a few more questions

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MollyBolt

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I'm now 3 and a bit weeks into my type 1 diagnosis. So weird to think it's such a short time when it feels so long! And thanks, once again, for all of the advice which has been so helpful.

Am I doing something wrong with either basal or bolus? I got my CGM a week ago and - after teething troubles getting it to sync - am now finding it great. I seem to be in range a good amount of the time (currently 77%). But I still have a couple of hypos a day, which presumably means either the basal or bolus is wrong. Which?! For example, today I took 9u Levemir at 7am. I then did gentle yoga and came home and had Alpen with 5u NovoRapid. Dropped a bit around 11.30 and had jelly babies to get back up. Then had lunch at 1 which was a salad with breadsticks and had 2u of NovoRapid. Then fine till I walked to a meeting and then dropped v significantly. In my panic I had too much sugar (chocolate brownie - ironically I don't even like these but was in a flap as I couldn't find anything else and had run out of jelly babies) and am now sky high. Obviously exercise affects my sugar - but I walk every day - so presumably I need to be dropping the insulin. And should I be trying to bring my number down now through a little NovoRapid given I had too much sugar?

What should I carry with me? Obviously 8 jelly babies are insufficient given where I am. Is the advice a combo of short and longer term carbs - so more jelly babies and a few flapjacks?

What do you do with needles when out and about? I can't persuade my office to get a sharps bin and at the moment I also find that I'm injecting when in restaurants etc. I don't know how to manage the used needles - is there a tiny portable sharps bin that I can get?

What glucose number should I be comfortable going to bed with? I've dropped my Levemir at night, but I still gradually go down in the night time. I assume this also means that the Levemir is too high? Though for e.g. this morning I woke up at 6 something (but I had a bit of toast late at night to shove me up a bit). I'm trying to work out what number I should be hoping for at night time to avoid a hypo in the night (since my alarm is still not making a noise despite my best efforts).
 
MollyBolt said:
I don't know how to manage the used needles - is there a tiny portable sharps bin that I can get?
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There are, but any suitable container will be fine just for the day. Needles usually have a little cap, so you can put that back on (so a bag is fine, too, since there's nothing much "sharp" about them).
 
Am I doing something wrong with either basal or bolus?
It doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong. It’s hard at first as you’re probably still making a little of your own insulin so this can cause hypos. It’s normal for exercise to drop your blood sugar. The easiest thing to do it have top up glucose/carbs beforehand. You can also reduce the meal bolus if you exercise after a meal. How much Alpen did you have? And how many carbs?

What should I carry with me? Obviously 8 jelly babies are insufficient given where I am. Is the advice a combo of short and longer term carbs - so more jelly babies and a few flapjacks?
Yes, I’d take more than that. I’d take a packet of Dextro tablets, maybe some sweets (I like those when I’m dropping but not too low) and some carby snacks like flapjacks or cereal bars. I always have more than I think I’ll need @MollyBolt

What do you do with needles when out and about?
Don’t you have a case for your pen? Mine has a space for 3 needles. Used needles can then be put back in the empty space after using.

What glucose number should I be comfortable going to bed with?
It depends but when I use injections, I like to be 7 or 8 before bed. I was recommended 8, I think. But you should do what works for you.
 
MollyBolt said:
What do you do with needles when out and about? I can't persuade my office to get a sharps bin and at the moment I also find that I'm injecting when in restaurants etc. I don't know how to manage the used needles - is there a tiny portable sharps bin that I can get?
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I put them back wherever I brought them. I carry a pencil case with me with my diabetes supplies in, so the new needles are in there and the used needles go back in it. Every night before bed I have a clearout and switch old for new.
 
MollyBolt said:
Am I doing something wrong with either basal or bolus? I got my CGM a week ago and - after teething troubles getting it to sync - am now finding it great. I seem to be in range a good amount of the time (currently 77%). But I still have a couple of hypos a day, which presumably means either the basal or bolus is wrong.
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Not necessarily wrong. The target level of control is more than 70% in range (3.9-10) and less than 4% below range (under 3.9). 4% of 24 hours is around an hour a day or less that you need to be spending hypo.
 
When on MDI, like @Lucyr, I also used a pencil case to carry my diabetes kit with me. Recapped the needles, and then emptied them out into sharps at home. Easy to tell the unused ones as they still have the paper seals on 🙂

It sounds as if you might benefit from experimenting with some modest adjustments on days when you walk after dosing. Either reducing bolus, or adding some precautionary carbs.

Others here also have a tweak they make to their morning Levemir on more active days where the planned activity will act to keep their BGs from rising. but I guess it depends on whether the extra activity is fairly evenly spread, or in shorter more separate chunks?

I’ll try to carry multiple hypo treatments with me. At least 3-4 mini bags of haribo / skittles, along with other back-up redundancy supplies. Not having enough on me makes me feel really twitchy!
 
Out and about I always take a bag of sweets, and normally other snacks, raisins, a small banana, some little soreen loafs etc.
Walking is great at reducing glucose levels and you will soon get the hang of this, a quick dash to a meeting can have an impact.
It sounds like you are doing very well so soon, give yourself some credit.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
I’ll try to carry multiple hypo treatments with me. At least 3-4 mini bags of haribo / skittles, along with other back-up redundancy supplies. Not having enough on me makes me feel really twitchy!
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Yes the mini bags are very handy. Last night we got completely soaked including everything in my bag, and I had to throw a very wet mushy bag of jelly babies in the bin, I had opened and had 3 only. They became one giant clump of mush, gross!
 
Luft glucose tablets in a tube stand up well to everyday life (though eventally the tablets get a bit powdery)
 
Yes, i do that. For at home i have jelly sweets which are tastier. Not too keen on jelly babies, to be honest. Jelly belly jelly beans ate nice at 1 carb each, but you do have the russian roulette of the liquorish one at 3am
 
I always carry Dextrose tablets. Small, low-cost pack.
 
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