How often do you pre-bolus at least 5 minutes before eating?
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    How often do you pre-bolus (a bolus you complete BEFORE you eat)?

    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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    23 Comments

    1. Amanda Barras

      Sometimes would be more accurate than rarely, but it’ll do.

      4
      2 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Megan S

        I thought the same. Sometimes it will be 5 mins or more but I wouldn’t call it rare. Just not as often as I bolus and then immediately start eating 😉

        2
        2 years ago Log in to Reply
    2. Jim Andrews

      It’s about the only way avoid after meal spikes.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. Dave Akers

        The other way to avoid those spikes is with insulin indicated to bolus at mealtime… inhaled

        2 years ago Log in to Reply
    3. Paul Hanson

      With inhaled insulin, there is not the need to pre-bolus, luckily.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    4. Gary Taylor

      It actually somewhere between “rarely” and “almost always”. Probably 1/2 of the time.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    5. Dave Akers

      No need to prebolus with inhaled insulin. I’m curious of those folks taking FIASP and Luymjev. Do they find they need to prebolus?

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
      1. ConnieT1D62

        When off pump and taking Fiasp or Lyumjev I bolus right before, during, or right after once I determine the carb content and release time of what I am eating.

        2 years ago Log in to Reply
    6. Sherolyn Newell

      I only pre-bolus when I’m splurging on something like cake. Sugary stuff hits me quick, normal food takes a while. If I pre-bolus, I go low waiting for the meal carbs to kick in.

      2
      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    7. Lawrence S.

      Same response as yesterday’s question. I almost always pre-bolus before meals, except when I forget, or when my blood glucose is very low.

      2
      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    8. Ernie Richmann

      Usually bolus 20 minutes or longer before eating unless I am already low.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    9. KIMBERELY SMITH

      Almost all

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    10. Alyne Branson

      Need a “sometimes” as a choice. Between almost always and rarely. 😄

      2
      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    11. Pauline M Reynolds

      “Rarely” because frequently, my BG is below 100, at which time I wait a bit before bolusing.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    12. Mike S

      As others commented, need a sometimes or depends option. Every food/day hits different. There is no one size fits all for T1 (no matter how hard the doctors try to tell us otherwise)

      1
      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    13. Carol Meares

      [A little less than almost always.] And, yet, I sometimes prebolus as much as 15-30 minutes with a faster acting insulin(Lyumjev).

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    14. Jen Farley

      I try to when I can, about 50/50. Did not see an option for half the time.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    15. Clairemcdonnell4

      I do 10-15 minutes depending on the meal but if my bg is low or dropping I will do no prebolus

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    16. Mike Plante

      Depends on my glucose and trend and what I’m eating.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    17. Bret Itskowitch

      I was going to say almost always, but not 5 minutes before. I take my insulin at the same time I eat.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    18. Steven Gill

      On injections found it I dose 30-35 minutes before eating there’s a minimal glucose rise, and if there is it drops close to the original point more quickly (thus my 5.2 and 5.3 a1Cs). Ironically pumping I now dose 20-25 minutes or risk going low before eating (the Medtronic 780G controls the basal dose, great at preventing lows not as aggressive with highs but my a1C was 5.8 last time). The exception is if I plan on a fast acting or food high on the glycemic scale would try to dose maybe 45 minutes (milkshake or other sweetened treat!) or earlier but tough to plan on a treat and just wait I guess so I do enjoy in less time than plan to correct.
      (NOTE: found most physicians prescribe a higher basal dose so levels drop slowly between meals making the need to eat or snack on a schedule of some kind necessary. The relieves the need for such accurate meal dosing (that generic 50/50 thought for basal/bolus?) although I have a ratio about 25-30% basal and have gone 7-8 hours through the day not eating. My meal dose and timing is kind of important?

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    19. Joindy23

      I’m on MDI rather than a pump, so whether I pre-bolus depends on what my current glucose number is and whether it’s steady, going up or going down. If it’s low & steady (around 90), I don’t pre-bolus because if I did I would go into a hypo. It’s a constant balancing act.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    20. Tanya Wolfe

      About 50% of the time.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply

    How often do you pre-bolus at least 5 minutes before eating? Cancel reply

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