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Why are my BG levels suddenly dropping!

P

pinewood

Well-Known Member
Messages
792
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I was diagnosed 8 weeks ago. I am taking 7 units of Lantus at night and have typically needed 1 unit of NovoRapid for 20-25g of carbs. Everything was going well - my levels were stable overnight and on fasting and my NovoRapid regime was working great at keeping me in the 4-8 range.

In the past 3 days everything has changed! My BG is now dropping, especially during the day. I'm not sure about at night because I've been eating before sleeping as I've been so worried. However, last night I ate biscuits before bed - went to bed on 8mmol and woke up at 4.3 mmol. Had no remaining active NovoRapid so it couldn't have been that.

Today I have eaten porridge for breakfast (had 1 unit of NovoRapid), a mid-morning snack of 25g carbs (no NovoRapid), lunch was 30g of carbs (no NovoRapid). I've had no NovoRapid at all since breakfast and yet my levels have been dropping all day and I've gone to 3mmol about 3 times and had to take hypo treatments each time, each time getting myself up to 8mmol and then watching it drop back down!

Assume I should speak with my DSN but in the meantime should I reduce my lantus tonight? By how much?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Hi.
You might have entered Honeymoon phase (give it a Google) meaning ur pancreas is giving one last go now that's it's being assisted and spurting out some insulin.

I'm 8 months in and it happened to me early on too. My nurse told me to adjust down by 2 units (then if I went high to correct with rapid).

Deffo reduce tonight by 2, and speak to nurse tomorrow.

Do you have a half unit pen for rapid? (Ie can u give yourself 0.5 units?)
 
Total agree with @Emmotha - honeymoon phase can appear anytime after diagnosis but is commonly seen in the first couple of years.
definitely get in touch with dsn but reduce basal by 2 units as suggested tonight
good luck :)
 
Thanks both!

It's so frustrating to have a routine pinned down and then for everything to change!

I'll try reducing my Lantus to 5 units tonight and will see what happens tomorrow.

Yes, luckily I have the NovoPen Echo so I'm able to administer 0.5 unit shots.
 
No problem dude
keep us posted !!!
 
We were diagnosed roughly the same time and it sounds like I'm having the same week as you but instead of having lows, I'm having highs!! I know exactly what you mean when you said you had a routine and now it's all changed. Diabetes is very frustrating!! Does the honeymoon period come and go or does it come once and that's it?
 
asyarlk said:
We were diagnosed roughly the same time and it sounds like I'm having the same week as you but instead of having lows, I'm having highs!! I know exactly what you mean when you said you had a routine and now it's all changed. Diabetes is very frustrating!! Does the honeymoon period come and go or does it come once and that's it?
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I'm not sure, to be honest I thought I was already in my "honeymoon period" because my requirements were so low. For the first couple of weeks after diagnosis I needed a lot more insulin then suddenly I dropped right down with my requirements to 7 units Lantus/1 Unit Novo per 25g carbs but now that's gone completely out the window as it's way too much.... Agree that it's so frustrating! I literally had it worked out to a tee and now need to start again - I'm really struggling now, because without any insulin I can peak to double digits after food, but if I take even a tiny bit I seem to drop into a hypo. Can't win!

@Emmotha - how long did your honeymoon period last?

Also, I think I might be coming down with a cold....could that be causing this? Everything I've read online says a cold makes your levels HIGH not LOW, but thought I'd check...
 
It might be worth talking to your diabetes specialist about whether Lantus is the best long acting insulin for you. Some people find problems with it peaking and falling erratically. There are other insulins (Levemir, and a new one called Tresiba) which may work better for you.
 
Charles Robin said:
It might be worth talking to your diabetes specialist about whether Lantus is the best long acting insulin for you. Some people find problems with it peaking and falling erratically. There are other insulins (Levemir, and a new one called Tresiba) which may work better for you.
Click to expand...
I've read so much about Lantus difficulties. Look around this site. In your position I would ask for Levemir.

I take small amounts, so I like NPH. It's very effective as a night-time basal if you take a small dose. Not big though.
 
When I was first diagnosed I was on mixtard, I was moved onto Lantus because of my lifestyle. My advice is get comfortable with your diabetes, while you are new you should be able to read your body very easily. Adjust your insulin as well as diarising your food and exercise and see what the factors are for either the increase or decrease in your BG levels

If you are sick your body releases adrenalin into your system to fight off infection as well as if you are stressed which increases your sugars. Always bear this in mind.

Your body also only processes one drug at a time so if you have consumed alcohol or beechams try and work out whether your body processes those or your insulin first
 
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