Hi folks, I was diagnosed 10 months ago with type3c, I take Lantis and nova-rapid, I've got it from 10% to nearly 70% in target area now. When I wake up I'm around 5-8 but within 20-40 mins that trebles, I take insulin but it still takes 2-4 hrs + to come down, I've not eaten anything just a couple of coffees. What should I do? Also, I'm scared to leave the house after having a few hypo's at christmas, I do go out now but only for an hour or two at a time and won't take insulin if I go out. I'm getting better and keep getting told I'm doing really well and I am but this doesn't stop the intense fear,panic and constant worrying. Will this stop? And now I'm having problems in the bedroom and feel like my life aint worth living if I can't perform. I'm seeking help but it's getting worst and blood tests say everything is ok. How can I fix myself? I get this is life changing and I'm coping kinda well but sometimes it really gets down like I'm depressed without being depressed (if you understand that). I don't even know if I can even work again. Sorry for the rant but any advice/tips/anything would be appreciated
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Can't seem to get my head around diabetes
- Thread starter esonny986
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Lucyr
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi and welcome. 70% time in range is fantastic so you’re doing really well. How long after you wake up do you take the insulin? It’s fairly normal to rise when you wake, so some take insulin as soon as they wake up. I find breakfast with insulin helps stop my rise.
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi @esonny986 Sorry you’re feeling down. I would say it took me around two years to fully get used to my diabetes. Don’t underestimate the practical and emotional challenges of it. I think you’re doing well.
Re the rise when you get up - that’s very common. I get it too. I find it worse if I delay breakfast. So try to get your Novorapid in for breakfast soon after waking. If you can’t eat breakfast earlier for some reason, then experiment with taking a tiny bolus without food to stop the rise. This might be half a unit, one unit, etc. Start on the smallest amount and monitor closely over a few mornings.
The fear about hypos is perfectly understandable. They’re horrible things. If you have good awareness, you should start to feel yourself drop. You can take your meter and test a few times when you’re out too. You’ll gradually know what you need eg when I go to the supermarket I always have a couple of Dextro tablets before I go in because I know it drops my blood sugar. For walks and days out, I run a little higher so I know I’m ok. Same with driving.
Cut yourself some slack with the bedroom performance. You’re getting used to a big lifestyle change. Don’t put pressure on yourself.
Re the rise when you get up - that’s very common. I get it too. I find it worse if I delay breakfast. So try to get your Novorapid in for breakfast soon after waking. If you can’t eat breakfast earlier for some reason, then experiment with taking a tiny bolus without food to stop the rise. This might be half a unit, one unit, etc. Start on the smallest amount and monitor closely over a few mornings.
The fear about hypos is perfectly understandable. They’re horrible things. If you have good awareness, you should start to feel yourself drop. You can take your meter and test a few times when you’re out too. You’ll gradually know what you need eg when I go to the supermarket I always have a couple of Dextro tablets before I go in because I know it drops my blood sugar. For walks and days out, I run a little higher so I know I’m ok. Same with driving.
Cut yourself some slack with the bedroom performance. You’re getting used to a big lifestyle change. Don’t put pressure on yourself.
Thanks for the advice, I know I'm doing well but the feelings/emotions just don't match the thinking. Yeah the morning thing is baffling me but gonna try having an extra dose soon as I wake up cause that makes sense to me, I've noticed that I can keep it level at 18/20 during the day so if I can control that morning spike hopefully that will come down. Does the headaches and dizziness ever stop? Feel like I'm on a boat all the time
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
If you’re 18-20 during the day, then that will probably be why you’re feeling rough @esonny986 Were you given a target blood sugar? It’s wise to bring your blood sugar down slowly, but I think 18-20 is a bit high even taking that into account.
Target is between 4-7 but I don't feel safe below 10 yet unless I'm indoors. I'm allowed to adjust my dosages now so hopefully counting the carbs and having more correct insulin dosages will help. When I was in hospital it took them 6 days to be able to get a reading on a monitor as it just wouldn't come down and within hours it would rise again even without food. It's a rollercoaster ride everyday
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
That’s a pretty unrealistic target frankly. I control my diabetes tightly but I frequently go over 7. In fact, so do people without diabetes. They occasionally go up to 10 and are often in the 7s. Many Type 1s go for more like 4-10 or 5-8 or 5-9 or similar after their blood sugar is under control and they’ve brought it down slowly and safely.
If you can gradually get lower sugars then you’ll feel an awful lot better. High blood sugar can affect your mood as well as everything else.
If you can gradually get lower sugars then you’ll feel an awful lot better. High blood sugar can affect your mood as well as everything else.
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Because diabetes is a pain @esonny986 is the brief answer to that.There are at least 42 things that can affect our blood sugar, many of which we might not even be aware of. We’re trying to do the job of a pancreas and we’ll never be 100% perfect because that’s not possible. All we can do is our best to stay in target.
I normally drop after a shower so perhaps look at associated things you do in the morning eg what time you have breakfast, if you delay your insulin to shower, if you get up earlier or later.
This is one of the hardest things to get your head round - the fact it’s not just a case of doing everything right and then getting perfect results. We’re trying to hit a moving target while dealing with various things messing up our aim on a random basis. It’s hard but you have our support and our understanding.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
As others have said, BG rising in the morning is likely due to Dawn Phenomenon of it's more sociable sibling, Foot on the Floor syndrome, where your liver pumps out glucose to give us energy to start the day. It happens to pretty well everyone butbecause we don't produce insulin to utilize it, it gets stuck in our blood stream, raising our levels. I inject 1-2 units of quick acting (bolus) insulin as soon as I wake up and before I "put my feet on the floor" to help deal with it. If I am going to have breakfast, then I will also inject my breakfast bolus at the same time, but if I am not having breakfast, I still need that 1-2 units to deal with it. You will need to carefully experiment to figure out how much you need to cover it. I then need to wait 45mins before I eat breakfast otherwise my levels spike up into the mid teens after I eat breakfast and then come crashing back down. Peaks and troughs like that make you feel rough, as do high levels in general, which will at least partly be responsible for you feeling anxious and most likely having issues in the bedroom. It all takes time to figure out so do be patient with yourself. It took a lot of experimenting to find out the correct timing for my bolus insulin, especially at breakfast time by extending the time between injection and eating, until I found the sweet spot. It was actually over an hour with Novo Rapid at breakfast, but I am now on Fiasp which is a bit quicker. At lunchtime and in the evening it is much shorter at just 15-20mins
Fear of hypos is a real concern. I think once you have had a few, you get more confident in dealing with them and learning how to spot the signs that your levels are dropping. I remember my first few were really scary but now I can just take my hypo treatment and carry on as long as I am not doing anything which requires concentration. I used to worry a lot more about nocturnal hypos but then I had a spate of them over a period of a few weeks and I realised that I would wake up and since then I rarely give them a thought, other than doing my best to avoid them but sometimes I can have several in a day and other times I can go several days without one.
Everyone is different and some people manage to go weeks or months without hypoing, whereas others get them more frequently despite their best efforts. I think it helps to know what normal is.... and that there is a very wide range of "normal" when it comes to diabetes. You have to figure out what normal is for you.
It is still very early days, so try not to worry too much, it will gradually sink in and start to make sense. I am not sure what caused your Type 3c diagnosis but unless you had a complete pancreas removal, you are likely still in the "honeymoon period" when your remaining beta cells are still producing a bit of insulin sporadically. This can often put a spanner in the works when you have carefully calculated how much insulin you need for a meal and injected it, only for your body to decide it can manage to produce enough for that meal itself but no way for you to know or get that insulin you injected back out, so you just have to keep your hypo treatment close to hand and ride the storm.
I really can assure you it does get easier but sending (((hugs))) your way for this rough time you are experiencing.
Can I assume that you have Freestyle Libre since you mention Time in Range? If not, then do ask about it and explain that your fear of hypos is preventing you from leaving the house as that is a major criteria for getting it prescribed and it can make a huge difference to your confidence, being able to track your BG levels more closely.
Fear of hypos is a real concern. I think once you have had a few, you get more confident in dealing with them and learning how to spot the signs that your levels are dropping. I remember my first few were really scary but now I can just take my hypo treatment and carry on as long as I am not doing anything which requires concentration. I used to worry a lot more about nocturnal hypos but then I had a spate of them over a period of a few weeks and I realised that I would wake up and since then I rarely give them a thought, other than doing my best to avoid them but sometimes I can have several in a day and other times I can go several days without one.
Everyone is different and some people manage to go weeks or months without hypoing, whereas others get them more frequently despite their best efforts. I think it helps to know what normal is.... and that there is a very wide range of "normal" when it comes to diabetes. You have to figure out what normal is for you.
It is still very early days, so try not to worry too much, it will gradually sink in and start to make sense. I am not sure what caused your Type 3c diagnosis but unless you had a complete pancreas removal, you are likely still in the "honeymoon period" when your remaining beta cells are still producing a bit of insulin sporadically. This can often put a spanner in the works when you have carefully calculated how much insulin you need for a meal and injected it, only for your body to decide it can manage to produce enough for that meal itself but no way for you to know or get that insulin you injected back out, so you just have to keep your hypo treatment close to hand and ride the storm.
I really can assure you it does get easier but sending (((hugs))) your way for this rough time you are experiencing.
Can I assume that you have Freestyle Libre since you mention Time in Range? If not, then do ask about it and explain that your fear of hypos is preventing you from leaving the house as that is a major criteria for getting it prescribed and it can make a huge difference to your confidence, being able to track your BG levels more closely.
Flower
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi and welcome @esonny986
I'm sorry you're feeling this way. A diagnosis is a huge shock and having to run your own insulin supply and monitor glucose levels/carbs -something that used to happen unnoticed- is a big change. You will get to a better place where you feel safer in your own skin as things return to equilibrium but it does take time for things to level out.
As said above do you use Libre so you can keep an eye on what is happening around the clock and take action before your levels drop? If not there is a free 2 week trial for Libre subject to criteria & having a compatible phone here
https://sample.freestyle.abbott/gb-en/freestylelibre.html
Getting as much information about where your blood sugar is, which direction it's heading & how that relates to how you are feeling is vital to getting a bit more confident and reassured about what's going on and feeling less scared about hypos coming out of nowhere.
It takes a lot of adapting to be in charge of our own insulin supply and it is a big deal however much we want to get on with it and snap back to our pre diagnosis life. Your results in range are great and that takes a lot of ongoing hard work to achieve. The rest will start to follow but that pesky morning blood sugar rise is one of the more challenging results to get in range but worth carefully experimenting with pre bolusing your breakfast dose even by just a few minutes at first to reduce the blood glucose rise. If I can start the day on an in range level it generally makes things stay more stable for me.
Wishing you well 🙂
I'm sorry you're feeling this way. A diagnosis is a huge shock and having to run your own insulin supply and monitor glucose levels/carbs -something that used to happen unnoticed- is a big change. You will get to a better place where you feel safer in your own skin as things return to equilibrium but it does take time for things to level out.
As said above do you use Libre so you can keep an eye on what is happening around the clock and take action before your levels drop? If not there is a free 2 week trial for Libre subject to criteria & having a compatible phone here
https://sample.freestyle.abbott/gb-en/freestylelibre.html
Getting as much information about where your blood sugar is, which direction it's heading & how that relates to how you are feeling is vital to getting a bit more confident and reassured about what's going on and feeling less scared about hypos coming out of nowhere.
It takes a lot of adapting to be in charge of our own insulin supply and it is a big deal however much we want to get on with it and snap back to our pre diagnosis life. Your results in range are great and that takes a lot of ongoing hard work to achieve. The rest will start to follow but that pesky morning blood sugar rise is one of the more challenging results to get in range but worth carefully experimenting with pre bolusing your breakfast dose even by just a few minutes at first to reduce the blood glucose rise. If I can start the day on an in range level it generally makes things stay more stable for me.
Wishing you well 🙂
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Ivostas66
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
It took me a really long time to get some sort of a handle on my early morning levels. After about 6 months of diagnosis, I noticed that I had significant post prandial spikes following breakfast and then started to have sudden drops around 11am at work. It took a lot of experimenting (lots of discussion with DSNs and a dietician) and eventually things improved. It's still nowhere near perfect, but the spikes have dropped significantly and I rarely have lows mid morning. The following is what works for me and I offer it as a suggestion as others above have - something to discuss with a health professional - don't just copy what I or others suggest on your own.
When I wake around 6:20ish in the morning, I inject my basal and my bolus. I shower and dress and then head to the kitchen; so I am usually eating around 7am. I have increased the amount of bolus I take at this time of day and make sure I have around a 30 minute gap between injection and eating, otherwise I can jump significantly into the teens. Later meals I have a lower bolus dose and also inject about 5 or 10 minutes prior to food. As a teacher, the spikes in the morning meant that I felt exhausted in the afternoon and headaches would set in, especially if I had meetings afterwards. I was also having to call for patrol during period 2 or 3 (around 11am) each day when my levels were crashing below 4. Thankfully that's not happened for a long time.
When I wake around 6:20ish in the morning, I inject my basal and my bolus. I shower and dress and then head to the kitchen; so I am usually eating around 7am. I have increased the amount of bolus I take at this time of day and make sure I have around a 30 minute gap between injection and eating, otherwise I can jump significantly into the teens. Later meals I have a lower bolus dose and also inject about 5 or 10 minutes prior to food. As a teacher, the spikes in the morning meant that I felt exhausted in the afternoon and headaches would set in, especially if I had meetings afterwards. I was also having to call for patrol during period 2 or 3 (around 11am) each day when my levels were crashing below 4. Thankfully that's not happened for a long time.
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