Total Daily Dose (TDD)

Total Daily Dose (TDD) is the total amount of insulin a person uses in a typical day. It is the sum of two things:

• Bolus insulin — all the fast- or rapid-acting insulin taken before meals and to correct high blood sugars.
• Basal insulin — the long-acting (background) insulin, such as that taken once or twice a day, or delivered steadily by a pump.

TDD = total bolus insulin + total basal insulin over one day.

What does TDD stand for? In diabetes care, “TDD” is short for Total Daily Dose of insulin. You may also see it written as TDD of insulin or total daily insulin dose.

Why TDD matters

Your TDD is a starting point for working out other insulin settings, and it’s a number many diabetes care teams refer to. A person’s TDD can change over time with weight, activity, illness, hormones, and other factors, so it’s worth reviewing periodically rather than treating it as fixed.

How to work out your TDD

Add up every unit of insulin you take in a representative day:

1. Add all your mealtime (bolus) doses.
2. Add any correction doses used to bring down high readings.
3. Add your basal (long-acting) insulin.

Example: someone takes 5 units before each of three meals (15 units), plus 15 units of long-acting insulin at bedtime — a TDD of about 30 units. If that same person also needs, say, 8 to 12 extra correction units on most days, some of that will usually be factored into an updated TDD.

Because insulin needs vary day to day, many people look at an average over several days (for example, the last 7 days) rather than a single day.

How can Jade Help?

Jade can help you determine your Total Daily Dose over the last 7 days using the helper on the insulin sensitivity/correction ratio screen and carb ratio screens.

You can also find your TDD of basal insulins only on the basal rate screen.