not sure what to do

[christie]

well once again my sugars are acting crazy,it seems like if i feel high and take 1 unit well i wait and still not feel right so i check again and instead of coming down i go higher even though i had nothing to eat,so then i take an additional unit and an hour later finally around 150. and then it seems like a few minutes later i have a severe low.and then the last 2 nights after dinner my sugar is pushing 300,so i don't know if i should increase my morning lantus which is my big lantus shot or my bedtime lantus.its rare for me to have evening highs like that.

[Alice]

It sounds like your Lantus might need to be increased. Then, when you bolus for food, your Humalog will only be correcting that amount...it's confusing when the two "needs" are getting taken care of by Humalog. Or vice versa, with Lantus.

Just when I get them figured out...my body chemistry seems to do a belly-flop and I have to start over!

[cheryl]

For me I had to learn that when i was on shots that highs take more then 2 hrs to come down sometimes three, so when i used to take a unit every hour and it was going up that first hour within that next hour it was starting to come down, but I was taking another unit, and then the two just impact eachother a boom a nice hypo, ughh....I had learned how much I need to take per points in bloodsugar, and how long it took for insulin to hit my system or start it's peak and for the most part especially with a high, it will take an hour and a half to two hours before I see an effect the only difference is when I eat a high fat meal, or a loaded protien meal, then I know it is safe to dose every hour.......if that makes any sense.....I have to look at what I ate too....

Cheryl

[christie]

ok now i'm confused,first why do i need to keep incresing my lantus,i have daily highs and lows. so if i need to increase my lantus which do i increase the am or bed dose. and if i do should i watch my humalog at dinner,i usually only take 4 units at dinner. and how do you tell how long the humalog takes to start working.the way i was the other day was felt high and took a unit waited an hour still felt high,check and my sugar actually went up,so take another unit and boom so i have a hypo,like the insulin does nothing and then afterwhile they join hands and go after me.

[cheryl]

Ok, your in the same boat i was in last year, first your basal is not correct that is why you go high low and cannot stay stable, So honestly when you take your lantus in the morning are you going low at first then getting high a lot in the evening, this would explain to me that the lantus is too much during the day and then you are rebounding in the evening, and for your evening lantus, are you going low over night if you are then it is too much, if your going high after the lantus then it is not enough....or if your going high in the morning after the lows from the night before still shows the lantus is too much, Honestly is sounds like it is too much from what I am seeing the doc's would keep rising my lantus doses, and I was getting worse, once I started to lower it slowly I started to get more level........

Then when I started to count my carbs and match it with my fast acting insulin which is humalog for me too, I had to learn when it hit me, because I was still going off the wall, remember technically it don't start to peak until an hour later, so when you do check an hour after your were high, you were still on a rise before the humalog had time to hit the high blood sugar, i bet if you would of waited just 30 more minutes, it would either be the same number as the start high, or a little lower then by two hours a little lower, by hour three it would be lower...that's how it usually works, if it's just a high....for the most part....if that makes anysense

Cheryl

[Alice]

Lantus take about 4 hours to reach 100%. I've had to do mini-fasts in the morning to check my basal and that has helped a lot. In my case, the numbers drop around 4 hours...that's when the Lantus is at full strenth. I usually "fast" between morning & about 1 p.m. It's a least a start on understanding the Lantus.

I went through a period a few years ago when I was taking too much Lantus, so cutting back (without realizing it) on meal Humalog. Of course, then I would shoot high.

It's a vicious cycle.

But, I had to learn to figure Basal out first. I've had no doctor suggest that I do this. They "all" have said increase the Lantus...no matter what when I see high numbers.

Pre-meal high numbers might indicate a need for more Lantus. Post-meal can be a combination of effects of both.

[christie]

thats what the drs did last time i saw one increase the insulin.for me i was having moring highs so i increased the night lantus then i was doing ok,yet this morning my fasting b/s was 160,then i have around 5pm lows(i don't eat lunch)and then after dinner highs.its so frustrating,i get worried about the highs,i need to be here for a long time,my kids need me.

[cheryl]

When you take your lantus at night do you check your blood sugar thru the night to make sure you are not going a tad bit low and then waking up from rebounding, also, I would wake up about 2-3 hrs before you officially get out of bed to see where you are at, because then if your high when you get up it could be a dawn phenomenom, just figure if you can scratch those things out, then i'd increase the lantus at bedtime....sounds like the lantus, and I have never split doses it before cause it lasts over 24 hrs in my system, so I am no help with split dosing it all I have heard though is that, most need less at night and more in the morning, and it is never a 50/50 split....

Cheryl

[christie]

i check when going to bed because if i'm running low i have to treat or i'll have a bad low.but when i'm low asleep i do not wake up with it.i've had alot of middle of the night lows,and my son will wake up. last night i checked when going to bed and i was good 100. so i did nothing(but i did take the night lantus)and i woke up early because i did'nt feel good,and i was 225,so i took humalog and when i got up at 7:30 i was 160.

[Alice]

Christie: I forgot to mention that I did much bettern when splitting Lantus although my current doctor (I'm about to move and looking forward to a change) wasn't a big fan or knowledgeable about splitting Lantus.

Are you seein an Endo? An endo would recognize those skin spots right away...if they are a symptom of diabetic damage.

[christie]

not sure about skin spots?i see an endo about every 6mths.i do split the lantus the big dose in the am and my small dose before bed.my endo as any dr in this area is'nt much help with anything.

[Alice]

I think I'm seeing "spots"...I had just posted about spots on another post...maybe I should go test? LOL!