Has anyone seen increase in Hba1c since having covid?

[LesleySS]

Hi my HBa1c has gone through the roof since having Covid in December 2020 has anyone else had a similar experience and what did doctors/diabetic nurse suggest.
I am on tablet medication only after losing 4 stone in weight now they want to put me back on insulin! I have since read that having covid can make you more insulin resistant but they don't know if this is temporary or permanent damage to the pancreas.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear Covid has upset your diabetes management and generally thrown a spanner in the works for you

I gather that some people can get a fairly dramatic BG reaction with covid, including one significant enough to trigger a diagnosis of diabetes in people who did not previously have the condition.

Like most things with Covid, I suspect that the picture is still emerging really, and that it will be hard to find a definitive answer to how long any effects may last for you.

I wonder if a short period of insulin therapy might be quite helpful to give your islet cells a bit of a breather?

 

[Squirrel768]

Not had Covid, but had Pfizer vax 2 1/2 weeks ago. Last few days my levels have been all over the place! Tried reducing basal (Tresiba in the morning) to stop going low in the night. Daytime, if I bolus for meals to stop a massive high after, then I get a low between meals.

My normal Libre 24-hour graph is well up in the 90's %, today went down at one point to 73, currently 81. Current scan is 7.3, finger prick (Contour Next One) is 9.2. So, if I eat before bed, it will head into orbit again, if I leave it, I'll be woken with a low alarm in the night. Of course, if it goes high, and I take a tiny bolus, then I head down again ...

Oh for a nice level graph overnight

 

[trophywench]

I had mega HIGH BG not low, a couple of weeks after my jab - and folk on here had more or less convinced me it was purely coincidental cos everyone else only had reactions soon after, so couldn't be the jab.

We'll both have to see what happens in Episode 2 won't we?

 

[Squirrel768]

I had mega HIGH BG not low, a couple of weeks after my jab - and folk on here had more or less convinced me it was purely coincidental cos everyone else only had reactions soon after, so couldn't be the jab.

We'll both have to see what happens in Episode 2 won't we?

I've found my basal at night seems to be working overtim, but my bolus during the day can't keep up, and getting big spikes! Doesn't help that this morning, I decided to opt for toast, and on autopilot did 2 slices (I usually have 2 'breakfasts', so have the second slice later in the morning). Oops!

 

[LesleySS]

Thanks for your responses guys, I had covid for two weeks before Christmas it was horrible, felt awful, ached all over, no appetite, diahorrea no cough though. Lost a stone. My Hba1c was never low was 63 but now shot up to 85, eating not changed as I say even lost weight so don't see what else it can be. Perhaps covid has damaged things further or this could be a temp blip. The diabetic nurses don't seem to know, why arnt they researching the long term effects of covid so they can inform us better?

 

[trophywench]

How do any of us know 'they' aren't? - they are finding all sorts of things out as they go - nobody in the western world has had more than approx a year to find anything out, and a couple of months is hardly very long term in the overall scheme of things healthwise.

Presumably you've been told to just increase your insulin to whatever you need right now, same as we have to every day of our lives?

It is just a balancing act - I tested positive for Covid in December too and didn't seem to suffer at all really but have been all over the place BG wise since, some days I'm low, some days high, so I test test test and adjust adjust adjust. And every one of us is different in what happens when - so what you need to do will most likely be different to me. Being on a pump helps, shedloads of TBRs ..... very few permanent changes.

 

[Squirrel768]

e been all over the place BG wise since, some days I'm low, some days high, so I test test test and adjust adjust adjust. And every one of us is different in what happens when - so what you need to do will most likely be different to me. Being on a pump helps, shedloads of TBRs ..... very few permanent changes.

I'd love to be pumping right now ... like you, levels are all over the place. The only thing I've had is the jab, but at the moment, my levels are a constant yo-yo - the usual rollercoaster game of snakes and ladders!

If I go high, I can take a bit more novorapid, but if I'm going low, I can't turn off the insulin. Bringing my basal down to try and sort out night times ... I was high after a pre-bed snack, then at 2am, woken by a low alert. So, grab a snack, and wake up to find I've been high again (I turn the high alarm off at night ...). Dosing for meals, I either go high or take more insulin to stay in range. If I go high, it hangs around there, if I've taken enough insulin, it then heads low and I have to grab something to stave off the hypo!

I've coped pretty well with a year of shielding, but the last week or so, I have to admit I'm feeling stressed struggling trying to balance the tightrope all day!

 

[trophywench]

Gave you a Like for that because that's where I am right now too - lockdown fatigue - a form of PTSD !! A sodding nuisance that I'm ditto fed up of having to do. A modern form of chinese water torture ......