[Shocked]

Sorry, I don't post much but I find this forum quite helpful. I was diagnosed T1 about 8 yrs ago and with diet, excersize, and supplements was able to keep my bg in control up until about a year ago. I finally went to my dr back in May and spent several months on T2 regiments with limited results. So, he sent me to and endo who put me on humalog/lantus.

Back in May my A1C was like 15, in September we got it down to 9.2 and as of Friday it was 8.7. I've slowly been increasing my lantus (from 15 units at night to 23). My endo suggested a 10% increase. Well, I only increased it 24 units and have had night sweats and shakes in the morning. My morning bg's have been around 103/105.

Originally, my humalog dosages were 5 units and I worked up to a typical 7-8 at meal time. But, once I hit 22-23 units of Lantus, my mealtime humalog requirements dropped to like 2-3 typically. Does this make sense?

At the recommendation of my endo, I am supposed to check 2 hrs after meals. This weekend, so far, my bg's have been 115-145. He also set my target from 120 down to 100.

Guess I just need some encouragement.

Thanks

[duck]

Shocked,

You're doing fine, and your tribulations are "typical", but that does not make it easier, does it? You need to get a grasp on carb counting and determine what your "basal" (Lantus) needs are...In theory, if you have your basal needs nailed down, you should be able to go the entire day without eating or taking an additional shot of humalog, and your blood sugars should stay in the same range all day long (the "normal" person's body does all this automatically, of course).

Once you get that figured out, you need to determine your carb to insulin ratio, so instead of taking the exact same amount of insulin every day at the same time, you instead only take humalog for meals, and you take the RIGHT amount depending on carb content.

All this does take a while to figure out, but you'll get it. Post questions/concerns here and we'll try and help.

[Cinnabon]

Hey there Shocked...
Seems like your Honeymoon phase lasted quite some time. Your BS seems to be very good now. Going from high levels to normal takes some time to become adjusted and makes you feel the shakes a lot more. Sometimes you will feel low when you are really not. I would encourage you to test a lot till you become a little more stable with you BS.

[am1977]

Hey, I can understand how you'd be disappointed. This disease requires so much self-management, that when we don't see the results we expect, it is disappointing .

A couple of suggestions/questions...

How often do you test? IMO, this is key to control. W/o testing you can never be too sure of where you stand blood sugar wise. When you test, you can correct if need be or leave things as is. I think people who test frequently are more likely to have better A1cs. So keep that in mind.

Do you keep log of your blood sugar? YOu might want to start if not. This way you can identify if there are any patterns or times where you seem to have problems and can contact your doctor.

Speaking of doctor, how often do you contact him about your blood sugar? I think it's very important that your doctor be aware of how things are going.

Do you see a dietician, do you exercise? these things can also be helpful in gaining control.

Controlling this disease is not easy, as we all know. However, I think it's great that you want to improve things. We know you can do it-it's just a matter of putting your mind to it.

Good luck

[Shocked]

Thanks,

to answer a couple of the above questions:

I have an appointment with a DE in a couple of weeks. I saw one 8 years ago, I'm sure things have changed since them.
Testing, I check before meals and try to check 2 hrs later.
Log, yes, my endo recommends sending him bg results weekly. I saw him every couple of weeks after he put me on insulin and then he gave a couple of months "off".

Excersize, what's that? Just kidding. I work nearly 2.5 hrs away from home and don't have a lot of time for that. I am quite physically active on the weekends as we are adding radiant floor heating to our money pit, I mean house. Also, have a wife and 4 kids, you can imagine!

[sydneya]

Hey Shocked!! It takes so much self control and determination to get this disease under control and each seems to have to do it differently. It's sounds like you have had 8 years of fairly easy control. They say that diabetes is a progressive disease. Yours has just gotten harder to handle but you are doing wonderfully. Testing and carb counting seems to be the key.

Post when you need knowledge and support. There is a lot of knowledge here. I am type II, but there are many type I's that will share tremendous knowledge and helps with you.

Good luck!