She eats but still hungry give more insulin for more food

Sometimes our daughter is still hungry after we have accounted for her meal. Her doctor said it was safe to give more insulin for whatever else she might want to eat but we have done that and her sugar drops really low. Is that considered stacking? Or something else?

Hi Mikey @Spiderrowdy, it could be just plain “stacking” but the real answer to the cause might be something deeper.

You do not mention how you calculate the “some more insulin”; how valid your carb.:insulin ratios may be; sensitivity factors; active insulin in her system at the time additional insulin is given. A possible action you could use, is to record your daughter’s BGL just before beginning the meal and monitor closely the carbohydrates that she eats, and after she is feeling satisfied and finished eating, calculate insulin based on her BEFORE meal BGL, and before meal active insulin.

The downfall of insulin administration until after she has finished her meal, is that the normal and expected glucose rise that follows eating, might be significantly larger than expected. But, if you have properly calculated her insulin dose, and her insulin:carb. ration is correct, her BGL should level out in about four hours - if she is using rapid-acting insulin such as Humalog or Novolog.

If you are sure you are counting the carbs correctly it may be that her carb ratio needs to be adjusted, starting with the food she already ate. It’s not unusual to need to change ratios from time to time so keep logs of her food, insulin, etc. for her doctor to consider.

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Thanks for the info @wadawabbit& @Dennis. We are still trying to figure out the correct carb ratio for her. The doctors are giving us help plus letting us try on our own. This disease is still new and scary for us sometimes especially the lows. We almost lost her when she was diagnosed b/c we had no idea she was diabetic.

I know it’s scary. If you don’t mind my asking, how old is she and how long has she been diagnosed?
When it comes to self adjustments, make them gradually. I’d been on a pump for a while and thought it was great to be able to tweak my basal rates when needed. We had everything set pretty well but I started getting lots of lows during the same timeframe every day so I decided to adjust, but didn’t get guidance from my doctor even though I was just starting out (!). I went down by a full unit and went high as a kite! I’ve found that even a tenth of a unit can make a big difference so don’t be too aggressive. It’s usually good to keep the new rate in place for a few days before adjusting further - unless she’s still having trouble with dangerous lows.
There are some result good tracking apps to check out - I use Mynetdiary myself. It has a huge database of foods and you can add in your own so you can track masks and snacks. And of course you can log blood sugars as well as exercise and health items.
[EDITED FROM EARLIER - I didn’t have a chance to proof before posting and just discovered the creativity of my swype keyboard :tired_face:]

Mikey @Spiderrowdy, your daughter’s doctor is very wise suggesting that you tweak insulin dose, under guidance, early on in “learning diabetes”. Diabetes is a life-long condition which requires self-management skills regarding insulin dosing; the earlier learned, the better. My Tip, always be conservative and use a lower dose when in doubt; it is easier to take a little more insulin a few hours later, than to get out of a “low” - once insulin is injected, it can’t be withdrawn.

Stay in touch during your long-learning time and certainly ask her doctor, and other’s here if you need assistance understanding the processes; I, like others here, will willingly share with you what I have learned during my 60+ years living with insulin dosing.

She’s almost 8. Thank you @wadawabbit for the info.

Hunger after eating can happen when we: eat too fast (seek 20 minutes per eating session), fail to chew thoroughly (the 20 chews seems excessive, but it allows the amylase in our saliva to begin the digestion process) do multiple distracting things while eating, we see, notice or find something craved soon after finishing a meal…
When I was working, in a retail environment, I had to bolus after finishing my meals as often patrons needed my help. My noon lunch was often not finished until an hour or more later. Running high a few hours after starting my lunch was far better than collapsing due to insulin taken early having nothing to metabolize except the glucose reserve in my brain. Hence I take blouses immediately after eating, except breakfast which is eaten in a calm environment.