erratic blood sugar readings

[LUSTFORLIFE]

I have been on insulin for about a year (lada, initially type 2), its been brilliant, very stable readings, a few tweeks here and there along the way, a handful of low readings ( 10 mini jelly beans, sorted), but the last couple of days have been extremely erratic, very high to very low, same diet, Humalog and Lantus, im a little shocked as it was going really well, any advise would be hugely welcome, thanks, Chris.

 

[Inka]

Sorry to hear about your erratic sugars @LUSTFORLIFE Could you be ill or coming down with something? Could something be ‘off’ with your insulin? Have you had an upset stomach? Are you under stress?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear about your erratic levels @LUSTFORLIFE

Diabetes can throw curveballs from time to time - especially in the early years after diagnosis / initiation of insulin therapy, especially if your remaining beta cells are expiring, and your insulin needs are changing.

Have you had any sort of education course? Or introduction to carb counting?

Hope you are able to rejig your doses and find a new balance without too much faff.

 

[LUSTFORLIFE]

Sorry to hear about your erratic sugars @LUSTFORLIFE Could you be ill or coming down with something? Could something be ‘off’ with your insulin? Have you had an upset stomach? Are you under stress?

hi there, thank you for your message, the only thing that's changed is a long winter cold, im not sure that's enough to give these readings, but I suppose it might be.

 

[LUSTFORLIFE]

Sorry to hear about your erratic levels @LUSTFORLIFE

Diabetes can throw curveballs from time to time - especially in the early years after diagnosis / initiation of insulin therapy, especially if your remaining beta cells are expiring, and your insulin needs are changing.

Have you had any sort of education course? Or introduction to carb counting?

Hope you are able to rejig your doses and find a new balance without too much faff.

hi, thank you for your message, I haven't had an introduction to carb counting, although I am on the waiting list for the course, it may well be that I need my insulin tweaked, I will speak to the hospital on Monday, its come on so suddenly after months of very steady readings, so something is amiss, thanks again.

 

[Inka]

hi there, thank you for your message, the only thing that's changed is a long winter cold, im not sure that's enough to give these readings, but I suppose it might be.

I’ve had a mild cold and that messed up my levels for some days, so it could be. As Mike says, it could simply be a change in your insulin needs due to the approaching end of the honeymoon period. My honeymoon period lasted for a good while but when it was ending, I noticed control was harder, illness caused more pronounced highs, things were more of a struggle.

Carb counting is crucial. I get very irked when they don’t teach it at diagnosis. It’s not hard. There’s an online course you could look at which will help:

Bertie Diabetes

It could be that you need to be more accurate now as your own insulin production declines, so carb-counting is very sensible.

 

[LUSTFORLIFE]

I’ve had a mild cold and that messed up my levels for some days, so it could be. As Mike says, it could simply be a change in your insulin needs due to the approaching end of the honeymoon period. My honeymoon period lasted for a good while but when it was ending, I noticed control was harder, illness caused more pronounced highs, things were more of a struggle.

Carb counting is crucial. I get very irked when they don’t teach it at diagnosis. It’s not hard. There’s an online course you could look at which will help:

Bertie Diabetes

It could be that you need to be more accurate now as your own insulin production declines, so carb-counting is very sensible.

hi, I'll look into carb counting, thank you so much.

 

[PattiEvans]

Also, are you just finger pricking or do you have some kind of continuous sensor? If so, do you see any patterns? i.e. is it just since you've had the cold that levels are more erratic? Even non-diabetic people have spikes sometimes, especially after meals. As Inka says though, a cold can disrupt your control quite a lot.

I can also recommend the Bertie course. I learned to carb count with that course many years ago and then was asked to check out Beta versions of the updated course along with a couple of other members of this forum. It's good.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

hi, thank you for your message, I haven't had an introduction to carb counting, although I am on the waiting list for the course, it may well be that I need my insulin tweaked, I will speak to the hospital on Monday, its come on so suddenly after months of very steady readings, so something is amiss, thanks again.

Hope you are able to get in touch with your clinic next week.

If you’d like a simple introduction to carb counting there is also this page (though the Bertie course is excellent and far more detailed)

The nuts and bolts of carb counting

When you live with type 1 diabetes, carb counting is a great way of managing your blood sugar or glucose levels. It can give you more freedom and flexibility in what you eat when you're preparing meals at home, grabbing food on the go or eating out. Carb counting does take some time and effort...

www.diabetes.org.uk