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Confused as I’m high all week

T

TypeZero.

Well-Known Member
For some reason I’ve been high lately in the last week starting last weekend.

Last week I was using about 14 Units of Lantus and now I’m currently using 18 units of Lantus which may be increased further. I’m not sure what’s causing the rapid 25-30% increase in my basal, any ideas?

I do not feel ill, nothing has changed in my life - same amount of physical activity, diet is same, no extra stress or anything, sleep is around the same give or take an hour.

I go to work and there are thermal imaging cameras so I don’t have a temperature as it would’ve been flagged and I also am not experiencing any coughs so it definitely can’t be the coronavirus I’m just so confused.

There are a lot of random spikes like I sit down with a 6 and in 1-2 hours it becomes 9.5 but there isn’t a general pattern this just happens spontaneously. The only pattern I am seeing it no matter what my sleeping blood sugar is I always wake up on a 10 or maybe slightly more - I’m wondering whether I’ve increased my basal too much then? But surely if my basal was too much I would wake up on the lower end? I know a rebound will occur but if your insulin is too much it will dampen down the rebound right??

Example: slept on 5.8 last night and woke up on 10.6

Very very very mild nausea that comes and goes 2-3 times a day so I checked my ketones and it was a big fat 0.0 so I’m definitely not in DKA
 
TypeZero. said:
... Last week I was using about 14 Units of Lantus and now I’m currently using 18 units of Lantus which may be increased further. I’m not sure what’s causing the rapid 25-30% increase in my basal, any ideas?...
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Wait a while and see what happens. It could be temporary, but it could also be permanent. The honeymoon period eventually wears off. 18 units is not a lot basal for an adult male.
 
kaylz91 said:
Have you tried changing your basal pen/cartridge in case it has been compromised in some way?
xx
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Oooohhh thanks for reminding me this, this actually may be a reason because just started a new Lantus pen about 5-6 days ago but the insulin looks visually good so not entirely sure
 
TypeZero. said:
Oooohhh thanks for reminding me this, this actually may be a reason because just started a new Lantus pen about 5-6 days ago but the insulin looks visually good so not entirely sure
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Did you go back to normal? I'm currently going through the same thing of a weird period of random high sugars for seemingly no reason. Hope you are back to your normal levels.
 
pinewood said:
Did you go back to normal? I'm currently going through the same thing of a weird period of random high sugars for seemingly no reason. Hope you are back to your normal levels.
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No but my basal increased significantly.

Was 14u now it’s 20 units which is nearly a 50% increase

What happened is that I’m newly diagnosed so almost definitely sure my honeymoon is coming to an end
 
TypeZero. said:
For some reason I’ve been high lately in the last week starting last weekend.

Last week I was using about 14 Units of Lantus and now I’m currently using 18 units of Lantus which may be increased further. I’m not sure what’s causing the rapid 25-30% increase in my basal, any ideas?

I do not feel ill, nothing has changed in my life - same amount of physical activity, diet is same, no extra stress or anything, sleep is around the same give or take an hour.

I go to work and there are thermal imaging cameras so I don’t have a temperature as it would’ve been flagged and I also am not experiencing any coughs so it definitely can’t be the coronavirus I’m just so confused.

There are a lot of random spikes like I sit down with a 6 and in 1-2 hours it becomes 9.5 but there isn’t a general pattern this just happens spontaneously. The only pattern I am seeing it no matter what my sleeping blood sugar is I always wake up on a 10 or maybe slightly more - I’m wondering whether I’ve increased my basal too much then? But surely if my basal was too much I would wake up on the lower end? I know a rebound will occur but if your insulin is too much it will dampen down the rebound right??

Example: slept on 5.8 last night and woke up on 10.6

Very very very mild nausea that comes and goes 2-3 times a day so I checked my ketones and it was a big fat 0.0 so I’m definitely not in DKA
Click to expand...

How have your stress levels been? I find when I have been under stress my body releases cortisol and pushes my sugar levels up.

Also find that carb creep often come into play. Example cook my carrots rather than raw which breaks down fiber and then need more insulin, or have extra milk in my tea, etc.
 
Have you tried swapping the timming of your Lantus shot if now evening do in the morning or vice versa? Probably not directly related but as a 40 year type1 diabetic 6' 2" i take 10 units of Treshiba which works well for me. 20 seems high?
 
moby1234 said:
Have you tried swapping the timming of your Lantus shot if now evening do in the morning or vice versa? Probably not directly related but as a 40 year type1 diabetic 6' 2" i take 10 units of Treshiba which works well for me. 20 seems high?
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Though everyone is different, whilst 20 may be high for some, its small for others.
 
Bryan99 said:
How have your stress levels been? I find when I have been under stress my body releases cortisol and pushes my sugar levels up.

Also find that carb creep often come into play. Example cook my carrots rather than raw which breaks down fiber and then need more insulin, or have extra milk in my tea, etc.
Click to expand...
Now that is helpful about the milk and the carbs when carrots are cooked. In winter my diet changes slightly from uncooked vegetables to cooked and i have a warm milk or milky coffee, normally i have soya. I will monitor this with interest. Thankyou.
 
Could it be down to the colder weather? Sounds daft but I always seem to need less insulin when it's hot so is it feasible the reverse is true? Hope you get it figured out!! X
 
Hi,

It definitely seems like your honeymoon period is ending. Sorry about that :)

It will be a transition period now of figuring out how much insulin you needed.

Btw, do you eat carbs before bed time? I have my sugar level increase a few hours after eating...

Good Luck!
 
Have you tried splitting your Lantus as it tends to wear off after 22 hrs. For your 14 units, take 8 in the morning and the other 6 before bed.
 
Also lantus is old, I've had much better control since moving to tresiba which lasts longer. It also needs a lower dose, however my dose is much higher than yours, so there is no need to worry about what number it is, just the right one for you.
 
Hi all,

My body is confusing me!! Was high all the time then I started getting hypos frequently so day by day I reduced all the way back to 14 units

My insulin to carb ratio changed from 1:10 to 1:15 for about 4 days so that was fun because I wasn’t aware and bolused normally for 2.5 days and ended up having a hypo every meal.

At the moment I’m back to my original ratio of 1:10 and original basal of 14u of Lantus. I seem to wake up high everyday before but now my blood sugar stays within 0.5 over night which is amazing
 
Capwhittaker said:
Also lantus is old, I've had much better control since moving to tresiba which lasts longer. It also needs a lower dose, however my dose is much higher than yours, so there is no need to worry about what number it is, just the right one for you.
Click to expand...

My body doesn’t agree with Tresiba, seem to be either super high or super low
 
moori said:
Hi,

It definitely seems like your honeymoon period is ending. Sorry about that :)

It will be a transition period now of figuring out how much insulin you needed.

Btw, do you eat carbs before bed time? I have my sugar level increase a few hours after eating...

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

I usually don’t really eat anything before bed unless I’m like 4.5 then I may take 1-2 Dextrose tablets.

I seem to return back to old state, blood sugar stays within 0.5 from bedtime to next morning

Back on 14u Lantus and ratio for NovoRapid is 1:10
 
Bryan99 said:
How have your stress levels been? I find when I have been under stress my body releases cortisol and pushes my sugar levels up.

Also find that carb creep often come into play. Example cook my carrots rather than raw which breaks down fiber and then need more insulin, or have extra milk in my tea, etc.
Click to expand...

I’m not really a stressed person, quite relaxed to be honest

My bloods have returned to normal thankfully
 
From the post you it sounds like you could be experiencing the 'Dawn Phenomenon'. The dawn phenomenon, also called the dawn effect, is the term used to describe an abnormal early-morning increase in blood sugar (glucose) — usually between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. — in people with diabetes.
 
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