Slightly confused blood sugars

[GeordieMark88]

Been getting good readings and improved HbA1c.

Out of the blue two days ago my blood sugar was 7.4 at 10.30pm and I woke up at 3am to a blood sugar of 2.7, it went up again after treating my hypo to no more than 4.5.

Same routine, same evening insulin etc.

During the day I had been getting very low readings and when I ate and injected the ratio insulin I do depending on meals, instead of the usual movement in sugars, all the time it was just going down to

So has my insulin requirement just randomly decided to change?

I’ve had this for few days now.

Thought it was my libre sensor but been checking using meter too.

 

[EllieM]

So has my insulin requirement just randomly decided to change?

My guess is yes. My basal certainly varies a bit (time of year, amount of exercise) and also goes down when I reduce my overall carbs.

 

[jackois]

I'll second EllieM here.

I find that my basal varies with season, getting as low as 8 units through summer and increasing to18 units through winter for similar exercise and food intake. With bolus, I've found that exercise can be used to substitute for insulin for breakfast.

I use waking blood sugar rise or fall over a week to indicate the need for a basal alteration and confirm with a three month basal fasting test.

 

[GeordieMark88]

So if my BG is fine before bed and increasing drastically during the night I need to look at basal and decrease it?

 

[jackois]

So if my BG is fine before bed and increasing drastically during the night I need to look at basal and decrease it?

No... your basal is your long acting insulin, working in the background. In a perfect world you could wake up with a BG reading of 6, for instance, and if you didn't eat or exercise it would hold steady around 6. Then it's a juggling act with the bolus and exercise to bring your blood sugar back to it's pre-food level within 2 to 3 hours.

Hope that helps.

 

[GeordieMark88]

Well the DSN disagrees.

She said if my short acting is working when I have my main meals and my last injection is around 6.30pm and my BG is in normal range at bed time and it’s decreasing over night than it’s the long acting insulin that needs reduced.

This is why I get so up a height, I get one thing to work and something else changes and I seem to get different advice off different nurses, doctors, etc that it’s frustrating to know what to do for the best.

 

[GeordieMark88]

PS...just realised, you responded to my comment about increasing during the night, it should have read it’s decreasing throughout the night.

Sorry if I’ve confused you.

 

[jackois]

No sweat Geordie....