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Stupid weather messing with insulin sensitivity

DaftThoughts

Well-Known Member
Messages
397
Location
Netherlands
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Last year when summer came around, I'd just started basal insulin in combo with oral meds. My insulin sensitivity was pretty good, but I was trending towards too low in the heat. No biggie, I was prepared, I knew the heat can do that.

This year I've been fully insulin dependent as of January and anticipated a rise in sensitivity again like last year. Nope, the opposite happened? As soon as temps went over 20C, I was increasing my dosages. I went from 1:15 to 1:10, and from 10 units basal to 16 every day. Annoying, but I was rock steady for about 3-4 months.

A few weeks ago we hit over 33C in the Netherlands on a Wednesday. It was horrible, I felt like ****, I don't like heat! Then the next day on Thursday it crashed to just barely 16C and has stayed there pretty much ever since.

Within 24 hours I kept going low (thankfully catching it in time) and I was eating to keep up with dropping levels. What the heeeeck. I've been adjusting my values over the last two weeks and I'm now at 1:15 and down to 14 units, but I'm dialing that back down to 12 tonight. I had 50g carbs for brunch starting at 6.2, bolused for it 1:15, I had a normal rise and came back down to 6 around the time bolus wore off, and I've been dropping ever since. I hit 4.9 about ten minutes ago (which would be fine if I wasn't seeing a downward trend as of two hours ago) and it's irritating the hell out of me.

Once I nail my ratios I'm stable as a rock (as seen with my bolus), but this readjusting is very, very annoying! I've had several lows in the past few weeks and it's been affecting my ability to do my volunteer work and just function normally. Constant fog brain and low energy from having to deal with my body's panic response is not productive. I get enough of that from my panic attacks, I don't need it from stupid hypos. I also almost passed out at the drugstore last week because of this and it was pretty **** terrifying.

I just had to rant here because nobody else really seems to understand how frustrating this is. When you think you got it, diabetes does a 180 and screws you over again.
 
Hey @DaftThoughts Yes I get this too

When it get's warm my sensitivity increases, colder weather and the opposite, the first year it happened after my diagnosis it took me a few months to work out what was going on and get my basal adjustment right as I kept thinking I was coming down with something and didn't even think of the weather and temperature, now I know when I start running high that I need to increase by 10%. Then as a woman I have monthly periods to contend with, then stress, then exercise...it's always work in progress as far as i'm concerned, but rest assured you are definitely not alone.
 

That's good to know, thank you. (Although it's not a good thing by itself - if only things were easier on this front!) This wouldn't be nearly as hard if other people didn't brush it off like it's nothing, too. "Just enjoy your food and stop fussing" is the LAST thing I want to hear when I share my concerns with others!
 
Mine changes with weather too. I giggled when I read all the "It's hot, be careful of hypos" as I'd had to up my ratio on the warm weather. Now It's cooler I'm dipping into the 3s and low 4s far too often. Time to play with it again.
 
I read something a while back saying air pressure can affect bg too. So, I'm supposed to carry a barometer around with me too?

Still, you've got to take it as it comes - the screenshot below cheered me up, both from the optimism and the total lack of punctuation:

 
Post hypo punctuation is a big ask... x
 
Nice to know I'm not alone.
High when stressed by hot or too cold. Thyroid making me more extreme in both weathers doesn't help either. Argh!
 
Diakat said:
Post hypo punctuation is a big ask... x
Click to expand...

Nah, not at all, diakat, in fact I think I've just figured out a way to put all the meter manufacturers, abbott, dexcom and medtronic out of business.

Instead of "five to drive", we'll all just carry a few paragraphs of un-proofread text around with us, if you're feeling a bit wobbly, whip one of them out, go over it with a bic biro, then it'll be, "Can't punctuate? - Don't accelerate!" Or "You're in a coma if you can't comma." Or, "You're hypo if you typo."

Sorry, seemed like a good idea at the time but it's probably time to get me coat...
 
Have you seen some of the great predictive text delights on the forum? We must all by hypo half the time.
 
Diakat said:
Have you seen some of the great predictive text delights on the forum? We must all by hypo half the time.
Click to expand...

The "rage blousing" one always cracks me up - "I'm so angry with my high bg sugars I must put a dress on immediately."
 
Oh man, I feel your pain! When I was on MDI hot weather would always make me go high. This year was my first summer on the pump, and much to my surprise I now find the heat makes me go low. Who knows what exciting adventures autumn will bring!
 
I feel like my numbers have been high due to the heat wave. Read that sunburn causes stress that can cause a rise in bg, but nothing about heat in general. Anyway, switched basal to Tresiba from Lantus and changed the timing to bedtime from early morning and it seems to be working! Back in my range with nice flat lines on Dex. You just have to tinker sometimes.
 
sweetbloodsher said:
You just have to tinker sometimes.
Click to expand...

Tinkering is a great way of putting it. You're across in America, Sher, I'm here in Scotland, @DaftThoughts is in the Netherlands, and it's kinda comforting to know that there's a whole bunch of us spread around the world all busy tinkering away seeing if we can get our little T1 friend to stay in line.
 
Don't worry this has happened to me too! My sugar once was 378 I took 22 units mixtard pre meal and ate my dinner immediately but it went down to 191 in 60 minutes which is really fast! Mind you I should take 24 units mixtard plus 4 actrapid to take it down in normal cases but the heat did this to me. I ended up changing to NPH plus Actrapid with lower combination
 
You can say that again, Scot from Scotland. In my little life, I almost never run across fellow T1's. Thank you, Internet!
 
I wonder ... and I have no science to back this up ... whether it is the weather or our reaction to the weather. I love hot weather, I'm more active when it is hot and my BG is lower. Some people love the hot weather and see it as an opportunity to chill in the sun so, I imagine, their reduced stress also reduces their BG. However, some people find the heat very uncomfortable - they get (or worry about getting) heat stroke, sun burn, sweaty, ... all which adds to the stress and increases BG.
 

I've never been good with heat, it makes me literally ill very fast - nausea, heart palpitations, dizziness, exhaustion. I don't even need to be exposed to the sun to feel these effects, as long as it's over 25C I seem to go down this path one way or another. Even before my diagnosis! I can't take hot baths either because they make me sick and close to passing out. Showers are better because I'm not submerged in hot water, but when they're too hot I get sick too.

My natural body temp tends to run a little low at 36-36.5C a majority of the time, I have quite a bit of fatty padding and sweat easily when I exercise or I'm in a warm (20C+) room. I'm usually the one wearing t-shirts when everyone else is bundled up in sweaters. I'm certainly not immune to the cold but I much, much prefer it. I can put on extra clothes if I'm chilly, but I can't take anything else off when I'm naked and too hot!

I'm sure that my body goes into a semi-permanent state of stress in heat. I'm not afraid of getting heat strokes or burns, I just feel physically unwell because my body can't cool down efficiently enough, probably? It would make sense that this reaction to the weather would increase blood sugar.

I can also see the opposite happen - people who are naturally warmer and thrive in warm environments have bodies that react with stress to cold because they can't get their temperature regulated properly either.
 

At least you don't have Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in your weather, preventing you from getting any more insulin or keeping what you already have cold. Here, I'm in the outer rain bands of Irma.
 
And we're dealing with evacuations from devastating wild fires...insulin is the last thing on most people's minds in my tiny corner of the world.
 
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