[dano]

Today I made a major mistake with my insulin dosage. Instead of taking my basal dosage of Levemir, I picked up the wrong pen and shot 60 units of Novolog. I knew that I had made a mistake as soon as I pulled the needle out, but it was too late.

I calculated the amount of food that I would need to eat and this equated to 480 carbs. I knew that I would not be able to eat that much so I called my doctor for advice. He recommended eating continuously for three to four hours. I survived this ordeal with breakfast and five donuts through out the morning. I did not take my normal basal dosage, I did not take any of the other meds that would help me use the insulin and I did not bolus for anything that I ate.

I knew that this would happen eventually, so I guess today was the day. Apparently this happens more than we might think according to my doctor.

In summary this can be survived by:

1 Keeping a Glucagon Emergency Kit handy in case you go too low
2 Checking your blood sugar at least every hour
3 Eating / "grazing" on food continuously for three to four hours

Always have someone with you that knows how to administer the Glucagon Emergency Kit or call for help and be ready to go to the ER if you can't keep your blood sugar up above 70 mg/dl.

The best advice that I can give you is to not let this happen. Always double check to make sure that you have picked up the correct insulin pen or vial. I know that they are color coded, mine was too, but I still made the mistake.