when is my level too high?

[Scott78]

Hi All,

At what point should I seek medical advice or is considered an emergency as I usually have my levels under control. I have just come out of hospital from an insect bite which turned nasty. I was in for a five day course of IV antibiotics. Now on my second day home on oral antibiotics I just do not seem to be able to control my sugar levels. Last night two hours after my meal my reading was 18.3, this morning pre meal was 28.3, I had my insulin during the day which I never have to do and now it is at 23.3.

Has anyone one experienced these problems at all.

Any advice would be great....

 

[EllsKBells]

Hi @Scott78

First things first, are you testing for ketones, either with the blood or urine strips? If your levels are persistently that high, this is is important.

If you are negative for ketones, then I would be tempted to ring 111 and see what they say. If you are positive for ketones, get yourself back to A&E asap.

Also, don't panic. I know this sounds really scary, but panic will just drive your sugar levels higher. Keep testing, both sugars and ketones.

Are you on fixed doses or are you carb counting? Do you feel confident in applying correction doses?

 

[Scott78]

Hi @Scott78

First things first, are you testing for ketones, either with the blood or urine strips? If your levels are persistently that high, this is is important.

If you are negative for ketones, then I would be tempted to ring 111 and see what they say. If you are positive for ketones, get yourself back to A&E asap.

Also, don't panic. I know this sounds really scary, but panic will just drive your sugar levels higher. Keep testing, both sugars and ketones.

Are you on fixed doses or are you carb counting? Do you feel confident in applying correction doses?

Hi, thanks for the reply, I do not know what testing ketones is, all I have is the blood sugar level kit. Can I use the Glucomen Lx Plus with the test strips to do this?

Also I have not carb counted before, I am just careful with what I eat...

I guess I best have a bit more insulin to so if I can reduce it

 

[EllsKBells]

Hi, thanks for the reply, I do not know what testing ketones is, all I have is the blood sugar level kit. Can I use the Glucomen Lx Plus with the test strips to do this?

Also I have not carb counted before, I am just careful with what I eat...

I guess I best have a bit more insulin to so if I can reduce it

This explains nicely what ketones are

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-ketones.html

Do you have any of these?

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetic-products/ketostix-ketone-detection.html

If you aren't confident in adjusting your insulin, I would be very, very wary of doing so when things are a bit haywire anyway.

I know you probably don't want to go back to hospital, but at the very least I think you should call 111, especially if you don't have a way of testing for ketones, which are often present when blood sugars are consistently high.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. As a T1 you should be on the Basal/Bolus regime. Carb-counting is the way to go for anyone on Basal/Bolus for the best sugar control. I would certainly increase the Bolus in steps over a day or so and probably tweak the Basal up a bit a little each day until balanced. Seek guidance from your DN on any of this if you can't get the sugars down. Come back here if you can't get that guidance. Basically sugars below the 20s are where you need to be urgently and then down to single figures as soon as you can.

 

[Diakat]

When you say you don't normally take insulin during the day - can you explain what insulin you use and frequency of dosing?

 

[phdiabetic]

Hi All,

At what point should I seek medical advice or is considered an emergency as I usually have my levels under control. I have just come out of hospital from an insect bite which turned nasty. I was in for a five day course of IV antibiotics. Now on my second day home on oral antibiotics I just do not seem to be able to control my sugar levels. Last night two hours after my meal my reading was 18.3, this morning pre meal was 28.3, I had my insulin during the day which I never have to do and now it is at 23.3.

Has anyone one experienced these problems at all.

Any advice would be great....

That is dangerously high! I would seek medical assistance in your situation, especially since you were struggling with an infection before. In the mean time, check ketones, keep checking blood sugar and correcting appropriately, don't do strenuous exercise, and make sure you stay hydrated!