Here for my husband can anyone help?

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summer38

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Hi my husband has had diabetes for over 20 years and has always had terrible control and not taken it seriously. Because of other health issues he now is.

He has just received the freestyle monitor on his arm and it is incredible but we are having difficulty understanding why his sugar levels are so erratic.

An example is today. He woke up and his bloods were 4, he had 3 weetabix (with candarel) and 38 units of novomix 30, his bloods shot up to 13. He then done some decorating they dropped to 3.9 he had a flapjack about 1.30pm and they are currently on 15 (5.20pm).

It seems like everything he eats sends his bloods really high is this normal? Does he need more insulin? He hates asking anyone about anything and also hates technology so I'm here to hopefully get some help.

Thank you.
 
summer38 said:
Hi my husband has had diabetes for over 20 years and has always had terrible control and not taken it seriously. Because of other health issues he now is.

He has just received the freestyle monitor on his arm and it is incredible but we are having difficulty understanding why his sugar levels are so erratic.

An example is today. He woke up and his bloods were 4, he had 3 weetabix (with candarel) and 38 units of novomix 30, his bloods shot up to 13. He then done some decorating they dropped to 3.9 he had a flapjack about 1.30pm and they are currently on 15 (5.20pm).

It seems like everything he eats sends his bloods really high is this normal? Does he need more insulin? He hates asking anyone about anything and also hates technology so I'm here to hopefully get some help.

Thank you.
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Hello, and welcome. Does you husband have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or some other variant? This may make a difference to any responses.
My initial response would be to ask whether he’s ever discussed his insulin regime with whoever prescribes it. Novomix is considered quite an old fashioned regime, and there are more flexible options. Most Type 1s, for example, (and also a lot of Type 2s who are on insulin), are now on a basal insulin once or twice daily, which mops up the glucose constantly produced by the liver to keep the body ticking over, and then a short acting is taken with each meal, to deal with the carbohydrates in that meal. (and it is the carb content that’s important, not just sugar).
What I'm saying in a rather long winded way, is that he may not need more insulin altogether, he may just need it at different times and in more flexible doses.
 
Welcome @summer38 🙂 I’m another one asking what type of diabetes your husband has. Also,a couple more questions: Is he counting carbs in his meals? What time did he inject his Novomix and what time did he start his breakfast?
 
Hi my apologies for not replying sooner I'm a carer and can't keep checking my phone.

My husband is type 1, and no he's never had a review of his insulin. He has mentioned that his insulin is outdated. Would you suggest he asks about it? He's never been told about carbs (or bothered to look himself) Thank you for your help
 
Hi he doesn't count carbs he injected ay 7.30 and ate at the same time. Could weetabix raise his blood that much?
 
No need to apologise @summer38 Reply when you have time - today, tomorrow, the weekend, it’s not an issue.

His insulin regime is indeed outdated. I stopped mixed insulin more than 20 years ago. The normal regime now is one or two injections of basal/background/slow insulin and then an injection of bolus/fast insulin before each meal. Because the two insulin types are separate not mixed, it means he’d be able to adjust one type without affecting the other. This will give him flexibility about what he eats, and also his meal-times.

I strongly suggest he speaks to someone about the more modern insulin regimes.
 
summer38 said:
Hi he doesn't count carbs he injected ay 7.30 and ate at the same time. Could weetabix raise his blood that much?
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If he ate straight way, the carbohydrate and sugar in the Weetabix probably hit his system before the insulin had a chance to get going, so 3 Weetabix definitely could do that, it would to me, anyway.(39g of carbohydrate in 3 weetabix, each 10g of carb with no insulin actively working raises my blood glucose by around 3, so it could easily get to double figures before the insulin starts acting to mop it up)
 
summer38 said:
Hi he doesn't count carbs he injected ay 7.30 and ate at the same time. Could weetabix raise his blood that much?
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Ok, if he injected just before he started eating that could be why he spiked a little high (13 isn’t awful but if he could reduce that spike a little it would be good). He hasn’t given the fast part of his Novomix time to get working so the glucose from the carbs in the Weetabix could have got into his bloodstream before the insulin got working. If he can carefully bring his injection forward a little that will give the insulin a chance to get going before he has the Weetabix. Maybe try 10 mins before eating to start with and see how that goes.

Yes, Weetabix will put blood sugar up. The trick is to try to match the action of the fast insulin to the glucose rise. That’s not easy but injecting a little in advance should help.
 
I’d also add that it sounds like he’s not received very good support. When I was on fixed insulin many years ago, I was told how many carbs to eat for each meal.

I’m sure a change of insulin regime would help him a lot, along with some support about carb-counting. I also meant to add that if he’s regularly waking with a blood sugar of 4, that’s a bit low. Being on a basal/bolus regime as described above would allow him to reduce his evening basal/slow insulin while still taking enough of the bolus/fast/meal insulin.
 
This is all brilliant advice, he is an absolute pain when it comes to his diabetes and control but I am taking charge of this. I will make sure he asks about changing insulin and carbs. Thank you all so much for your help and advice it really is appreciated and I hope you are all doing well.
 
Hey @summer38 , please feel free to check back in with us once your husband's spoken to his healthcare team.

You could raise the possibility of your husband being referred to a dietitian, it might not be possible, but could be worth discussing this for some specialist support.

We can appreciate it can be challenging helping support someone with diabetes - should you ever feel you need any guidance around this, you can take a look at our webpage below:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/supporting-someone-with-diabetes

Hope your husband gets better support moving forward, do let us know how you get on or if you have any further questions 🙂
 
summer38 said:
This is all brilliant advice, he is an absolute pain when it comes to his diabetes and control but I am taking charge of this. I will make sure he asks about changing insulin and carbs. Thank you all so much for your help and advice it really is appreciated and I hope you are all doing well.
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Sorry to hear about your husband’s levels, but great that he wants to get a grip on things now. It's never too late to make improvements - and it sounds like he has been left on a fairly inflexible and difficult insulin system :(

Hopefully with a few shared experiences from the forum and some pointy questions for his clinic he might be able to take some small steps towards improved BG levels.
 
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