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High readings

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grahamrb

Well-Known Member
Messages
107
Why are my readings always jumping to high? Current reading i s 25+

I am Type 1

Seriously thinking of giving up all these measurements. No matter what you do nothing seems to make the levels consistant. I was advised that this could happen in the first year (Type 1 diagnosed in May 2021).

You think thatnbyou have cracked it and then it all goes wrong.
 
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Hi @grahamrb It's difficult to suggest anything without a little more info, such as:
Are you on a carb controlled diet?
What are your readings before eating?
Is your general health good - have you got a cold/virus etc?
What insulin(s) are you on?
What level are you jumping from and how high is high?

Measurements are what kept me alive over the last 40 years. I'm sure more help will come along...
 
 
Dear Grant_Vicat
Yes a carb controoled diet, the nurse said that i should have 60 carbs EVERY meal, if I did that i would look like billy bunter, so that is not on!
readings befroe eating range from 3 to 20
No cold/virus am in good health have Asthma
long lasting 16 units every morning
Rapid is 10, 8, 8
3rd
 
Hi @grahamrb

It sounds as though you are on a basal/bolus regime? In theory, you should be able to adjust your bolus to both compensate for your meals (eg if you were having 1 unit of insulin per 10g then you'd have 4 units for a 40g meal) and to adjust for high bgs before meals (eg if 1 unit of insulin brings you down by 2mmol/L you might take an extra 2 units of rapid to bring your before meal level down to 6 from 10).

It can take a while to get your various insulin amounts right, particularly if you are still in the honeymoon period and randomly producing insulin of your own. Has your nurse explained how to adjust your doses? Most people try to get their basal (long acting) right first and then move to calculating their insulin ratios for carbs.
 
Hi @grahamrb nothing seems to have come through!
 
Dear Ellie
Not sure what you mean
It must be a bit like my type 1 nothing seems to work
Just read an article about carbs and levels and it seems that you have to starve yourself in order to keep your readings level
It’s bad enough already since am always feeling hungry
 
The diet advice from the nurse was rubbish. You don't need any amount of carbs at meals; just keep the daily total at, say, 150gm/day and see how you go. You may need to split your Basal to morning and evening and you need to adjust the Bolus at each meal to the carbs in that meal which is called carb-counting. Seek advice from the nurse if possible but she doesn't sound very enlightened. Cam back here for more guidance if needed
 
Thanks Diabell
Everyone talks about counting carbs.
I did it religiously for a fortnight, worked out a ratio increased the rapid insulin if I knew I was going to have a big meal,
I must have missed the point since there appeared to be no relationship between the insulin and the amount of carbs.
If you eat a lot carbs go up
If you eat less carbs go up
If you exercise carbs go up and also go down.
There is no logic to anything
The nurse and dietitian said that I was being too scientific
Tonight’s reading was 20 no rhyme or reason
Had dinner tonight at about 7 pm soya mince canary sauce ( zero carbs) vegetables sugar free jelly
Have an appointment with nurse and dietitian tomorrow Tuesday but I don’t think it will make any difference
As you can see I am completely fed up with the whole thing.
When I can see some logic I will be happier
 
I'm logical to the point of geekiness (and it's useful, so I don't apologise for it). IMO you can't possibly be "too scientific" and that's just a cover-up for lack of knowledge in people who are paid to be knowledgeable.

Carbs are sneaky little devils and turn up in a great many foods (your soya is not low carb, for instance).

So - up to you if you try this, but this is how it goes: cut out all carbs and sugars. All of them. Eat full-fat foods and leafy greens as nature made them (albeit cooked). After a period of readjustment, usually short, you won't feel hungry and you won't feel deprived And your sugars will respond well. You will be back in control.

It seems to me that very few medics know anything about diet, so you have to do everything yourself.
 
 

I saw a new nurse this morning, much better.
She advised that if I wanted to have a sncsak inbetween meals i should inject some insulin first. This is the 1st time that i have been told that i can take rapid insulin other than the once before breakfast, lunch and dinner. meal, It has taken them 8 months to tell me that, clearly that is why the readings have been high.

I am not sure why uyu say that the soya is not low carb, on the packet it says 2.3g per 100g. The nurse said not to bother counting the carbs for soya since it was so small.

What does IMO mean?
 
Ah yeah if you've been snacking on/eating carby foods between meals without taking insulin that would at least explain some of it.
I think many diabetes nurses seem to claim that we can have snacks upto 15 carbs without needing insulin, however at least for some of us, seeing flying pigs is a lot more likely than our sugar levels not rising horribly after that many carbs, heck more than a few carbs will raise mine.

But yeah basically if I have 4 or more carbs (one of my gluten free chocolate fingers is 4 carbs lol) anytime of day then I need insulin to cover it (this amount differs for different people)

grahamrb said:
What does IMO mean?
Click to expand...
Its an acronym for 'In My Opinion'
 
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Outlier said:
So - up to you if you try this, but this is how it goes: cut out all carbs and sugars. All of them.
Click to expand...
This is not safe advice to a newly diagnosed T1 on fixed insulin doses.
It's well possible to follow a low carb diet as a T1 if you want to, but cutting all carbs while still taking your usual doses of insulin may lead to very dangerous situations.

It's also impossible to cut out all sugar for a T1, hypos will happen and they will need immediate treatment.
grahamrb said:
Going on a course in January so will muddle along till then
Click to expand...
Doing a course is great, hopefully it will help you get more of a grip on your diabetes!
 
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