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Staying high too long

Spacebadger

Spacebadger

Member
Messages
23
Location
Manchester
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I'm getting frustrated.... I'm carb counting and testing (testing too much - but I have anxiety so meh) - What seems to be happening is that my blood sugar spikes for too long... And it spikes high...

SO if my blood sugar is 10 - and I eat a sandwich at 54 carbs - and do 7 units of HUMALOG. I spike up to like 15-18 within 45 minutes... then I seem to stay between 15-18 for at least 3 hours....

Then after that my blood sugar begins to drop down....

I've tried everything... If i give myself more insulin... all that happens is I just have a hypo later in the day....I still stay high for too long.

Any ideas... I'm trying my hardest to get some normal control... And It's really driving me crazy and distressing me.

Thanks guys
 
Firstly try taking your humalog 20 - 30 minutes before you eat. That means it will be working with your digestion. Tell us how that goes.
 
Thanks Tim,

I'm very worried about Hypos as I have lost my Hypo sensitivity. I was also when first diagnosed instructed to take my insulin Right before, During, Or after my meal... But this was 11 years ago now...

But it might be something I have to try...
 
Agree with Tim try injecting earlier. See how that goes at reducing the spikes and then you may need to tweak your ratios.
 
Random question by a type 2 (so please dont think i am claiming any knowledge about insulin doses!):

Does this happen with all carbs? Or just wheat?

My body reacts very differently with grains (silly-high spikes out of proportion to the carb grams i have eaten), compared with starchy root veg, or sugar. I have concluded it is a food intolerance, and avoid grains.
 
Spacebadger said:
Thanks Tim,

I'm very worried about Hypos as I have lost my Hypo sensitivity. I was also when first diagnosed instructed to take my insulin Right before, During, Or after my meal... But this was 11 years ago now...

But it might be something I have to try...
Click to expand...


Quick acting insulins take around 15mins to work so injecting just before eating will mean the food will start digesting before the insulin kicks-in, Gary Scheiner (Author of the book Think Like a Pancreas) wrote n article called Strike the Spike which you can read in the following link:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.c...blood-glucose-management/strike-the-spike-ii/
 
I will try and give that a go.... Although it's going to take some mighty power as I'm have anxiety.

But even if I took it an hour before... I would still be spiking for far too long.... It's been like this for days and days now
 
has your anxiety hightened more recently before the higher spikes, anxiety as well as other disorders can play a part in higher readings, stress, lack of/ more of sleep and lots of other things have a bearing on bs, maybe try a different sort of bread, thins are a good one to try hope some of this helps
 
Spacebadger said:
I will try and give that a go.... Although it's going to take some mighty power as I'm have anxiety.

But even if I took it an hour before... I would still be spiking for far too long.... It's been like this for days and days now
Click to expand...
I think this was offered as a first suggestion, and after this there may be other suggestions, so don't worry as I'm sure the collective T1 Brains Trust here will help you get this sorted one way or another. Maybe make a deal with yourself that you will test at certain intervals between dosing and eating, to reassure yourself you are not going too low, while keeping a lid on the over-testing? Another thing that may help while you work on this issue is to post your results and if the T1s think there is any cause for concern they can let you know. So it would be like experimenting with them there to help.
 
Maybe bring your bolus injection earlier bit by bit? If you're anxious, do it, say 10 mins beforehand first. Test if it makes you happier. Then if you're ok with that, do it a few minutes earlier.

Having the Humalog in advance really helps with spikes.
 
Hi @Spacebadger (love the name!) :cool:

Just a thought. It has been known to get the odd dodgy batch of insulin. Either incorrectly stored? Or what I call a "Friday nighter"? Lol
Also the mechanism on your pen. Is that working as it should?

Your doing the right thing to keep testing for BS levels though..
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I've started taking my insulin a few minutes before - then will try to increase the time pre-eating.

Last night, I did my insulin and my blood sugar dropped as it should... and today it seems to be behaving itself as well...

"has your anxiety hightened more recently before the higher spikes, anxiety as well as other disorders can play a part in higher readings, stress, lack of/ more of sleep and lots of other things have a bearing on bs, maybe try a different sort of bread, thins are a good one to try hope some of this helps"

The anxiety has come from having undiagnosed labyrintus for 4 months, which then turned into cancer scares and so on... So my brain has wired itself constantly into fight/flight. Now this has transffered to my Diabetes, as the results I'm getting seem to be sporadic... One week I'm staying too high, and it seems i need to do more insulin. The next I'm having hypos and need to decrease insulin...

Really I would love to have the freestyle libre... as I could then see where my blood sugar is heading, and give my fingers a break from all the testing. But you can't actually buy those at the moment.

"Another thing that may help while you work on this issue is to post your results and if the T1s think there is any cause for concern they can let you know. So it would be like experimenting with them there to help."

That's a good idea. I'll post my results and see if anyone can make heads or tails of what's going on - thank you :)

"Hi @Spacebadger (love the name!) :cool:

Just a thought. It has been known to get the odd dodgy batch of insulin. Either incorrectly stored? Or what I call a "Friday nighter"? Lol
Also the mechanism on your pen. Is that working as it should?"

Thanks! Stop the badger cull! ha

I thought this myself... But.... Same insulin seems to have worked today and last night ?



---- Really appreciate the input and feedback, it's nice to know there's somewhere to come and talk with these issues, especially at weekends when the NHS shuts it's doors for anything but spontaneous combustion
 
try writing your bs down and see if there is a pattern to them, i dont if you do or not but it may help, i love this forum it has helped me loads, there always appears to be someone with either the same or very near as the problems that you are having and people who will help, i think sometimes just asking questions or talking is as good as anything else. hope you are much better today and it keeps getting better for you x
 
Another idea is that you are needing to overtreat with your bolus because your basal is too low. I say that because you mention starting a meal with a reading of 10. Ideally you would have reading no higher than 6 at that point. Have you tried basal testing lately? Once you are sure that is right, you can then check your insulin:carb ratios again and the timing. Also, for me, that pattern of staying high and then crashing because of the large blouses needed for food is the main indicator of my basal rate being wrong. Once you have your basal rate it also removes a lot if unpredictability and so the fear of hypos can abate
 
Spacebadger said:
Thanks for all the advice everyone.

Really I would love to have the freestyle libre... as I could then see where my blood sugar is heading, and give my fingers a break from all the testing. But you can't actually buy those at the moment.
Click to expand...
Have you registered online for one? It took me around 5 months to receive mine earlier this year and from what I can gather the waiting list is still as long. If you're waiting for a response check you emails (and junk folder) daily as you've only so long to order them. I would highly recommned them as the insight the give is more than helpful in the management of my diabetes. Good luck with everything and I hope you get sorted shortly.
 
I have a hypo-phobia too and always preferred seeing a test result of 10 rather than 6 as it reassured me I wasn't going to drop into hypo territory. BUT I now have the Libre and it's brilliant for this - I'd definitely recommend you get on the waiting list (if you can afford it that is, while the NHS catches up to what we all know!) I'm now getting my bloods to proper levels as I know if I'm worried about dropping low I can keep testing as often as I feel the need. Of course I still get caught out occasionally, and am still nervous of being on the low side before I go to sleep, but my results AND my anxiety are so much better.

Hope you get a handle on things soon x

ps. I'm thinking of getting a hypoband for the night-time hypos issue - I might ask Santa for one :-)
 
BeccyB said:
I'm now getting my bloods to proper levels as I know if I'm worried about dropping low I can keep testing as often as I feel the need.

ps. I'm thinking of getting a hypoband for the night-time hypos issue - I might ask Santa for one :)
Click to expand...

My levels have certainly got a lot better with the libre, the only problem I've found is that over the last couple of monts the amount of test's I do is somewhat ridiculous, up to 60 per day (hopefully this will settle down over time). I also think that as my control gets tighter then I may invest in a hypoband as it'd be worth paying to avoid the feeling of the next morning after a night-time hypo.

I do think lots of people with diabetes have some sort of fear of hypo's and having to deal with the effects of them and the libre certainly gives you a constant view of you BG whenever you want to check.
 
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