26 Comments
If you (or your loved one) lived with T1D as a child, at what age did you start calculating your own insulin doses without help from an adult?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
© 2023 T1D Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
I was diagnosed at age 15 and calculated my own doses from the start.
I was diagnosed at age 7 in 1989. At the time I took a mixture of Novolin N and Novolin R twice a day, took BG readings with chemstrips twice a day and ate every 2 hours to prevent lows.
I learned to give myself injections at diabetes camp 2 years later. My mom and I would discuss: if I am low 2 days in a row at the same time to decrease insulin and if high 3 days in a row to increase insulin. I started making my own adjustments without talking to my mom around age 10-11, maybe.
I started Humalog on a sliding scale (the amount I took depended on my BG reading, not carb count) at mealtimes (continuing Novolin N) when I switched to an adult endocrinologist around age 18.
I wish I was given that sort of practical information. But, sadly I wasn’t really taught what to do and didn’t figure out how to adjust my own properly until I was in my early 20s.
At age 11 I mistakenly thought raising my insulin dose without tell anyone was a good idea only to have crazy lows later… I got banned from doing that (and scared of too) and didn’t start taking an active roll until I was an older teen.
Calculation was straight forward arithmetic – measure out 12 units of regular (always first). Then add 32 units of NPH (not particularly helpful).
I was 5 or six years old. And I don’t even think I learned how to count until the first grade. But kids can learn to do anything.
PS. Now I use control IQ and still get the #*%$ arithmetic wrong, in spite of the best algorithmic intentions. (.︡⚈ ︵⚈︠.)
It was so long ago I don’t remember.
There was ZERO calculations then because insulin dosages never varied it was the identical amount of bovine/porcine regular & NPH, one time a day period.
The sole variation was when/if we were sick or had too many lows, only then did it change a couple units.
Daily adjustment never happened!
I absolutely echo that !! Things have altered considerably over the years resulting in much better control…… T1 since early 50’s
I used a sliding scale at age 12 after doing the urine test, but just adding a unit or 2 of Regular if sugar was 5+.
Like other long-termers have mentioned, there was no “calculating your own insulin doses” involved when I was a child, there were set dosages, 2 per day in my case. My 1950s dosages were likely adjusted each summer at Clara Barton Birthplace Camp — and told my parents, who then told me so I would know how much insulin to take, as I remember.
I was 17 when Dx’d so I started right away. Besides putting x in is not much of a calculation.
As other long timer’s have said there wasn’t much to adjust, unless I was low or high for several day’s in a row. After my first year at Camp I learned about sliding scale dosing. My endocrinologist was the medical director, so at my first visit after that I took charge of my dosing. If I had questions I could call my CDE or ask my parent’s. Diagnosed in 1982 at age 11, started on R and NPH.
When I was diagnosed in 1966 the doctor set my dosing. Changes were made 1x each week after a fasting blood glucose test. I do not remember when I started dosing my self. Without a meter things were tough, got my first meter in 1982.
It was a totally different world in the 1950’s. There wasn’t any carb counting or insulin adjustment on a per meal or daily basis. When dx at 8 my doctor prescribed one AM injection of beef/pork insulin daily. I ate a very small variation of the same food in proportions determined by the ADA Exchange diet EVERY day. I was still using a predetermined, set amount of insulin as a 16 year old, although my diet and activities had definitely changed. I no longer remember exactly when I started using a sliding scale to determine the amount of insulin to take.
I was diagnosed in 1960 and, like almost everyone else, was on a fixed dose of Lente until I got my first (clunky) glucometer in the early 1980s. Then I learned how to use regular to supplement at mealtimes.
As another long timer, diagnosed in 1961, I did what the doctor told me to which was one shot a day . My mother worked in a medical clinic so I was able to get them to draw blood and check my glucose level every 3 months then adjust my insulin dosage at that time.
There was no calculating when I was 12 and was diagnosed with T1D. You just took the same long acting amount everyday. I think I do remember taking short acting if the urine test showed I was too high.
My daughter is only 7 still. Occasionally, I will have her put her carbs in her phone and then the dose is calculated for her but I still always check to make sure she put in the amount right.
I’m in the Long Timers Club where insulin was a fixed amount, no calculations, and I ate around my insulin. Was on one shot a day (beef & pork insulins… NPH and regular) until I think 1996. 1996 was when I got my first endo who, basically, saved my life! 🙂
I grew up in the Nph/regular days. There was no calculating. I didn’t start dosing via calculations until I was an adult in my 30’s.
Diagnosed with T1d at 21 and always have been on sliding scale for dosing
I had just turned 16 at diagnosis, and was responsible for my own insulin administration from the beginning. It was also at a time (talking about over 45 years ago) when doctors basically dictated your dosing and you just did as told.
Totally different today with the advent of insulin pumps, and the ability to make adjustments as necessary. (As soon as I started with a pump I have taken care of adjusting insulin doses, both bolus and basal. Guessing, if this technology had been available when I was first diagnosed, I would have been able to start making adjustments as soon as I had lived with the condition long enough and became familiar with what needed to be done to improve control.)
As a child, all insulin dosages were prescribed by the doctor. (1966) Nothing was calculated by the user. If urine glucose was 1+ or more, an exact sliding scale was prescribed, not a mealtime calculation. It’s a wonder so many of us survived and have done well.
Diagnosed at age 15 – dosing on my own since day one.
Diagnosed in 1959 at 15. Two days high urine, increase by this much. Two days low, decrease by this much. Doctor later advised on how to adjust NPH and diet for M, W, F afternoon weightlifting at home. Exc. endocrinologist thanks to my mom. Later I followed Dr. Skyler’s sliding scales when they were published. There used to be medical establishment hostility toward “European” tighter bg control. It was better to spill a little urine sugar occasionally (180 mg/dL) (faintest green on yellow Testape for urine). Even today, my doctors don’t want me to be in normal bg range. “Risk of falling, especially at your age.” Some T1ds themselves don’t want such tight control as I do and that’s OK. Keeping perfectly normal bg when you start swimming laps or doing interval training for 40’ on the elliptical? Even with a pump, is that possible? I guess athletes and Olympic competitors must have very detailed lengthy guidelines.
Not until I was 18-20 yrs old. From age 6-13 I was under the care of a pediatrician that knew nothing about diabetes so he never changed my dosage all those years. The Internal Medicine physician from age 13 – 20 thought only he knew about diabetes and I didn’t know my own body. Eventually, at age 20 I changed to an Endo that specializes in T1D and have been adjusting my own dosages ever since.