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Morning insulin resistance

drahawkins_1973

drahawkins_1973

Well-Known Member
Messages
452
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I'm usually very sensitive to insulin, 1 unit of novarapid will drop me 5 -6 mmol. But the last 3-4 weeks I seem to have become very very insulin resistant in the morning.
My C:I rations used to be
morning 1:10
lunch 1:12
dinner 1:16
but recently in the morning my ratios have changed to 1:4 or sometimes 1:3 or even 1:2
I do suffer from the annoying DP and I rise usually about 2 mmol from about 3-6am in the morning and I dont want to raise my low levemir dose (currently 2 units once a day in the evening ) because having carried out numerous basal tests this does keeps me spot on for 24 hours (apart from this morning rise).
BUT having done lots of testing over the last few weeks my insulin in the morning just does not seem to work until about 9am in the morning.
for example
bed at 6mmol
test at 3am = 6mmol.
Get up at 6 am and I will be 8-9mmol.
I take 1 unit of novarapid with no food 2 hours later at 8am I will be 10 mmol.

But if I do the same after 9am then I drop 5mmol.

So why does my insulin really not work at this time in the morning??
I'm quite frustrated because I work really hard during the day to keep levels good and once I get my pre-lunch levels down to 5-6 by giving myself a lot of insulin in the morning I keep between 5-6 all day (even getting post meal spikes within 2 mmol) But then I feel all my hard work is undone by something I cant control between 3am - 9am.
I talked to my GP about it today and he said it was nothing to worry about and it wouldnt affect my Hba1c levoles or have any long term implications, but my concern is essentially for 6 hours a day I am running between 8-10 which really means a quater of my life I am too high and I dont think this is right!!!

Apologies for the long question but does anyone have advice or experience the same thing?

Thanks
Andrea
 
Hello Andrea,

Yes i'm resistant in the morning so my carb ratio is 10g to 1.5 units of novorapid which I then change at 2pm to 10g to 1 unit.

What I do from time to time is fast in the mornings to check my background is working - so this might be an idea for you, as it may need a tweak if you're still rising.

Your levels don't sound too bad to me though, i'd be happy to keep that range in the morning, my main concern is ensuring my night time levels are below 7 so I know that for the 8 hours i'm asleep i'm keeping a good control. So I shouldn't worry too much ;)
 
Thanks Juicyj

I have tried fasting in the morning and my levels do rise so I guess I don't have enough basal to cope with that. But the problem is if I raise it I go low at other times of the day. At only 2 units of levemir I'm not sure I can split it :-(
Am I being too pedantic and worrying too much?


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Could you take a small bolus when you wake up? That means you will have risen from 6 - 8/9 at the end of 3 hours not for the whole 3 hours.
 
Hi Rob. I have tried that. I give myself 1 unit of bolus but it doesn't do anything! Normally in the day it would drop me 5 mmol. So I guess I'm a bit scared of doing more than 1 unit.
But in reality that is prob the answer.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I have to take 2 units when I wake up just to stop my BG from rising to double figures. I usually include that with my bolus for breakfast so I need to do all that before taking showers etc. It's annoying but the only way I can keep things level.
 
Thanks Rob. I thought I should do exactly that but was a bit scared to do it. The fact that you do it too makes me more confident that I'm not being mad and it's a good way forward.
Thanks. :-)


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Try eating some breakfast when you wake, the body needs energy upon waking for the day ahaed and if you don't eat then it will get it via the liver.
 
Hi drahawkins

I use levemir and split it morning and evening, and works quite well. Just a question, how long have you been diagnosed, and are you honeymooning



Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I've tried eating non carbs and taking bolus, for example
Bed time say 6 ish, wake up at 8- 9 mmol. So I eat a boiled egg take some novarapid. Absolutely no reduction in levels. 2 hours later I am sometimes 10 mmol
Next day bed time 6 ish wake up at 8 mmol. No breakfast, same thing take 1-2 units of novarapid and 2 hours later I'll be higher than I started!

It's weird?



Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
drahawkins_1973 said:
I've tried eating non carbs and taking bolus, for example
Bed time say 6 ish, wake up at 8- 9 mmol. So I eat a boiled egg take some novarapid. Absolutely no reduction in levels. 2 hours later I am sometimes 10 mmol
Click to expand...

Maybe no good if your a low-carber but try eating a small amount of carbs and see what results you get, still inject the 1 unit as before but inject extra for the carbs, so as your IC ratio was 1:10 in the morning take 2 units if your breakfast contains 10g of carbs. I know if I don't eat upon waking in the morning my bg levels will eventully go high, therefore I always make a point of eating breakfast unless I'm fasting for a cholesterol check.
 
Crazy flipping body. Having posted that I seem to have gone really insulin resistant in the morning for the last few weeks I now seem to have gone back to normal! Ratios are back to 1:10.
I wish it would make up its mind!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I know this thread is very old, but seems very relevant to me!

Been T1D for 4 years, always considered my control pretty good, based on periodic readings before meals. However recently moved to a FreeStyle Libre for continuous monitoring, and have been horrified by my readings in mid morning.

A typical day: wake and read 6-7. Take anything between 4-6 units of NovoRapid, depending on what I'm planning for breakfast. Have a lo-carb breakfast that could simply be a boiled egg and small piece of lo-carb toast. 2-3 hours later I can be reading 13 !! The reading then drops back down over the next 2-3 hours to 7-8 again.

It's very frustrating as the spike can be as low as 9 and as high as 13, with the same breakfast. Sometimes increasing the morning insulin dose appears to make no difference. My day-time insulin ratio is around 1:8.
 
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