[caswellhb]

Had an experience with flashing images. I am now throwing up a lot.
How should I deal with my Insulin? I am still new to it and not sure what to do.

Heather.

[camjen1]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean about flashing images and throwing up but if you are throwing up you need to be checking your bg's constantly and still take your insulin. Take insulin little at a time and if you find yourself needing more then inject more.

I got sick when I first started using insulin and I thought when throwing up we shouldn't take insulin but I was so wrong and ended up in the hospital in DKA.

[ladytaz]

Yes, take your insulin! Since it's not going in thru your stomach, it doesn't have any impact.

Flashing lights tho, do you have a headache Heather? That is something that a LOT of people get just before they get a migraine [and migraines SO suck, I get them once in a while, but don't have any *warning signals*] Then once I have the migraine and it's going full throttle, I usually start throwing up. YuK

[TeeJaxx]

I'm just curious......did you have a headache? My friend gets WICKED migraines, and those are her symptoms....flashing little bolts of light out of the corners of her eyes, and usually she will throw up before the migraine is over.
I have no medical training, but I'm just wondering if maybe it had nothing at all to do with D, and maybe you experienced a migraine.

[Funnygrl]

This is actually one of the reasons I hate mix. You still need the basal effect of the N portion, but don't want the bolus effect of the fast acting portion, since you aren't able to eat. Mixes bite. If you think you can keep down liquids, try and drink liquid carbs to stay up, otherwise you're in for a low.

[ladytaz]

Originally Posted by Funnygrl

This is actually one of the reasons I hate mix. You still need the basal effect of the N portion, but don't want the bolus effect of the fast acting portion, since you aren't able to eat. Mixes bite. If you think you can keep down liquids, try and drink liquid carbs to stay up, otherwise you're in for a low.

ACK!! I forgot about that, didn't even cross my mind, and it SO should have!!! *shame on me*

[lgvincent]

Flashes are a sign of retinal detachment. I would encourage you to IMMEDIATELY have it checked. I'm under the impression that if a retina becomes detached, quick action must be taken or you will lose the vision in that eye.

I get flashes but they seem to occur in groups. I'll get them for a while then they'll stop for a while then resume.

[camjen1]

Originally Posted by ladytaz

ACK!! I forgot about that, didn't even cross my mind, and it SO should have!!! *shame on me*

That makes 2 of us!!

[Gary_W]

Getting used to other events like this whilst using insulin is pretty tricky, especially as you are on a mix.

One thing I would say is to blood test as often as humanly possible. It is difficult to know what you mean by flashing images as it covers a real multitude of sins as a symptom. Some people suffer from visual artefacts of some kind as a result of hypoglycemia so you need to eliminate BG changes from the equation before you move on.

I had my worst low ever a couple of weeks back after changing insulin to Apidra and second guessing the manufacturer's 'works in 5 mins claim' as they all say that. Result was my vision went totally to pot for a couple of mins with lots of bright white flashes. I had all the other hypo symptoms as well, but I'm used to these and being new to insulin you may not be. You'll need to know what your signs are as we are all different. Mine include metal taste in mouth, shaking, my hearing dulls and vision feels off. YMMV as will everyone elses.

Another thing to consider is that if your BG average has been running high for a while relative to how it runs now, your eyesight can be effected. As I understand it, your eyes physically change shape though I'm shakey on this point and happy for someone else to fill in the gaps / shoot me down in flames

Once you're happy it's not BG in the low direction, keep in mind that other sickness or stress in general tend to raise your BG so stopping insulin would make this worse. As Funnygirl says, you have a little less flexibility with mix as you certainly need the basal but in an ideal world you'd have the flexibility of altering the bolus according to your needs. As you are throwing up then you would possibly need less of this.

The only advice really is to take it steady and keep stabbing those fingers... Keep some Lucozade nearby in case you start going low as at least you'll get a bit of that into your system before it comes out of you again. Go steady on the amount to avoid a rebound high, as 100 - 150 mls is all it takes to bring me round from a low and I'm a fairly big guy.

Hope you feel better soon.

Gary

[caswellhb]

Thanks everyone.
It was looking at the flashing images that made me ill. Sorry, I should have explained that.
I am feeling better today. It usually takes me three days to recover fully.
My bgs seem to have been largely unaffected, thankfully. Still on liquids.
Thanks again.

Heather.