Anyone Else? Any thoughts?

[DarthDiabetes]

Okay, so DX in Feb, type 1, LADA, 1.5 or whatever anyone wants to call it. Have antibodies to GAD and Islet so here is my question. I read over and over that that the hardest time of day for type 1 is breakfast, with the whole DP and the like, yet for me I struggle with this totally different. Right now I have to eat at least 45 carbs for 1 unit of insulin, and even that will leave me low at lunch usually if I do anything but sit on the couch. I only take 4 lanuts, split evening and night, and although I have not done TONS of basil testing it does not seem to be the basil. IE, at 5:30 am I was 86 and at 7:30am I was 92.

Later in the day my I:C drops to like 1:35 at lunch and 1:25 at dinner. This seems so backwards to what all of you are saying. Is it honeymooning pancreas working hard in the morning and giving up at night?

Thanks in advance.

[dbc]

I'd say it's your pancreas. With only 4U Lantus/day, your beta cells are still pushing out a reasonable amount of insulin - but not necessarily at an appropriate rate all the time. That's the fun part of honeymooning - not knowing what to expect all the time!

[morrisma]

I agree with dbc. The honeymooning pancreas is still functioning to a varying degree. I'd guess after having 'no' work to do overnight, it wakes up happy and strong but weakens during the day as you ask it to do it's job. If you fast until lunch, you might see the higher ratio with that 'first' but delayed meal.

Clearly testing through this uncertain phase is critical.

[Subby]

Hey, I'm a type oner for over 15 years, no chance of honeymoon here. And yet here is an example of the best basal rate's I've come up with:

(this is for the pump, but you can see the pattern here)

12am - 6am 1.5 units/hour
6am - 8am 1.7 units/hour
8am - 12pm 1.95 units/hour
12pm - 4pm 2.20 units/hour
4pm - 6pm 1.45 units/hour
6pm - 12am 1.65 units/hour

So:
- my basal reqs rise steadily through the morning
- they peak at highest point at about 3 or 4pm, 60% bigger than my lowest point
- they then drop right off at about 5 or 6pm
- then they rise and fall gently over night

Why? Endo doesn't know. No-one here knows. I don't know. It's obviously not DP as such, I call it afternoon phenomenon! But it "is", and you should consider that you may well have an atypical pattern, like me.

[DarthDiabetes]

so what I thought is true, and that is DIY again.
I have to test non-stop I feel..(12-14 times a day) so that I can keep any sense of control, especially in the morning.

Thanks for the help all, why I am so glad to have found this place.

BTW, this disease sucks

[Subby]

I know where you are coming from. I have always needed to test 8+ times a day. Things can spin off in whatever direction, despite best efforts. Sorry you're in the same kind of boat, be sure you are with an endo who is understanding of your bg "sensitivity"... (brittleness is such a loaded word...) It's true also that things may settle down somewhat if you currently have a spluttering pancreas.

The pump is beginning to show me a whole new level, the ability to program my basals for every 30 minutes of the day has begun to improve my BG (and life) dramatically. I don't want to advert for it but do look into it if things don't get easier on injections.

Sucks is right. But keep it up dude, work hard on your basals and I:Cs and enjoy life :)

[Lizzie G]

have you got a half unit pen? if not id say that will help you a lot! i take a lot more insulin than you (basal around 10u, sometimes 8, carb ratios average about 1:15/1:20) but the half pen for the novorapid has been a god-send