colds and high BG reading

susieg said:

I'v been T1 since nov-10. I've been really good trying to lose a bit of weight and trying so hard to keep my BG down, finally getting it down between 7-9, can't seem to get it lower, but the past few days, it's been 8 - 12 ! does this happen normally, or is it because I have a slight cold.

I've been told about tis honeymoon period too, I was wondering what happens when it's over? does it all go haywire.

I had bad eyes when I was first diagnosed, I want to get my BG down so I dont have anymore problems. my eyes are ok now, but being new to all this I don't know how long or how high you can go before problems set in.

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Hi,

as your newly diagnosed being between 7-9 is pretty good, so don't be too hard on yourself

Alot of things can effect your BG readings, illness is definately one of them! the time of the month can also effect this, some women require more or less insulin at this time too. Personally i require less insulin.

The honeymoon period usually happens a little after diagnosis and is where your pancreas when assisted with a little help from insulin injections decides to kick out a little more insulin by itself, which means you don't require much insulin to be injected as the pancreas can do some of the work itself like in someone without diabetes.

It lasts for a different amount of time with everyone, and of course not everyone experiences it either. You should start to notice your insulin requirements rise when your 'honeymoon period' is over.

Bad complications usually take years to set in, and with constant high BG's. However this certainly doesn't mean you shouldnt try and acheive good control as soon as you can which looks like your getting there already!

Hi Susie

You're right that bimodal insulin like Humalin mixed 30 / 70 doesn't give scope for adjusting doses. In fact, I'm suprised that you weren't given the option of basal bolus / MDI (Multiple Daily Injections), which is more flexible. Worth asking your diabetes team about that. There is a possibility of adding some short acting insulin in situations like your cold.

As Ebony said, don't be too hard on yourself so early into you diagnosis.

To avoid the need for phoning for every adjustment, could your nurse give you a sliding scale of adjustments? ie if your blood sugar is x.x to x.x, then increase dose by x units.

While I know lots of people prefer to have fewer injections in a day, and they do fine on it, personally I think it really helps to do the basal/bolus thing because it's so much more flexible. Eg when I have a cold, or if I want a snack between meals, I inject a few units to cover me... it means you don't feel you are 'failing' every time you get a high bg reading, you know you can quickly correct it with a small injection of short-acting insulin.
I can sort of see their reasoning, that they'd start you off on fewer injections, but to be honest, it's easier just to get used to multiple injections as soon as possible in my opinon.

Don't be afraid to experiment a little. If you are willing to try things out - a little more insulin here, a little less there, and check your blood glucose to see what happened - then very quickly you will find that you know more than your nurse about what works for you. This will be much easier to do once you are on a basal/bolus regime, I would suggest.

When you ask about basal/bolus, also ask about DAFNE or similar courses in your area (There are also ones called INSIGHT). They not only help you to manage injections/diet, they also allow you to meet others with type 1, which is incredibly useful and helpful in my opinion. It will make you feel much less 'left to it'.

And as the others have said - don't be hard on yourself. It's a lot to learn and it's tricky, but you're already doing so much right.

susieg said:

as for MDI, I think as I was new they wanted to limit me to 2 times a day instead of injecting severl times

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When I was changed to insulin, I specifically asked for mixed insulin regime with 2 injections a day (to avoid as many needles - I don't like needles). They refused to even consider it, they said it was so inflexible, and suitable for basically no-one, and they would only use it in situations where the patient was not capable of calculating the right dose, or where there would be non-compliance issues with a MDI regime.
I imagine the attitude toward mixed insulin differs though at different diabetic clinics, but I would think if you show you understand what you will need to do eg carb counting they would let you change insulins if you wanted.