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high bgs after op

jaywak

Well-Known Member
Messages
936
Location
Norwich
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Cold weather, angry people, queues,
Any one had this experience ? I had a reverse shoulder replacement on Sunday and have been sent home with loads of painkillers, now I don't know if it's the trauma of it all
or the painkillers but I have now doubled my insulin dose and my libre is now showing 17 and has been up to 20 , if it's the painkillers that are the problem I think I will try easing off a bit and see if that helps .
 
I’ve never had surgery although I can imagine that due to the stress on your body of having surgery and anaesthesia your body is releasing more blood sugar rising hormones. I can’t comment on what painkillers do/don’t do for blood sugars but if you’re seriously concerned give your diabetes team a call just to check in and ask for any post-op advice they may have
 
I've got no idea, but just wondered if you might have been given steroids during the op, as this would raise blood sugar. Hope you soon recover from the op, and bloods come down. Take care.
 
I have no idea whether the painkillers raise blood sugar but I wouldn't be at all surprised if trauma and pain pushed your bgs up. If it was me I would probably look up sick day rules and dose accordingly.
 
Agree with Nicola - stress hormones would keep you elevated not the pain killers, I think it can take a while for this to wear off - Ellie has made a good point as you should follow sick day rules and keep well hydrated too, good wishes for the recovery.
 
I've got no idea, but just wondered if you might have been given steroids during the op, as this would raise blood sugar. Hope you soon recover from the op, and bloods come down. Take care.
I wasn't given any steroids as far as i'me aware anyway but I have been told that the morphine liquid has glucose in it , I've stopped taking that and the other painkillers and the pain is what you would expect and is liveable , I just hope it doesn't get any worse . my bgs have now come down to comfortable 7 although i'me still having to double my insulin to maintain it . Thanks for the reply :)
 
Have you asked for alternative painkillers, ones without glucose?
I’m surprised, though maybe I shouldn’t be, that you were given a painkiller with glucose in.
 
I would just like to also say on the forum what a brilliant service the NHS gave me from the moment I arrived at the hospital on Sunday morning at 7 am to when I left 36 hours later it was a brilliant service and the staff could not have done any more , I think I will now be one of those people who gets angry when people knock the NHS , they have phoned twice today asking if I needed any help at home and with dates for follow ups, I feel proud to say I live in such a wonderful country, that was the Norfolk & Norwich hospital by the way.
 
I had a frozen shoulder op 8-10 years ago and coupled with the high blood sugars I also experienced for the first, and thankfully last time in my life insomnia!! So at 4am whilst wide awake, I googled 'insomnia after an op' and it turns out both are due to the adrenaline your body has pumped in, it realises you are being attacked by a lion ( or a consultant in surgery) so pumps you full of adrenaline which both stops you sleeping and makes you extremely insulin resistant, luckily it doesn't last and in a day or 2 I was sleeping again and sugars back in control!
I hope the op is a success.
 
My numbers which are reasonable. After my knee op they gave me steroids in a drip. That and the food which had sugar in put my bloods up. Took some weeks to get them back to normal.
 
When I was in the hospital Sunday night / Monday morning I was afraid to go to sleep after giving myself such whacking great doses of insulin to bring down my bg but it didn't anyway , it's ironic that it was the overdoses of insulin that happened 40 / 50 years ago that caused me to go into fits and convulsions that caused me to dislocate my shoulder in the first place and has never really healed , something that newly diagnosed type 1s will never have to worry about , modern tech is brilliant , so now I shouldn't worry but I still have memories of them days .
 
i have had surgery with anaesthetic a few times over recent years and for me it was absolutely true that my shoogs were stubbornly high for at least 36 to 48 hours post surgery .......thankfully i was able to self administer insulin post surgery and at least mitigated highs above 14 to 21 MMOL
 
i have had surgery with anaesthetic a few times over recent years and for me it was absolutely true that my shoogs were stubbornly high for at least 36 to 48 hours post surgery .......thankfully i was able to self administer insulin post surgery and at least mitigated highs above 14 to 21 MMOL
thanks for your reassurance , I was administering my own insulin and had to sign a form after the op to say I was taking control myself , they were actually a bit worried when I said I was giving myself 2-3 units extra, if they had known it was more like 8-10 units I don't know what they would have thought . 36 hours after the op and I woke this morning with a respectful 8 and it had gone up to 12 a couple of times during the night which I am happy with , hopefully I can start reducing insulin and eating some more carbs soon .
 
Whoops just had a libre alert 3.1 couple of glucose tabs and now up to 5.5 what a joy to be in control again , the pain is so much better today as well .
 
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