High sugar reading!

[jones_48]

I had quite a carby meal for dinner tonight (~130g..) but injected 16 units novorapid to cover it (usually 1 unit per 8g carbs). I checked my sugars 3 hours after eating and it was 23, so i injected another 6 units. checked my sugars 50mins after that and its now 25!
I'm not sure if i should inject any more as 22 units already tonight seems a lot :s but i don't want it to stay that high as its not a good feeling!! Anyone got any advice?? Its now been amost 4 hours - surely the food should not be still affecting my sugars? :crazy:
Thanks!

 

[robert72]

I have found that I can't get away with eating high carb meals like that without suffering the same as you. I restrict meals to between 30 - 50 grams of carbs. I'm sure your BG will come down in time but keep checking until it returns to normal.

Robert

 

[Pneu]

If your dinner was high in fat as well (pizza for instance) then you might find the spike was around +3 hours... 4 hours post meal you should be reasonably clear..

It's a bit hard to give advice... personally I would correct again and re-test at +1 , 2 and 3 hours to make sure I wasn't going to drop low.. you already have two overlapping injections going so its a tough one to call as none of us know your diabetes well enough to advise..

My only advise would be if you do inject again DON'T go to bed until you have given the Novo a couple of hours to work on those blood glucose.. you don't want to correct and then hypo in your sleep

 

[jones_48]

Thanks for the advice i'll stick to lower-carb meals from now on!

Pneu - i didn't think about fat content having an effect.. i had chippy chips so they were obviously high fat!! Just checked again and its now 26 so i'm going to have to inject some more and try to stay awake for a few more hours :yawn:

 

[Pneu]

Am sure someone can post links to the reasons why! but carbohydrate is absorbed slower in meals high in fat... I suspect it has something to do with the enzymes used to break the food down... but too late for a google and a read!

 

[KazV1]

when my blood sugars are really high, i found a quick corective, lots of water and half an apsirin tablet brings them down very quickly to normal range, try doing that and having a 15 minute lay down.

 

[robert72]

Thanks KazV1, will give that a try next time.

I have spent the whole day battling BGs in the mid teens for no apparent reason. Only just managed to get them down to 7.2 within the last half hour. :thumbup:

 

[Pneu]

Water will help bring your blood glucose down as your kidneys will process the glucose once it's over the renal threshold which is around 13mmol/l. This works but isn't necessarily ideal as its the processing of glucose that damages your kidney's. That said it is always worth being hydrated with high blood glucose because your body will become dehydrated and you don't want to run the risk of DKA.

If you can you are better to try and control with insulin which will just cause the bodies normal process of glucose uptake into muscle / liver or for conversion to fat. In the event that you have too little insulin in your system and you had been at risk of DKA then controlling with insulin will also help prevent this.

If you ever have any of the following symptoms and blood glucose above 13 mmol/l then you should always check for keytones.. and if you have keytones take yourself down to A&E.. if you have these symptoms and no way to check for keytones then best go down to A&E:

* abdominal pain
* nausea and/or vomiting
* fruity / sweat breath
* rapid, deep breathing
* confusion

 

[AMBrennan]

I've found that I need much higher doses for "large" meals - up to 5x the dose based on usual ratio.

That said it is always worth being hydrated with high blood glucose because your body will become dehydrated and you don't want to run the risk of DKA.

To be absolutely clear, DKA will result in dehydration. Avoiding dehydration will not prevent DKA.

 

[SAH154]

Sometimes these things can happen for no obvious reason and high fat meals as said can release carbs slower (which is why chocolate is rubbish in a hypo)

 

[noblehead]

I had home-made chips last night (80g of carbs for the meal) but split my dose in two injecting the last 90 mins after eating the food, it works well for me but may not for you and I suggest you speak with your dsn before contemplating split doses for food.

As already explained the fat content slows down the absorption hence the higher readings many hours later.

 

[krisjwoody]

You should be ringing an on call diabetes doctor or nurse at the hospital. Most hospitals have them around the clock i think. You shouldn't be waiting for a reply on a forum.

 

[jones_48]

Thanks for all the replies! I have an appointment with my diabetes team next week so i'll ask about it