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From 21.5 to 3.3 in two and a half hours?

Sarah69

Sarah69

Well-Known Member
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1,498
Location
Hethersett, Norwich
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
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Anything healthy!
Hi, can anyone tell me how my BS can go from 21.5 to 3.3 in two and a half hours without me actually doing anything? I really don’t understand this diabetes!
 
To be honest I would say that amount of Basel would do the same and has done the same to me I had to reduce my Basel to stop the extreme changes in bg , try reducing a few units at a time maybe and see how you go .
 
Sarah69 said:
I have 14 units of lantus in the morning and 10 units at bed time. Hadn’t eaten anything.
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Is this your usual dose?
No other medications for diabetes?

I assume you normally eat, so not eating anything while taking your usual dose of insulin can have played a role, even if it's long acting insulin.

Did you take a second test after washing hands to confirm the 21.5?

At what time did you have the low, and at what time did you have the Lantus?
 
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If I just were to take my usual dose of Lanus (16 units) in the morning it wouldn’t affect me until mid afternoon. If I hadn’t eaten I would drop from 9-10 to <3 by about 2pm. I also take 10 units Lantus about 9pm. If I top up too much with bolus I can get a low alarm about 4am. I find my levels usually go up without eating, bit of a chance I suppose but it seems to work for me. By 8am I’m back up to about 8 or 9 and the process starts again!
 
Were these readings double checked?
If they were finger pricks, you may have had something on your hand.
If they were from a CGM, they are designed to be most accurate at “normal” levels and will over estimate highs and lows.
jaywak said:
To be honest I would say that amount of Basel would do the same and has done the same to me I had to reduce my Basel to stop the extreme changes in bg , try reducing a few units at a time maybe and see how you go .
Click to expand...
The amount of insulin someone needs is variable. The dose may be too high for you but could be low for others. I may no assumptions about what is a big (or small) dose for others.
 
Antje77 said:
Is this your usual dose?
No other medications for diabetes?

I assume you normally eat, so not eating anything while taking your usual dose of insulin can have played a role, even if it's long acting insulin.

Did you take a second test after washing hands to confirm the 21.5?

At what time did you have the low, and at what time did you have the Lantus?
Click to expand...
Yes my normal dose. I’m on metformin but have run out, empaglaflozin and another that’s starts with D but can’t remember the name.

No I don’t eat breakfast only when I’m at work. I have my lantus anytime between 5am up to 11am. This day it was at around 9 am. I tested about 2pm when it was 21.5 didn’t retest. It was around 4.30ish time when I started feeling low.
 
Sarah69 said:
Yes my normal dose. I’m on metformin but have run out, empaglaflozin and another that’s starts with D but can’t remember the name.

No I don’t eat breakfast only when I’m at work. I have my lantus anytime between 5am up to 11am. This day it was at around 9 am. I tested about 2pm when it was 21.5 didn’t retest. It was around 4.30ish time when I started feeling low.
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If you didn't retest, I would highly doubt that 21.5 result.
 
Sarah69 said:
Yes my normal dose. I’m on metformin but have run out, empaglaflozin and another that’s starts with D but can’t remember the name.

No I don’t eat breakfast only when I’m at work. I have my lantus anytime between 5am up to 11am. This day it was at around 9 am. I tested about 2pm when it was 21.5 didn’t retest. It was around 4.30ish time when I started feeling low.
Click to expand...
Hi,

I do Lantus.

Looks like you split dose? What time did you inject at “bed time.?”

Was it also a new cartridge or pen??
 
In Response said:
Were these readings double checked?
If they were finger pricks, you may have had something on your hand.
If they were from a CGM, they are designed to be most accurate at “normal” levels and will over estimate highs and lows.

The amount of insulin someone needs is variable. The dose may be too high for you but could be low for others. I may no assumptions about what is a big (or small) dose for others.
Click to expand...
Exactly ! that is why we have to try it and see what works for our own individual needs , what works for me might not work for anybody else , .
 
Jaylee said:
Hi,

I do Lantus.

Looks like you split dose? What time did you inject at “bed time.?”

Was it also a new cartridge or pen??
Click to expand...
Hi, it wasn’t a new pen. It wouldn’t have been between 9.30/10.30.

I always wash hands before testing too.
 
Sarah69 said:
I always wash hands before testing too
Click to expand...
But did you confirm that 21.5 by doing a second test?
It's possible to have a faulty test strip and the accuracy standard of +/-15% is for 95% of the tests, the 95% means that 1 in 20 results could be wildly inaccurate
 
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