Patient was educated on carbohydrate to insulin ratio as follows:
- In this method of insulin administration, a diabetic will take a certain set amount of insulin units for a certain amount of carbohydrates consumed during a meal.
- This ratio is determined by your physician. For example, if this ratio is 10:1, which means for every 10 grams of carbohydrates consumed during the meal, the diabetic will take 1 unit of insulin. So, if the patient consumes 50 grams of carbohydrate in the meal, 5 units of insulin should be taken as the dose for that meal time.
- The dose of insulin will change based on the amount of carbohydrates consumed on the meal.
- This method also involves a correction factor, which accounts for the blood sugar reading taken before the meal.
- Your doctor will determine what this correction factor will be. For example, your doctor might have recommended your goal on pre-meal blood sugar is 150 mg/dL, and 1 unit of insulin to be taken for every 30 mg/dL of blood sugar above 150. Check your blood sugar level before every meal. If the pre-meal blood sugar during lunch is 190 mg/dL, the patient will take 2 units of insulin as the correction.
- This method is very effective in controlling the post meal blood sugar levels, as this accounts for both carbohydrate being consumed on the meal and, the pre-meal blood sugar. But, this method needs lot of practice and discipline for patients to follow.
