• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Help with controls and highs

B

benunited

Member
Messages
17
Hi folks,

Sorry if this seems lazy. I'm sure there are lots of threads like this but it would be great if anyone can help.

I'm type 1. 34 years old and been diabetic for over 10 years now. You'd think I'd have the hang of this thing by now but I'm really struggling at the moment and honestly don't think I've felt this low and tired since I was first diagnosed.

Take yesterday as an example. I woke up with BS of 6.4 and had two slices of brown toast and a low fat yoghurt. Normally the 10g of carbs = 1 unit of novorapid works quite well for me, so I took my usual 7 units.

An hour later I checked and I was at 11.1. Wasnt' too sure why but I had planned a day digging in the garden and that often brings my sugar levels crashing down so I left it as it was. After about two hours digging I had a banana. Then later I had brown bread and soup and had another 7 units. BS early evening was 9 and I went to the gym for 40 mins.

I did have a small portion of lasagne with salad with another 7 units. Unsurprisingly given the day's activity I had a 3.3 hypo around 10pm, just before bed. In some ways I knew this was coming. If I had a day of gardening and going to the gym, normally I'd have cut my usual 7 units per meal back a little but I've been so determined to keep my sugars down recently I erred towards low rather than high BS levels.

So before bed I had a low fat digestive biscuit and 100mls of lemonade to sort the hypo.

This morning my BS was 11.1. I often seem to have trouble controlling my BS levels in the morning. I have 21 units of the 24 hours insulin just before bed and the doctors have tried changing when I take this but this hasn't helped the morning spikes.

Anyway, with BS at 11.1 I had two slices of wholemeal toast, which normally would have meant 3 or 4 units of novorapid. I took 7 with the intention of bringing my BS down and decided to monitor an hour later in case my BS went too low. Well, an hour and a half later my BS was over 19.

This surely can't be the result of a small portion of lasagne 14 hours ago!? Can anyone suggest what's going wrong?

I feel so depressed at the moment. These spikes have been happening quite often recently and they are making me feel very down.

In some ways I'd like to have sat around yesterday and had a day off watching movies and eating junk food. But I was active all day, spent ages digging in the garden, went to the gym, took my insulin routinely and had a very uninteresting diet of brown toast, yoghurt, soup, salad, a biscuit, a banana and a small portion of lasagne. It's so depressing when you're trying to do everything right and still can't get it right. Maybe after all these years I still don't understand diabetes...
 
Hi, There are probably several things going on here and it would be good for you to have an appointment with a specialist to support you in sorting things out. ( have you done a T1 education like dafne??) In the meantime, a few suggestions
It can take novorapid up to 2 hours to peak in the system, so testing 1 hour after eating may give a higher reading than pre meal especially if your meal is digesting quickly and the insulin hasnt kicked in.
have you been using the same injection sites for a long time? if so fatty lumps under the skin can delay insulin absorption.
Also, some people find that they need slightly more than 1 unit per 10g carb in the morning, just one of those things that develops with time.
 
Hi goalie,

Thanks for your reply. I think a course like daphne would really help me as even though I've been diabetic for 10 years I really don't know as much as I should.

I think basic things like rotating injection sites and knowing when insulin and sugars will peak would really help me.

Cheers,

Ben
 
Also it could be a rebound effect from the hypo. I have been advised not to give any "correction" units for 18-24hours following a hypo even with a high reading, as this may result in another hypo, and then you'll be going round in circles.
 
Hi there,

First please don't get discouraged! Diabetes IS very difficult, it never ever stops & takes a lot of effort - but I'm certain things can get better. I've had type 1 for 33 years now, and I learned a lot in the last few months on this & another site for diabetics.

A few suggestions are
1) If your BG is high before a meal (above 7-7.5), do your Novorapid but then WAIT before eating. This is cos if your BG is already high, your body becomes more resistant to insulin, plus if it starts off high & you eat, it can only go up. The book I read suggests always waiting 20min before eating even if your BG is normal, says wait 30min if BG 8.5, 40min if BG 10, 50min if BG 11.5.
This is just a guide - but try it & see how quickly your BG falls before eating.

2) Have you done an overnight basal insulin test? This is to see if your long acting insulin dose is right, and is keeping your BG pretty stable overnight. It sounds like you might have, but you really need this info as a baseline.
You need to start with a normal BG & no rapid insulin on board, so at least 6hrs after your last food or insulin. Check your BG at least every 4hrs overnight & see what happens.

3) I personally have improved my control by eating less carbohydrate. I'm doing what you have on your post, recording meals, insulin, activity & BG, and have found that eating my usual evening meal but without the starchy carbs means my BG can be virtually flat after the meal. I have more trouble with breakfast - yesterday had All Bran, spiked at 13.5 at 2hrs then came down to 5.4 before lunch, 5hrs later. That's a low GI meal! Lunch is salad & protein - chicken or cheese or tuna, weight watchers yoghurts are the lowest carb ones (7-8g). Sometimes 1 slice Burgen bread (soya & linseed) doesn't cause a spike, other times it does, but generally <11 at 2hrs.

How many BG tests do you do a day? More data really helps.
What was your last HbA1c?
I've forgotten all the detail in your post now & can't see it, so will stop, may add more later if I've not covered all your issues & think I can help.
 
Back
Top