highs

[martina]

Hello, my daughter levels have been rising in the afternoon and are always high at tea, sometimes as high as 16. She is on mdi so I changed her lunchtime bolus giving more as I thought this would steady the afternoon levels. However all it did was cause a low followed by the highs at teatime. Does this mean that I should be looking at upping the morning does of insulin. We split the insulin and give half in the morning and half in the evening. Thanksxx

 

[GrantGam]

When splitting the background insulin, it's normal to find that both 12 hour periods aren't identical. It's not easy to get the daytime period correct as they're are so many variables to consider: food eaten, activity levels, strenuous exercise, stress etc. It's easier to work out how much to take before bed, but even then - this can still be a challenge with dawn phenomenon, night time lows, etc.

It would sound like upping the morning dose might help, but personally; I would be checking in with the diabetic team before making any changes. There might be something obvious here to a medical professional.

Grant

 

[Juicyj]

Hello, my daughter levels have been rising in the afternoon and are always high at tea, sometimes as high as 16. She is on mdi so I changed her lunchtime bolus giving more as I thought this would steady the afternoon levels. However all it did was cause a low followed by the highs at teatime. Does this mean that I should be looking at upping the morning does of insulin. We split the insulin and give half in the morning and half in the evening. Thanksxx

Hi Martina, the bolus insulin acts to cover food so only lasts in the system 3-4 hours, so increasing this will cause a hypo, this indicates therefore her basal (morning) injection isn't covering her daily needs as at teatime her bolus would of been depleted by then.

You will need to contact her team to discuss any adjustments to her insulin requirements though as we cannot advise you on this.