What To Do When You Forget To Take Insulin Before A Meal

What To Do If You Forget To Take Insulin Before A Meal

Forgetting to take your insulin before eating is a common mistake that many people with diabetes make at some point. While it's not ideal, it is possible to manage your blood sugar levels if you catch the mistake early on. This article provides comprehensive information and tips on how to handle forgetting to take insulin before meals.

Causes of Forgetting Insulin

There are a few key reasons why you may accidentally forget to inject your insulin before eating (tag p):

• You get distracted and fail to follow your normal routine
• You are rushing to eat and overlook the insulin step
• You are eating at an unusual time or place
• You simply forget this critical step

Even the most diligent diabetes self-managers can accidentally forget at times. Understanding common causes can help you develop Backup strategies to avoid major blood sugar fluctuations.

What To Do Right After Forgetting

As soon as you realize you forgot to take insulin before your meal, follow these important steps (tag p):

1. Test your current blood sugar level to establish a baseline.
2. Estimate the carbohydrates in your meal and calculate how much insulin you need to cover it.
3. Inject the appropriate insulin dose right away, even though eating has already commenced or finished.
4. Consider injecting correction/supplemental insulin if blood sugar is over target range.

Taking quick action helps prevent severe post-meal blood sugar spikes. You can then resume your normal pre-meal insulin dosing at the next mealtime.

Oral Medications After Forgetting Insulin

If you take oral diabetes pills along with insulin, you may wonder whether to also take that medication after forgetting insulin (tag p). Here are some guidelines:

• If you take oral medication before meals, go ahead and take it as usual.
• If you take oral medication with meals, still take it as prescribed.
• Avoid taking extra doses of oral medications to lower blood sugar.

Let your rapid-acting insulin bring your post-meal blood sugar down rather than doubling up on other diabetes pills. Discuss any concerns with your healthcare provider.

How Long Insulin Takes To Work If Late

Rapid-acting mealtime insulin such as Novolog, Humalog, or Apidra generally starts lowering blood sugar 30 minutes after injection, with peak action in 60 to 90 minutes (tag p). However, when you administer these insulins after you start or finish eating, it may take longer to reach peak effectiveness since digestion is already underway.

Expect a longer timeframe closer to 2 to 3 hours for your blood sugar to start decreasing after late injection of rapid-acting insulins. The duration of action also extends longer. Monitor your blood sugar closely after delayed mealtime insulin to ensure adequate management.

Getting Back On Track at Next Meal

While forgetting insulin at one meal can certainly throw off your blood sugar temporarily, the good news is that you can likely get back on track at your very next meal (tag p). Here is what you should do:

1. Take your prescribed pre-meal insulin dose before you eat as normal.
2. Consider slightly adjusting this dose if your last reading was out of range.
3. Test blood sugar 1-2 hours after the meal to confirm you are back in range.
4. Resume your standard dosing schedule moving forward.

Dont let one slip-up derail all your hard work managing diabetes! Just follow corrective steps at the subsequent meal.

Avoiding Repeat Forgetting Episodes

While anyone can accidentally forget insulin on occasion, you want to minimize recurrence (tag p). Implement some of these proactive reminders and habits:

• Set cell phone alerts for mealtimes.
• Keep insulin visible on the table whenever food is served.
• Place sticky note reminders where you prepare meals.
• Establish a routine injection site at the table.
• Check your watch or phone before meals.
• Enlist family support for reminders.

Creating persistent cues and making pre-meal insulin a seamless habit reduces the risk you will forget this vital step.

Key Points for Forgotten Mealtime Insulin

Being told to "take your insulin" is standard advice that diabetes educators provide. However, realizing you already ate without injecting insulin is very common.

In summary, here are the most crucial things to remember (tag p):

• Test blood sugar when discovering the mistake.
• Take rapid-acting insulin immediately based on carbs consumed.
• Wait longer for insulin to take effect since food digestion already began.
• Learn from it - identify what made you forget so it happens less often.
• Get back on schedule with pre-meal dosing at the very next meal.

While skipping insulin before eating is never advised, following these steps limits blood sugar instability. You can get back on track!

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.