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Blood levels increasing Type1.

lrogers90

lrogers90

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, my name is Laura I'm 24 and have been diabetic for 15 years. I'm new to this forum so sorry if I've posted this on the wrong section!

I seem to be stuck in a cycle at the moment where my blood is rising over night. I take levemir and novorapid to control my diabetes. The novorapid dose is split:I take 38 units at 7.30 am ish each morning and 28 units at night at around 10 pm.

My ratios for novorapid are 2:1 units per 10g of carbs for breakfast, and 1.5:1 for lunch and dinner.

I suspect there is something wrong with my levemir dosage.

My levels are usually around 7 before bed and always rise to around 15 in the morning. There seems to be an average increase of around 7mmol overnight.

I don't know what to do! I'm currently waiting to see my consultant who I've not seen for quite a while but in the meantime does anyone know why this might be happening?

Another thing to note is that I can't actually sleep if my levels are lower than say 5, or I feel I have to eat something before I go to bed to raise them. This is due to a really bad night hypo I had a few years ago where I woke up and couldn't move.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
I should also add that when I wake up, I usually give myself a correction dose of around 4 units and don't eat breakfast, but by lunchtime(12pm) by levels are still around 12. By the time I get home from work (7pm) my levels have sometimes dropped to around 4 and I feel awful.
 
Hi Laura,can't help with your questions as I'm type 2on insulin,but someone will offer advise to you.. Think it will be good when you see the consultant and talk it through,as they may change your dosage.......good luck.....
 
Hello Laura,if you click on forums it will come up with options on discussions,if you click on type one you may get some help there too......
 
Hi Laura. It certainly sounds like you need to increase your evening Levemir. Don't you have a DSN you can contact?

When I was on Levemir I only took it once per day at 6pm. If I had consistently high results in the morning, I'd raise the dose, so it looks like you should do the same.
 
Hi Laura and welcome to the forum.

By rights if your basal insulin (levemir in your case) is set at the right dose your bg levels shouldn't fluctuate by more than 1.6mmol when fasting, so with a 7mmol rise overnight it would appear that your basal needs increasing if your example is a regular occurrence.

Why not give your diabetes clinic a ring and ask to speak with a DSN, if one isn't available they'll generally ring you back when they are free, that way you can discuss with them about your night levels and dosage adjustment.
 
HI. I agree that your Basal may need tweaking up just a little for at least the night time? The insulin levels you are taking are quite high overall and I wonder whether your BMI is quite high? If so you would have insulin resistance which can result in a vicious circle with the insulin. Are you having a sensibly low-carb diet?
 
Thanks all. I have an appointment on Monday so will see what is recommended. I don't think my BMI is at the ideal level but I wouldn't say it was too high. I probably have around 170g of carbs a day - not sure if this is bad? Although the amount of novorapid I take I would probably be around 40-50 units. I do think sometimes that maybe I have some sort of resistance.
 
I had similar problems with good sugar levels before bed and high in the morning although I could correct my levels easily enough in morning with correction.

Looking at the carbs you eat... What do you typically have for an evening meal? If it is heavy in carbs (as you said you don't eat breakfast but still consume 170g in a day) or it is fatty food this causes the problems you have discussed. Try eating some low fat foods/ low carb foods for a couple of days as your evening meal and keep track of your levels in the morning.
 
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