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If you drink coffee, do you bolus for the coffee itself (not any of the additional cream/sugar)? Share your tips for how to bolus for coffee in the comments!
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Coffee with caffeine raises BG due to an increase in liver glucose production, even if black. I see it every day. It varies from person to person and depends on a lot of factors. I think of it as a carb equivalent- a non-carbohydrate that raises BG levels…
I’ve heard the coffee effect is significant some, but have observed an obvious effect on my BGs. I don’t bolus for it. Most work days I have multiple cups of coffee with heavy cream until I finally get a break in meetings to have “breakfast.” My bigger challenge on the morning: Rapid BG rise when I disconnect my pump to shower. I bolus for 10g before getting in the shower to combat this.
If numbers are low I use creamer, sugar free, and if they are higher, I forget the creamer. I never bolus for coffee at all, and use 1/2 package of Splenda or Stevia
I do not need to bolus for the coffee, but I did a survey a year or so ago, and about 60% of those surveyed needed to bolus for black coffee.
I bolus only for coffee first ting in the morning. I take 1 unit if I am at a bg of 110. More or less depending on my morning blood glucose reading. Black coffee in the morning can raise my blood sugar by 40 or more.
I have to take 1 unit for my morning coffee. Which is 15 carb equivalent for me.. But do not see same effect if I drink coffee later in day. Thought it was dawn phenomenon until I tried to quit drinking coffee for a while and quit experiencing the rise.
Interesting. I use a small amount of milk with my coffee and never bolus and never have had an issue with BG rising due to coffee. As carbs are very low I have never had a problem but interesting to see that black coffee can increase BG on its own.
Coffee is the only explanation I have for the fact that my BG rises 50-60 points in the morning as I do not eat until later. I get up at 6:30 and do not eat until 9 or 10 am. Depending on my morning BG, I take one to two units of insulin to counter the coffee’s effect.
Very interesting comments. I have weird morning readings a lot. Seems like if I get up around 100 or lower, my glucose always goes up. If I get up too high, say around 140, my glucose tends to do down. This is with no bolus or eating, only black coffee. I just figured it was normal diabetes weirdness. Or my liver trying to make up for not eating breakfast right off. Maybe it’s the coffee, but even that doesn’t explain the mornings that it goes down.
I drink black coffee off and on during the day – no bolus needed. However I do have feet on the floor effect that bounces me 20-25 points that requires a unit or so of rapid acting.
The only thing I have in my Coffee is Extra Caffeine and hadn’t noticed any Bg issues other than the usual Dawn Phenomenon I’ve dealt with for 57 years. Using CIQ so maybe I’ll check records in there but I doubt it.
My previous Endo advised me that coffee has a goofy effect on some people. I don’t drink black coffee because I love the sugar free flavored creamers. I only drink coffee in the mornings, and I drink two to three large cups (about five to six cups according to the coffee pot). My I:C ratio is pretty high, 1 to 6 carbs in the am, and with the creamer I take about 2.5 units extended over 1.5 hours (with an average glucose level of 100).
At least 1 unit for a cup of coffee, even if I’m having nothing else. Time of day doesn’t seem to be a factor, it always raises my sugars.
Only when I’m at work. My blood sugar tends to slowly rise while sipping coffee and working behind a desk. Just a unit or two keeps me in range. If I’m home moving around it’s not necessary.
This was a super interesting question to me as I never knew some people were affected by black coffee! I never have been (luckily!), and I’ve been experiencing what I call a revise dawn phenomenon for years. My basal rate is substantially lower from 5:00-7:00 AM than any other time. All of that to say, no, no bolus for the coffee itself.
Before I get out of bed every morning, I bolus for coffee with sugar free creamer. I have dawn phenomena and “feet on the floor” BG issues and that covers it all perfectly.
I just started to bolus this week, after noticing a spike in my Loop carb absorption screen. I only use 5g carb … it is dependent on what my current bg is. If I’m under 120, it doesn’t bolus.
I drink tea, usually mid-morning and I do not see this phenomenon. This is very interesting. Thank you for the eye opening question.
For decades since DX I’ve bolused for my a.m. coffee (Splenda and light cream, no carbs) as 32 grams of carb. Which works but I’m not sure why. Except some years ago someone told me about a thing called “feet on the ground,” which is kind of like Dawn Phenomenon but kicks in after you get up and persists for an hour or so. So it may be that it’s actually that that I’m blousing for, maybe kicked up a bit by the effect of caffeine. But hey, it works.
Everything you wrote is exactly how it is for me, even the way I take my coffee.
I drink half caffeine coffee. My basal is set for dawn effect starting gradually from 3 am to 7:30 am with increased basal. I bolus .5 units for half caffeinated coffee and may bolus another .5 if the trend continues up after FOF. Unfortunately it is not always the same. But my BS will do from 90 or 100 to 130 and higher if I don’t intervene. This is with my black coffee alone. If I go out for a walk with my dog I will skip the second .5 dose.
I quit drinking coffee about 5 years ago because 1. It was too acidic for me and 2. I had to bolus 3 units to cover it, (2 shots of espresso), and this was decaf.
Yes, I bolus for three grams. For reasons unknown, there are times this seems a little too much… or not quite enough. So it goes.
Depends on the time of day, bG, and IOB. But, yes, I do on occasion bolus for coffee.
I said “Other” since I bolus for the small amount (1-2 teaspoons) of milk I add to my coffee each morning to prevent my blood sugar spiking by 60-80 points if I don’t bolus, dawn phenomenon is my assumption.
Coffee is always black, nothing added and I have never had issues with my coffee consumption. Even when I was a manager for Starbucks for many years, I never took insulin for my black coffee. Of course I had to for fancy espresso drinks but not my favorite black coffee.
I drink international coffee, sugar free decaffeinated because caffeine gives me headaches. But the interesting part is it had 5 grams of carbs years ago. The company took it off the market and put it back on with zero carbs. I wish every company with a sugar free statement on their labels would do the same! Kudos to them.
Interesting to learn even black coffee may impact some. I always drink coffee black with no influence on my blood sugar.
Black coffee raises my sugars like crazy! I have to bolus with 25 carbs every morning for my one cup of coffee.
I usually drink 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day with a splash of regular milk: 1 cup in the early AM with breakfast and 1 cup later in the day with or w/o food – depends on my scheduled agenda for the day. I take 1 or 1.5 u to cover the coffee excursion.
i was told by the diabetic education to program 10 units of carbs due to coffee increasing blood sugar
I use to bolus for coffee because I use cream the found out when I did 30min later I would be really low .so I had to stop bolusing for coffee yes I would go up 40-60points and then come down just as quick
Seeing the comments realizing why my adjustments for the milk in coffee and tea were insufficient especially the giant iced coffee.
The prejudice of people…..I am a tea drinker!! (This is humor people…)
I don’t bolus for the tea but I do bolus for the combination of stevia, KITU super creamer, cream, and premier protein vanilla I put in there. ADD nutmeg and cinnamon on top. (and that is my fill of chemicals for the day.)
I am finding lately that I have to give myself coverage for 15 units of carbs. Each one has just a small amount of carbs, but combined, they can throw me up fairly quickly.
Coffee doesn’t affect my BG
I bolus for coffee 1.5 units for 14oz of coffee. I’m never sure if it is Dawn phenomenon or for the coffee.