highs and lows in the same time???

[anmi]

Hello everybody ... some questions...

How come this thing? I took my bg in the morning it was around 120 ... I took the insuline (less with 2 units) and I ate normally ... Everything was working perfect till 12 o'clock when I started to fill a little dizzy... judder and perspire... And surprise: 35!!!!!! How come? I did the same things that I did yesterday and even more... took less insuline... I took 2 lump sugar in 10 minutes was 102...

Ok, i calmed down and ate again at 12.30 o'clock and made insuline with 4 units less (I talked to my doctor and told me to do so)... Next? In one hour was 41... ate again sugar...

Now, I know about a period when your pancreas restart to produce his last resource of insuline... my doctor told me it is called the "honey moon" but is it ok to come so suddendly? I mean for the last week or two everything was working perfect and the lowest bg values were between 60-70 and in one day 2 hipos???... and who knows what will follow...

Do you know how long it will be going to last and did some of you even stopped to take insuline? Is this an usual thing or not?

[JediSkipdogg]

There can be a few theories behind this...

1) What insulins are you on? Are you on a mixed or on Lantus and something else? If you are on a mixed, it may be you aren't eating enough to cover the short acting. If you are on two seperate insulins, it may be your long acting is too much.

2) Hypos follow hypos. A rule of thumb is when you have a hypo you are more sensitive to insulin, not sure why that is, but you will have another hypo within 48 hours and sometimes even another one after that, so 3 hypos and then you will be fine.

3) It could be you are honeymooning again and your body created a few more insulin producing cells and that's pumping more insulin into you now.

As for which of the above are true for you, I can't really say.

[Dewey]

Hi Anmi & welcome aboard! :shakehand

Jedi's right. It could be one (or a combo) of things going on in your situation. When people are newly diagnosed, it sometimes takes a while to fine tune their regime, due to things such as the "honeymoon phase" and other factors.

Here's hoping we're of some help & that you'll get a handle on everything soon. Once again, welcome & glad you found us.

[anmi]

Thank you very much for yur reply but... I do not know what to say...

So first, I think it is the first time honey moon for me... these values were the lowest and the diabet was discovered one month ago.
I take 2 types of insulin... Actrapid(during the day) and Insulatard(night).
And the most important thing is that I eat even more then it is needed because there were some times when I felt a hipo comming...

This is my problem... there is too much food for me...
I eat what I have to eat and if I fill something wrong in one our or two when the insuline has the maximum efect, I take something more. Btw, I have to eat 6 times/day... this is very much food for what I was used to eat...

Anyway, my doctor told last week me that I should take 2 units less of insuline when I have bg bellow 90 and this is how I did... And from last week till know I have reached to half the daily quantity... And even so... is too much..

[JediSkipdogg]

Take this as you wish (I'm not a medical professional) but I would cut your Insulatard down a unit or two. It sounds like that may be too high. THere should be no need for you to eat 6 times a day.

Well, maybe there is, I'll reply back more later. I need to research on those two insulins some more.

[anmi]

What I can tell you about the two types of insuline is the following:

- Actrapid I take 3 times per day. Bellow is copy/paste something I found on net about it:

"Actrapid contains a type of insulin called soluble (or neutral) insulin. When it is injected under the skin it works rapidly, within 30 to 60 minutes, and its effects last for about eight hours. It is usually injected 15 to 30 minutes before a meal so that the increasing blood glucose levels after eating can be controlled. Soluble insulin is often given in combination with intermediate or longer-acting types of insulin, which provide control over blood glucose throughout the day."

The effect of one shot takes about 4 hours. After 2 hours from the first shot it has the maximum effect... this is when I have to eat between lunches ... around 20 HC

So I eat 3 lunches in the morning, dinner and at night and three other between them when the actrapid has the maximum efect.

- About Insulatard... I take it every night and this is what I found about it:

"Insulatard contains a type of insulin called isophane insulin. This is known as an intermediate acting insulin. When injected under the skin it helps to control blood glucose throughout the day. (See the information leaflet provided with your insulin for more information about when to inject the insulin and how long its effects last.)
Isophane insulin is normally used in combination with a short acting insulin, which is given before meals to control the increasing blood glucose levels after eating."

Thank you a lot for answering... I really like to learn and read all about this things...

[tcc123]

anmi,
I was just diagnosed about a month ago too and had about the same problem that you are having. A few weeks after leaving the hospital I started to have lows after every injection of fast acting insulin (novolog). to stop them I just raised my insulin to carb ratio and lowered my nighttime dose until i stopped having them. For example my insulin to carb ratio right when i was dxed was 15 to 1. Now it is about 30-1 to 50-1 depending on the time of day. It most likely is part of the honeymoon period. Also during this period the pancreas isn't consistent about how much insulin it gives you.. so sometimes it produces alot and sometimes not as much. Like others said I would lower some of your insulin intake and see if that helps

[anmi]

Hy tcc123,
Thanks for reply.
I feel much better today... I almost half down the quantity at each shot and it is back to normal... from yesterday till now was betwen 100-150.
I recognize I was a little scared when I saw so low values because I know that hipos are damaging your nerves and brain... and I want to keep alive and healthy the rest of my neurons ... which anyway are gone with the wind :)

What I do not understand is why I did not feel it before getting so low... When I was in hospital I got the same symptoms .. tremble and get sweat... but for a 60 value.

And another question... the values are getting low suddendly or slowly? I mean from 100 can reach 30 in one minute or one hour?

[tcc123]

the reason why you didn't feel the hypo coming on is because you are now used to being in the "normal" blood sugar range.. When you went into the hospital your blood sugar was probably sky high.. So when it went down that much you could feel a low alot easier.. Your body gets used to the level its at and will react to a drastic change. When I was in the hospital I felt shaky when my blood sugar was at 90. And for a week after I had headaches the whole time I was in the "normal" range.
To answer your other question. Your blood sugar can go low very quickly. Especially if your insulin is peaking. Today I went from 100 to 45 in a matter of 10 minutes. It can also gradually go low. But usually the severe lows that people get, like the one you got, come on very quickly

[Horsman]

about 6 mos after Dx I stopped needing insulin at all for a short time. That was pretty crazy! 3 days of no diabetes was pretty cool. I ate lots of ice cream

[Lex4153]

Also, make sure you not only eat something sugary, but something that will hold you over for a period of time. Something quick to pick you up right away, and then something that your body digests and metabolizes slower to keep your blood sugar up.

[notme]

One thing that was not mentioned here is the fact you are female. Many women will experience unexplained lows just before or during their period. I had problems with lows about two days before starting a period. Hormones can change all the rules.

[Tim_Roy]

Another possiblity, do you know for sure that the test was accurate?

My results can change a good bit depending on the amount of blood or how long it took to fill the test area.

Sometimes if a test result doesn't square up with how I'm feeling I'll retest and get a result that is closer to how I feel.

[David]

"I take 2 types of insulin... Actrapid(during the day) and Insulatard(night)."

I believe Actrapid is called R (or Regular) and Insulatard is called N (or NPH) in the US (please correct me if I'm wrong). Both have a fairly strong peaks. Have you considered the possibility that they may be both peaking at the same time?

I'd want to eliminate those peaks, or at least separate them in time. Switching the Actrapid to NovoRapid or the Insulatard to Lantus should give better results but a NovoRapid/Lantus regime would be best if they're available to you. I'd consider reducing my morning Actrapid if an insulin switch isn't possible.

http://www.2aida.net/aida/fast-track-menu.htm

http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/prevention/insulatardactrapid.html

David

[anmi]

Another possiblity, do you know for sure that the test was accurate?

My results can change a good bit depending on the amount of blood or how long it took to fill the test area.

Sometimes if a test result doesn't square up with how I'm feeling I'll retest and get a result that is closer to how I feel.


I do not know what to say about the test accuracy.
When I was in the hospital, I made some tests in parallel: from hand and with the test and the test seems to have +/-4 points. So I think it is ok. It is truth that I did not do such tests from 4-5 weeks... I do not know what to say ... It might be a possibility.

[anmi]

One thing that was not mentioned here is the fact you are female. Many women will experience unexplained lows just before or during their period. I had problems with lows about two days before starting a period. Hormones can change all the rules.

I was thinking about that also... But this has happened about 2 weeks before my period. Anyway, around the period, indeed some values were a little out of range... but this time were high. It happened just once to be 260.

[anmi]

"I take 2 types of insulin... Actrapid(during the day) and Insulatard(night)."

I believe Actrapid is called R (or Regular) and Insulatard is called N (or NPH) in the US (please correct me if I'm wrong). Both have a fairly strong peaks. Have you considered the possibility that they may be both peaking at the same time?

I'd want to eliminate those peaks, or at least separate them in time. Switching the Actrapid to NovoRapid or the Insulatard to Lantus should give better results but a NovoRapid/Lantus regime would be best if they're available to you. I'd consider reducing my morning Actrapid if an insulin switch isn't possible.

http://www.2aida.net/aida/fast-track-menu.htm

http://medweb.bham.ac.uk/easdec/prevention/insulatardactrapid.html

David

Being so new with this ... I really do not know what to say. I will talk to my doctor to see why she gave me this type of insuline and not another. What I remember is that when I was in the hospital, in the first two days, they gave me another type... Humulin R... is there this type? But after a day or two, because the values where very unstable... they gave me this two types. I did not put too many questions because I did not know what to ask... but in my next visit I will talk and see what to do.

[David]

Humulin R is Lilly's equivalent of Actrapid, which is made by Novo-Nordisk. They're both "Regular" insulin but produced by different manufacturers. They work the same in most people but some may find that one works better than the other for various reasons (differing method of manufacture, additives, preservatives, etc).

David