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First post, diabetic for 10 years a few minor questions.

S

Serial45

Well-Known Member
Messages
71
First off hey guys, figured i'd post up here, a few minor queries I have.

First off I consider myself to have pretty good control, my HBA1C readings have not been above 7% for the past 4-5 years. My last HBA1C was 6.3%

I've tried recently to take things one step further, I want it so my blood sugars never get above 9.

I am on levirmir / novorapid insulin, I take 36 units of levirmir at around 5pm each day, I take three injections of novorapid around 9 units - 16 units, I vary this completely depending on my levels and what food I am planning to eat.

I pretty much eat all wholegrain foods, lots of fibre, protein, I eat lots of fruit and veg and vitamins, get at least 5-7 portions in on most days. I eat an ample amount of carbs i's say around 200-250g a day.

I have had a few diabetic fits in the past 18 months, both times these have been due to heavy exercise the night before and dropping in the night, these are very scary experiences and I literally feel lost and not myself for 1-2 weeks after, I never want to have one of these things happen again.

The questions I have are :
1) Do you guys ever find that certain insulin batches act stronger than others? or have a different reactions?

I'll give an example :
The other day I injected my 36 units of levirmir at 5pm,my sugars where 8mmol, 2 hours later these dropped to 3.4mmol, now considering my last fast acting novorapid was at 12pm that day that surely would have ran out. I had done no exercise since 2 days prior.

I find that levirmir sometimes reacts stronger, it scares me a lot. sometimes I go to bed with a level of 8-9mmol, having last injected my fast acting 5-7 hours earlier. Sometimes I wake in the night and my sugars are below 4.

Other times my blood sugars will be 8 when I go to bed, i'll have a biscuit and wake up with them being around 10-12 in the morning. Most of the time it's fine, but other times it confuses me.

2) I sometimes get tingles in my hands and feet after heavy exercise, is this normal or is it something to worry about?

Thanks in advance.
 
hya and welcome,
i used to be similar to you, i take lantus and novo,
ive never noticed any difference with different batches but have found i sometimes hypo a day after ive been more busy, could this have happened??
as for the tingles i used to get them when i was on quite a few carbs and also used to rollercoast up and down with my bloods but still had an ok hba1c,
i cut down on carbs and found this cleared up and got a hba of 5.9 too,
hope this helps :D keep asking the questions
 
Hi Serial45,

I wouldn't recommend a single shot of Levemir. It will work far more evenly in a split dose given
twice a day.

Regards,
timo.
 
totsy said:
hya and welcome,
i used to be similar to you, i take lantus and novo,
ive never noticed any difference with different batches but have found i sometimes hypo a day after ive been more busy, could this have happened??
as for the tingles i used to get them when i was on quite a few carbs and also used to rollercoast up and down with my bloods but still had an ok hba1c,
i cut down on carbs and found this cleared up and got a hba of 5.9 too,
hope this helps :D keep asking the questions
Click to expand...

Nice what amounts of carbs do you eat on a daily basis and when mate? thanks in advance, open to any diet changes.
 
18 units, around 12 hours apart should do the trick, Serial45. Give it a couple of days to even out properly and then, if needs be, your AM/PM doses can be adjusted to suit.

Splitting the dose like this will make absorption less random and give a much better spread of background insulin throughout the day.

Good luck,
timo.
 
Hi serial45,

I'd completely agree with timo2, splitting your Levemir dose will help you enormously.
It's a great ambition to make sure your bg's stay below 9 on a permanent basis. Success will depend on flattening out the peaks and troughs of your bg fluctuations. Perhaps the best way to do this is to adapt your diet so that you use lower doses of insulin. In that way, your diet will have a reduced tendency to raise your bg level, and the lower doses will make hypos less likely too.
200-250g carbohydrate per day works out at a lot of glucose in your bloodstream, and therefore a lot of insulin to deal with it.

As for the insulin batch question, I've been T1 for 28 years and only had to discard a vial of insulin a handful of times because it hadn't worked properly. Most of those times it was because I'd allowed it to become overheated somehow. I think quality control of insulin production is incredibly high.

The tingling after exercise is probably a good thing, a sign of your circulation working well. If you were feeling the tingling without exercise, that would be a bit more worrying!

All the best,

fergus
 
did you notice any change in your bg with the tingling?

and its important to eat within 30 minutes of finishing exercise. during exercise we use glycogen stored in the liver and muscles and it need to be replaced a.s.a.p .


I have also noticed varying effects from insulins. but I don't think its the insulin more like how our body reacts to the insulin. and most importantly keeping hydrated has a astonishing effect on the insulins functionality
 
I have not noticed different batch strengths but you may me getting very technical because you have to take everything into account ambient temperature, injection site, illness, excercise in past 48 hours etc etc.

I have had type 1 for 30years and never passed out basically from following my own routine, excercise is important for good control.

At present I use Lantus before I go to bed and during the day use Novo Rapid as & when I feel like it. I have found Lantus causes the sugars to drop during the night so there is no sleeping in.

My method is to test before bed and often find 7-9 is the result so I eat a couple of digestives and inject the lantus and usually wake upto a test of 4 which is ideal for a slap up breakfast.

This method I have used over the years and on a night out always stick to Holsten Pils as it does not alter blood sugar levels.

For me it's all about testing to be sure especially when out of routine.
 
DiabeticSkater said:
did you notice any change in your bg with the tingling?

and its important to eat within 30 minutes of finishing exercise. during exercise we use glycogen stored in the liver and muscles and it need to be replaced a.s.a.p .


I have also noticed varying effects from insulins. but I don't think its the insulin more like how our body reacts to the insulin. and most importantly keeping hydrated has a astonishing effect on the insulins functionality
Click to expand...

Yup I always eat within 30mins, generally take some protein and something like a fruit smoothie to balance it out. Then depending on the level of exercise I take less insulin / more carbs.

My bloods aren't really high i'd say within normaly range, it's only after I really exert myself i get this, maybe it could be low blood pressure perhaps?
I tend to really push myself sometimes with cardio often staying in the 150-170 BPM range for at least 20 mins of my exercise, I always warm up / cool down etc.
 
bmtest said:
I have not noticed different batch strengths but you may me getting very technical because you have to take everything into account ambient temperature, injection site, illness, excercise in past 48 hours etc etc.

I have had type 1 for 30years and never passed out basically from following my own routine, excercise is important for good control.

At present I use Lantus before I go to bed and during the day use Novo Rapid as & when I feel like it. I have found Lantus causes the sugars to drop during the night so there is no sleeping in.

My method is to test before bed and often find 7-9 is the result so I eat a couple of digestives and inject the lantus and usually wake upto a test of 4 which is ideal for a slap up breakfast.

This method I have used over the years and on a night out always stick to Holsten Pils as it does not alter blood sugar levels.
.
Click to expand...

Nice, i heard holsten pills had low sugar, I generally drink low carb beers like michelob and Coors light, is holsten the better choice?
 
Hi

I remember as a young teenager visiting the local off license with a bunch of mates and thinking, I am a newly diagnosed diabetic am I supposed to drink. I must have picked up every can looking on the labels for carb content and thank god for the Germans on the side of the Holsten cans it said recommended for diabetics.

From then on I stuck with it. It has hardly any sugar or carb content which was important to me especially as the night started at 7pm till around 2.30am. In my younger years I would knock back around 15 bottles a night this is nothing to be proud of it is just that what a night out consisted of and I worked my way up to that level.

I always finished the night off walking the 3mile home this was twofold as it gave time for the blood sugars to settle down before going to sleep and the other was I had spent up on beer. I always started the night with 4 digestives and a pack of dextrosol tablets as emergency reserves the digestives alway went early. If on the off chance I though I was hypo I would order a fruit juice as well as the Holsten to bump up sugar level I never carried test equipment there was no room in any of my pockets.

This method worked for me I have had it for 30years and have no complications happily married with 2 kids although I do not consume as much Holsten as I used to. I have observed others locally with diabetes who drank bitter or the usual beers one has had renal failure the other half a leg missing I presume if you drink volume it will have an impact.

For instance if you go out and drink a pint of Guiness then test after your blood sugar could be as high as 15, then you inject to bring it down and wonder why you are hypo after the peak as gone.
The trouble is these days a lot of bars just as in the past do not stock low carb lager.

Drinking is not something to be proud of it's just the hospital from the word go said try to live a near to normal life as possible therefore I did.

Apologies for the detail but being a diabetic there is no room for error your life may depend on it and as I have said have never passed out yet touch wood.


John Bull also do some home brew kits also but have stopped doing it based on the time factor.

Try this available in most supermarkets which is low carb.
http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/english/
 
Hi bmtest.

As an avid Guinness fan of many years I am amazed at your Bg reading after a Pint. I have never been anywhere near those levels, a maximum of 7.5 after just one Pint. Did somebody spike your drink ?

As for your link about Asahi beer - do you have the nutritional information about this as low carb is not enough. I want to know what else is in it ?

I am willing to conduct some research here and try another before and after trial. Anybody care to join in this experiment ? :D :?:

Ken.
 
Hi Ken

Thanks for that info it's strange but Guiness & Bitters and most lagers send my sugar levels soaring through the roof hence will not touch them. I am not keen on drinking the odd pint and only drink in the evening when most of the insulin is fading and it goes against the grain injecting for beer as it is easy to loose count and forget so it has to be low carb or nothing.

Yes the company Asahi emailed me with the Carb content of their beer but this afternoon I have been checking out Holsten Pils to confirm what was once a fact. It used to be called Diat Pils and be imported from Hamburg but it seems to be brewed and canned in the UK by Carlsberg and no values are now given on the tin. I have noticed It is easier to drink having a pleasant taste and not as dry so wondered if they have tampered with the ingredients.

Miller Lite in the silver tin has also vanished from the supermarkets over the last few months not to mention Hemeling that went year ago.

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/HEMELING-LITE-LAGER-275-ML-FOREIGN-BEER-CAN_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ180303765124
 
Yes, I will email Asahi again for the info and post back details next week.

If you look on the web there is a lot of conflicting info on carb values like a lot of companies this info is not at the forefront and is hidden deep.
 
Most strong beers are low carb as the sugars are turned to alcohol during the fermentation stage, this is a double edged sword though as the stronger the alcohol the bigger the effect on the liver.

Holsten Pills is no lower in carbs than any other premium lager. The diet pils label is just like other diet food labels it just means less sugar. Holsten Pils advertising claim that "most of the sugar is turned to alcohol" is the same for any other lager.

If you like the taste then drink it but personally I find it too sweet, give me a Bud or a Cobra any day but like anything else it is personal taste, just don't believe the Holsten is better for diabetics rubbish, fact is no alcohol at all is best for a diabetic. But in moderation the odd glass here and there wont kill you. :)
 
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