High sugars

[IslesCass]

Hi my son is 10 weeks in after being diagnosed T1 and still in honeymoon period, he has had his insulin and Lantas but his sugars have shot up to 17.6 can I give him an extra unit to try to bring it down or should I leave it?

X

 

[azure]

Hi my son is 10 weeks in after being diagnosed T1 and still in honeymoon period, he has had his insulin and Lantas but his sugars have shot up to 17.6 can I give him an extra unit to try to bring it down or should I leave it?

X

It depends whether you've had correction doses like that explained to,you and if you know what his correction ratio is.

That is quite high. Do you know why he's gone high? Illness? Wrong carb counting?

 

[azure]

Even if you're familiar with correction doses, I'd be extra cautious in the evening. I'd also set an alarm or two to check his sugars in the night.

 

[catapillar]

Do you know what's caused the high? Are you carb counting?

Have you been given any guidence on correction doses? Do you know how many mmolL 1 unit will drop him by? If you give a correction you should test again 2-3 hours later and keep a close watch for hypos in the night.

 

[IslesCass]

We went out for dinner and I estimated on his dose and before he had his nighttime insulin he was 9.8 usually he would come down after taking it but he has gone up.

 

[IslesCass]

To be honest I have been winging this for the last 10 weeks as his DN went off sick 3 days after being discharged from hospital and no cover had been given. So I have had to rely on logic but I am worried as I'm not a nurse.

 

[IslesCass]

We are carb counting

 

[azure]

To be honest I have been winging this for the last 10 weeks as his DN went off sick 3 days after being discharged from hospital and no cover had been given. So I have had to rely on logic but I am worried as I'm not a nurse.

Is there another DSN you can speak to? Obviously that's no use now, but you should have someone you can phone.

If you don't know his correction ratio, I wouldn't give him any insulin as its night now and you don't want him to go,low overnight. You could set an alarm to see what's happening with his blood sugar during the night. It may drop by itself and if it doesn't at least you'll know how high he is.

When did he eat?

 

[not-so-lucky]

With high blood sugars I would check for Keytones too as a precaution

 

[IslesCass]

Is there another DSN you can speak to? Obviously that's no use now, but you should have someone you can phone.

If you don't know his correction ratio, I wouldn't give him any insulin as its night now and you don't want him to go,low overnight. You could set an alarm to see what's happening with his blood sugar during the night. It may drop by itself and if it doesn't at least you'll know how high he is.

When did he eat?

We ate around 6.30ish it has started to drop a little I am just testing him regularly.

DN from the other area also off sick, no cover at all I spoke to his consultant and he does phone back but sometimes it's not till late in the evening.

It's been a worry but we will get there, there is a DN coming back from mat leave but that is 3 weeks away. Apparently I've been doing winging very well!

 

[IslesCass]

With high blood sugars I would check for Keytones too as a precaution

Good idea thanks for that x

 

[azure]

We ate around 6.30ish it has started to drop a little I am just testing him regularly.

DN from the other area also off sick, no cover at all I spoke to his consultant and he does phone back but sometimes it's not till late in the evening.

It's been a worry but we will get there, there is a DN coming back from mat leave but that is 3 weeks away. Apparently I've been doing winging very well!

It's good its dropping a little. Make sure he drinks plenty of water, test for ketones and keep an eye on him.

It's great you've been winging it well. You certainly sound pretty confident and switched on

 

[justadad]

Could it be the food he ate that made him go high? I mean something new, something you might have overlooked? My son tested 16 the other night, couple of hours after a sweet potato dinner. That was his first sweet potato ever, and somewhere I had read it was good for diabetics. By the morning his b.s. was normal, without any correction doses, but no more sweet potatos for him.

 

[azure]

Did you carb count the sweet potato ok @justadad ? I find they give a slower rise than white potatoes but still need a bolus obviously. That sounds like a miscount for the carbs. It took me ages to find sensible sweet potato carbs values for some reason - ie ones that worked. But now I've got that right, i prefer them to normal spuds.

 

[IslesCass]

Just to let you know his sugars came down steadily and he is at 7 this morning- thanks for tips and comments.

 

[azure]

Good news @IslesCass

 

[justadad]

Did you carb count the sweet potato ok @justadad ? I find they give a slower rise than white potatoes but still need a bolus obviously. That sounds like a miscount for the carbs. It took me ages to find sensible sweet potato carbs values for some reason - ie ones that worked. But now I've got that right, i prefer them to normal spuds.

Yes, @azure, we did carb count, same amount of carbs as usual, no idea why the spike...

 

[azure]

Yes, @azure, we did carb count, same amount of carbs as usual, no idea why the spike...

That is strange then. One of those 'fun' (not!) things that Type 1 likes to do. You can never just sit back and rely on things working - which is the major part of the difficulty, in my opinion.