Intensive insulin regimens attempt to mimic the body’s normal pattern of insulin secretion, and deliver replacement insulin using the concepts of basal and bolus insulin coverage.
When you are intensively managed with insulin your medical provider will prescribe an insulin regimen for you, but these are the general principles:
Your insulin regimen will include:
- A basal or background insulin dose
- A bolus insulin dose to cover the sugar or carbohydrate in your food
This will be presented as an insulin to carbohydrate ratio (I:CHO). The I:CHO tells you how many grams of carbohydrate can be covered by one unit of rapid acting insulin
- A high blood sugar correction bolus insulin dose to bring your blood sugar back into the target range. This will be presented as a correction factor. This correction factor refers to how much your blood sugar will drop after 1 unit of insulin rapid acting insulin.
