Insulin Adjustment

With regular blood glucose testing you should be building a better picture of how everyday life affects your child's blood glucose. If the glucose level is consistently high or low at certain times of the day, you may be able to adjust the insulin dose to correct the situation.

Different insulin regimes

There are lots of different insulins and many insulin regimens. They can vary from long-acting insulin injected just once a day (often by people with type 2 diabetes who take tablets during the day too) to very short-acting insulin that is injected at every mealtime coupled with a longer acting injection twice a day or at night.

To know which insulin you should adjust to correct your child's levels you need to find out more information about the particular regimen that your child is taking. The nurse or doctor at your clinic will be able to give you this information.

When adjusting your child's insulin dose

Although exactly how to adjust the dose depends upon which insulins your child is using, there are some general rules which could help:

• First, check with your diabetes team
• One step at a time
  Don't change lots of things all at once - you will never work out what it going on! So, as a general rule, only change the dose of one insulin at one time of day and then give it a few days of regular testing to see what happens. If the levels haven't improved enough then try another adjustment
• Little by little
  Don't make large changes in the dose; it is safer to make these changes little by little
• Don't 'chase the sugars'
  If your child's blood glucose levels are high or low at a particular time of day, remember it is the previous insulin injection which is responsible, not the one he or she going to take next. So you need to wait until the next day before making changes
• Ask for help!
  The staff at your clinic have a lot of experience of insulin dose adjustment. If, in spite of regular testing, you cannot sort your child's levels out then give them a call. There is a lot they can do to help