Help with sugar roller coaster
- Thread starter ryan1990
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The 1u to 10g carb ratio isnt ok for everyone. My carb ratio at times is 1u to 8g carb. I just bg test to determine what my ratio needs to be. I am only a midget who is a size 10-12. Its all about getting the bolus correct for the bg levels you want to achieve and getting the basal to play ball nicely with the bolus.
Try a different ratio so that 2hrs later you are lower than 13.5mmol. What was your before meal bg?
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my bg before my meal this evening was 3.4 i took 3 units of insulin to combat the high after my dinner this evening and sadly hit 2.3 after this so had another reoccurrence of rollar coaster syndrome just wish i could get it right maybe i should take 8 units of levimir in the morning with my breakfast insulin and then 8 units of levimir in the evening ?
You've over corrected.......look at the 100 rule to determine your correction dose according to an average daily dose of insulin TDD so work out what your TDD is over days (7 days added up and divide by 7 to get average) and then divide the TDD into 100 to get a correction dose factor. Most people start with a basic correction factor of 1u bolus will lower bg by 3mmol and use that to begin with and adjust as they go along. Also, don't do any corrections using MDI until 3hrs after the meal bolus .
If you want to inject your levemir twice daily then its likely that you will need more levemir in the morning to get through the day and then less in the evening to get through the night but it's trial and error with bg testing and adjustments to get the basal ok with the bolus. If you feel up to it, can you skip breakfast and just inject the basal to get an idea of how the basal amount affects your bg levels? You could start with 10 u levemir and monitor and then adjust the next morning or phone up your dsn to get their input as they should know how to help you.
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robert72
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If you are going to split the Levemir, then start with lowering the evening dose first, then your BG won't be so low in the morning when you can take the second lowered dose. Checking your BG before bed and again when you wake will be a good indication of whether your evening Levemir dose needs adjusting. You overnight BG should not rise or drop by more than about 1.5mmol.
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ok i will try that out ahah once again i carbcounted this morning took 7 units of insulin to cover 50 g of carbs and low and behold its bloody high again 10.3 what is that such a pain in the ass just constantly feel **** and cramp all over like my body just cant go one day without having a high blood sugar reading
robert72
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You'll get there, but it will take a bit of work. You need to have the Levemir stable before you can work on the mealtime insulin.
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ok but in this time i am getting severe motor neuropathy sydromes and my foot drop is becoming worse and worse 
so dont know what im supposed to do every high i get i feel ashamed and frustrated let alone angry sometimes i just think **** diabetes
so dont know what im supposed to do every high i get i feel ashamed and frustrated let alone angry sometimes i just think **** diabetes
Mike d
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mentat
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You may find that a low-carb-high-fat diet will help you get your sugars under control. You should make such a change with the help of a medical professional, because it can cause significant changes to your insulin needs.
Two years ago I wasn't coping with life in general; switching to a low carb hi fat diet took a lot of pressure off me. It made diabetes management a LOT easier. About 6 months later I went back to a normal diet, but the "break" gave me a much-needed break from the difficulty of diabetes management. It helped me break out of the cycle of poor sugars --> poor moods --> emotional diabetes control --> poor sugars. Basically I needed a lot less insulin, which means that the accuracy of my insulin dosing was less important.
Different things work for everyone, of course, but I thought this was worth mentioning.
Two years ago I wasn't coping with life in general; switching to a low carb hi fat diet took a lot of pressure off me. It made diabetes management a LOT easier. About 6 months later I went back to a normal diet, but the "break" gave me a much-needed break from the difficulty of diabetes management. It helped me break out of the cycle of poor sugars --> poor moods --> emotional diabetes control --> poor sugars. Basically I needed a lot less insulin, which means that the accuracy of my insulin dosing was less important.
Different things work for everyone, of course, but I thought this was worth mentioning.
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I mean how common is foot drop in diabetes and is directly linked to just pn ? I don't have tingling or numbness just very stuff muscles and ache all over any light shined on this would help me greatly thank you
I do recommend cutting down on the carb that is eaten but dont bulk up with too much fat as it tends to make cholesterol levels rise. Instead substitute the spuds and chips for more veg like cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, frozen peas, runnerbeans and only eat biscuits to use to prevent the hypo feeling until you get your bolus better balanced with the basal. Less carb eaten causes less of a high spike afterwards and so less correction bolus is needed. Try sopping the sausages for wheat free ones in the supermarket as they are only about 2g carb per sausage instead of the 11g carb ones that you had. Sainsburys do them and Asda. Low carb rolls are now sold in Lidl on the bakery counter known as high protein and are a large triangle shape roll with seeds. Taste ok and can be warmed up in the microwave if need be to make them soft. Taste nice with some melted cheese on and are about 8g carb per roll.
What has your docs said about this foot drop?
They should be helping you use the bolus basal regime more safely and explain carb ratios to you and bg testing to determine the correct doses. If you balance your bg levels out a bit better slowly and surely, the nerve damage can get better and sometimes go completely. Have you been tested for any vitamin deficiency like B12 and D3? Are you using a statin as they can have side effects?
Dillinger
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@ryan1990 - you need to calm down and move on this in an ordered way. Stop over thinking everything.
Start with the basal testing that you have been shown and do that. Meanwhile use the 1:10 ratio for insulin to carbs and make sure you are counting your carbs properly. Weigh food and/or use food that clearly has the carb content shown.
Use the same meals if possible so that you can see what needs to change.
If you want to split Levimir then do it 50:50 so 8 units in the morning and 8 at night.
When do you normally take your Levemir? If at night start start then and go to 8, if you take it in the morning start then at 8. It will take a day or 2 to settle.
Once you've done the basal come back and tell us what happened. Then do the bolus ratio testing.
Basal first, then bolus, then reduce your carb content.
Take insulin to match what you eat do not eat to match your insulin.
One step at a time!
Dillinger
Start with the basal testing that you have been shown and do that. Meanwhile use the 1:10 ratio for insulin to carbs and make sure you are counting your carbs properly. Weigh food and/or use food that clearly has the carb content shown.
Use the same meals if possible so that you can see what needs to change.
If you want to split Levimir then do it 50:50 so 8 units in the morning and 8 at night.
When do you normally take your Levemir? If at night start start then and go to 8, if you take it in the morning start then at 8. It will take a day or 2 to settle.
Once you've done the basal come back and tell us what happened. Then do the bolus ratio testing.
Basal first, then bolus, then reduce your carb content.
Take insulin to match what you eat do not eat to match your insulin.
One step at a time!
Dillinger
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RuthW
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Before we know whether that was a good ratio or not, we need to know what your blood sugar was before you bolused, and also how long you waited between bolusing and eating. Did you test before the meal as well?
(It isn't a useless result to have, though. All records are good. With just a little more info, that will be interpretable. What we do know is that you haven't gone into a crashing hypo, so we are getting closer to your "target ratio."
On the carbs, 33+28=61, so that is more a 1:12 ratio, isn't it? 1:10 would have been 6 units. So if your blood sugar was between 4.0 and 6.0 before lunch, then I would try eating the same meal again tomorrow and taking 6 units. Then check your blood again. All info is good info, so all numbers are good when you are trying to find your insulin needs.
However, if your blood sugar was high before lunch, that (1:12) might be the right ratio but you needed a little bit more insulin as a "correction dose". So, again, it depends on the meter numbers. At this point you may be feeling cross with the figures but you are still doing the right thing to get where you want to be.
On the foot drop, and the aching, they are both possible side effects of your roller coaster. Foot drop would be nerve damage, but if you get your blood sugars under control, nerve damage can repair itself, as long as the roller coaster doesn't go on and on for months or years.
At this point, you may feel like all this is a lot of work and requires a lot of calculating, but you will be surprised how quickly it becomes second nature. In a few weeks you can have everything under control, then over a few months you learn to calculate for refinements in things like diet and exercise.
When I was starting to get a grip on my diabetes after I got a pump last year, I found Gary Scheiner's book Think Like a Pancreas very useful and encouraging. At the time I also had what looked to be foot drop - occasionally I would trip while walking and it seemed to me that my foot was 'dropping.' It has stopped now. But I went through all these stages of basal and bolus testing.
You probably won't believe this yet, but now that I have my diabetes under control, it feels more like a "game". I am just playing to get "the best numbers"! It used to depress me so much I could hardly think about it. I just tried to ignore it all the time. Since I got it under control, I am like a new person. My mood is really good, I have loads of energy, and I feel much more confident all the time. part of that is obviously chemical (blog sugar and the brain) and part of it that the disease is not beating me any more. Believe me, it's worth going through these efforts. It will improve your life massively.
(It isn't a useless result to have, though. All records are good. With just a little more info, that will be interpretable. What we do know is that you haven't gone into a crashing hypo, so we are getting closer to your "target ratio."
On the carbs, 33+28=61, so that is more a 1:12 ratio, isn't it? 1:10 would have been 6 units. So if your blood sugar was between 4.0 and 6.0 before lunch, then I would try eating the same meal again tomorrow and taking 6 units. Then check your blood again. All info is good info, so all numbers are good when you are trying to find your insulin needs.
However, if your blood sugar was high before lunch, that (1:12) might be the right ratio but you needed a little bit more insulin as a "correction dose". So, again, it depends on the meter numbers. At this point you may be feeling cross with the figures but you are still doing the right thing to get where you want to be.
On the foot drop, and the aching, they are both possible side effects of your roller coaster. Foot drop would be nerve damage, but if you get your blood sugars under control, nerve damage can repair itself, as long as the roller coaster doesn't go on and on for months or years.
At this point, you may feel like all this is a lot of work and requires a lot of calculating, but you will be surprised how quickly it becomes second nature. In a few weeks you can have everything under control, then over a few months you learn to calculate for refinements in things like diet and exercise.
When I was starting to get a grip on my diabetes after I got a pump last year, I found Gary Scheiner's book Think Like a Pancreas very useful and encouraging. At the time I also had what looked to be foot drop - occasionally I would trip while walking and it seemed to me that my foot was 'dropping.' It has stopped now. But I went through all these stages of basal and bolus testing.
You probably won't believe this yet, but now that I have my diabetes under control, it feels more like a "game". I am just playing to get "the best numbers"! It used to depress me so much I could hardly think about it. I just tried to ignore it all the time. Since I got it under control, I am like a new person. My mood is really good, I have loads of energy, and I feel much more confident all the time. part of that is obviously chemical (blog sugar and the brain) and part of it that the disease is not beating me any more. Believe me, it's worth going through these efforts. It will improve your life massively.
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RuthW
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Ryan, these kinds of spikes do indicate something is not great, but 10.3 is far from disastrous. it is very nearly there. But you need to take into account what it was before the bolus, and the timing of your insulin dose and meal. Ideally you should inject about fifteen minutes before the meal, if your blood sugar is normal, but leave it longer if it is high, shorter if it is low.
A lot of people need more insulin in the morning, not only you. With me it depends on what I do after breakfast. If I sit and read the paper my post-breakfast reading will be higher. If I get up and out of the house, it will be lower than that. There will be some variation. But what you are telling us is not so crazy. You are not getting readings of 17 to 25. That's where some people start.
Another thing to be careful of if you are on a roller coaster is "stacking" insulin doses - that is taking them within three or four hours of each other - that is a common cause of massive hypos.
So, if you are at 10 or 13 mmol two hours after eating, it is better NOT to take another jab. It is better to work it off with exercise.
Just walking will do it. This article tells you how:
http://diatribe.org/issues/51/adams-corner
Exercise also helps to reduce the inflammation caused by high blood sugars in your blood vessels and on your nerves, so it helps to protect you from complications. I have had diabetes for 48 years and no complications yet (or at least not permanent ones, so far touch wood).
If you do that you won't feel so helpless. But be careful! In fact, exercise can reduce your blood sugar so fast that you hypo, so carry carbs with you.
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LauraC27
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I feel like I'm going through the same thing! although I was only diagnosed in July.. I spend all day correcting my BG levels. when I feel like I've done it right.. I check and they are either too low or too High! seeing my diabetic nurse on Friday.. hopefully I'll come away feeling better about it all. right now I don't feel like I have a clue what I'm doing! how's things today? any better?
