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Insulin wasn't working last night?

Chloesnavy

Chloesnavy

Well-Known Member
Messages
274
Type of diabetes
Type 1
So last night my blood sugar was 21. So I had 10 units. Half an hour later, it was STILL 21. My fingers were clean. So I had an extra 6 units. An hour later it was 17... So I had more units again. It was pretty much like this all night, until 1am when it all suddenly dropped and I had three separate hypos. What the hell went on? From my knowledge I wasn't injecting into a lump either
 
Chloesnavy said:
So last night my blood sugar was 21. So I had 10 units. Half an hour later, it was STILL 21. My fingers were clean. So I had an extra 6 units. An hour later it was 17... So I had more units again. It was pretty much like this all night, until 1am when it all suddenly dropped and I had three separate hypos. What the hell went on? From my knowledge I wasn't injecting into a lump either
Click to expand...

No idea what was going on regarding your high numbers, did you forget your basal by any chance? The reason you hypoed as you did is because you stacked your insulin. Insulin takes 30 mins to start working and out of your system 5 hours later, so you need to sit it out and not correct for at least 2 hours from the initial correction dose.
 
@Chloesnavy Correction doses take a while to work. I wouldn't expect to see any change at 30mins.

For highs of under 13 (approx) I find it takes around 90 mins to start shifting, but highs above 13 need more insulin and can take 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours before I start to see my numbers drop.

You should never do another correction too early, as you'll stack insulin and then it'll all start working and you'll have a hypo. That sounds like what happened to you.

Patience is key, I'm afraid.
 
Chloesnavy said:
So last night my blood sugar was 21. So I had 10 units. Half an hour later, it was STILL 21. My fingers were clean. So I had an extra 6 units. An hour later it was 17... So I had more units again. It was pretty much like this all night, until 1am when it all suddenly dropped and I had three separate hypos. What the hell went on? From my knowledge I wasn't injecting into a lump either
Click to expand...

In short? You didn't give enough time for the correction to work.. Panicked & banged in more than was necessary?
If you treated the first hypo with short acting carbs only? Then this didn't cover your back for the next "wave" hypo..
 
I agree with above comments, another thing to help slightly to bring down numbers is have a couple glasses of water. This then goes into your urine and flushes a bit of glucose out with it.
Try exercising slightly to burn some off. Even walking up and down stairs is ok. Anything that will help bring levels down.
 
i know the feeling somtimes insulin dont work i woke up today with 10.2 injected 11 units checked 2 hours later after meal and injection sugar was 10.3. yesterday i injected 1.5 unit my sugar was 11.0 then 4hours later it was 6.8 even i carnt understand
 
Hi @Chloesnavy . As you've probably found out now, insulin stacking, over correcting can cause more problems than it solves.
Patience is key.
Maybe the answer you should be looking for is.......... why was your bs at 21? Figure that out and making a more calculated correction dose may get things under control.
It happens to us all, just don't go into panic mode.
4/5 hrs high but falling gradually is safer than 2/3 hypos requiring fast acting carbs which will lead to sugar spikes and the inevitable see saw effect with blood sugar.
It's always a learning curve.
 
found this interesting, thanks :) I tend to mostly shy away from correction doses and only do them if I'm too high. I also find the insulin doesn't work quick on me either. Well it's a mixed bag really... sometimes I hypo quickly too. For me though my pain levels seem to mess with my sugar levels... I notice the more pain I have the less likely the insulin is effective on me. I figure it must be the hormone activity happening when I'm in pain... I don't know. But sorry to hear you had the highs and then all those hypos. :( I wish you the best.
 
Jaylee said:
In short? You didn't give enough time for the correction to work.. Panicked & banged in more than was necessary?
If you treated the first hypo with short acting carbs only? Then this didn't cover your back for the next "wave" hypo..
Click to expand...

That is true
 
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