Erratic BG

[SueJB]

Morning all,
The perennial problem......... erratic BG
If I need to get up in the night I check and when I wake properly in the morning there's a rise and there's a morning trend to wake in the teens. Then I always get a dawn dump so every a.m I'm sticking in 2-4units Bolus just to correct.
At lunch time there isn't much of a drop and most days there's a rise AND I don't eat breakfast and never have. Correct again and bolus for piddly food which doesn't seem to work and bring BG down
I can't get BG to go down and don't know what to try next. Have increased bolus (Novoslug) and probably not getting more than 50gs on average a day.
Any ideas anyone?

 

[JAT1]

Have you tried keeping an accurate journal, recording exactly what, how much and when you eat, as well as how much and when you took your insulin, and also recording your blood sugar readings first thing on waking, before eating, an hour and 2 hours after eating and before sleeping for the night. Also including exercise - like did you do more than usual or did you work more than usual or had more stress than usual. I found that with this journal I came to a far greater understanding of my metabolism, which in turn improved my diet and responding insulin needs. After some time I stopped with the journal as I now know what I can eat and when to take my insulin. I have had good blood sugar since I learned all that about myself, but fortunately the learning never ends. Recently, since where I work we get our temperature taken daily as part of the Covid protocol, I notice that if my temperature is below 36, my blood sugar is also low and know that I need to up it a bit. All the best in working this out for yourself.

 

[MarkMunday]

... I can't get BG to go down and don't know what to try next. Have increased bolus (Novoslug) and probably not getting more than 50gs on average a day.
Any ideas anyone?

Sounds to me like inadequate basal. Fiddling with boluses becomes like trying to push water uphill if basal is out of line. Test your basal and then figure out what needs to be done.

 

[SueJB]

Have you tried keeping an accurate journal, recording exactly what, how much and when you eat, as well as how much and when you took your insulin, and also recording your blood sugar readings first thing on waking, before eating, an hour and 2 hours after eating and before sleeping for the night. Also including exercise - like did you do more than usual or did you work more than usual or had more stress than usual. I found that with this journal I came to a far greater understanding of my metabolism, which in turn improved my diet and responding insulin needs. After some time I stopped with the journal as I now know what I can eat and when to take my insulin. I have had good blood sugar since I learned all that about myself, but fortunately the learning never ends. Recently, since where I work we get our temperature taken daily as part of the Covid protocol, I notice that if my temperature is below 36, my blood sugar is also low and know that I need to up it a bit. All the best in working this out for yourself.

Thanks @JAT1 for the info. I'm creating a BG journal library every blood letting since diagnosis and every scrap of food eaten. Very boring. Perhaps I should buy a thermometer

 

[oldgreymare]

Morning all,
The perennial problem......... erratic BG
If I need to get up in the night I check and when I wake properly in the morning there's a rise and there's a morning trend to wake in the teens. Then I always get a dawn dump so every a.m I'm sticking in 2-4units Bolus just to correct.
At lunch time there isn't much of a drop and most days there's a rise AND I don't eat breakfast and never have. Correct again and bolus for piddly food which doesn't seem to work and bring BG down
I can't get BG to go down and don't know what to try next. Have increased bolus (Novoslug) and probably not getting more than 50gs on average a day.
Any ideas anyone?

How long has this been going on and what has changed for you in that timespan - schedule, diet, exercise, stress, medications, work, travel, weather, illness onset - I suspect you know all the usual culprits. Also maybe dud insulin - have you tried changing pens/vials. As @MarkMunday suggests, maybe time to recalibrate your basal dose? I also suffer from DP consistently - if I manage to add a correction dose between 4-5 am, then easier to manage once i'm up and drinking coffee - otherwise too often is in the teens.

 

[SueJB]

How long has this been going on and what has changed for you in that timespan - schedule, diet, exercise, stress, medications, work, travel, weather, illness onset - I suspect you know all the usual culprits. Also maybe dud insulin - have you tried changing pens/vials. As @MarkMunday suggests, maybe time to recalibrate your basal dose? I also suffer from DP consistently - if I manage to add a correction dose between 4-5 am, then easier to manage once i'm up and drinking coffee - otherwise too often is in the teens.

Thanks @oldgreymare. We all know that sometimes there can be little reason and in this case no reason. Nothing has changed in my life, well it's getting a bit colder isn't it. I might change the pen refill but I don't think it's a dud, today is day 16 of use

 

[Tara61]

I've yet to start my insulin, got an appointment to sort it out on Tuesday, so my BG is all over the place, usually in the high teens, though I have had a fasting reading of 23.9! I use an online food diary, so much easier than doing it by hand, I use My Fitness pal, but there are plenty out there to choose from.
Also logs things like fluid intake and exercise, as well as calories, carbs etc, so pretty useful.

 

[Hopeful34]

@SueJB since the colder weather has come in, I've had to increase my basal by quite a lot to get my levels better. Once it warms up next year, will have to lower it again. It doesn't always go back neatly to what it was previously, but I keep a record of what it was every time I change it, so can refer back for a good starting point when the weather changes. Hope you can get it sorted out, because I feel rotten when bg is high.

 

[Hopeful34]

I've yet to start my insulin, got an appointment to sort it out on Tuesday, so my BG is all over the place, usually in the high teens, though I have had a fasting reading of 23.9! I use an online food diary, so much easier than doing it by hand, I use My Fitness pal, but there are plenty out there to choose from.
Also logs things like fluid intake and exercise, as well as calories, carbs etc, so pretty useful.

@Tara61 Welcome to the forum. Hope your appointment goes well on Tuesday.

 

[SueJB]

@SueJB since the colder weather has come in, I've had to increase my basal by quite a lot to get my levels better. Once it warms up next year, will have to lower it again. It doesn't always go back neatly to what it was previously, but I keep a record of what it was every time I change it, so can refer back for a good starting point when the weather changes. Hope you can get it sorted out, because I feel rotten when bg is high.

Thanks @hopeful 34. That's interesting. When you say quite a lot, can I ask what was your original Basal and how much did you increase? I'm on Levemir.