Leo the lion age 9

[Pumper_Sue]

Bloods just seem to be stuck in the 19s!!!!.... Three separate readings three separate corrections (with extra 0.5 units of novo rapid) and three constant high readings of 19s........and this was only this evening
I do everything correctly, even extra monitoring through the night (hence why i am awake now writing this) now and still he's just high after high after high i am shattered.
He is currently in his last week of IV antibiotics for a wet cough that cannot seem to shift since we both caught covid last Xmas.... Cough still their as he enters his third and hopefully final week of IVs but these sugars have been off the scale for a while now.

With an infection plus less exercise due to feeling c**p he's numbers will be high.
But you are doing a fab job in stopping them going higher 🙂
Yes steroids will make his bloods go higher. For an adult it works out that 1mg pred will need 2 units of insulin so this will mean an increase in both basal and bolus.

Have you also checked to make sure the insulin is OK? If not perhaps change to a different batch and see if that helps.

 

[helli]

Hi @Lion2012 sounds as if your son is doing better today.
Do bear in mind we become insulin resistant when our numbers get into double figures. Not only do we need more insulin to bring our numbers down, it may take longer.
Have you been advised a range which is good for exercise? I think I was discou from starting exercise when my numbers were in double figures. My body feels very lethargic so it finds exercise a stress to my body which pushes my levels higher although they usually fall when in normal range. I think this is what you found when your son did his training starting at 18 plus a Jaffa cake.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Have your team given you advice on how to deal with the steroids? You can call your team on the out of hours at weekends (if you don’t have the direct number the hospital will be able to direct you to the paeds diabetes team out of hours. Don’t suffer alone.

 

[Lion2012]

Hello and welcome to the forum,
Oh wow what a super star your son is well done.

I can't help with the erratic gone wonky control, the pump (pod) though can be kept on no problem just pad it and use some elasticated bandaging to hold it in place. Vet wrap is fabulous for this.

I'm not sure if you know this but Henry Slade one of our England rugby stars has type1 diabetes have a look at his arm he has padding on it to hold his Dexcom sensor in place 🙂

Thank you for your kind words. Yes i tell him there are many professional sports people out there with t1 diabetes.. Isco for real madrid is one.

 

[Lion2012]

One hour and a half after tea and this is my boys readings..... If he even sniffs food the insulin just bloody runs a mile. Back in the day If my son was 6 before lunch then with insulin etc he'd still be 6s.. 7s...8s....
Not a prayer now. Everything he eats whether it be snacks or dinners his bloods just do not play ball.. Below is the libre reading nearly TWO HOURS after food..... Just ridiculous

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Did the team have any useful suggestions?

 

[Lion2012]

With an infection plus less exercise due to feeling c**p he's numbers will be high.
But you are doing a fab job in stopping them going higher 🙂
Yes steroids will make his bloods go higher. For an adult it works out that 1mg pred will need 2 units of insulin so this will mean an increase in both basal and bolus.

Have you also checked to make sure the insulin is OK? If not perhaps change to a different batch and see if that helps.

Hi sorry for the delay....i had changed the insulin as i did think that myself just as a precaution, and i am just... Just about managing to keep him down but only if i keep checking and correcting him through the night every 2 hours ....
We were given the libre 3 as his team had 2 x sample kits and very kindly let us have both. This is alot more accurate than his libre 2 was and the idea that it is a continuous glucose reader feeding the info automatically back to mine and his phone is amazing. I simply keep my phone on my desk at work and can see his levels throughout the school day.
Although... Whilst steady in the morning today he just rocketed when had lunch... again!!! And continued up. Because he eats a snack every two hours anyway the teacher didn't correct him as the insulin was still active and so when it is his snack time they correct him then. Still high this eve at 16 but just corrected him now. The steroids i think are causing this. Although as his readings have been crazy anyway i am not sure ....
I look at others who put a snap shot of there libre graph on here and they are all in the green.... I can NEVER imagine Leo being in the green all day... Never?
The issue is simply food .... ‍♂️‍♂️The moment he eats.. Boom is off.
Thank you for your response

 

[Lion2012]

Did the team have any useful suggestions?

No... I am not getting alot of feedback from the team at the moment and have emailed the secretary to get an appointment sorted ASAP....
The moment he eats he is never in range.. Never. He just rockets and keeps going sadly

 

[Lion2012]

Have your team given you advice on how to deal with the steroids? You can call your team on the out of hours at weekends (if you don’t have the direct number the hospital will be able to direct you to the paeds diabetes team out of hours. Don’t suffer alone.

Yes thank you.... He finishes tomorrow thankfully as it was only for 5 days. I have emailed the team asking for am app ASAP to discuss his libre readings.... I would just love... Love a day where he eats and does not go sky high.... Just to be in range all day....

 

[Lion2012]

I have attached a copy of his libre chart today.... Believe it or not it is a miracle he actually had a few readings in the green...... You will see the sheer rockets when he eats

 

[Lion2012]

I have re attached his tea time libre graph showing bold dots where his meal times were. Breakfast... Lunch.... Snack at 1500 only.
And bare in mind his insulin to carb ratios are increased massively.or decreased however you would like to look at it meaning more insulin. .. For breakfast for example he is 1 unit for every 5 grams. His breakfast was and always is around 46 grams of carbs

 

[Thebearcametoo]

Steroids are horrible for putting BG up. He came down well after breakfast so you’re somewhere in the ballpark of being right and the huge rise later in the day probably wasn’t helped by the teacher not doing the correction with the snack etc. I understand why but with the steroids and his general insulin needs being higher at the moment I would do corrections for every injection at the moment.


If it’s any consolation we went through phases where it felt like we would never get good numbers but my kid’s HBA1C has always been reasonable so try not to get too bogged down in the day to day and remember you’re dealing with long term management.

 

[Lion2012]

Steroids are horrible for putting BG up. He came down well after breakfast so you’re somewhere in the ballpark of being right and the huge rise later in the day probably wasn’t helped by the teacher not doing the correction with the snack etc. I understand why but with the steroids and his general insulin needs being higher at the moment I would do corrections for every injection at the moment.


If it’s any consolation we went through phases where it felt like we would never get good numbers but my kid’s HBA1C has always been reasonable so try not to get too bogged down in the day to day and remember you’re dealing with long term management.

Hi... Sorry i wasn't clear as he eats at school the equivelant of every two hours or so she waits to include the correction into his snacks or lunch bolus as otherwise the accucheck metre will not calculate any correction anyway as it is still within the 2 hours insulin active time .... So the corrections are indeed included in his snacks and lunch boluses.
Thank you so much for the comforting words. He is due to come off the steroids tomorrow and back to football 5 days per week from Sunday... So i hope.... Hope this familiar activeness should help to lower things a little.
I hope.
Not alot more i can tweak re ins vs carbs ratios but one of his team suggested 3 of Levermere in the morning and 8 at night?..... How do I activate this change as he is currently on 11 at night only...... I am not sure this will work tbh with you as he will just continue to shoot up high through the night reducing the evening ratio to 8

 

[Pumper_Sue]

The steroids i think are causing this. Although as his readings have been crazy anyway i am not sure ....

I have Addison's diseases so take steroids every day, thus can tell you that when the steroids are taken in the morning the kick in is about mid day for me. So having a pump I can set it to increase my basal at 10AM to hit home at 12 when the steroid dose hits as well. I find this works very well.

It's a bit like a roller coaster for your son due to lack of exercise, infection plus the steroids and also growth spurts which will all add up.
All you can do is plod on as you are doing and the fact your sons numbers are not in outer space means you are holding your own thus doing as well as you can under the circumstances.

 

[Lion2012]

I have Addison's diseases so take steroids every day, thus can tell you that when the steroids are taken in the morning the kick in is about mid day for me. So having a pump I can set it to increase my basal at 10AM to hit home at 12 when the steroid dose hits as well. I find this works very well.

It's a bit like a roller coaster for your son due to lack of exercise, infection plus the steroids and also growth spurts which will all add up.
All you can do is plod on as you are doing and the fact your sons numbers are not in outer space means you are holding your own thus doing as well as you can under the circumstances.

Thank you so much for that and it certainly sounds like you have all the experience in managing this very well indeed. I appreciate your advice i really do

 

[Lion2012]

Hi all... I have attached another libre reading today of Leo's chart showing the rises when he has breakfast and when he has lunch... The red dots symbolise this. His team have suggested trying 9 of levemir at night and 4 of levemir in the morning.
I am not sure this is the solution with the peaks?