Please help

Can you tell us everything you ate yesterday please?

Dippydolly said:

I have been on insulin for a year I am struggling to get my levels down and all I seem to be doing is putting more and more insulin in and gaining weight! It’s now making me really depressed this morning my fasting levels were 14 I really don’t understand I am also trying to cut carbs as well

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Cutting carbs should help you, just keep an eye on your bloodsugars as you have been, as you could hypo when you find a way forward in that regard. @xfieldok is right, we can't do much unless we know what you're usually eating... Seek out the things that spike you, help you find alternatives and the like...

Bottom line: You're miserable right now, and in all likelihood you don't actually have to be. (For one thing, high bloodsugars influence mood and increase depression by, well, a lot. Speaking from experience here. Secondly, feeling like you can't get a grip on this must be very frustrating/exhausting!). There have to be solutions to this somehow, somewhere. Who knows, we might be able to help you find them.
HUGS,
Jo

Has this come on gradually or is it a recent thing? If the high BG is a recent thing then maybe you're insulin has been 'damaged' in some way (not stored correctly, too warm or been frozen for a short time). No idea what sort of insulin regime you're on, but a fasting basal test might be worth doing also.

If this has gradually built up, then injecting more and more insulin just isn't working then you need to do something different - what I can't say.

What insulin regime are you on?

Dippydolly said:

I am on novo rapid 3 times a day and levemir at night 28 novo rapid and 30 levemir I have coffee and a slice of brown toast in a morning then something like tuna and salad for lunch and then meat veg and carrot and swede mash for dinner

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The salad/tuna sounds good... But the toast is probably problematic. Carrot and swede mash could be more carbs than you can handle, dunno which veggies you usually have? Do you know how many carbs you eat per day? (With the novorapid, do you carb count?). But with the insulin regime you're on, I think switching to some eggs in the morning, with bacon, sausages, and/or cheese, will make you go hypo. I'd estimate your carb intake to be between 30 and 60 grams per day, maybe...? That's not that much. It might be time to ask your doc for C-peptide and GAD tests, before you start changing your meals or anything. You need professional help with this.

Are you taking metformin as well? Just wondering if you are extremely insulin resistant - so adding more insulin won't have that much of an affect (other than adding weight) really.

Dippydolly said:

I have been on insulin for a year I am struggling to get my levels down and all I seem to be doing is putting more and more insulin in and gaining weight! It’s now making me really depressed this morning my fasting levels were 14 I really don’t understand I am also trying to cut carbs as well

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Hi I have also been on insulin for a year over that year i was weaned off glicaside and had my insulin lowered in July in accordance with my community nurse but I have just come out hospital after 3 days due to high readings and it was suggested i up my insulin and start taking gliclaside again

Low carb and exercise are the answer, @Lowcarb 2 and @Dippydolly . If you are insulin resistant, all the body does is to turn unused carbs into fat. This fat is then available to turn back into glucose. I would always see a big increase in my bg in the morning well before I ate as my body naturally wanted to create glucose as I was waking up and the fat was there to make it. Of course the next insulin dose just replaced the fat and more from what I thought was a reasonable diet but not low carb - 50 gms per day. Exercise including fast walking and heavy weight lifting seem to have reversed the insulin resistance. I managed to cut my 62 units of 30/70 insulin to zero in 6 months and after 15 months I have lost over 35 lbs.
It can be done don't give up. Set your targets and research how to get there - including this forum.

I think I would ask advice from whoever looks after your diabetic care