help!

[bev]

Hi to all!
6 weeks after my son being diagnosed type 1, i feel as if there is so much information to take on board that i feel really confused!
Can anyone tell me what numbers are considered 'high' and 'low'?
At the moment his pancreas is still producing some insulin so we are halving the amount of insulin he should be having,which seems ok'ish.
If he had a hypo during the night, would it wake him up or would he just get worse until we found him in the morning?
What is the lowest you would go to bed on?
Why is he allowed 14grams of carbs without insulin?

I know there are too many questions so i apologise, but if anyone can answer any of them i would realy appreciate it!
Cant seem to sleep as i am constantly worrying about him! And when i do sleep i dream about diabetes!
He is on novorapid and nevermeer. Thanks Bev

 

[Northerner]

Hi to all!
6 weeks after my son being diagnosed type 1, i feel as if there is so much information to take on board that i feel really confused!
Can anyone tell me what numbers are considered 'high' and 'low'?
At the moment his pancreas is still producing some insulin so we are halving the amount of insulin he should be having,which seems ok'ish.
If he had a hypo during the night, would it wake him up or would he just get worse until we found him in the morning?
What is the lowest you would go to bed on?
Why is he allowed 14grams of carbs without insulin?

I know there are too many questions so i apologise, but if anyone can answer any of them i would realy appreciate it!
Cant seem to sleep as i am constantly worrying about him! And when i do sleep i dream about diabetes!
He is on novorapid and nevermeer. Thanks Bev

Hi Bev,

The nurse or doctor should have given you a range that is ok for your son. My personal range is between 4 and 7 mmol/l. I start to feel low around 3.5, and would consider anything 3 or below to be time for some serious jelly baby scoffing🙂

Regarding night hypos, I personally wake up as I recover from them, usually sweating and with a headache, but other people have diffferent reactions. I think in my case as I live alone there is no-one to be aware that I might be having one so I always sleep through them until my liver kicks out the glucose and I recover. To try to avoid them I always have a snack (a weetabix with milk or a slice of bread and peanut butter) if my level is below 6 on going to bed.

If he's in the honeymoon period then maybe he can have 14g without extra insulin, although he will have his basal insulin there for this small amount. I was told I could have 10g without needing to cover it with extra insulin - so a cup of tea and digestive is fine for me.

Hope this helps! Also, it will all start to make sense - most of the time! - eventually. There is a lot to learn but you can get by on the basics as you absorb the finer detail over time🙂

 

[Hayley]

Hi Bev
My daughter who is 8 was diagnosed about 10 weeks ago. I fully understand how you are feeling, it is so much to take on board. However, I am growing in confidence and making decisions about how much insulin she should have. Could never dream of that even a few weeks ago, I think all the nurses at A&E knew my on a first name basis. ..... It's her again. All I know is that we can't expect to know everything, but going on to a forum message board like this, is great, as learning from advise and people's experience is easier to understand, than complicated text books!

 

[wendyh]

Hi to all!
6 weeks after my son being diagnosed type 1, i feel as if there is so much information to take on board that i feel really confused!
Can anyone tell me what numbers are considered 'high' and 'low'?
At the moment his pancreas is still producing some insulin so we are halving the amount of insulin he should be having,which seems ok'ish.
If he had a hypo during the night, would it wake him up or would he just get worse until we found him in the morning?
What is the lowest you would go to bed on?
Why is he allowed 14grams of carbs without insulin?

I know there are too many questions so i apologise, but if anyone can answer any of them i would realy appreciate it!
Cant seem to sleep as i am constantly worrying about him! And when i do sleep i dream about diabetes!
He is on novorapid and nevermeer. Thanks Bev

HI
I make a point of checking my daughter before I go to bed and if she is around 7 I can sleep easy. There have been a few ocassions where she has been 3.5 but because I am double checking her I generally catch it and give her a little something to eat and drink - wait 30-45 min and check her again - she will mostly come back up to 7 though. If I give her a little too much to eat she can be above 8 in the morning.

The constultant I see always said that anything above 14 is when she needs to have novorapid - I want her to understand if she jumps around, goes for a walk and drinks more water etc her numbers will come down naturally - this makes her aware of her options.

I would say low is when your son feels it (3.5ish) and high is anything over 8-14, when something really needs to be done to bring it down.

We are not on carb counting as yet that is our next learning curve. (Yikes)

Hope this helps - things will calm down - that I can promise!

Wendy

 

[bev]

Thanks to all of you who have answered! It has made me feel a lot more confident about the night time hypos(he hasnt had a night time one yet).Also his level was 6 last night which is the lowest he has had before bedtime so i gave him some milk and a biscuit, which helped me not to worry about him, so i suppose i am making decisions instinctively.
When he has a hypo he is normally between 3 and 3.5 and he gets shakey etc so has 5 jelly babies and 2 biscuits.
He had one today, but what i dont understand is, do i add the jelly babies etc into the amount of insulin for the sandwich etc that he eats afterwards, or do i just count the carbs for the sandwich? Thanks so much for all the advice, you are literally helping me to sleep! I hate asking these sort of questions at the clinic, i always feel so stupid!

 

[diagonall]

Thanks to all of you who have answered! It has made me feel a lot more confident about the night time hypos(he hasnt had a night time one yet).Also his level was 6 last night which is the lowest he has had before bedtime so i gave him some milk and a biscuit, which helped me not to worry about him, so i suppose i am making decisions instinctively.
When he has a hypo he is normally between 3 and 3.5 and he gets shakey etc so has 5 jelly babies and 2 biscuits.
He had one today, but what i dont understand is, do i add the jelly babies etc into the amount of insulin for the sandwich etc that he eats afterwards, or do i just count the carbs for the sandwich? Thanks so much for all the advice, you are literally helping me to sleep! I hate asking these sort of questions at the clinic, i always feel so stupid!

Hi Bev, the treatment for a hypo is 15 carbs(quick acting ) wait 15 mins and then retest if blood sugar going up no action needed unless more than hr before meal time then have a slow carb like some bread to tide him over. if no movement of still dropping then another 15 carbs and repeat. You don't need to give insulin to cover the carbs for a low.
I hope that's a bit clearer than mud 🙂

 

[bev]

Hi Bev, the treatment for a hypo is 15 carbs(quick acting ) wait 15 mins and then retest if blood sugar going up no action needed unless more than hr before meal time then have a slow carb like some bread to tide him over. if no movement of still dropping then another 15 carbs and repeat. You don't need to give insulin to cover the carbs for a low.
I hope that's a bit clearer than mud 🙂

Oh right, i probably shouldnt be giving him the biscuits then! Thanks again for that info, i know its basic ,but it does help! I havent counted the jelly babies in with the carbs if he was eating a meal so we have been lucky i suppose. thanks. Bev

p.s. this site is a godsend! x