Hello and Advice please

[Doggorillawolf]

Hi Everyone, thanks for accepting me. Can I please ask some advice, I have forgotten to take my Novorapid insulin injection before tea, what should i do, I normally take it at 5.30pm and it`s now 11.30pm. I rang 111 and an out of hrs Doctor will ring me back but they said wait time is approx 15hrs. Thanks Julie 🙂 (I am a 61yr old female) xxx

 

[Lucyr]

what is your blood sugar? Do you know how to take a correction dose? Or what would you normally do to bring your sugar levels down when they are high?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Sorry to hear you have got yourself in a bit of a pickle with your insulin.
What is your BG level at the moment?
Do you have a Freestyle Libre sensor or are you relying on finger pricks to get readings?
Do you also take a basal insulin and if so, when?

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Thanks Lucyr, my current blood reading is 13.6, so not too high yet. I am newly diagnosed LADA 1.5 so not learned how to adjust my insulin levels myself, currently on 11 mls before tea xxx

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Thanks Barbara, BG level at the mo is 13.6, not on the libra yet, I am on Lantus before breakfast the novorapid before breakfast, lunch and tea. Yes, I do it finger pricks at the mo xxx

 

[Lucyr]

Thanks Lucyr, my current blood reading is 13.6, so not too high yet. I am newly diagnosed LADA 1.5 so not learned how to adjust my insulin levels myself, currently on 11 mls before tea xxx

As it's been 6 hours since dinner your blood sugar wont still be going up so i'd do nothing until the next meal so long as you've taken your long acting this morning, since you dont normally adjust your dose to your blood sugar.

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Thanks so much Lucy, I`ll go to bed then, I expect the Doctor won`t ring till morning anyway, so glad i found this forum, going to have a good rummage on here tomorrow 🙂

 

[Lucyr]

Thanks so much Lucy, I`ll go to bed then, I expect the Doctor won`t ring till morning anyway, so glad i found this forum, going to have a good rummage on here tomorrow 🙂

If you wake up in the night for the loo or feeling sick then do a fingerprick test, but i'd say it's unlikely to go very high overnight. 13.6 isnt ideal but it's not dangerously high. It would be more dangerous if you'd forgotten your lantus this morning as then you'd have no long acting insulin on board.

 

[rebrascora]

I agree with @Lucyr If your levels were a lot higher I would have suggested maybe a cautious correction but 13.6 is not going to do you any harm overnight and the chances are that with you being relatively newly diagnosed, your pancreas will still be producing some insulin and may manage to bring that down further during the night.
Out of interest, can you update us with your reading in the morning? I am pretty sure it will be at least the same or lower because as Lucy says, your meal will have released all it's glucose by now. Just curious to know how much your own insulin production is able to bring that down itself. Hope you manage to sleep well and don't get a phone call in the depths of the night from a doctor.

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Thanks so much love, great advice xxx

 

[Doggorillawolf]

I agree with @Lucyr If your levels were a lot higher I would have suggested maybe a cautious correction but 13.6 is not going to do you any harm overnight and the chances are that with you being relatively newly diagnosed, your pancreas will still be producing some insulin and may manage to bring that down further during the night.
Out of interest, can you update us with your reading in the morning? I am pretty sure it will be at least the same or lower because as Lucy says, your meal will have released all it's glucose by now. Just curious to know how much your own insulin production is able to bring that down itself. Hope you manage to sleep well and don't get a phone call in the depths of the night from a doctor.

Thanks Barbara, I will update in the morning 🙂

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Just done another reading to be sure it`s not to high and it`s gone down to 11.8 xxx

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Morning everyone, bloods were 11.1 this morning so I`m carrying on as normal 🙂

 

[Inka]

@Doggorillawolf I wonder what your blood sugar would have been if you had injected the Novorapid for your tea? If you usually take 11 units (insulin is measured in units), then it could have possibly caused you to go too low. How many grams of carbohydrate did you have for tea?

When you’re on fixed dose of mealtime insulin like Novorapid, it’s important to make sure the amount of carbs you have at each meal is the same. If you have too many, you’ll go high, too few and you risk a hypo. The 11 units you take for tea will cover X amounts of carbs. The amount of carbs it will cover will vary for each person, but it’s important to know.

Carb counting and adjusting your own mealtime insulin isn’t hard. It always used to be taught at diagnosis (and still is in some areas). It makes things easier and gives you more flexibility.

 

[Doggorillawolf]

@Doggorillawolf I wonder what your blood sugar would have been if you had injected the Novorapid for your tea? If you usually take 11 units (insulin is measured in units), then it could have possibly caused you to go too low. How many grams of carbohydrate did you have for tea?

When you’re on fixed dose of mealtime insulin like Novorapid, it’s important to make sure the amount of carbs you have at each meal is the same. If you have too many, you’ll go high, too few and you risk a hypo. The 11 units you take for tea will cover X amounts of carbs. The amount of carbs it will cover will vary for each person, but it’s important to know.

Carb counting and adjusting your own mealtime insulin isn’t hard. It always used to be taught at diagnosis (and still is in some areas). It makes things easier and gives you more flexibility.

Thanks Inka, I`m newly diagnosed so just about to learn how to carb count etc. I`m sure i`ll get the hang of things soon 🙂

 

[Inka]

Just do you’re aware, there are two meanings of “carb counting”. The first meaning is obvious: totalling up the carbs. The second meaning is: adding up the carbs you’re about to eat in order to calculate your insulin dose by applying your meal ratio.

As you’re not doing the second of those yet, all you need to do is add up the carbs to make sure you’ve having enough/not too many for your fixed dose of insulin.

Things are a bit overwhelming at first, and it’s a lot to learn, but it does gradually get easier as you learn more and get the hang of things. Don’t be afraid to ask questions - nothing is to trivial or ‘silly’. We all remember how hard it was at the beginning and how nerve-wracking sometimes.

 

[Doggorillawolf]

Thanks so much Inka 🙂