Whatever Insulin Plan I Use, Do I Have The Ability To Adjust Doses On My Own?

— -- Question:Whatever insulin plan I use, do I have the ability to adjust doses on my own?

Answer:This is a very important question and a place where I think many Americans sort of miss the point. The whole idea of measuring blood glucose levels at home is the fact that they have the ability to change the insulin dose when the blood sugar is either too high or, for that matter, too low. By the same token, if a larger meal is going to be eaten than usual, by changing the dose at home one has the ability to increase the insulin dose, even if it's for that one meal.

The whole point of this discussion is that it really takes the patient talking with his or her care provider to really decide how we are going to change insulin doses either for changes in blood sugar or changes in food consumption. And most patients, I think, would therefore benefit from talking to either a nurse or a nutritionist about how to do this best.

We have something in this country called Certified Diabetes Educators, or CDEs, who are specifically trained for this question. And I would highly encourage our viewers to talk to a CDE specifically about this question because that's what makes insulin therapy so much better now than prior to the use of home blood glucose monitoring.

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