can anyone help daughters blood sugars high

Hi Sophsmam,
Don't you just wish you could inject for them and they could reap the benefits. Andrew woke with bs of 4.5, refused breakfast, only had 2 mandarin oranges and a glass of apple juice, no proper carbs, 3u humalog and is off to play til 2pm. Of course i'll worry til he comes in, he loves playing at the trim-trail (its like a mini forest) of course he can't get a reception on his phone so it's useless phoning him. He came in yesterday evening 2.6 fully funtioning, told me i'm a worry pot and he can look after himself, proceeded to pour himself lucozade, opened a bag of crisps and vegetated infront of the TV, as if i didn't exist. (and he's still only 10yrs old) He can be so independant, which of course makes me feel redundant, but i think lately we've been so strict with his bs testing and insulin regime,( i so want to improve on his last Hbac1) that it's his was of rebelling.
Gosh 13u seems such a lot, and it really didn't bring her down enough, i know she didn't get the full dosage of Lantus, so thats understandable. Lantus didn't agree with Andrew at all, were finding Levemir so much better. Just goes to show everyone is different.
Have a good day,
Suzi x

Andrews Consultatant told me that the reasoning on 2 or 4 injections was a matter of concern for him. He said he prefered the old way of 2 injections at first and getting children onto 4 after either 3yrs post diagnosis, when he though they where mature enough to handle 4 injections, or for gaining better control of bs. Unfortunatley he said it now longer worked like that, he hinted at powers above him(probably pen pushers and pharmacotiacal companys) most children were being put onto a regime of 4 at diagnosis. 4 to begin with is a lot to deal with. Its hard enough coming to terms with it and all the imformation without having to carb count as well. Andrew went on 4 a day last November mainly because after his original insulin being taken off the market and trying 5 other we were advised that the Lantus and Humalog regime would work. Well each night i had to bribe Andrew to use the Lantus, he said it stung like hell (it has a higher PH than other insulins) obviously he was sensative to it. He had stomach cramps, mood swings, just wasn't himself. So they changed him to Levemir and were finally getting there. Andrew started '09 with flu (even though he had the flu jab) he didn't return to school after christmas till 23rd jan, was at school a day and they told me he wasn't fit enough, so it was Feb before he went back. Not the best start to the year and he caught everything that was going til end of April, his immune system was so low. Thankfully hes healthy now and has finally settled on Levemir. Sorry i meant to just answer your question and have rambled on. I wonder if its the same in all areas and consultants though, I ask yours if i were you. Our consultant is very approachable on everything, he even dresses up as Santa at the christmas party and gives all the mums a hug and a kiss too.
Suzi x

Thing with Sophies stomach cramps and mood swings is it could be to do with her body gettting ready to menstrate, then again its most likely the Lantus, but thats only my opinion.
Why did they change her from Levemir to Lantus? I think it takes a good 4 months for their bodies to settle onto new insulins and regimes, as its only now that Andrew is getting really good control. Hope you have a good day,
Suzi x

I wouldn't say she's too early to have periods, i started mine at 9.

Not to be too personal, but when did you start yours? If you were early, then there's a good chance she will be too.
Also, how big is she? I don't mean fat, i mean is she just growing faster than her friends.
I did, and i was 5' at 11. I haven't grown since lol.

Her body will start getting ready about a year before she actually has a period. So honestly i think it's puberty kicking in.
Glad to hear it's all getting better though.

Sophsmam,
It really is no bother, its nice to help. Let her go to her Aunts meal, or she may feel excluded and its her fault that your thinking of not going, because of her diabetes. I have seen Andrew eat dinner at 8pm, of which time he's been high and we have dealt with it, of course it wasn't planned. Now you have an opportunity to go out and you can plan for it. Of course you don't want to wait til 7.30 for her to eat, so let her have something at normal teatime, even a snack to keep her going and inject to cover. Then at the meal she can eat again if she wants, even a smaller portion or lower in carbs and inject to cover what she ate, just make sure you leave around 2hrs between injections. Then leave her Levemir/Lantus til about 10.30pm if you can. Enjoy the meal and let your hair down.
Suzi x

sophsmam said:

sophie was are on lantus to begin with and then it really hurt her.so they recommended levemir but she said that hurt too so we changed back.iv'e just explained to her about your son and she said 'she did get less stomach pains with the levemir'.aargh sophie why couldn't you tell me this at the time.just rang doctors be ready to pick up today.
we are meant to be going for a family meal tommorow for 7.30.now i don't think it's a good idea for sophie to eat that late,with her bs being high most of the time.what do you think?.it's for her auntie's birthday.thankyou for answering my questions i will stop bothering you all,so much to learn and remember.
have a good day.

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You both have to get used to managing doses in unusual situation eventually anyway, so she might as well go and just remember to test her bloods before and after, and do a suitable injection. If you get it wrong you get it wrong, we learn by doing. Sounds reckless, but that's how we all do it in the beginning.

As for the Lantus, I still don't understand why anyone is prescribing it. It's a lemon by all accounts, at least when compared to Levemir. That being said I'm still of the opinion she shouldn't be on basal-bolus this early anyway...

Hiya again

With Lantus it can be given just once a day but its action for some people is a bit too quick, also for a kid its less injections. Levemir is bit more gentle but for good control, its best to give it twice a day although many people can get away with using it just once and using more in the way of bolus doses.

You say that yr daughter has said that she feels some pain when injecting insulin. Someone else of this forum mentioned a cannula device which will help no end. http://www.applied-medical.co.uk/insuflon.shtml This is a fancy infusion set similar to those that insulin pumpers use. Kids can use it, so can adults.


Life is though, just like Lion has stated. You learn as you go along. By doing bg tests about 5-6 times a day, you should start to pick up on what is happening so you can then adjust the bolus insulin.

As far as most diabetic specialists / endocrinologists I have spoken to are concerned (off the record, I would assume), the capabilities of Lantus were over-estimated. On paper it sounded great, but in practise it couldn't cut it. It just can't work as a single injection, and has a tendency to spike rather than delivery a smooth constant effect. Even split across two doses it's just not as stable or reliable as the new Levemir.

Levemir is, basically, a more advanced type of long lasting insulin.

It's probably not entirely the hospital's fault. They may not have seen the same results my consultants have, and thus not joined the dots. However as you can see by browsing old threads on this forum, Lantus is definitely a problematic insulin.

Hi,

I have read all the post and can see that you really want to sort things out for your daughter.

My suggestions:

Lantus is less stable than levemir. It deteriorates quite fast when it is exposed to light and heat so can vary in its effects when from when you start and finish a vial. levemir is more stable. Both lantus and levemir need to be injected twice a day as NEITHER give 24 hour coverage in most people. It is a matter of choice which you use but fling out any unsused Lantus after three weeks and sooner if it has been in a hot car.

Your daughter's diet is pretty high in fast acting carbs. I agree with the advice you have been given by lionrampant. Take every ingested carb into consideration. The B-DEC course is great for carb counting tuition and has the advantage of being free and online. It's advice about insulin use is still rather basic and you will get more info on the course at www.dsolve.com.

It sounds like the honeymoon has come to an end and the pubertal growth spurt has come early for your daughter. The peak age for insulin resistance is 14 in girls so you will have a long time of it. Whatever everyone else's carb/insulin ratios are is no good here. You have to work out what your daughter needs and this can vary significantly depending on the time of day. Breakfast tend to need more insulin for the amount of carb compared to other meals. Lunch time tends to need the least amount of insulin for any given amount of carb.

It is a job that requires a lot of experimentation and persistence but getting the sugars under control is really worth it long term.

Katharine.

Huzzah.

sophsmam said:

Sophie's got her 3 month check up tommorow.For the past 2 or 3 weeks her bloods have been fine katherine helped me out with her high tea b/s.so thankyou katherine and everyone else that gave me advice.it be a year in october since she was diagnosed and i think she's coped very well and we are very proud of her.

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Let us know how she gets on!