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High Blood Sugars

D

Darshan1504

Active Member
Messages
29
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello everyone!
I am a 16 year old suffering from type 1 diabetes. I have been taking 5 shots a day of lantus, actrapid and novo rapid. I have been preparing for my exams lately and I have to study for more than 12 hours everyday which leaves me absolutely no time for exercise except for the small workout I do every morning. So I have to take tremendous doses. I take 60 units of lantus (earlier I used to take it in two parts but nowadays I take it at once), 20 units of actrapid (X2) and 20 units of novorapid. My body is swollen due to these high doses and it hurts to give them as well. My doctor always tells me some temporary solution but nothing works for more than a month without severe side effects. I'm confused and under a lot of stress because of my exams. I don't feel like going to my doctor cause I'm afraid he'll give me some other temporary medicine. My before dinner sugars have reached as high as 353(today). I don't know what to do! Please help :'(
EDIT: I have irregular eating patterns because of my tuitions but I try to limit it as much as possible
 
ringi said:
What do you eat and drink?
What is your BMI?
Click to expand...
My BMI is 19.6
I have my breakfast at around 9 which is mostly poha(which is basically flattened rice) after that I have my lunch which is 3 rotis(Indian breads) with any vegetable that my mom makes and a bowl of rice with lentils(dal). This is often followed by curd. Now the evening snack is random. I have to eat outside so I don't have much choice here. I usually have like a wrap or something that's filling like instant noodles cause my classes are till 10 in the night. Once I come home I have the same pattern of food as for my lunch and then I go to bed after having a glass of milk.
I know this diet isn't healthy but that's what everyone in my family eats. I'm trying to change it slowly.
 
Darshan1504 said:
My BMI is 19.6
I have my breakfast at around 9 which is mostly poha(which is basically flattened rice) after that I have my lunch which is 3 rotis(Indian breads) with any vegetable that my mom makes and a bowl of rice with lentils(dal). This is often followed by curd. Now the evening snack is random. I have to eat outside so I don't have much choice here. I usually have like a wrap or something that's filling like instant noodles cause my classes are till 10 in the night. Once I come home I have the same pattern of food as for my lunch and then I go to bed after having a glass of milk.
I know this diet isn't healthy but that's what everyone in my family eats. I'm trying to change it slowly.
Click to expand...

Exam stress, or stress of any kind, can cause very high blood sugars that are hard to bring down. Your body does not absorb insulin as well when you are stressed, is resistant to insulin and your liver will release glucose at higher rates all causing your blood sugar to rise and making it difficult to bring down. As well, you are eating very high-carb meals (at least I think) that are making it even more difficult to obtain normal numbers. I think the first thing you need to do is see if your basal dose is correct. Read up on basal testing and try it. You said you used to split your dose but now take it all at once. Why? There are other basal insulins you could try that may work better for you, such as Levemir or Tresiba which both absorb more predictably than Lantus and Tresiba lasting much longer. Also, why do you use Actrapid? It has its uses but it's not a modern insulin. It might be a good idea to help with foods that digest slowly and/or protein that converts to glucose after eating, but is there a method to you using it or are you just injecting large amounts to compensate for your basal insulin not working?
 
Darshan1504 said:
My BMI is 19.6
I have my breakfast at around 9 which is mostly poha(which is basically flattened rice) after that I have my lunch which is 3 rotis(Indian breads) with any vegetable that my mom makes and a bowl of rice with lentils(dal). This is often followed by curd. Now the evening snack is random. I have to eat outside so I don't have much choice here. I usually have like a wrap or something that's filling like instant noodles cause my classes are till 10 in the night. Once I come home I have the same pattern of food as for my lunch and then I go to bed after having a glass of milk.
I know this diet isn't healthy but that's what everyone in my family eats. I'm trying to change it slowly.
Click to expand...

Just to add to what I said, eating is more important than exercise as a type 1, unless you are getting so much exercise that you can basically eat whatever you want without going high. Rice and bread are probably 2 of the hardest meals to eat as a diabetic, no matter how well-controlled you are; it is even harder when stressed. Insulin really doesn't work fast enough to match the digestion profile of these foods, and it's hard not to end up with high blood sugars after eating them. Noodles are hard too as they digest for hours after eating them. Milk has lots of sugar and will raise your blood sugar, so if you are drinking it before bed you will wake up with high blood sugar.
 
scotteric said:
Exam stress, or stress of any kind, can cause very high blood sugars that are hard to bring down. Your body does not absorb insulin as well when you are stressed, is resistant to insulin and your liver will release glucose at higher rates all causing your blood sugar to rise and making it difficult to bring down. As well, you are eating very high-carb meals (at least I think) that are making it even more difficult to obtain normal numbers. I think the first thing you need to do is see if your basal dose is correct. Read up on basal testing and try it. You said you used to split your dose but now take it all at once. Why? There are other basal insulins you could try that may work better for you, such as Levemir or Tresiba which both absorb more predictably than Lantus and Tresiba lasting much longer. Also, why do you use Actrapid? It has its uses but it's not a modern insulin. It might be a good idea to help with foods that digest slowly and/or protein that converts to glucose after eating, but is there a method to you using it or are you just injecting large amounts to compensate for your basal insulin not working?
Click to expand...
I started splitting my dose because my body has started to swell up. It isn't accepting insulin. I have tried switching sites but it doesn't work. The insulin comes out of the injection site after I take it and it's really painful because of the swelling. My doc had started this tablet called forxiga and had brought my lantus dose down to 50. He told me that I could take 50 at a time but then the pill came with it's side effects and I switched back to the 60 dose without splitting. It still comes out but considerably less. I'll get back to splitting from tomorrow then.
Do you suggest increasing my lantus dose further?
 
Darshan1504 said:
I started splitting my dose because my body has started to swell up. It isn't accepting insulin. I have tried switching sites but it doesn't work. The insulin comes out of the injection site after I take it and it's really painful because of the swelling. My doc had started this tablet called forxiga and had brought my lantus dose down to 50. He told me that I could take 50 at a time but then the pill came with it's side effects and I switched back to the 60 dose without splitting. It still comes out but considerably less. I'll get back to splitting from tomorrow then.
Do you suggest increasing my lantus dose further?
Click to expand...

I can't make any recommendations about dosing since I'm not a doctor. I think the most important thing you can do is change your diet quickly. Have you read anything from Dr. Richard Bernstein or watched his YouTube videos? I'm not a follower of his as I think he can be extreme, but I think he makes some good points and his advice might be helpful for those who are really struggling. The big take-away from him is the law of small numbers - eat less carbs so that you take less insulin and things will work out better. I think your diet is requiring you to take massive amounts of insulin to cover not only rapid sugar spikes, but constantly digesting food. What I would do is try to eat small meals of things with small amounts of carbs that don't digest later so that you can figure out what your carb ratios are and what basal dose will keep you steady between meals. I would stay away from things like rice, bread, roti, noodles, milk, anything that will spike you too fast or digest slowly after that. That's just my opinion though, I can't give medical advice obviously and I could be wrong, but that's what I would try if I was in your shoes.
 
Hi, i think the main problem here is stress you having because of the upcoming exams. I recommend try to relax a bit and try something like listening to music, talk to someone, or just try yoga.It pointless to study so hard and then you fell sick the the exam day.Take care of yourself and remember stress cause us to over eat, it also cause the liver to produce more glocuse, and the body will become more insulin resistance.All this will raise our bs skyhigh and injecting more insulin is not a good solution. The hard parts is sometimes just handling our diabetes already cause stress:arghh:.
 
Darshan1504 said:
I started splitting my dose because my body has started to swell up. It isn't accepting insulin. I have tried switching sites but it doesn't work. The insulin comes out of the injection site after I take it and it's really painful because of the swelling. My doc had started this tablet called forxiga and had brought my lantus dose down to 50. He told me that I could take 50 at a time but then the pill came with it's side effects and I switched back to the 60 dose without splitting. It still comes out but considerably less. I'll get back to splitting from tomorrow then.
Do you suggest increasing my lantus dose further?
Click to expand...

Also, I can tell you from my own experience that when I am stressed I try to eat as few carbs as possible or I will run into problems. I'm a criminal lawyer and when I'm in court for a serious case I might just have eggs for breakfast with no toast and a soup with no noodles or something else very low-carb to no-carb for lunch. I just find when I'm stressed shots do almost nothing and I will spike after everything, so it isn't worth it. If you are really stressed right now this could be a big part of your problem.
 
Has your doc spoken to you about Matformin?

I think you, may have both Type1 and Type2 (otherwise call inslin resistance). The very high intake of carbs is making your insulin resistance much worse, as well as making it much harder to get your insulin dose correct.

As I don't know what food you have access to or where you live, I can't make any positive surjections on what you eat.
 
Gabrielle_Tai said:
Hi, i think the main problem here is stress you having because of the upcoming exams. I recommend try to relax a bit and try something like listening to music, talk to someone, or just try yoga.It pointless to study so hard and then you fell sick the the exam day.Take care of yourself and remember stress cause us to over eat, it also cause the liver to produce more glocuse, and the body will become more insulin resistance.All this will raise our bs skyhigh and injecting more insulin is not a good solution. The hard parts is sometimes just handling our diabetes already cause stress:arghh:.
Click to expand...
If only that were so easy to handle. It really gets out of hand. Not studying is not an option right now. The rest of my life depends on this exam that's coming in less than 4 months
 
ringi said:
Has your doc spoken to you about Matformin?

I think you ,may have both Type1 and Type2 (otherwise call inslin resistance). The very high intake of carbs is making your insulin resistance much worse, as well as making it much harder to get your insulin dose correct.

As I don't know what food you have access to or where you live, I can't make any positive surjections on what you eat.
Click to expand...
I have read about it and I have told this to my mother too. But the only treatment that I could find for this online was to exercise which I am incapable of doing at the moment
 
scotteric said:
I can't make any recommendations about dosing since I'm not a doctor. I think the most important thing you can do is change your diet quickly. Have you read anything from Dr. Richard Bernstein or watched his YouTube videos? I'm not a follower of his as I think he can be extreme, but I think he makes some good points and his advice might be helpful for those who are really struggling. The big take-away from him is the law of small numbers - eat less carbs so that you take less insulin and things will work out better. I think your diet is requiring you to take massive amounts of insulin to cover not only rapid sugar spikes, but constantly digesting food. What I would do is try to eat small meals of things with small amounts of carbs that don't digest later so that you can figure out what your carb ratios are and what basal dose will keep you steady between meals. I would stay away from things like rice, bread, roti, noodles, milk, anything that will spike you too fast or digest slowly after that. That's just my opinion though, I can't give medical advice obviously and I could be wrong, but that's what I would try if I was in your shoes.
Click to expand...
I will try to get my carbs as low as possible. It'd be great if you could share your diet ^_^
 
Darshan1504 said:
I have read about it and I have told this to my mother too. But the only treatment that I could find for this online was to exercise which I am incapable of doing at the moment
Click to expand...

Changing your diet is more important than exercise at this point. Again, check out what Dr. Bernstein says: http://www.diabetes-book.com. I'm not a follower of this doctor and I don't agree with everything he says, but I think he is right about a lot of things and definitely don't think he is a quack. The less carbs you eat, the less insulin you will need, the less of a rollercoaster you will be on and the easier this thing will be to control.
 
Darshan1504 said:
If only that were so easy to handle. It really gets out of hand. Not studying is not an option right now. The rest of my life depends on this exam that's coming in less than 4 months
Click to expand...
Well the next best way is try to control your carbs intake and if can try to get an insulin pump.I heard insulin pumps do help a lot for people that have hard times with bs control. Sadly this is part of life for us type 1 and sometimes i do wish people are more understanding of us.
 
scotteric said:
Changing your diet is more important than exercise at this point. Again, check out what Dr. Bernstein says: http://www.diabetes-book.com. I'm not a follower of this doctor and I don't agree with everything he says, but I think he is right about a lot of things and definitely don't think he is a quack. The less carbs you eat, the less insulin you will need, the less of a rollercoaster you will be on and the easier this thing will be to control.
Click to expand...
Yes I understand what you're trying to say. I'll give it a look
 
Gabrielle_Tai said:
Well the next best way is try to control your carbs intake and if can try to get an insulin pump.I heard insulin pumps do help a lot for people that have hard times with bs control. Sadly this is part of life for us type 1 and sometimes i do wish people are more understanding of us.
Click to expand...
We have thought about insulin pumps but we don't want to jump to it at the moment. If it doesn't work out then it might make my routine even worse
 
Darshan1504 said:
I will try to get my carbs as low as possible. It'd be great if you could share your diet ^_^
Click to expand...

I don't follow a particular diet but there are things I avoid entirely: regular soft drinks, fruit juices, cereal, milk and most fruit. I try to limit my rice and bread intake but I'm not perfect at that. Mostly I try to eat things I am familiar with and know how they will affect my blood sugar if I eat them. I'm most consistent with breakfast where I eat eggs with cheese, vegetables in a whole wheat wrap most mornings. I'm not perfect but try to follow common sense advice and run into less problems.
 
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