up and down bloods,any help & ideas apreciated

[novarapid1]

hi all,i have had diabeties type 1 for the last 30 years,i was happy being on novarapid and levimir and having my libre1 machine,
all of a sudden my bloods have spiralled out of control,& cant understand why,my bloods go low late afternoon & just drop as low as possible to below 2.1 then my bloods are going sky high after i eat,i keep having to jab as my bloods go high,so i get up and downs bloods all day at the moment,i havnt changed my eating pattern,my bloods used to allways be between 6 & 8 now there just up and down & my time in target is in 3 sections above,in target & below,my above is 47% my in target is 9% & below 44%,
has anybody had these changes out of nowhere & know what to do,cause tring to speak to a dr or hospital at the mo,is a nightmare

 

[EllieM]

Hi @novarapid1 and welcome to the forums.

I'm so sorry you are struggling at the moment. We aren't doctors and can't advise on dosages but I can make a few suggestions which may or may not help.

Firstly, though I've been T1 for 51 years I still find everything changes occasionally, my bgs go haywire and I have to alter my doses to get back control.

Do you know how to correct your basal and bolus? Insulin needs do change with time (the weather, illness, hormones, exercise...) and the first thing I would try is to stop those hypos.

Also, how are your injection sites? If they are overused and you have hyperlipotrophy you may find that the insulin isn't being absorbed properly?

Novorapid gets called novosluggish by some. Are you prebolusing?

Depending on how long you've had the issue, it may be worth changing your insulin vials and/or pens in case they are malfunctioning.

And have you checked the libre readings against a glucometer (maybe this should be the first step) as they can be very inaccurate when out of range? (Though I assume the hypos are backed by symptoms so you know they are happening.)

Good luck.

 

[EllieM]

Oh and I forgot to say, if you have any sort of illness (eg a urinary tract infection might not have symptoms) that could be messing up your control even though you don't know you have it.

 

[Hertfordshiremum]

hi all,i have had diabeties type 1 for the last 30 years,i was happy being on novarapid and levimir and having my libre1 machine,
all of a sudden my bloods have spiralled out of control,& cant understand why,my bloods go low late afternoon & just drop as low as possible to below 2.1 then my bloods are going sky high after i eat,i keep having to jab as my bloods go high,so i get up and downs bloods all day at the moment,i havnt changed my eating pattern,my bloods used to allways be between 6 & 8 now there just up and down & my time in target is in 3 sections above,in target & below,my above is 47% my in target is 9% & below 44%,
has anybody had these changes out of nowhere & know what to do,cause tring to speak to a dr or hospital at the mo,is a nightmare

What are you using to correct the hypos? Jelly babies,juice? Is the hypo easily corrected or does it take time which implies your morning basal might be a bit too much if it seems to happen in the afternoon? If you are having slightly too much glucose to correct it might explain you going too high later and then if you are quick to correct are you then having another hypo an hour and a half later when Novorapid peaks? I might be totally wrong but just a suggestion as I made this mistake myself when I should have been adjusting my basal due to weather change. Have you had the booster recently? This certainly sent my BG haywire for about 4 weeks. Or as Ellie suggests any other possible infection? Must be making you feel awful constantly going too low then too high What times do you take your Levemir Are you splitting the dose? I am on Levemir 7am and 6pm and Fiasp (previously Novorapid)

 

[ert]

Hypos are dangerous. You should start by testing your basal by meal skipping or eating no carbs. The spikes after eating should be ignored. Injected insulin follows a fixed curve and does not match the food you are eating, so ignore the spikes. If your blood sugars return to the same level after 4-5 hours, your fast-acting does is correct.

 

[novarapid1]

Oh and I forgot to say, if you have any sort of illness (eg a urinary tract infection might not have symptoms) that could be messing up your control even though you don't know you have it.

hi,yes i am having a lot of problems with lumps on my stomache and legs & the other day i had a massive lump in my leg,im desperate to get a omnipod pump,but the hopsital is dragging there heals,no doubt because of covid again.
i had today a snack when my bloodwas 5.5around 3p.m,& by the time i got home from work my blood said lo again,& was feeling rough again,ive tested my machine with a normal blood glucose machine & they were exactly the same reading,so no worrys there,may be my insulin is slowly releasing from lumps through out the day & giving me problems.

 

[novarapid1]

What are you using to correct the hypos? Jelly babies,juice? Is the hypo easily corrected or does it take time which implies your morning basal might be a bit too much if it seems to happen in the afternoon? If you are having slightly too much glucose to correct it might explain you going too high later and then if you are quick to correct are you then having another hypo an hour and a half later when Novorapid peaks? I might be totally wrong but just a suggestion as I made this mistake myself when I should have been adjusting my basal due to weather change. Have you had the booster recently? This certainly sent my BG haywire for about 4 weeks. Or as Ellie suggests any other possible infection? Must be making you feel awful constantly going too low then too high What times do you take your Levemir Are you splitting the dose? I am on Levemir 7am and 6pm and Fiasp (previously Novorapid)

hi whn im having hypos im ussing jelly babies or jelly beans,but usually my bloods would rise within 10 mins,but now an hour late it is not rising alot either whic is a struggle as never had this before,i had a salad today & an apple.& a snack but my blood dropped big time at 5p.m ish,my background of levimir i do at 7a.m of 6 & do the 2nd dose as allways have at 10p.m of 15 units,ive done the same for ages,i had my 3rd jab the booster on november the 1st so that was a while ago now,& i was ok,so dont think its that.my bloods seemed to be ok today untill coming to 5p.m,but crazy,that its taking so long to rise,& obusly the longer your lower the feeling is worse,the after afects of feeling drained etc.theres definetly a change in my blood sugar control,but i dont have a ureine infection,or ill

 

[novarapid1]

Hypos are dangerous. You should start by testing your basal by meal skipping or eating no carbs. The spikes after eating should be ignored. Injected insulin follows a fixed curve and does not match the food you are eating, so ignore the spikes. If your blood sugars return to the same level after 4-5 hours, your fast-acting does is correct.

i know,i sometimes can have 3 hypos a day,which can be a drag,so i guess i am not greatly controlled,or may be too much insulin is dosed,or slowly released insulin because of lumps,
this week i am going to eat salad & no carbs to see what is going on,i guess i get so used to doing the same thing everyday,that i just carry on having hypo after hypo,but was my thinking that me eventually getting the pump that my blood sugars would be better controlled.

 

[ert]

i know,i sometimes can have 3 hypos a day,which can be a drag,so i guess i am not greatly controlled,or may be too much insulin is dosed,or slowly released insulin because of lumps,
this week i am going to eat salad & no carbs to see what is going on,i guess i get so used to doing the same thing everyday,that i just carry on having hypo after hypo,but was my thinking that me eventually getting the pump that my blood sugars would be better controlled.

I change my insulin dosing every day following the numbers. That's because of the usual variability such as exercise, injection sites, stress, lack of sleep, insulin timing, insulin age, hormones etc, etc.

 

[novarapid1]

I change my insulin dosing every day following the numbers. That's because of the usual variability such as exercise, injection sites, stress, lack of sleep, insulin timing, insulin age, hormones etc, etc.

i think im gonna have to change my ways,& not do the same old same old,need to sort myself out,thanks for your information

 

[EllieM]

hi,yes i am having a lot of problems with lumps on my stomache and legs & the other day i had a massive lump in my leg,

I think it might help a lot if you vary your injection sites more. Some people use their arms? Do you use a clean needle every time? (I'm a bit lazy and don't always but I think if I were in your position I would.)

 

[Hertfordshiremum]

hi whn im having hypos im ussing jelly babies or jelly beans,but usually my bloods would rise within 10 mins,but now an hour late it is not rising alot either whic is a struggle as never had this before,i had a salad today & an apple.& a snack but my blood dropped big time at 5p.m ish,my background of levimir i do at 7a.m of 6 & do the 2nd dose as allways have at 10p.m of 15 units,ive done the same for ages,i had my 3rd jab the booster on november the 1st so that was a while ago now,& i was ok,so dont think its that.my bloods seemed to be ok today untill coming to 5p.m,but crazy,that its taking so long to rise,& obusly the longer your lower the feeling is worse,the after afects of feeling drained etc.theres definetly a change in my blood sugar control,but i dont have a ureine infection,or ill

Hi The fact that’s the jelly babies are not making much of a difference and you’re having 2-3 hypos a day makes me think you need to adjust your basal. Maybe do a basal test as Ert suggests as if you do need to reduce this I am sure in the meantime it will be making you feel awful. I had the same problem with lumps a few months back and my nurse switched me to silicone coated longer needles They are called microdot I use 8mm It has definitely helped. Are you getting Libre on prescription? Definitely ask as you are having so many hypos.

 

[novarapid1]

Hi The fact that’s the jelly babies are not making much of a difference and you’re having 2-3 hypos a day makes me think you need to adjust your basal. Maybe do a basal test as Ert suggests as if you do need to reduce this I am sure in the meantime it will be making you feel awful. I had the same problem with lumps a few months back and my nurse switched me to silicone coated longer needles They are called microdot I use 8mm It has definitely helped. Are you getting Libre on prescription? Definitely ask as you are having so many hypos.

i probaly do.but i just dont know if i should up it or lower it,as ive noticed a few days with after i do my background my blood sometimes starts rising without even eating,which i guess is the dawn phenomen they call it,but then through the morning up till lunch it starts going downwards,then usually after lunch has been about 6 ish then by 5p.m even after a snack is where the massive hypos have been happening,but never had a hypo take so long to rise before,thts the thing that throws me.ill have a look intothe longer needles,as need to change myself starting in the new year,need to get on my docs case,when they actually reply.
i only do 6 background in the morning,but may be ill lower it,but just worried ill lower it & start getting to many highs in the morning again,i think everything going with this madness & the frustration of if i need to see a doc,i have to end up going to a&e or get a telephone conseltation after 3 weeks with my docs & my uncontrolless & all the other stresses of life going with that,stress at work,kids etc i feel my head is allways cloudy & find it hard to think,so i wonder if my body is taking that on board with my uncontrolled sugars as well.