Do Highs make you feel Horrible?

[sbuff28@charter]

Hello all,

Since I've had changing demands of my insulin my control hasn't been up to Par. I was wondering how bad High blood sugars make some of you guys feel. I personally feel like total **** when im above 180 for more than a couple hours. I get dehydrated, headaches, my stomach starts to hurt VERY BAD, and I start to sweat uncontrollably. If i went to bed and ate too much carbs and wake up with a BS of 200 I am down for the count the rest of the day.

My high blood sugars seems to be getting worst in time. Is this the case for everyone? Does your body get "tired" of having high blood sugars which makes the pain worst?

I've been getting high blood sugars at night like once a week now and its very annoying.

I can't go to school or work anymore feeling like this. I don't know really what to do besides trying harder and testing more. I am talking with my insurance company to get the RT system, but that could be months off.



Do highs affect you guys as much as me?

[EasyType2]

buff, I'm Type 2, but I feel much much better with a BG in the 150-175 range than any other point. I don't feel "bad" until I'm in the 250+ range.

It may be different for T-1s. Some will show up here to help you.

[notme]

I am sorry you are having so many problems with your blood sugar. Frustrating. :(

I think it may be a bit different for type ones as we many times hit the 200 mark before insulin kicks in and does it's job.

I feel very ill when my numbers hit the mid 300 range and stay there. I get nausead and thirsty all at once. It is a bit like flu symtoms for me. There is no other feeling like it and I can usually tell that something is wrong with my blood sugar.

Hope you get things under control soon.

[Mich]

Hi SBuff,

The short answer is YES. We all pretty much feel cruddy when our sugar is high. Sleepy, aches and pains, grouchy. Any normal pain you have seems to be multiplied.

You will need to get yourself leveled out blood-sugar wise to feel consistently better. Try cutting out some carbs in your evenings to not awaken with 200+. If you are high, drink lots of water along with your correction insulin.

Learn about basals and boluses. Make sure your basals hold you level when you don't eat. Count those carbs religiously and always bolus for them. Pens are handy for bolusing, a pump is even better. If you have a meal that you suspect might make you run high, retest in two hours and correct. Learn which exercises affect you and how so that you know how to compensate for them. As one of the members here says, his life is a science experiment.

By the way, that cute Lab of yours will run you down the beach and lower your sugar very well!

Learn to love salads and sugar-free drinks and (moderately) wine or mixed drinks instead of beer. If you do drink beer, learn to count the carbs.

Ask your Doc to check your thyroid just in case you are low. Sometimes the same autoimmunity that picks on your pancreas also picks on your thyroid. That can make you very tired and mess with your sugar levels.

You will get the hang of this and you will feel good again, I promise. Hang in there, Mich

[Wolff]

I felt really drained and tired when my bs was around 650. i actually almost fell asleep while driving. thats why i went to get checked out.

[tanyatype1]

To be honest, no. I would never know that I was high if I didn't test. Even when I was first diagnosed and my blood sugar was 33 (600) I really felt great. Little tired in the afternoon but I didn't feel sick at all. Weird!

[Alice]

I guess I test so much that I avoid most "severe" highs. When I hit them, I treat them right away, so not high for long.

Have you reviewed your basal insulin dose lately? Until that is at least within a close range, you'll have trouble with all glucose levels...fasting or mealtime.

I have also heard that people who run high frequently have to go through a "glucose withdrawel" when tightening numbers. You may feel "low" when you are still running above recommended goal numbers. So, you have to wean yourself down from the high numbers to feel "good" at a healthy low number.

Some of your pain (stomach) may be coming from gastroparesis which is a damaged nerve in stomach. You haven't mentioned your doctor's participation in this problem...are you seeing a top endo?

Good luck. We all know how frustrating this can be.

[sbuff28@charter]

Thanks For the help all.

Mich- I know a lot about diabetes and its management... My numbers before were stellar along with the help of my honeymooning period. Its just that recently, My insulin demands have skyrocketed and i am having a hard time adjusting. My main problems have been consisting at nighttime. It seems that if i eat any amount of carbs up to 2-3 hours before bed I need to triple my bolus. That means if i take 1 unit per 15g carbs normally throughout the day, i need 1:5 before bed. (which is a HUGE increase of insulin) I live alone and i am afraid of Nighttime lows, so i usually tend to try and underestimate which gets me into problems. I also have a hard time sleeping on an empty stomach, which just makes it a lot worst.

I guess i was also just way too accustomed and spoiled managing my diabetes with a honeymoon for about 2 years also.

Mabye Since my honeymoon dropped out, my body has been on Insulin conservation mode for a long time which could be contributing to the sickness i feel when i actually do have high blood sugars up at 200.

like most of you guys said, i also don't feel highs too much until I've had a high blood sugar for at least 4 hours. Then it hits like a brick and i feel Very Sh!tty. I should've emphisized my symptoms were mostly at night or in the morning when i had a high blood sugar for at least 8 hours.

When I have them in the morning I almost always throw up from the stomach pains. In my vomit is of course last nights meal which should've been in my digestive system by now. I think my stomach pains could possibly be comming from Food and Acid just sitting in my stomach while my body is refusing to digest it because of lack of insulin... basically, i think i need massive and massive amounts of insulin to process food at night due to the fact im not burning any calories or anything sleeping.ts the only logical answer i can come up with...
what do you guys think?

[sbuff28@charter]

and yes mich, George is by far the cutest, best looking mut you will ever see.

He know he looks good too, he struts and prances like a show dog all the time.

Can't take him to the beach though, he is very compulsive and undisciplined, but a great personality. Instead i take him to the state forest and go for Runs. That way he wont scare people with his curious intensity.

[Mich]

Whew! I feel much better knowing you know what you are doing.

I had my honeymoon before they knew there were honeymoons, so I didn't get to enjoy it. All of the doctors told me and my mom that it wasn't happening so we were confused and worried. I'm jealous!

As long as I've been pumping, which is when I really got down to brass tacks with basal adjustment and finely tuned boluses, I've had a variation according to time of day. My basal, which started out at .7 goes up to 1.00 between 5 AM and 11 AM. Then back to .7 until midnight, then .5 until 5 AM.

Just to give you a comparison, my bolus ratio stays at 1:9 normally, but 1:10 if I am a little more active. If I am hiking, swimming or racing a sailboat, it goes up to 1:15. I know some people here need more and some less. I feel pretty average and I'm still tweaking it.

I understand the living alone thing too. I test a lot more when traveling or when I'm alone. A CGMS would be so good for you in this adjustment period to spot trends, but they are hard to get your hands on unless you are persistent with your insurance and backed by your doc. As I understand it, the end of the honeymoon period can also be an on-again, off-again thing so it makes sense to keep your eye on it.

I'll be pulling for you! Mich

[MinimedPumper07]

high bg makes me feel like when I have a cold. I feel all these chills and warmth at the same time and its hard to think straight and I feel a tingling in my head.

[marked]

I would compare them to having a bad hangover. But I hate the lows just as much. Balance is the only savior.
Mark

[marked]

As well, I think the fact that the body feels so junk when high that fact speaks to the toll it takes on the body. Going dka would defintely suck. I have never had the pleasure.
Mark

[thomasb]

the highest i've been so far is 15 mmol. And i get really emotional then, haha. Oh well. And feel like my head is stuffed with cotton.

[HiImDan]

Highs make me feel like mucushttp://bestsmileys.com/tongs/10.gif

[gambi]

Before I was diagnosed and by BG was 600+ I felt fine, just thirsty all the time.

Now that I have returned to normal, if I go up above 180 I pretty much feel like garbage. I get really really tired, almost exhausted. That's how I kind of know I might need some extra insulin.

[Alice]

If you are vomiting last nights dinner, you may have gastroparesis which is common for diabetics who have been running high numbers. You can google and find a lot of info. I was tested and found to be negative...my endo was wondering why my insulin seemed to be working too fast for my food. (I held my ground that I was taking too much insulin)...anyway, it's a common side affect that can be treated easily.

Even though the food is still there, you are getting the carbs somehow...since your numbers are high.

[artwoman]

I get heartburn when I get above 200. I actually appreciate that symptom, it is enough to wake me up at night if it happens and I can nip things early. I feel best at 80-90

ArtWoman, type 1 20+years, pumping with my Cozmo "GretaCarbo"

[Kristinabalina]

If I get over 250 generally get really tired and emotional. I'm not a crier but something hits me wrong and I'm crying. It's annoying :/

[Jill-O]

Someone else said a bad high feels like a bad hangover. That's exactly how it feels for me, too.

[pdxdennisj]

Yes, 200 or so and above usually leaves me wiped out.

[ctskierguy]

It used to be that I could go above 240 and still feel good. Since I've been pumping (for about a month) if I go over 150 I feel listless and tired.
On the other hand, I don't feel low until I'm under 50.

Mike

[shiftzor]

i find being high anoying 7-15, (very high is even worse) totaly destroys my thought pattern and i either depending on the situation become happy, depressed and angry. Worst part is i dont even notice the change. i only seem to get sweaty and shakes when im low. oh and lets not forget the infamous thirst and requiring the toilet.

I still learn from my mistakes constantly and only makes me more determined to control it. Few things in this life i havnt been able to defeat, maybe i am lucky but i am not going to give up now. Correction dose ftw.

[sbuff28@charter]

If you are vomiting last nights dinner, you may have gastroparesis which is common for diabetics who have been running high numbers. You can google and find a lot of info. I was tested and found to be negative...my endo was wondering why my insulin seemed to be working too fast for my food. (I held my ground that I was taking too much insulin)...anyway, it's a common side affect that can be treated easily.

Even though the food is still there, you are getting the carbs somehow...since your numbers are high.

Yes many of the symptoms do sound familiar.I'm gonna look into this more and maybe ill ask for a blood test next time just to be sure.

[silverfrost]

Yes, highs are terrible. Like everyone else is saying, the exhaustion messes me up horribly. I actually just had a morning reading of 356 (:( ) today, and I felt like going home and going to bed. (I still don't know what I did wrong...) I think that the stress of seeing such a high number on a meter can do enough damage, plus the physical symptoms... Yeah.

I feel most comfortable between 80 and 140ish. I start to feel pretty bad once I go above that, especially around the 200s

[Ailsa]

Hi there,
If you've had a lot of changes to your dose it could be that you are having too much insulin as Alice said.
Are you sure you're not going low in the night & then waking up with a rebound high?
I think the CGMS idea is a good one to find out exactly whats happening.
If I go high I get a lethargic, tired feeling, but probably would need to be a bit over 180 for that. What really knocks me is if I am see sawing up & down.
I find the vomiting & stomach pains a bit odd. Don't know if anyone else has that but I never have & havn't heard of that.
Not at those levels. Only vomiting when first diagnosed & I was almost comatose by then so way higher than you're talking.
Might pay to get a general health check. I don't think youre likely to have gastroparesis given you've only had D a short time & have had good control till now, & also are quite young.
Most complications dont develop for quite some years.

[Starbuck]

I would compare them to having a bad hangover. But I hate the lows just as much. Balance is the only savior.
Mark

I agree, it's like a bad hangover. I can also tell when I'm going high because my eyes feel really dry.