BS raising for no reason?

[briony1]

Hey - does anyone know what might cause random times of insulin resistance or BS rising by itself for no apparent reason?? Super annoying!! . Thank you!

 

[urbanracer]

Hey - does anyone know what might cause random times of insulin resistance or BS rising by itself for no apparent reason?? Super annoying!! . Thank you!

When does it happen?

 

[briony1]

When does it happen?

Literally random, no rhyme or rhythm at all!

 

[sleepster]

Hormones, menstrual cycle, illness, stress, time of the day, not enough sleep, caffeine.....
It could be anything, you may be able to work it out or it might just be one of those things that makes no sense

 

[MarkMunday]

Hey - does anyone know what might cause random times of insulin resistance or BS rising by itself for no apparent reason?? Super annoying!! . Thank you!

What insulin are you using?

 

[Toby789]

It does sometimes do that with no obvious reason to the outsider. But remember you are a mechanic with some spanners (eg insulin, BGL reader) looking into an inconceivably complex engine with some parts that require something other than spanners, and some parts you cannot even see. So do not worry too much - and see what is happening with your HBa1C - which gives a much better picture than point in time ups and downs.

 

[ert]

I gave up quite early on trying to explain the why's and now simply follow the numbers. I recommend Stephen Ponder's Sugar Surfing.

 

[becca59]

I gave up quite early on trying to explain the why's and now simply follow the numbers. I recommend Stephen Ponder's Sugar Surfing.

I agree! It just becomes too frustrating. If there is nothing blatantly obvious, forget it, treat and move on. Would also recommend Sugar surfing as a good read.

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @briony1

I generally can understand why my levels rise most of the time when I review the situation, so time of the month, fatty meal, exercise, stress, hypo within the last day etc etc - knowing more about your situation and external factors can very often pinpoint the reason but that also comes with understanding more about the possible triggers, it’s knowing how to respond and bringing them back into range and being ok with corrections.

 

[MarkMunday]

The Sugar Surfing micromanagement approach works if you have a pump and a CGM. Modern pumps do it all for you anyway. In the absence of that technology, understanding and planing around the dynamics is essential.

Withing person variability can be 50%+. It is caused by external factors like stress, hormones, exercise etc as well as the type of insulin and how it is delivered. There is much more variability with basal insulin than bolus insulin. Pre-analogue insulin (NPH & Lente) has more variability and there is little variability with continual infusion (pumps).

Understanding what causes variability helps especially when a pump is not used.

 

[Wayward Blood]

There are a huge number of reasons this could be happening, but thankfully there’s also action you can take.

1. Your long-acting insulin could be the problem. I used to find Lantus really unpredictable, and nowhere near to lasting the 24 hours advertised. You could try changing to a different basal insulin and see if that helps. I’m not sure which one you use at the moment, but it might be worth having a look at what else is available.

2. The dawn phenomenon. For many of us, our blood glucose levels rise of their own accord on waking. I combat this by split-dosing my basal insulin, taking half at 10pm and half at 6.30am. Your times might need to be different but again, it could be worth discussing with your health team.

3. Insulin ‘stacking’. How long do you go between insulin doses? Do you snack a lot between meals and cover them with extra doses of short-acting? This can make blood sugar levels extremely unpredictable. Short-acting tends to work for around 5 hours in a lot of cases, and peaks about 1 hour after injecting (not sure if this is the case with newer insulin like Fiasp). If you’ve got various peaks happening, you’ll probably automatically take additional snacks to ward off hypos, causing both high and low blood sugars.

4. Delayed Stomach Emptying. Also known as Gastroparesis, this is where the stomach takes longer than usual to process the food it receives. It’s a diabetic complication caused by damage to the vagus nerve, and can make it difficult to match insulin to meals. There are treatments available, and at least one case where severe gastroparesis was apparently reversed by exemplary blood sugar control (Dr Richard Bernstein claims that after 14 years of following a low carbohydrate diet and keeping his levels in non-diabetic range, his digestive function became normal. Some people question this, but he’s a healthy type 1 diabetic now well into his 80s so he’s doing something right).

I find that when I pay close attention to what I’m eating and injecting, previously insurmountable problems become far more predictable. I know it’s a pain, but can you keep a food/insulin/blood sugar diary? It might reveal trends you were unaware of. It could also be a good idea to talk to your health team about the Freestyle Libre. Mine’s NHS funded and massively helps my control.

 

[Jaylee]

It does sometimes do that with no obvious reason to the outsider. But remember you are a mechanic with some spanners (eg insulin, BGL reader) looking into an inconceivably complex engine with some parts that require something other than spanners, and some parts you cannot even see. So do not worry too much - and see what is happening with your HBa1C - which gives a much better picture than point in time ups and downs.

Hi,

I love a car analogy.

The way I see it. The HbA1c is like an average speed check? Problem is without your eye on the speedo. You can windup with an endorsment & fine dropping through the letter box?

The figerprick meter test is more like a "speed camera" if it flashes up the wrong number.

With a CGM set up. It could be suggested it's a little like a "dash cam?" The journey's full aspects have been recorded.
A lot of modern cars also have a fair bit of predictive tech which helps avoid certain situations on the road too. (Like when the car in front suddenly pulls up?)

You'll be surprised what was narrowly missed when taking time out to review dash cam fottage..
Regardless of driving style..

 

[Toby789]

Hi,

I love a car analogy.

The way I see it. The HbA1c is like an average speed check? Problem is without your eye on the speedo. You can windup with an endorsment & fine dropping through the letter box?

The figerprick meter test is more like a "speed camera" if it flashes up the wrong number.

With a CGM set up. It could be suggested it's a little like a "dash cam?" The journey's full aspects have been recorded.
A lot of modern cars also have a fair bit of predictive tech which helps avoid certain situations on the road too. (Like when the car in front suddenly pulls up?)

You'll be surprised what was narrowly missed when taking time out to review dash cam fottage..
Regardless of driving style..

Interesting analogy - I like it! - except for the infringement notice point, because it isn't a fail to go over the limit sometimes! Statistically, think of HBa1C like a regression analysis, which smooths a noisy set of point in time data. As BGLs and HBa1C are not truly independent, there is a little bit of breakdown in the analogy, but your HBa1C will give a much better idea of where things are going than point in time testing.

 

[Marie 2]

Type 1 follows it's own rules sometimes, it's mostly about learning how to deal with it. It's aggravating, and sometimes you can figure out why but????? Insulin resistance randomly for me usually only happens when I eat a high fat meal, and that can even affect the next days BG behavior.

But I have a diabetic dog, same food, same time shot and she will have days where she requires more insulin, sometimes weeks, sometimes one day and I have yet to figure out why.