Happy New Year!

[Busdriver60]

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and hope 2025 will bring happiness and joy to you all. Thank you all for your continued support for anything related to my condition, as I would also support others too.

 

[Merluza]

Thank you, here's hoping for this year. Happy New Year everyone.

 

[rebrascora]

Happy New Year Paul. Wishing you and your good lady, health and happiness for 2025.

Just thinking back to your previous post a few days ago....Are your levels still high? Have you considered experimenting with your insulin dose?

Diabetes is all about self management and carefully experimenting with doses is part of that self management.

It may be that you have been off over the holiday period and a combination of less physical activity and higher carb foods/treats has pushed your levels up and a return to normal diet and work will bring it down again OR it may be that your own insulin production has decreased and it is time to increase your insulin dose. If you want to try experimenting with that it is up to you and of your levels are still high then you could always try a small increase for a few days and see what happens. It is what the rest of us do. Diabetes isn't like other illnesses where your doctor tells you how much medication to take. It is a condition that is best self managed and that involves carefully adjusting doses to what your body needs, once you have got comfortable with doing the basic stuff like testing and injecting. If the change of dose causes your levels to drop too low, then you can always change it back.

 

[RichardA]

Have a great year everybody

 

[Busdriver60]

Happy New Year Paul. Wishing you and your good lady, health and happiness for 2025.

Just thinking back to your previous post a few days ago....Are your levels still high? Have you considered experimenting with your insulin dose?

Diabetes is all about self management and carefully experimenting with doses is part of that self management.

It may be that you have been off over the holiday period and a combination of less physical activity and higher carb foods/treats has pushed your levels up and a return to normal diet and work will bring it down again OR it may be that your own insulin production has decreased and it is time to increase your insulin dose. If you want to try experimenting with that it is up to you and of your levels are still high then you could always try a small increase for a few days and see what happens. It is what the rest of us do. Diabetes isn't like other illnesses where your doctor tells you how much medication to take. It is a condition that is best self managed and that involves carefully adjusting doses to what your body needs, once you have got comfortable with doing the basic stuff like testing and injecting. If the change of dose causes your levels to drop too low, then you can always change it back.

My dosage was decreased to 7 from 9 back last summer due the many hypos episodes I was having. But do due to the recent high readings over Christmas, I have slightly increased it to 8, if that doesn't work, then I will increase i again to 9., slightly increase it to 10 if necessary.
I'm also due to see my diabetic care nurse at my local hospital next Tuesday. I will request to have basal insulin regularly.
I have have the situation changes according the changing weather and any changing normal routine. I didn't mean to panic but still learning about it thats all.

 

[rebrascora]

Well done on making those little changes to your doses. It is far better to increase it by 1 unit at a time and see how that works for 3-4 days before making another increase if needed.
Doses can change with the seasons, but they also change during what we call the honeymoon period. This is where your own pancreas is still producing some insulin and the insulin that you inject is just sort of topping that up. Unfortunately for most of us, our insulin production decreases over time, so we have to increase our doses to keep our BG levels balanced. Added to that, we often need less insulin during and after exercise (up to 48 hours after exercise or physical activity, like your work at the garden centre) because our muscles are using up the surplus glucose in our blood but conversely we need more when we do less activity, so it is possible that when you go back to the garden centre after the holidays (assuming you have been off for the last week or so) , your insulin needs may drop a bit again and you have to reduce that basal dose.
I started off on 7 units of basal insulin when I was first diagnosed and I now need about 22units but that dose has been stable for the last 3-4 years, so I suspect I am no longer making any insulin of my own.

Bolus (mealtime) insulin (not basal as you mentioned asking the nurse for, which is the insulin you already use) adds a whole new dimension to your diabetes management. It will give you more freedom to eat what you want when you want it and balance it by injecting the right amount of insulin for that food/meal, but it does take some extra thought and calculation and each meal usually needs a different dose depending on what is in the meal, so there is a meal by meal dose adjustment, although they will likely start you on fixed doses.

 

[Busdriver60]

Well done on making those little changes to your doses. It is far better to increase it by 1 unit at a time and see how that works for 3-4 days before making another increase if needed.
Doses can change with the seasons, but they also change during what we call the honeymoon period. This is where your own pancreas is still producing some insulin and the insulin that you inject is just sort of topping that up. Unfortunately for most of us, our insulin production decreases over time, so we have to increase our doses to keep our BG levels balanced. Added to that, we often need less insulin during and after exercise (up to 48 hours after exercise or physical activity, like your work at the garden centre) because our muscles are using up the surplus glucose in our blood but conversely we need more when we do less activity, so it is possible that when you go back to the garden centre after the holidays (assuming you have been off for the last week or so) , your insulin needs may drop a bit again and you have to reduce that basal dose.
I started off on 7 units of basal insulin when I was first diagnosed and I now need about 22units but that dose has been stable for the last 3-4 years, so I suspect I am no longer making any insulin of my own.

Bolus (mealtime) insulin (not basal as you mentioned asking the nurse for, which is the insulin you already use) adds a whole new dimension to your diabetes management. It will give you more freedom to eat what you want when you want it and balance it by injecting the right amount of insulin for that food/meal, but it does take some extra thought and calculation and each meal usually needs a different dose depending on what is in the meal, so there is a meal by meal dose adjustment, although they will likely start you on fixed doses.

Thank you for correcting me, bolus not basal. I will request it at my local hospital.
I will keep you updated next week.