Confused with numbers

[CoventryTrev]

Hi everyone.
I'm new to diabetes (9 weeks) and new to insulin (2 weeks). I'm on 6 units of Novorapid 3 times a day with meals and 8 units of lantus at bedtime.
I use the Libre 2 sensor and the numbers are often over 15, I've confirmed this with a finger prick.
My diabetes nurse has told me to give myself an extra 2 units of Novorapid if I go over 15. Then check my numbers two hours later and if they are still over 15, give myself another 2 units.
I've been doing the above but it's nearly always over 15. I'm worried I'm going to give myself too much Novorapid.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I'm seeing my diabetes nurse again on Friday.
Thanks

 

[PhoebeC]

Sounds like your lantus, the background stuff will need increasing, but as you are only new wait for your nurse to say. Or ask them?

I had this issue with novorapid myself, if I was high and corrected it just wouldn’t budge until after 2 hours, and then over correcting is an issue as you have pointed out. Maybe you could try 1 unit at the 2 hour point.

Have you done any carb counting yet?
Doesn’t sound like it with the same doses at each meal, unless you are eating exactly the same food each meal.
What are your meals normally?

I bet you feel rotten. I do if over 13 for any length of time

 

[CoventryTrev]

Sounds like your lantus, the background stuff will need increasing, but as you are only new wait for your nurse to say. Or ask them?

I had this issue with novorapid myself, if I was high and corrected it just wouldn’t budge until after 2 hours, and then over correcting is an issue as you have pointed out. Maybe you could try 1 unit at the 2 hour point.

Have you done any carb counting yet?
Doesn’t sound like it with the same doses at each meal, unless you are eating exactly the same food each meal.
What are your meals normally?

I bet you feel rotten. I do if over 13 for any length of time

Hi Phoebe.

The Lantus I inject just before bed and the low libre alarm is set to 5 and is going off at about 2.30am for the last few nights so I'm awake eating jelly babies to bring the sugar up. I don't mind, I like jelly babies lol
I'm not doing carb counting as it totally cinfuses me. Breakfast is normally toast, lunch is a sandwich and dinner is the normal kind of stuff.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

The Lantus I inject just before bed and the low libre alarm is set to 5 and is going off at about 2.30am for the few nights so I'm awake eating jelly babies to bring the sugar up.

So increasing the Lantus doesn't sound like the right approach. Perhaps 6 units of Novorapid 3 times a day isn't right? What do the graphs look like? Are there suggestive patterns?

 

[CoventryTrev]

So increasing the Lantus doesn't sound like the right approach. Perhaps 6 units of Novorapid 3 times a day isn't right? What do the graphs look like? Are there suggestive patterns?

They are all over the place. I have the libre high alarm set to 15 and on Monday it was going off all afternoon and evening to the point I spoke to the out of hours doc who wasn't very helpful and just said speak to my diabetes team.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Ah @CoventryTrev - this must be so tough for you

Write down your questions for your appointment tomorrow, so that you can work though all the things you are confused by, or need help with.

Hopefully they can make some adjustments, of offer you some pointers to help you take some steps forward towards better numbers, and ultimately offer you techniques to help you adjust your own doses to match your meals.

 

[CoventryTrev]

Ah @CoventryTrev - this must be so tough for you

Write down your questions for your appointment tomorrow, so that you can work though all the things you are confused by, or need help with.

Hopefully they can make some adjustments, of offer you some pointers to help you take some steps forward towards better numbers, and ultimately offer you techniques to help you adjust your own doses to match your meals.

Evening. Thank you for your advice. Last night I reduced the units to 7 and I had no alarms going off all night and I woke to a 10.6. First full night sleep all week!!

 

[rebrascora]

The Lantus I inject just before bed and the low libre alarm is set to 5 and is going off at about 2.30am for the last few nights so I'm awake eating jelly babies to bring the sugar up.

Are you double checking your overnight lows with a finger prick before you eat jelly babies. Not sure if you are aware but lying on the arm with your Libre can cause what is called a compression low which will show you are hypo when you may not be so always important to double check those overnight alarm lows before treating.
What time do you inject the Lantus? Sometimes just changing the time you inject it can make a difference, so if you were injecting it at say 7 or 8pm then it may give you a spike of activity right when you least need it, whereas if you take it at bedtime (11pm ish) then the spike in activity may coincide with Dawn Phenomenon kicking in and be more useful.

Alternatively, if you are struggling to keep levels from going too high during the day, but you are having genuine hypos overnight, then a change to a twice daily basal (Levemir) might be a better option for you. Then you can inject a smaller dose at night but more in the morning to better match what your body needs. For instance I need 24 units in the morning but just about 4 at night.