The main goal in designing an insulin regimen is to mimic how the body normally releases insulin. When you have Type 1 Diabetes, Intensive Insulin Therapy most closely mimics natural insulin production and is the standard method of insulin replacement.

For Intensive Regimens:
When you are intensively managed with insulin your medical provider will prescribe an insulin regimen for you, but these are the general principles: Your medical provider should prescribe:- A basal or background insulin dose. This will be prescribed as one or two injections of long acting insulin, or, if you are using an insulin pump, a daily infusion rate of continuous, small amounts of rapid acting insulin. The background/basal insulin dose is usually the same day to day. With an insulin pump automated systems will adjust the insulin rate up or down according to the blood glucose trends observed on the connected continuous glucose monitor.
- A bolus insulin dose to cover the sugar or carbohydrate in your food. This will be presented as an insulin to carbohydrate ratio (I:C). The I:C ratio tells you how many grams of carbohydrate can be covered by one unit of rapid acting insulin. You will need to calculate how much carbohydrate you will eat, and take a dose of insulin that matches the food.
- A bolus insulin dose to bring your blood glucose back to the normal range. A high blood glucose correction insulin dose (bolus) to bring your blood glucose back into the target range. This will be presented as a correction factor or insulin sensitivity factor (ISF). This correction factor or ISF refers to how much your blood glucose will drop after 1 unit of insulin rapid acting insulin. When your blood glucose is too high, you will need to calculate how much your blood glucose is over the target, and, based on the correction factor, take the dose of insulin that will bring you down into the desired range.
- Long-acting insulin (glargine/degludec/NPH) once or twice a day with rapid acting insulin (aspart, glulisine, lispro) before meals and as need to correct high blood glucose .
- Rapid acting insulin (aspart, glulisine, lispro) delivered via an insulin pump.