confused please help?

[ebony321]

Hi all,

i've been having problems keeping my sugar down lately so bad that im no longer surprised when i see a reading over 20, i take my insulin like i should it just seems to take hours to start to bring my sugar down.. i dont eat alot of bad stuff and have a normal diet id say i'm quite skinny, just at a loss seems like its not working how it should ( help?

 

[hanadr]

ebony,
We'd need to have more details of what you eat to be able to give you some ideas.
Hana

 

[shedges]

Hi Ebony,

You need to let us know what your bg levels are before you eat, how much carbohydrate you are eating at the affected meals when levels are slow to go down, what type and how much insulin you're taking and what your readings are up to 4 hours after food and any physical activities you may take part in (or may have stopped doing ... this can affect insulin sensitivity).

Once you have some numbers to show, people on here can give you some help.

Sam.

 

[ebony321]

okay... mmm...

breakfast is usually always just two rounds of brown toast with marg.

dinner because i work is always some sort of sandwich and some crisps

tea is the most variable one ranging from cooked dinners to salads etc...

if i snack its usually fruit or crisps or a plain biscuit or two..

i drink water or sugar free cordial or occasionally diet coke...

...just seems like it takes a long long time for my novarapid to kick in... my sugar eventually comes down but takes a long long long time.. how long after you take it is it supposed to work?

my sugar is so erratic that its hard to give you reading but for example...

sugar before Breakfast today was 20.3 i have two slices of toast... and took 14 units of novorapid...(this is about 4 units more than i would if my sugar was at a reasonable level)

after being at work for two hours (office work so no strenuous exercise) my sugar read at 25.5 (this is now 31/2 hours after taking insulin)

at dinner after walking to town and back (20 min walk) my sugar read 13.6 so it took 51/2 hours for it to come down to this

i've eaten just a sandwich and took 10 units at one o'clock and my sugar right now is 24.3

i know you may suggest to take more insulin but i've tried this and still takes same amout of time really just takes me low resulting in nasty pasty hypo's.. i've tried mentioning this to my DN thinking it may not be the right insulin but was told to perservere at it...

 

[Debloubed]

Hi, your novorapid dose for sandwiches and toast seem way, way high, are you taking a long acting, back ground insulin too? i'm sure you know that it is dangerous for you to be so high for lengthy periods so I would suggest calling your DN to see if she can see you for an appt before Xmas, write everything down so she can see the patterns - perhaps you need to change your fast acting insulin? there are so many options available to help you so try not to worry

 

[Alzibiff]

My £0.02 worth .... I agree with Debs - suggest you take a look at your background insulin which should (and I stress the word 'should' keep your BG level down throughout the day and night. Many people split their background insulin into two injections - one in the morning and one at night time. The reason for this being that despite manufacturers blub, Levermir and Lantus just don't do a flat action for 24 hours. You also need to keep your injection time of the background insulin more or less the same from day to day.

Hope this helps - keep us informed of how you solve this problem, as you will.

Alan

 

[iHs]

Hello Ebony

I have just read your message and also Deb's and Alan's reply and noticed from your signature that you are not using Novorapid. You are using Novomix 30 which is biphasic.

Most twice daily insulins will be at their strongest effect approx 3-4hrs after the injection is done. From what you have said in your message, your blood sugar levels are somewhat high which means that you are not covering the amount of food that you are eating with the correct amount of insulin.

You have 2 options here - either cut down a touch on the carb you eat at breakfast which will start to bring your bg levels down so that by lunchtime you are no longer high. You may or may not need to eat a small snack, it depends on what your bg level is mid morning. 2nd option is to inject a bit more Novomix which will do the same job if you want to keep the amount of carb the same as in your message. Try just increasing 1 unit at a time at breakfast if you decide to do this though.

What makes so much difference to control of bg levels is in the testing. If you test about 6 times a day to begin with you will be able to adjust the amount of carb that you eat so that your bg levels stay at the target range given to you by your dsn.

Hope this helps you and have a Nice Christmas

 

[Angeldust]

I agree with everything everyone has said.
And from experience I think novomix is absolute rubbish and almost impossible to gain and maintain control with.
If I were you the first thing I would do here is switch to levemir and novorapid. The problem is that the insulin you are taking is nowhere near correct. By getting a steady long acting dose and taking rapid with your meals you will gain control.

You're not even eating that much carbs. Even for breakfast, that's what I have and 4 -6 units of novorapid covers two slices of toast for me perfectly. If I don't snack before lunch I'll sometimes go low with that.

Your diet is good in regards to keeping your sugars low. No question that the problem is your insulin is completely wrong.

 

[ebony321]

i've only just realised with you guys saying about novomix on my profile or whatever you'd call it, that is wrong i've been on novorapid and lantus since april i didnt realise it still said that, and i agree that novomix is a bit naff, well for me anyway. im not running so high anymore, i'm being tested for thyroid problems as apparently this can affect blood sugar control but im no longer in the 20's everytime i test my blood.. alot of people may think 10 is extremely high, but for me its a relief so thanks for all your help guys