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Correct name for test.

G

glosman

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14
Location
Gloucester
When I was last in hospital they connected me up to an insulin pump and a drip.

First they fed normal saline through the drip and kept testing my blood sugar levels.

Then they fed 5% Glucose solution through for a while (still testing every so often) and finally switch back to Saline.

I was on the set up for 24 hours. What is this test correctly called and where can I read up on what its results indicate?
 
not quite sure it was a test. why were u in hospital. were you nil by mouth. saline is put up if bs above 10 and glucose if bs is under 10. standard for diabetics. called sliding scale
 
I was in hospital for a kidney stone (VERY painful). On arrival they did a stick test and that showed BS levels just over 19 which is far from the worst I've ever had.

I was allowed to drink during the test and had a couple of slices of toast. This is the second time I've been tested like this, the first time was 4 years ago when I was in hospital for treatment of a blood infection. Until then I had been on medication for Type 2 but following the test I was put on Novamix 30 and I understood the test was to work out how much insulin I needed.

A friendly nurse (not from the hospital) has now told me the test is to find out just how much natural insulin is being produced by the body. You are supposed to be connected to the Saline first and monitored ever hour until the BS level drops to a set level. Then they switch to the glucose drip to raise the BS level to another set point before returning to the saline feed but in this round they time how long it takes for the BS level to drop to the lower limit. From that, she says, they calculate the dose you need each day.
 
I agree with Elaine, its sounds like a standard sliding scale. Its a method of bringing down the glucose levels gradually , and also to rehydrate the person. Its used if the person has DKA or is undergoing surgery or isn't eating properly
They start with insulin and saline (and sometimes if you have DKA potassium) when blood glucose goes below a certain level often 10mmol/l but sometimes higher then they swap the saline for glucose.
Heres a chart for a sliding scale
http://www.stockportdiabetes.co.uk/admi ... art265.pdf
Obviously the amount of insulin that they've needed to infuse gives an indication of how much you might need normally... but only an indication high blood glucose levels and ketones need relatively more insulin, if you're ill you need more insulin and if you're lying there doing nothing you need more than if you're being active.
 
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