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High in the morning

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Annaya

Newbie
Messages
1
Hello everyone,

I've been type 1 for 16 years now (im 30) and regret to say for most of that time i tried to ignore it.
Last year however i decided to take it in hand and within 3 months got my Hb1c test from 80 to 54 which i was really pleased with. I did this by eating brown rice with almost everything and lots of veg etc. Things went really well for a time.
Now for the last month or so i have been in a right pickle on and off as mostly my pattern is that i wake with very high sugars. this morning they were 18.3! Which has really upset me. But they range from 12 to 18 when theyre bad.
Whats confusing is that sometimes following the same amount of insulin and the same amount of the same carb (rice!) i wake with perfect sugars..)4-7.
I began to test before bed at 10 or 11ish to see what was happening and when they were 12-15 before bed i woke with good bloods in the morning. when they were lower than that i woke with highs. several times i had hypos in the night and so concluded i must be dropping low and rebounding to highs in the morning.
Consequently i dropped my humalog from 6 to 4units and at first that seemed to work, but then they were 10 instead of 15 but still to high.
So then i dropped my Lantus which i take in the morning (long acting) by 2 units and again at first that seemed to work but now it isnt and i feel very confused.
i went to see my diabetic nurse two days ago but felt like she didnt help at all, she just said its all a guessing game and didnt even look at my test results i brought with me. Shes very nice but she dosnt seem to actually know what shes doing.
I feel so lost and alone and am looking for someone who can actually advise me.. Does anyone out there have any advise for me? i would be so gratefull to have some help to understand this, it feels very scary.
Also does anyone know if there are freelance diabetes specialists that i can talk to? my nurse just leaves me feeling like she know less than i do..
Thank you so much, any replies gratefully recieved. :)
 
Hi Annaya and welcome to the forum :)

Some Type 1s will be along soon to answer your specific questions, but in the meantime you could look at this information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
The only thing you could try is change the time you take your lantus ... as by the time you do the blood test in the morning it may have run out and so you`re seeing the high sugars and finding no apparent cause.
You can check by doing some blood tests through the early morning every 2 hours or so from say 4 am and see if you`re still high or if your bloods are starting to climb by 8 am
Or if you cant manage to test at these times perhaps just take you lantus a little later in the day at say 10 am and see if your morning tests improve.
Testing first would be better though so you can see if the lantus is indeed running out rather than lasting 24 hours.
If the above doesnt help you maybe prone to the "Dawn Phenomenum" so if you search the forums on this you will what others have done to help combat it.
Hope this helps
Al
 
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