Blood sugars are always high when I'm not at home - any tips?

I would say that my control is generally good, however, I almost always get high blood sugars (>7, often >10) when I go out for more than, say, an hour. This problem is the worst when I'm at university but also happens at other places. I spend just as much time and effort on diabetes when I'm out compared to when I'm at home, and don't deliberately run my sugars high, so I don't know why this is happening. My normal corrections don't seem to work - for example, today my blood sugar was stuck in the range 10-11 for about an hour while I was in a lecture at uni, I had given multiple boluses which I expected to drop me to about 5-6 and they weren't effective. Previously I have tried setting a temp basal before leaving but it's just caused me to get low. Does this happen to anyone else, and what should I do about it??

Dan87 said:

For me, taking bolus insulin on it's own without any food or drink is often ineffective. If you aren't particularly hungry, I'd recommend having the correction dose of insulin and just something like a few raisins with it.

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I did drink some water with the correction. I don't eat with correction doses, and have found that my corrections are usually very effective at home - blood sugar usually stops around 10 (often lower) and immediately starts coming back down. I rarely stay above 10 for a long time at home, which is why I'm so confused about it happening when I'm out.

I wouldn't say I am less active - at home I aim to exercise around 7 or so, if I reached 10-11 I would not exercise in case I got higher. So in both cases I would be sitting. I guess stress could be a factor, I do worry about my blood sugars more when I am out, especially when I am alone. Not sure what to do about it...maybe a temp basal once I'm already high.

saruhbeau said:

Mild exercise like walking or even just concentrating can make me go up. I find my bg rises while driving and riding my pony if it's a sedate walk.

I don't have any ideas except like someone else suggested eat something small with your bolus. Mine work more effectively with a few carbs. So I would eat say 5 to 10 carbs with most corrections if it isn't meal time and obviously take that into account when bolusing.

Do you use a cgm? That has also really helped me. I can now see I am rising before I go too high and so a lot of the time I can catch it before I am out of range. If you don't use cgm then just test often while out if that is a time when you fluctuate rapidy. The earlier you catch it the easiest it is to deal with. Hope you figure out a way that helps you

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CONCENTRATING makes your blood sugar go up? That might explain some mysterious highs I've had before. Do I have to stop using my brain or something?

I do have a CGM, I can see my blood sugar going up and try to correct before it gets too high but somehow the corrections don't seem to be working very well. I've had mixed experiences with walking - previously I've gone for a short walk around my neighbourhood and returned much higher than when I started, and more recently I've spent 10 minutes walking slowly on a treadmill and have had to stop and eat because I was going low.

I will try to have a small snack next time I'm correcting. When I'm out I usually only have lollies and sugary drinks with me but I might start taking biscuits or something.

Thanks for your reply!