why it's getting high??? :((

[anmi]

Hello.
Maybe you remember me... i posted some threads in the past and I was very happy because I used to have normal values all the way. I don't know what's happening but for the last 2 weeks i always get in the morning values over 200... even 350 and also during the day i can not keep it steady anymore ... :(
And the problem is that I almost doubled the insulin especially the basal one to get rid of the morning highs. Today I had 198 so still have to increase it...
I did not change anything in my life or food as before and still...
Did this happened to you?
I am just a little bit tired ... that's all. Should this be the cause?
Thanks.

[sofaraway]

it could be that you are coming to the end of your honeymoon and that is what has caused the increased insulin need.

it sounds to me that your basal is probably not quite right. the high morning blood sugars could be caused by dawn phenomenon. is it possible that your basal is too high overnight and you are going low whilst sleeping, not waking up and your liver is dumping glucose to raise your blood sugar?

i hope someone with more knowledge will be able to help you better.

try not to worry it is frustrating, one thing my nurse said to me at diagnosis was that ' as soon as you think you've got everything figured out, something will change and throw you off track'

[ant hill]

Hello.
Maybe you remember me... i posted some threads in the past and I was very happy because I used to have normal values all the way. I don't know what's happening but for the last 2 weeks i always get in the morning values over 200... even 350 and also during the day i can not keep it steady anymore ... :(
And the problem is that I almost doubled the insulin especially the basal one to get rid of the morning highs. Today I had 198 so still have to increase it...
I did not change anything in my life or food as before and still...
Do you like chocolate? Have you been eating some? Anyway i do like chocolate too and that has the ability to keep you BG's high. :stupido:

[DeusXM]

Your insulin requirements will change sporadically throughout the year, for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, that's life. It could be that you've put a little weight on. Maybe your honeymoon period's over. Maybe you've got a mild infection. Perhaps you've been under a bit more stress lately. It could even just be a change in the season - March is the time of year (along with October) when this forum seems to have a sudden flurry of people having trouble with their BGs all of a sudden.

It does sound like you're getting dawn phenomenon though - do you eat breakfast in the morning? If you don't, then start. After a week or so your body will be conditioned to expect a burst of energy in the morning and will tell your liver to keep quiet. Otherwise, increase your basal dose, and maybe even move which time you take your basal.

Another thing though that might be causing problems is the Somogyi Effect. This is what happens when you have a hypo in your sleep, don't wake up and your liver dumps glucose to stop the hypo. It could be that you are having night hypos and the increased basal is actually causing your liver to dump more glucose, causing high readings. This process is pretty draining on the body, which could account for your tiredness. On the other hand, generally high BGs will also make you feel tired.

The best thing to do would be to do a nighttime BG test and see what your BG is doing before you normally wake up. This will let you know whether you're having night hypos, dawn phenomenon, or just not getting enough insulin.

[anmi]

it could be that you are coming to the end of your honeymoon and that is what has caused the increased insulin need.


i am still not sure what honeymoon means ... not getting insulin at all or just a few units? so the point is that from when i discovered it, it didn't pass one day to quit insulin but yes, there was a time when i took 5/5/5/12... This were my lowest units.
So I am not sure if this values are honeymoon values so I am not sure I ever passed through honeymoon...
My current values are 12/10/10/32!!!! So almost triple during the day and night :((...

[anmi]

Do you like chocolate? Have you been eating some? Anyway i do like chocolate too and that has the ability to keep you BG's high. :stupido:

Yes i like it a lot :)... but since this I stopped eating at all... just to calm down things first.

[anmi]

Your insulin requirements will change sporadically throughout the year, for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, that's life. It could be that you've put a little weight on.

Yes, I put a little weight... around 5 kg... So this might be a cause? I think I should start a diet...


Maybe you've got a mild infection.

I have a dental problem ... i didn't have time to reach to a doctor. I didn't think this would be a problem as is not a decay... it's a molar without a nerve ... anyway does not seem infected.

Perhaps you've been under a bit more stress lately.

This is also true :(

It does sound like you're getting dawn phenomenon though - do you eat breakfast in the morning? If you don't, then start.

Yes I knew about this and I took a value at around 3-4 a.m. Actually I woke up because of a hypo it was 42... :( but the basal for that night was 35... I woke up in the morning with 210 of course. But after that i decreased the basal 30 and did not woke up anymore during the night but still was over 200...

[anmi]

Thank you all for replies
I really appreciate it :).

[DeusXM]

Basal changes usually take about 3 days to kick in so you can't really judge the difference on just one night. Also, if you're dropping to 42, a reduction of 5u might still not be enough to prevent a hypo - just because you didn't wake up doesn't mean you didn't have one.

What are your BGs like before you go to bed?

Yes, I put a little weight... around 5 kg... So this might be a cause? I think I should start a diet...

Only if you're overweight. Just remember that the more you weight, generally the more insulin you'll need.

i am still not sure what honeymoon means

The honeymoon period happens usually just after you're diagnosed and put on insulin. When you get dxed your pancreas is usually still producing a little bit of insulin. Then when you start injecting, it gets a 'second wind' and starts producing a lot more for a short time, before eventually dying off. You'll see your insulin requirements go up quite a lot a while after you're diagnosed.

You also shouldn't expect your current insulin requirement to bear any resemblance at all to the ones you had when you were dxed. When I was dxed I was on 12u Mixtard 30 and 6u Mixtard 50. Now my boluses vary between 7-20u, and my Lantus is 24-28u.

Best advice is to test every two hours for a couple of days or so. Then plot the results on a graph, you'll then be able to see when your insulin coverage is either too much or too little.

[princesslinda]

Deus: Just curious...what is it about March and October causing "odd" readings on the forum? Is this more with T1's or are T2's affected as well?

[anmi]

No, i am not overweighted. I know now what you meant... my mother was diagnosed soon with T2 but she is overweighted, the doctor didn't even gave her pills until she will not loose some weight. She want to see if the values will go down after diet.
I also heard about the weather ... not special months just that in the winter the insulin is processed harder then in the summer...

Anyway, i am getting more more frustrated and depressed... :(

[DeusXM]

Deus: Just curious...what is it about March and October causing "odd" readings on the forum? Is this more with T1's or are T2's affected as well?

It's more noticeable in T1s because there's a very immediate feedback from injecting insulin on blood sugar. But I'd imagine it's the same for T2s too. Basically (and I've no real science to prove this, so take it for what it's worth), lots of people seem to have difficult with their readings in March and October, which just also happen to when Spring and Autumn happen. My personal theory is that your body's metabolic rate varies according to the season, and as a result your body will process glucose either quicker or slower as a result of that. Therefore your insulin requirements will change accordingly.

[HollyB]

Deus, that's interesting, cause Aaron's BGs have been pretty bouncy lately and we have just have to reduce his boluses (for the first time since diagnosis) because of repeated lows.

Anmi, just to give you an example of how a honeymoon ends (and this is pretty dramatic because my teenage son is also growing and needing more insulin that way) -- soon after diagnosis he was taking under 20 units most days. Now, a year and a half later, he's averaging 60. We've had to increase his dosages about every three months -- it seems like his pancreas just gradually gave up the ghost. i gather thought that some people experience a more sudden end of their honeymoon, so that might be what's going on with you.

[ClaireZk]

Even if sugars are running high, be careful with increasing doses. For me this has always caused weight gain and increased insulin resistance, but everyone is different. This is a job for your doctor, especially in the beginning.

My pre-teen and teenage years were **** for blood sugar control. I think hormones played a HUGE part in this. In my 20s this has gotten better, but I've always had a problem with emotions raising BG levels. I'm mad, then I'm high. I'm upset, I'm high. I'm stressed, I'm high. It makes proper control very difficult and frustrating!

Talk to your Doctor though. Things will get better. Maybe a pump might help too? Good luck :)

[anmi]

Finally a good value... i had 106 in the morning... :)

Related to the pump, I talked to my doctor and seems that in my forgotten jungle country, meaning Romania the insulin and accessories for the pump don't reach in time... So she does not think it would be wise for the moment as there might be times when I won't find insulin to buy... What can I do... this is our stupid system...

Thank all for reply.

[meldac]

To fid out if your sugar is going low i the middle of the night - set your alarm for 3am and 4 am and check your insulin levels for a couple of weeks, then oyou will know.

I often have this problem where my sugar dips int he night and i dont wake up, often i can feel soemthing happening but i just drift off, so end up waking up ith high sugars...I also find that if I inject in area where I inject alot, the insulin does not work as well, as when i inject in a new area...injecting in the sma earea can put a kind of block of the insulin comeing in, due to it making the skin become hard.

Or perhaps its tie to move onto a new type of insulin?

a tip i was given was to hae 15grams of carbohydrates before bed, once i have ha dmy night time insulin- such as a slice of toast.

[anmi]

Hi again...
well i don't know what was wrong but now it's starting to be normal again. Passed a week and it's normal again. For example, this morning was 86 :)... Maybe i was just too tired and also a flu came around me for a few weeks...

Anyway, I somehow raised the insulin values overall with 20u per day now - from 5/5/5/12 to 7/8/8/26 ...

Just curios... i will have to take more and more insulin? I mean i will become somehow immune and have to take more or change it?

[HollyB]

Hi,

During the honeymoon you are likely to need increasing amounts of insulin. Once your pancreas stops making insulin completely, then your doses should level out. There will always be changes as you enter different phases of your life, change jobs, become more or less active, etc., but it won't keep going up forever.

I see you were diagnosed in 2006, so you may have been honeymooning up to now. You may still be to an extent -- 20 units a day isn't really very much for Type 1