I am struglling here

[azzkikr3d]

Hey Guys and Gals :)

For the last couple of days I have been having terrible Lows and a couple of scary highs.

I mean yesterday day at 4:00 am I got up to make my son a bottle and was thinking to myself:"why not have a quick test"? having done so my reading came back as 6.6mmol. I was chuffed and thought great. When I got up at 6:30 to start my day my reading came back as 17.2mmol. It scared the living **** out of me. I got my sugar down to 4.3mmol at lunch, not having eaten breakfast for obvious reasons.

I had tuna and wholewheat crackers. Doing my 2hour test afterward it had shot up to 22.2mmol and I had injected myself before eating. All I had to drink with lunch was a cup-a-Joe.So for the life of me I could not see what that was about.
I medicated myself with 16units of Novo Rapid.

Then last night I got home. We put the kids to bed and my wife was on the phone to her mother. I started supper and in the process a hypo snuck up on me out of the blue. I nearly set the kitchen on fire before my wife got me a coke and after then having three cans of the stuff and dinner, which turned out very dark but surprisingly good my sugar was still at the 3.2mmol mark an hour later.

I went to bed very fearfully, but with the thought that I had eaten end that my sugars would stabilize as I Slept. Which of coarse it did. I got up at three for my boys bottle and my levels were around the 4.3 mark. I went back to bed and this morning my level was 6.8 at round 6:30am I took my meds my basal and my NR. Only 2 units. Getting to work I felt the hypo coming this time., Testing my level was 2.4mmol. I had some rusks and coffee. It did not improve a thing. I then had a Breakfast drink, Up- and- GO IT IS CALLED. It only now seems to be getting a bit better, but I and not right as yet.

It is just so Darn frustrating!!!!

[davef]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your problems, I had a bit of a roller coaster on Saturday, my first one and I got really p****d off and frustrated. Being a type 2 all I can offer is support as I don't know much about basal etc. But I'm sure somebody else will be able to offer some advice.

[Subby]

Sounds an extreme rollercoaster, that one. Take it easy on yourself :( Alas I know all too well what that kind of day is like... although you really did have a stunner.

Without knowing more I wonder if it had genesis in a morning low while you were asleep between 4 and 6am. The 17 could be rebound effect, and the rest also rebounds, exacerbated by over-correcting each time. EG, bolusing and not eating at any breakfast. Delayed reaction from the 16 units (sounds a lot? what is your typical amount for lunch?) you took in the afternoon to correct, kicking in at night. These things sadly are possibilities. Extreme highs and lows usually have a rebound for which can then cause another. Corrections need to be careful not to overcompensate.

For me, when I am high insulin response can be severely retarded, taking up to twice as long to kick in and then doing it all at once. So if you stack insulin you run the risk of it all kicking in quickly once the body decides to absorb it.

First bit of advice for dealing-at-the-time is to take it easy with your corrections. Eg, eat half a meal instead of skipping it. Use a more moderate extra dose to correct if high. Because almost always things do catch up with you... later...

Going by your (probable) repeated morning hypo, I think this might point to the cause of the problem with your basal being too high during the night into the morning. Unless you are correcting/bolusing in the evening/night time, in which case that might be the problem.

Sorry I can't be more clear, it's late here. Ask more questions if what I say doesn't make sense to you...

[xMenace]

A few things could be at work here. I say could be because we never really know for sure.

- Of course you know all about dawn phenomenons, right?
- You mentioned taking basal in the mornings. This leads me to believe it sometimes runs out before you wake up. Read the posts about split basal dosages.
- When I skip breakfast I ALWAYS have a large liver dump at lunch. I usually have to bolus 2.5 times my normal amount. You can check this by testing before eating then eat a bunch of carbless rabbit food and maybe some protein. Test every 20 minutes to see the dump, or not.

Have you explored pumping? You sound an awful lot like I did on MDI. It's no fun at all when your hypo-awareness goes. I've found pumping a huge improvement.

You should be intimate with your basals. Here's a start Getting Down to Basals :: Diabetes Self-Management (http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/articles/Insulin/Getting_Down_to_Basals) It's not rocket science ;)