March 25, 2006
Insulin
Question from Nacogdoches, Texas, USA:
When correcting for a high blood sugar, does a larger dose of insulin cause a faster drop in blood sugar? For example, if one unit causes a 50 mg/dl [2.8 mmol/L] drop in blood sugar, but the person wants a faster drop, could they take two units instead? Sometimes, when my son is high, he will intentionally over-inject even knowing that it will drop him low in the long run.
Answer:
When having a high blood sugar, you typically should take enough insulin to correct the high within one to two hours. If you take too much insulin, you will be low in a few hours (or less than that sometimes). Taking too much insulin, especially intentionally, is a bad idea as there can be severe problems with low blood sugars, some requiring treatment by an ambulance or in a hospital.
Please encourage your son to dose his insulin appropriately to take care of his highs and to avoid lows when possible.
MSB
