Getting increasingly fed up!

[matthewwallis]

22 Years old, been diagnosed for 11 years in November. The past year my BG has been 15+ probably 70% of the time. I have lumps in my arms and legs, which means that most of the time i'll do my insulin but it doesn't work properly Injecting into my belly is a waste of time, there are no lumps there but insulin just doesn't seem to work when I inject there. Got a carb counting refresher course next month, with a view to going onto the pump so hopefully that will sort me out a bit.

Just feeling down about it all though, just got back from a weeks holiday in Spain, my first without any 'adults' and while I was there ended up in Hospital. It was due to me panicking more than anything though. It was about 1030pm and i tested my BG and it was 15.1, as I wanted to keep it a bit high while abroad i had a small bowl of chocolate wheetos to keep it up. About 40 minutes later it had gone down to 10.3, which I thought was strange, so I washed my hands and tested the same finger and it was 9.3, 2 minutes later i tested again and it was 7.1. The last time I had given myself any insulin was about 4 hours ago, so this sent me into a massive panic and I had 2 cans of coke, 20 minutes later I tested again and it had gone to 5.1. As it went down rather than up I panicked and asked my hotel to call me a doctor. It did eventually go up, but I just feel like I can never relax. I test a ridiculous amount of times a day, and just cannot ever see myself testing any less than now. Which is funny because I used to get told off because I'd only test 1/2 times within a couple of days!

Has anyone else had periods where it is just high? Another point is that when it high, I would give myself 4/5 units of insulin to get it down, but it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference, its like once it is high, then it will be high for the rest of the day!

Anyone else had experiences of it dropping fast for no reason??

 

[bickmops]

My only insight into type 1 is my son ... But reading your post makes me wonder if a pump would be better ? Please don't let this knock your confidence I'm sure there's alternatives , stay strong and ask your team for help ... I'm sure you will get lots of answers from people on this forum that's gone thru the same , does your levels drop after you have been doing activity ? I know my sons does even up to 12 hours after !!

 

[matthewwallis]

My only insight into type 1 is my son ... But reading your post makes me wonder if a pump would be better ? Please don't let this knock your confidence I'm sure there's alternatives , stay strong and ask your team for help ... I'm sure you will get lots of answers from people on this forum that's gone thru the same , does your levels drop after you have been doing activity ? I know my sons does even up to 12 hours after !!

If I play football, it will drop through the night. That particular day all I did was lie in Sun, I'm wondering whether the hot weather may have had something to do with it, although it's never happened before in a hot country

 

[bickmops]

The heat effects my sons levels , we have to increase his carb ratios from 10 to 15 , so it very well could do the opposite , this condition I imagine takes years to master .... My son had a lumpy thigh and we had to leave this area alone , as it held the insulin and can then release it later , if you have several and you rotate well you need to speak to your team , do you change your cartridge if you get constant high levels , we have in the past had dodgy batches, also change your long acting cartridge , and you haven't by mistake taken fast acting instead of your basal !!! My son done that once and used it 2 nights on the trot !! 17 fast acting and went to bed , must have had a bad hypo , waking up at 29 !! Check everything !! But please don't feel deflated , it will get better x

 

[Neemo]

I've been a Type 1 since the age of 11 too (20 yrs now)

It sounds as though u have multiple issues, which could be attributed to numerous things (e.g.best practice around injecting testing, Insulin resistance, A diet too high in carbohydrates etc)

Rather than giving assumptive advice (as to what may, or may not be causing ur issues), I would STRONGLY encourage u to see ur Diabetic Team/GP to urgently facilitate you getting 'technological help' to mange ur diabetes (Continuous Glucose Monitor & or Insulin Pump)

U definitely seem to meet the criteria for cost justification for these devices.

Probably worth getting ur 'ducks in a row' beforehand, as GPs seem very reluctant to prescribe 'expensive' items nowadays.

Suggest u;
1. Take ur meter with u/export results to show frequency of highs
2. Make a note of instances/examples where u've had issues (coke can example above)
3. Read the current guidlines from NICE, regarding clinical guidlines for diabetes management (section relating to CGM particular relevant)
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng17)

 

[Juicyj]

There was an explanation for this as the heat can alter your insulin ratios burning through glucose quicker, therefore making you more prone to having hypos, so dropping your basal is the easiest plan of action, you did the right thing going into hospital, just put it down to experience so don't be down on yourself, I find holidays are a major adjustment with type 1 as you need to be on the ball for the first few days whilst you settle in to a new diet, regime, exercise etc.

What size needles are you using ?

Yes a pump would give you much more flexibility and help to bring your BG down, try and keep a diary too to follow trends, keeping a record of doses, readings, carbs eaten and activity is great to help you manage your levels better.

 

[Auckland Canary]

Just a slight note of caution on this. You say that you were 15.1 and then had a small bowl of chocolate Wheetos because you wanted to keep your levels a bit high.

15.1 is really quite high anyway and add a bowl of chocolate cereal into this then you are likely to go soaring into the 20's particularly if you have lumpy injection sites and are not absorbing insulin properly. I know in this scenario you had a very strange drop in levels but normally this wouldn't be a good thing at all. I'm just concerned that you seem to think a sugar level of 15.1 needs to be raised in any way.

 

[Natalie1974]

You say you were on holiday for the first time without 'adults'...was it a lads type holiday? Was there any alcohol involved? Only guessing here but a combination of sun and alcohol could well have caused your levels to drop so drastically

 

[matthewwallis]

You say you were on holiday for the first time without 'adults'...was it a lads type holiday? Was there any alcohol involved? Only guessing here but a combination of sun and alcohol could well have caused your levels to drop so drastically

No it was just me and my girlfriend, i had drank that week, but not the day it dropped so fast

 

[TooMuchGlucose]

It sounds like your meter could be broke. Or your insulin is not being absorbed properly and is getting stuck in lumps, is that what the lumps on your arms are?

 

[Hayley64]

22 Years old, been diagnosed for 11 years in November. The past year my BG has been 15+ probably 70% of the time. I have lumps in my arms and legs, which means that most of the time i'll do my insulin but it doesn't work properly Injecting into my belly is a waste of time, there are no lumps there but insulin just doesn't seem to work when I inject there. Got a carb counting refresher course next month, with a view to going onto the pump so hopefully that will sort me out a bit.

Just feeling down about it all though, just got back from a weeks holiday in Spain, my first without any 'adults' and while I was there ended up in Hospital. It was due to me panicking more than anything though. It was about 1030pm and i tested my BG and it was 15.1, as I wanted to keep it a bit high while abroad i had a small bowl of chocolate wheetos to keep it up. About 40 minutes later it had gone down to 10.3, which I thought was strange, so I washed my hands and tested the same finger and it was 9.3, 2 minutes later i tested again and it was 7.1. The last time I had given myself any insulin was about 4 hours ago, so this sent me into a massive panic and I had 2 cans of coke, 20 minutes later I tested again and it had gone to 5.1. As it went down rather than up I panicked and asked my hotel to call me a doctor. It did eventually go up, but I just feel like I can never relax. I test a ridiculous amount of times a day, and just cannot ever see myself testing any less than now. Which is funny because I used to get told off because I'd only test 1/2 times within a couple of days!

Has anyone else had periods where it is just high? Another point is that when it high, I would give myself 4/5 units of insulin to get it down, but it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference, its like once it is high, then it will be high for the rest of the day!

Anyone else had experiences of it dropping fast for no reason??

My son does but only 9 and recently diagnosed reading your post I am dreading it as he gets older they have changed his insulin ratios I would keep on at them as must be a reason for it. I think you should seriously consider the pump but that's just my opinion had people say would never go back to injections. As a mother of 2 sons I feel for you and hope you get it sorted soon try and keep smiling I know it must be difficult

 

[matthewwallis]

It sounds like your meter could be broke. Or your insulin is not being absorbed properly and is getting stuck in lumps, is that what the lumps on your arms are?

The ones in my arms are yes, oddly enough there aren't really lumps in my legs, but sometimes if I inject then it will become a lump straight away. I'll know if I've injected into a lump because it doesn't go into me as smoothly as a 'normal' site. But they are no lumps on my stomach and the insulin goes in fine but just doesn't seem to work

 

[TooMuchGlucose]

The ones in my arms are yes, oddly enough there aren't really lumps in my legs, but sometimes if I inject then it will become a lump straight away. I'll know if I've injected into a lump because it doesn't go into me as smoothly as a 'normal' site. But they are no lumps on my stomach and the insulin goes in fine but just doesn't seem to work

Ahh, it could be due to needle length then, what needles do you use? If you still have problems after ask if you can get a pump obviously going down after eating lots of sugar is very worrying. Have you told your DSN about the lumps?

 

[matthewwallis]

Ahh, it could be due to needle length then, what needles do you use? If you still have problems after ask if you can get a pump obviously going down after eating lots of sugar is very worrying. Have you told your DSN about the lumps?

I use 5mm BD needles. I'm going through the process of getting a pump, I didn't want one at first but definitely think it would be much better. I have and they suggested just using my stomach, but it doesn't seem to have any effect in my stomach

 

[TooMuchGlucose]

I use 5mm BD needles. I'm going through the process of getting a pump, I didn't want one at first but definitely think it would be much better. I have and they suggested just using my stomach, but it doesn't seem to have any effect in my stomach

Well it definitely sounds like the pump is the way to go then, hope it works well for you