High levels

[Fifi26]

Hi I am Type 2 diagnosed in 2012 have been on various medications and I am at present taking insulin 33 mls daily but my levels are not coming down at all. My nurse has referred me to hospital but I am feeling quite poorly.

 

[EllieM]

Hi @Fifi26. I am sorry you are feeling unwell. Can I ask what kind of insulin you are taking (hopefully those are units and not ml as 33ml of insulin would be 3300 units) and what sort of blood sugar levels you are seeing?

 

[Fifi26]

Sorry I meant units , first thing usually 9-12 and later up to 20-25

 

[Fifi26]

I am using lantus

 

[EllieM]

Sorry I meant units , first thing usually 9-12 and later up to 20-25

OK, lantus is a background insulin which is supposed to act for 24 hours (or thereabouts). As a T1 on insulin, I would definitely be feeling quite ill if my blood sugars went up to 25, so I can understand why you are feeling unwell. If you can't call your team for immediate advice then you could try

NHS Diabetes Advice Helpline for patients with insulin-treated diabetes - Health Innovation Network

Though I'm not 100% sure what it's status is at the moment. (It was brought in because of COVID.)

As a T1, I would test for ketones if my bg levels were that high, but I don't know whether this is an issue for insulin dependant T2s.

Do you have a date for your hospital appointment yet?

I'm going to tag in @luceeloo who is an insulin dependant T2 and also hope that some of the T1 insulin using regulars may have some insight. I'm hesitant to say more because I am T1 and not T2.

Good luck.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi I am Type 2 diagnosed in 2012 have been on various medications and I am at present taking insulin 33 mls daily but my levels are not coming down at all. My nurse has referred me to hospital but I am feeling quite poorly.

What are you eating? Since you're not bolussing and only using a basal insulin, I'm thinking the basal is only taking care of the liver dumps, not the food...??? Just guessing though, I'm a diet-only T2.

Is cutting carbs back further an option? What are you currently eating if you're seeing such high numbers? Just what you eat on an average day, you know? Drinks too. Maybe going lower carb would help. If you're already really low and still seeing such numbers, it may be time for C-peptide and GAD tests to make sure you really are a T2, rather than a misdiagnosed T1 variant.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Can you let us know whether you have excess weight or are slim? A low-carb diet will help reduce weight and BS. If you are slim it's possible you are not T2 but late onset T1 (LADA) in which case do ask for the two tests GAD and C-Peptide

 

[Fifi26]

Hi folks thanks for your advice I am overweight but I don’t eat a lot as feeling nauseous most of the time really fed up feeling so unwell

 

[optimist1]

Did you ring the diabetes help line, posted above? Are you able to get an appointment with your health team?
They may increase your Lantus a bit at a time, to get you BG more stable. If needed they may add a meal time insulin. Once your BG is stable, you may consider a lower carb diet. That helps a lot of people.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hi folks thanks for your advice I am overweight but I don’t eat a lot as feeling nauseous most of the time really fed up feeling so unwell

What other meds are you on? Quite a few can cause you to feel ill, might be useful to review their leaflets for side effects and possible solutions? (Like, I can't take metformin because of the gastro-intestinal side effects. And I have to eat before I have diclofenac, or it'll feel like it's burning a hole through my stomach lining. Stuff like that).