Type 1 Blood sugars

[Carl W]

Quick question, does anyone know why the past 4 or 5 days my blood sugars are not coming down like they use to after dosing the correct amount of insulin for carbs?? They go up and keep going, until I put extra insulin in to bring them down. Thanks

 

[Antje77]

Quick question, does anyone know why the past 4 or 5 days my blood sugars are not coming down like they use to after dosing the correct amount of insulin for carbs?? They go up and keep going, until I put extra insulin in to bring them down. Thanks

Insulin needs can change over time.

Any infection can increase blood glucose spectacularly. (Common cold, flu, covid, UTI, dental issues.)

Some medications can raise BG as well, especially the steroids.

 

[Carl W]

Insulin needs can change over time.

Any infection can increase blood glucose spectacularly. (Common cold, flu, covid, UTI, dental issues.)

Some medications can raise BG as well, especially the steroids.

Thank you

 

[Carl W]

Insulin needs can change over time.

Any infection can increase blood glucose spectacularly. (Common cold, flu, covid, UTI, dental issues.)

Some medications can raise BG as well, especially the steroids.

Quick question, what if you have none of the above, no extra medications, no illness, what do you think could be the problem there? Also my blood sugars are higher than “normal” in the mornings too, so thinking maybe about upping my longer lasting insulin

 

[EllieM]

Quick question, what if you have none of the above, no extra medications, no illness, what do you think could be the problem there? Also my blood sugars are higher than “normal” in the mornings too, so thinking maybe about upping my longer lasting insulin

If you are recently diagnosed it could be as simple as your own remaining insulin production is declining. On the other hand I have found that I have become more insulin resistant over the years so my insulin needs have gone up slightly. I also find that my personal basal amounts need nudging up and down on a fairly regular basis, that's just the way I am.

There are lots of reasons why insulin needs can change, monitoring your levels means you can adjust them as necessary.

 

[Carl W]

If you are recently diagnosed it could be as simple as your own remaining insulin production is declining. On the other hand I have found that I have become more insulin resistant over the years so my insulin needs have gone up slightly. I also find that my personal basal amounts need nudging up and down on a fairly regular basis, that's just the way I am.

There are lots of reasons why insulin needs can change, monitoring your levels means you can adjust them as necessary.

I was diagnosed about 3 and half years ago roughly, It’s only been the last 7 days that my blood sugars have gone above 10 or 11 after eating after dosing for the carbs, I’ve had to add another 8 units to get it drop from 13, messaged the diabetic team with no reply (not that I was expecting one) but this new high is all new to me, think I may need to adjust my tresiba too before bed as my blood sugars are 7 in the mornings when I’ve had them at 5-6 past year and half of being on insulin. They were obviously higher when I was only given tablet medication to start so again, it’s fairly new to me.
Thanks

 

[EllieM]

I was diagnosed about 3 and half years ago roughly, It’s only been the last 7 days that my blood sugars have gone above 10 or 11 after eating after dosing for the carbs, I’ve had to add another 8 units to get it drop from 13, messaged the diabetic team with no reply (not that I was expecting one) but this new high is all new to me, think I may need to adjust my tresiba too before bed as my blood sugars are 7 in the mornings when I’ve had them at 5-6 past year and half of being on insulin. They were obviously higher when I was only given tablet medication to start so again, it’s fairly new to me.
Thanks

I have to be careful what I say because of forum rules against diagnosing and/or specifying insulin amounts but one of many possible explanations for this is that your honeymoon period is ending (ie you are producing less of your own insulin).

In your position I would want to do some basal rate testing to see if the tresiba needs adjustment. Good luck.

 

[Carl W]

I have to be careful what I say because of forum rules against diagnosing and/or specifying insulin amounts but one of many possible explanations for this is that your honeymoon period is ending (ie you are producing less of your own insulin).

In your position I would want to do some basal rate testing to see if the tresiba needs adjustment. Good luck.

Funny enough the consultant did mention a “honey moon period” when I was first diagnosed, thank you for helping, one question though what is basal rate testing?

 

[EllieM]

Funny enough the consultant did mention a “honey moon period” when I was first diagnosed, thank you for helping, one question though what is basal rate testing?

That's testing to see if your basal insulin (tresiba for you) is correct. It gets complicated for people on pumps, who can tweak their background insulin to be at different amounts at different times of day, but for those of us on a basal bolus regime it usually just means ensuring that our night time levels are fairly flat. ie if you go to bed with both food and bolus insulin out of our systems we want our morning levels to be similar to our night time ones. (And this gets complcated because some people suffer from the dawn phenomena which makes their bgs go up first thing in the morning)

How To Successfully Test Your Basal Rate

Are you looking for basal rate information and testing instructions? Perfect! You're in the right place!

www.mysugr.com

 

[Carl W]

That's testing to see if your basal insulin (tresiba for you) is correct. It gets complicated for people on pumps, who can tweak their background insulin to be at different amounts at different times of day, but for those of us on a basal bolus regime it usually just means ensuring that our night time levels are fairly flat. ie if you go to bed with both food and bolus insulin out of our systems we want our morning levels to be similar to our night time ones. (And this gets complcated because some people suffer from the dawn phenomena which makes their bgs go up first thing in the morning)

How To Successfully Test Your Basal Rate

Are you looking for basal rate information and testing instructions? Perfect! You're in the right place!

www.mysugr.com

Thank you so much, I think that would explain then why my BS we’re about 4.8 last week when I accidentally put in 47 units instead of 37 maybe?? But again thank you, trying to get hold of the diabetic team is hard work. This helps. Thanks again

 

[EllieM]

Oh and one comment about tresiba. Because it's extremely long acting (42 hours) it takes ages to get the full effect of any changes you make in it. It would be really helpful if you could get your team to advise on adjustments.

 

[Carl W]

Oh and one comment about tresiba. Because it's extremely long acting (42 hours) it takes ages to get the full effect of any changes you make in it. It would be really helpful if you could get your team to advise on adjustments.

It would be helpful if my team actually responded to emails or phone calls. But I was told by the consultant and a member of the team just after I was started on insulin about a year or so to make adjustments in every 3rd night so tonight I will try 45 units and see what happens over the course, I know it takes effect in around an hour or so?? I can’t remember

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Quick question, what if you have none of the above, no extra medications, no illness, what do you think could be the problem there? Also my blood sugars are higher than “normal” in the mornings too, so thinking maybe about upping my longer lasting insulin

It's also worth mentioning that you may not show symptoms for infections, bugs etc but your immune system is doing its job and this will usually raise blood sugar levels. I worked in a school for years and often found I had sudden "inexplicable" high readings. I had no symptoms, but they correlated with whatever lurgy was working through the school at the time. If I was unlucky enough to succumb to the illness, my readings would remain high, often for days despite extra fast-acting (bolus) insulin.

 

[Carl W]

It's also worth mentioning that you may not show symptoms for infections, bugs etc but your immune system is doing its job and this will usually raise blood sugar levels. I worked in a school for years and often found I had sudden "inexplicable" high readings. I had no symptoms, but they correlated with whatever lurgy was working through the school at the time. If I was unlucky enough to succumb to the illness, my readings would remain high, often for days despite extra fast-acting (bolus) insulin.

Ok brilliant, thank you, guess for now I just have to adjust accordingly then?

 

[Fenn]

Hi, After a recent and ongoing problem I am having getting my basal correct, I would suggest not rushing any changes you make, wait a couple of weeks in case it’s an underlying illness etc. I had beautiful numbers, I decided to experiment with my basal (tried to stop it altogether if I have to be honest) I have struggled ever since to get back to where I was. Best of luck

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Ok brilliant, thank you, guess for now I just have to adjust accordingly then?

Certainly that's what I used to do, but beware of a sudden drop. Sometimes I would have several injections without any food and still see levels of 16. Then there could be a vicious drop a few hours later. For this reason I always felt that the term "normal life" was laughable, but eventually you feel more in tune with management. Best of luck!

 

[Ushthetaff]

The way I look at it is every day is different for so many different reasons which are so hard to find , I can probably guarantee that if I took the same insulin every day and ate the same thing every day my blood sugar results wouldn’t be exactly the same , I just treat my blood sugars as the come , I’m not bothered how much insulin I take today or tomorrow just that I keep my bs in range , I don’t have a ducks bum range I have a more flexible approach and my Hb1c is good , the biggest thing about diabetes is finding what works for you , which can be a time of experimentation until you find out , and then like an ex wife of mine it’ll all change tomorrow lol

 

[plantae]

Probably an obvious question, but is the insulin in date and been stored properly?