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why does this happen?!

Z

zoeee

Member
Messages
19
Location
shropshire, uk
this should be in ask a question, sorry!!

i'm still trying to get the hang of basal bolus, but this has happened a few times since i've been on it and the people at the hospital are no help so i thought i'd ask here.
my blood sugars are usually okay, not fantastic - but okayyyy - but for some reason, they sometimes randomly go really high and no amount of correction doses / doing more than i need to for meals will get them down.

like now! - they've been running between 16 and 23 for 2 days, with a random 10 before i went to bed - though i woke up with it being 18. but because this has happened before , i know that either tomorrow or the day after they'll go back to 'normal' - but why does the insulin seem to have no effect for a few days?!

its not a change of diet or exercise (because i tend to eat/do the same thing every day ... exciting life i lead!), and i'm not really ill - just a bit of a cold but nothing huge - and when i first got it, there wasnt a big difference, it's not ketones... i change the humalog cartridge and my injection sites incase that's it but it doesn't make a difference.

why?!!
 
With my wee boy, having the cold does put his blood sugar up. I guess its the body fighting whatever bug it is.
 
for us its part of living with diabetes sometimes dylan is high or low for no apparent reason, other times we have days where i think we have finally cracked it and a day later its all completely out dinners and teas are always different but breakfast is the same everyday hes a creature of habit lol but one day we get to lunch and hes 5.6 the next 3.2 and the one after may be 15 .4 and ive done exactly the same for all 3

sorry thats not much of an answer i know but living with diabetes isnt easy and def isnt predictable

anna marie
 
Hmmm, colds, time of the months etc can have an effect. Also, hidden carbs? Have you been eating, or even drinking anything different recently? I know you said you hadteh same stuf most days (me too!) but have teh changed the coffee in the coffee machine etc?
 
Hi Zoee
I am really concerned that you've mentioned having bg's running between 16 to 23 as there is a very strong possibility of DKA especially if your running at these kind of levels for this length of time. A high pre breakfast reading may also be the result of a nocturnal hypo so it may be worth setting your alarm clock for a couple of nights at 4:00am and then doing a test to see what's going on. Are you sure you're counting carbs correctly and also remembering to wash your hands before testing?
Has your insulin been damaged through incorrect storage and have you been under alot of stress lately? Even though you don't seem to have alot of faith in your hospital team I think you really need to go and see them asap to get this sorted. I assume you 've been on a a DAFNE course as you mention taking correction units. Good luck
 
i haven't even heard of a dafne course so nope, haven't been on one of them!!
i count carbs as best as i can, i'm constantly looking at the back of packets & my nurse briefly told me that 1 unit should count for 10 carbs so i've been going off that. and she said that correctionwise 1 unit should bring it down 2 or 3, but she didn't really go into much of the explanation - scribbled it on a piece of paper and left me to it! she said to either go that way, or just do 10 for a meal, but that doesn't seem too accurate so i try the carb counting route.
yep i'm remembering to wash my hands & everythings stored as it always has been - and i'm not really under any stress atm because i'm on a gap year so more chilled out than ever tbh!!
i'm glad i'm not the only one who's concerned about it being so ridiculously high, it's been a bit better today so hopefully it's going back to normal - i was tempted to put my lantus up by 1 unit but for some reason, last time i did this it had such a huge impact, i was getting lows of 1 and 2 in the middle of the night when on my current one its normally around 7/8 so was advised not to do it, but may have to at this rate. my nurse actually gave up on me ("i'm sorry i can take you no further" - v reassuring!) so i'm waiting for a new one, will have to talk to her about it when i finally get her number. thank you for your replies everyone x
 
Have you tested for ketones? With readings like that you really should keep an eye on your ketone level as it can become dangerous very quickly.

Colds can affect blood sugars, my daughter will get raised blood sugars with a cold but your readings do sound very high.

Do you have the book "type 1 diabetes in children. adolescents and young adults"? I really do recommend it if you're using the basal/bolus. It will explain how to test your basal is set correctly, how to work out your carb ratio (you can have more than one ratio for different times of the day) and it also explains how to work out how much 1 unit of rapid acting insulin will reduce your blood sugars. There's loads of other information in there too and is well worth reading.
 
DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating) is a complete diabetes education course for T1's. They ususally last for 5 days and I learnt a hell of alot even though I've had T1 for many years and was sceptical about attending. I'd highly recommend going on one if you can. Also, it's a great and rare opportunity to meet other T1's.
 

1 unit for 10 carbs is just the starting point - if it consistently isn't enough then increase to 1.5 units per 10 carbs, then if still not enough try 2 units per 10 carbs. It takes trial and error becuase you may need different ratios at different times of day. The thing is to use a consistent ratio (at the same time of day) even if the carb amount varies.


Does your Lantus pen do half-unit adjustments? Sounds like you'd be better with smaller increments. Half-unit adjustments are a big help with bolus insulin too if you're very sensitive.
 
I don't know if this helps or not, but I have stupidly high blood sugars (around 20) when I'm on my period. I've mentioned this to my doctor and he said he wasn't worried because it was only for a couple of days and is quite common - the hormones produced when you menstruate tend to block insulin, so does cortisol which you produce when stressed (only just been told this and had diabetes all my life!).

I have just come off insulatard and moved to lantus, although it was the specialist nurse who prescribed that as the doc thought perhaps the only way of dealing with my blood sugars being too high from lunch time onwards was a pump! The nurse was much better and realised that it was because I was on an old insulin that no-one prescribes anymore, so I understand your annoyance with the medics!
 
hello,
it could be hormones or something. have you thought about going on the pump? i really think it will be useful for you, for example as soon as you realise you are going to have a high couple of days you can change the basal and take corrections, then when you start to go low again you can put it straight back. they are small and are great when you get used to it.
 

Reading this the first thing I would suggest is that the ratios that she gave you are wrong. They differ for everybody and they can even differ depending on the time of day it is! For example, you might need 1 unit for every 6 grams of carbs in the morning and 1 unit for 10 at lunch time. This is something you can only find out by getting the carb counting right and adjusting the ratios accordingly.

HOWEVER, you say you have had this before and your levels always return to normal after a couple of days. Have you checked whether this falls together with your period or anything? It could be hormonal. I'm really sorry that your DSN isn't any help that isn't very reassuring :? Hopefully you can find out what it is because even though it's only for a few days, if it comes back all the time it really isn't good for you! Make sure you keep track of any possible ketones. Best of luck hope you get it sorted!
 
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