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Question on blood sugar rising and falling

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gazza8993

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1
Hi

I just have a quick question regarding my blood sugar and hopefully someone can give me some insight.

How would I correct a blood sugar high followed by a low.

For example

I test at 13:10 and my level is 7.3 stable. I take what I believe an appropriate amount of insulin then I eat lunch that contains carbs.
At 14:01 my blood sugar has risen to a high of 12.7. I do not take any more insulin.
At 14:56 my blood sugar drops to 7.3 and then continues to drop to 5.3 at 15:31. At this point I suspect a low is coming and eat a small amount of carbs.
At 16:05 it has dropped to 3.7 at this point I eat more carbs and bring my levels back above 4.

What could the reason be? Is it too much background insulin?
Too much fast acting insulin at 14:01?
If it is too much fast acting insulin then why did it go to 12.7?

I also have highs in the morning when I wake therefore this leads me to believe I dont take enough long acting insulin.

I was just looking for anyones thoughts on this, cheers.
 
Well I'd say the first port of call would be basics, perform a basal test, it could be either of the reasons you suspect but if you basal test you'll get a good picture, BG rises in non diabetics after food too, to stop a huge rise you can alter your pre bolus timings but basal test then bolus test xx
 
Have you looked into pre-bolusing? Many of us find that our food simply hits before the insulin does, despite the insulin getting us back down after a while.
 
Hi, have you contacted your diabetes team for their opinion? They might be able to better help as they know your insulin regime.
Are you carbohydrate counting? Your ratios might have changed, and may well be different for different meals. As said many find they need to inject bolus ahead of eating, sometimes more so if they are not very active that day, or sometimes less so if they are eating a fatty meal which won't be broken down very quickly.
 
Welcome to the forum, gazza8993 !
It might be helpful to tell us which insulins you take and approx. when you were diagnosed. There are many different possible explanations for the situation you describe, so the more info the better.
 
gazza8993 said:
Hi

I just have a quick question regarding my blood sugar and hopefully someone can give me some insight.

How would I correct a blood sugar high followed by a low.

For example

I test at 13:10 and my level is 7.3 stable. I take what I believe an appropriate amount of insulin then I eat lunch that contains carbs.
At 14:01 my blood sugar has risen to a high of 12.7. I do not take any more insulin.
At 14:56 my blood sugar drops to 7.3 and then continues to drop to 5.3 at 15:31. At this point I suspect a low is coming and eat a small amount of carbs.
At 16:05 it has dropped to 3.7 at this point I eat more carbs and bring my levels back above 4.

What could the reason be? Is it too much background insulin?
Too much fast acting insulin at 14:01?
If it is too much fast acting insulin then why did it go to 12.7?

I also have highs in the morning when I wake therefore this leads me to believe I dont take enough long acting insulin.

I was just looking for anyones thoughts on this, cheers.
Click to expand...

From what you say it appears to be the bolus you take for your meal.
Looks like you either take the shot and you immediately start to eat or it's just wrongly bolused. In fact, if you have too many carbs with a high glycemic index it's very hard to counter the spike and also you will end up with a drop later. This is something classic I would say. The only chance to get close to such a spike is to take the insulin prior to your meal and leave enough time before you eat. Or you could just eat fewer carbs :).
If the basal is wrongly tunes that's a different story you will need to deal with separately.

Here is a good video for the basal tunning. Call your doctor before applying any changes.

 
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