Help with sugar roller coaster

[jane12]

It takes between two and four hours to bring your bs down. The type of food you eat and what you are doing also has an effect on how quickly your insulin works. Fatty food and no exercise would mean your bs will be slower to reduce after peaking than low fat food with some exercise.

 

[tim2000s]

@ryan1990 have you done anything about the suggestions that were made to you on the first page of this post on the 4th and 5th October?

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/help-with-sugar-roller-coaster.85270/#post-961218
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/help-with-sugar-roller-coaster.85270/#post-961784
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/help-with-sugar-roller-coaster.85270/#post-962113

You still seem to be injecting random amounts of insulin and hoping for the best. As @Dillinger said in his post, until you approach this in a systematic way, you are going to get nowhere, very fast.

Please explain to us what you have done so far to address some of your issues and what ratios this has provided for you?

 

[Juicyj]

Good advice from Tim200s - do you record your results along with your carbs eaten ? If you use an app like Diaconnect you can record your results along with carbs eaten on your phone, by recording results you can see trends and act on them.

Insulin ratios can vary throughout the day, so for instance I would take 2 units of quick acting for 10g of carb throughout the morning until 1pm, then I revert to 1 unit to 10g in the afternoon.

An Insulinx meter will do the calculation for you.

Testing 2 hours after eating is inaccurate, wait 3-4 hours before testing/eating to get an accurate reading as quick acting is still in your system.

You can get a grip on this but as tim said you need to stop randomly injecting insulin and approach in a methodical manner.

You can also look at reducing your carbs - this will reduce the spikes.

If you haven't done so already ask your GP to be transferred to a diabetic team, you have patients rights to do this.

 

[Dillinger]

its rubbish the carb insulin ratio is a load of **** it dosent even work i have a meal of say 60g of carbs and i take 8 units of insulin now you think this would cover it ohh no 2 hours later huge high blood sugar of 20 before i ate it was 5.6 so go figure the carb to insulin thing just dosent seem to work for me so dont know what else i can do and is anyone having the same neuropathy motor problems ?

What exactly did you eat for this; and how much did it weigh?

 

[ryan1990]

I don't weigh my food really I'm not sure what to do about any of it I can't see my diabetic specialist till December and my gp is useless so I'm kinda stuck I still haven't adjusted my basal as I'm terrified of dying in my sleep from hypo as I won't wake up my diet isn't even that bad but at the moment it's chronically high and my bloody foot drop isn't helping anything so fed up no numbness no tingling just episodic footdrop shouldn't be living like this at 25 nightmare

 

[Dillinger]

I don't weigh my food really I'm not sure what to do about any of it I can't see my diabetic specialist till December and my gp is useless so I'm kinda stuck I still haven't adjusted my basal as I'm terrified of dying in my sleep from hypo as I won't wake up my diet isn't even that bad but at the moment it's chronically high and my bloody foot drop isn't helping anything so fed up no numbness no tingling just episodic footdrop shouldn't be living like this at 25 nightmare

What did you eat for the 60 grams of carbs you bolused for?

@ryan1990 you are having huge problems with this and need to have some specific assistance from a dedicated diabetic team (in which case no-one here can really help you until you've done that). You don't answer specific questions and you don't follow the advice you are given. How can anyone help you in that context?

Edited to remove offensive comment.

 

[RuthW]

Ryan, don't be put off by that response. You are doing the RIGHT thing by persisting in learning how to manage your diabetes better. I still think that a DAFNE type course would be right up your street. I'm afraid you may have to wait a bit to get a place on one, but it depends on your area. Some areas can give you a place quicker than others. Keep trying. You'll conquer it eventually, and once you get your balance right, neuropathy symptoms usually improve.

 

[azure]

I don't weigh my food really I'm not sure what to do about any of it I can't see my diabetic specialist till December and my gp is useless so I'm kinda stuck I still haven't adjusted my basal as I'm terrified of dying in my sleep from hypo as I won't wake up my diet isn't even that bad but at the moment it's chronically high and my bloody foot drop isn't helping anything so fed up no numbness no tingling just episodic footdrop shouldn't be living like this at 25 nightmare

By diabetic specialist, do you mean a consultant? If so, while waiting for that important appointment, could you phone and ask to speak to a Diabetes Specialist Nurse? Most large hospitals will have them. If you don't know the telephone number you could phone the main number and ask to be put through to Diabetes.

If you're not confident adjusting your basal, then hopefully a DSN could help you.

You could also ask for help with carb counting and insulin to carbs ratios. Once you get things going a bit more smoothly, you'll feel a whole lot better, I think.

 

[iHs]

@ryan1990

You say that you had 60g carb meal and injected 8u to cover it but went high. The common sense thing to me would be to inject 8.5 or 9u and then see what that did to the high bg. Have you just got a 1u pen or can you use a 0.5u one?

It will probably make your life easier (until you find the correct insulin to carb ratio to cover all your food), to keep to eating all your meals for 35g carb and no more. Make sure that you do this by looking at the carb content on the food packaging. For each meal time, you will probably need to use a different ratio until you can also get your basal dose ok but bg testing 3hrs after eating will determine whether you have reached your target and if you havent, you can then alter the carb bolus for the next day.
You have unfortunately got to be eyes down and log bg levels, carb eaten, bolus used, basal used, correction dose and this is easier to do using a good bg diary. I think Aventis do one so phone and ask.

 

[Omnipod]

Ryan... I have just read through all this post.
My advice to you is... Change GP. Try find a GP close to you that specialises in diabetes. 2. Get a full set of bloods done. 3. Ask your GP to refer you to a different diabetic clinic. 4. Get onto a DAFNE course asap.
Like you, I never seemed to have much joy with my old GP. I then changed GP who referref me to a different diabetic consultant. I was put onto a DAFNE course and then everything changed. Dont sit about and wait for the NHS. You have 1 precious life and its up to you to go do something about it. This forum is great but from all previous postings I read today, (not being rude) It seems you need a better understanding of dose adjusting insulin and types of carbohydrates and insulin.

I really think you need to do some CGM too to get an insight into exactly what your blood sugar is doing. A week should be good. I wish I could try help you more. If you were local, id have.

Also, speak to your diabetes team about a new peakless insulin called Tressiba to replace the Levemir.

 

[Omnipod]

its rubbish the carb insulin ratio is a load of **** it dosent even work i have a meal of say 60g of carbs and i take 8 units of insulin now you think this would cover it ohh no 2 hours later huge high blood sugar of 20 before i ate it was 5.6 so go figure the carb to insulin thing just dosent seem to work for me so dont know what else i can do and is anyone having the same neuropathy motor problems ?

Not only do you have to carb count...you need to undersand how insulin works and the timiming of it. Then theres the GI index of the carbs you are eating.
You are on the right road Ryan, however you need better understanding. You need to get on a DAFNE course.

 

[Omnipod]

@ryan1990

You say that you had 60g carb meal and injected 8u to cover it but went high. The common sense thing to me would be to inject 8.5 or 9u and then see what that did to the high bg. Have you just got a 1u pen or can you use a 0.5u one?

It will probably make your life easier (until you find the correct insulin to carb ratio to cover all your food), to keep to eating all your meals for 35g carb and no more. Make sure that you do this by looking at the carb content on the food packaging. For each meal time, you will probably need to use a different ratio until you can also get your basal dose ok but bg testing 3hrs after eating will determine whether you have reached your target and if you havent, you can then alter the carb bolus for the next day.
You have unfortunately got to be eyes down and log bg levels, carb eaten, bolus used, basal used, correction dose and this is easier to do using a good bg diary. I think Aventis do one so phone and ask.

Ryan...I agree. I had the same issues as you. From trial and error, I cannot eat meals with such high levels of carbohydrates. I now limit my meals to 30/40 grams carbohydrate. Try it