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Honeymoon ending suddenly or something else?

C

Catherinegf

Member
Messages
18
Location
south west
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hey diabuddies. I was diagnosed as type 1 with a high GAD reading 3 years ago. After a few months of managing with exercise and diet I moved onto insulin usage. That's stayed relatively stable with a slight increase of requirements. I was taking 12 units of basal and around 10 to 15 units of bolus per day. A few days ago this went out the window. Suddenly the same meal is requiring double the insulin. I take 3 units for a couple of pieces of wholegrain toast and I'm up at 18 an hour later. I eat a wholefood diet. I don't eat a lot of of fat and barely touch junk food. I exercise daily. To try and adjust I've increased my exercise. I'm currently hiking between 5 and 10 miles up mountains daily. It makes zero difference. It used to guarantee I was chasing lows away and stuffing myself with fruit on the hike. Now I'm doing 10 miles of hard hiking on a carton of fruit juice. What's happening? I am drinking a tonne of water. I'm getting highs heading up to low 20's. I'm not ill. I'm sleeping well. I'm not under stress. I'm used to the heat, I've recently relocated from Spain so heat and diabetes isn't something new to me. I hit 24 last night and ended up taking 9 units for a small bowl of wholegrain pasta. I would normally only take 3 units for that. I hiked 10 miles yesterday. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it. Can your pancreas suddenly stop and send your insulin requirements through the roof? I was always dealing with lows now I'm struggling to get below 7. Help!!!!
 
I have heard people say that their insulin requirements have changed a lot when their honeymoon ends so I would have thought that that might be a possibility.

Personally I have found that my insulin ratios can change, sometimes without an obvious reason. But sometimes you can have an infection without realising eg a urine infection.

Are you confident to recalculate your insulin ratios? I'm on a basal/bolus regime and I find if my basal is wrong I struggle to play catch up with bolus. If you aren't confident to adjust your ratios then I'd suggest a quick call to your diabetic team.

Good luck.
 
Thanks Ellie. I tried all 3 numbers on my diabetes team. All lead to answer messages giving out the other numbers and instruction not to leave a message. Which is not overly helpful. I can try and recalculate my ratios. They seem to be all over the place. It's been happening on and off for about 2 weeks. Initially I assumed it was a glass of wine that affected me. But the next day I was again really high. I ate just salad for a day and it seemed to reset. Now a few days later and I'm zooming up again. I even swapped out my Fiasp cartridge thinking maybe it had 'gone'. I'm drinking around 3 litres of water a day at least. Thankfully I have a lot of spare insulin with me and plenty of needles. Surely it can't be normal to go from 3 units for 2 slices of toast to 7 units? If I had an undiagnosed infection would that affect it? I have no visible signs of an infection. One day it's fine the next I'm through the roof. If this is the final gasps of my pancreas, I don't like it and want it to sod off.
 
Over the last few months there has been several postings regarding abnormal variations with Fiasp, perhaps this is what you are encountering.
 
I have had no issues with FIasp although it is certainly more sensitive to heat than other insulins so if there is any chance it is getting warm, Fiasp will turn to water (no literally, of course).
However, many people are requiring more insulin due to the warmer weather.
(Although some are requiring less - we are all different.)

Other things to check are
- is your insulin pen working ok?
- is your insulin ok?
- are you unwell/stressed/uncomfortable in the heat/...?

It could be end of honeymoon but I think for most people this is a gradual increase in insulin rather than a sudden rise.
 
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