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Embarrassed

J

Jokeying

Member
Messages
20
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I've been a Diabetic for best part of 32yrs and I'm ashamed to say I have never mastered my blood sugar from bedtime until morning time, I'm type 1 on Humilin Soluble three times a day ( Breakfast, Lunch and Tea ) and Humilin Isophane once a day before bed. My sugar levels are well controlled during the day right up to bedtime ranging anywhere from 4-8 generally before going to bed I'm between 5-7 but I can wake up in the morning quite often with blood levels of between 14-18, I have tried increasing my Isophane to see if that helps with no joy, I used to take 40-50 units of Isophane before bed but to give you an example i sometimes take 70-80 quite often so u can see how much I have increased my nighttime Insulin and if my sugar happens to be for example 10-12 approx going to bed it wouldn't be uncommon for me to take 4 units of my Humilin Soluble daytime insulin to try and keep my sugar on the 5-8 range. I eat my dinner every night at 7pm or as close to that time and it's not as if I'm eating massive meals full of carbohydrates I can't work out for love nor money how my sugar levels can rise so much. When I went to my yearly Diabetic appointment my blood test they do to check my averages was 7.0 so that tells u how well controlled I am through the day, I would appreciate any advice from you guys to try to get my night to morning levels a bit more respectable.
 
as a T1..Humulin Isophane is an intermediate insulin,,isn't it? are you in the UK? you really need to see your nurse
 
Like you, I had this problem for the best part of 20 years. I often "saw the nurse", was told to up the dose / lower the dose, and was changed from Insulatard to Lantus, none of which made the slightest difference.

Things are much improved now. I think the underlying problem was that there was no underlying trend - half the nights I was going hypo, half the nights I was running high.

Now I take great care with my blood sugar reading 2 hours after my evening meal. Though I have a standard dose of Insulatard, (I really disliked Lantus) I vary it slightly depending on the reading. In extreme circumstances when I must have made a mistake with my tea-time Hulamlog I will take a single correction unit of Humalog as well as the Insulatard.

I still get the odd high or low in the morning, but I now feel I am in control of what happens. Good luck.
 
Humilin Isophane is a slow acting Insulin, Humilin Soluble is fast acting. Think I'm due my yearly Diabetic check so will explain all this to Dr and Diabetic Nurse, thanks for your replies.
 
Jokeying said:
Humilin Isophane is a slow acting Insulin, Humilin Soluble is fast acting. Think I'm due my yearly Diabetic check so will explain all this to Dr and Diabetic Nurse, thanks for your replies.
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is this the one you take?

http://www.old.health.gov.il/units/pharmacy/trufot/alonim/humulin_dr_1311663678650.pdf
3. PHARMACEUTICAL FORM
Humulin R (Soluble) is a sterile, clear, colourless, aqueous solution of human insulin.
Humulin Soluble is a rapidly acting insulin preparation.
Humulin N (Isophane) is a sterile suspension of a white, crystalline precipitate of isophane human insulin in an isotonic phosphate buffer.
Humulin Isophane is an intermediate acting insulin preparation.
Humulin 70/30 (Mixture) is a sterile suspension of human insulin in the proportion of 30 % soluble insulin to 70 % isophane insulin.
Humulin Mixtures are intermediate acting insulin preparations.
 
Yeah spot on Jack, those are the two Insulins I'm on cheers.
 
@noblehead will know...AFAIK from here.. it's an intermediate and isn't it normally taken 2x a day for a T1 ? a lot seem to use the premix 70/30 twice a day..a long acting is normally taken once a day.
Jokeying said:
Yeah spot on Jack, those are the two Insulins I'm on cheers.
Click to expand...
 
I have always taken one dose of slow acting Isophane before bed since I have been prescribed it.
 
Hi. Can I ask what your BMI is? Those who have excess weight on insulin can find management more difficult due to insulin resistance. It sounds like you do need to increase one or both insulins but the nuber of shots already seem quite high implying insulin resistance. Many new T1s appear to be put onto Lantus or Levemir daily insulin and Novorapid meal-time. I think it may be worth discussing the insulins you are taking when you next see the DN? I don't know the pros and cons of each but it may be one of the more recent ones has advantages?
 
jack412 said:
@noblehead will know...AFAIK from here.. it's an intermediate and isn't it normally taken 2x a day for a T1 ? a lot seem to use the premix 70/30 twice a day..a long acting is normally taken once a day.
Click to expand...


I've no experience to offer with using these insulins, @Jokeying, best that you discuss your bg levels and insulin doses with your DSN for them to advise you further.
 
My BMI is 34.6 I'm 5ft 8 and weigh 17st so as you can see I'm carrying a few pounds overweight, no chance of me being a jockey lol.
 
How do I post a reply to a certain individual in the thread without replying to everyone as I'm relatively new to forum and I'm using the Diabetes.co.uk App for the IPad cheers.
 
Hi, used to take Humulin I years ago, but always split the dose morning and early evening. I don't recall enough about it's onset and peak time to suggest anything firm, but I do remember the marked peaks & troughs that I didn't get with Levemir. For those morning readings to often be high, especially after going to bed at a reasonable level, perhaps you're hypo-ing in the night.

I would take along your readings and explain this pattern. Or lack of, as the case may be! Sure, your overall average is good, but your DN and doc should also want to help level out the readings across the day.

Please don't be embarrassed - nobody is perfect! Good luck at the appointment.
 
Kaz how long were you on Humilin i? And did you come off it because of high morning readings?. What Insulin did your Diabetes Dr or nurse prescribe to you and how long have you been taking new Insulin and are your fasting results a lot better?. Sorry to ask you so many questions, but I'm trying to get as much info before I attend my yearly appointment and can take any advice I get from this forum with me, you are a good example as you have previously been on Humilin i.
 
I would suspect your problem is the administration of your Isophane. Try using it twice a day. Make sure you have plenty of test strips and start sorting it out. you will probably find you will need a lot less if you inject it twice a day. I used to inject 20 units in the morning and 3 at night, when on it many years ago.
 
This one's beyond me I'm afraid as I've never used these mixed insulins. I was only diagniosed 18 months ago adn went straight onto Novorapid and Levemir.
 
ElyDave said:
This one's beyond me I'm afraid as I've never used these mixed insulins. I was only diagniosed 18 months ago adn went straight onto Novorapid and Levemir.
Click to expand...
OP isn't on mixed insulin's
 
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