High blood sugars

Status
Not open for further replies.
Totalwar

Totalwar

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Night Two hours after food Morning fasting

24.8. 14.1

25.8. —

20.2. 13.6

23.7. 16.2

20.6. 14.7 Novarapid 10 units and Toujeo insulin glargine 70 unit

22.9. 15.9 Novarapid 20 units and Toujeo insulin glargine 80 unit

Not sure what else I can do GP gave new insulin and left me to it and on the waiting list to see the Community Diabetes Team could be months before I see them.
 
@Totalwar What are you eating for those meals? And what was your blood sugar before you ate? Sorry if this is a daft question or you’ve said elsewhere but are you only testing two times a day? On insulin a minimum of four times is usually sensible, and more is useful if you’re having highs.

Have you tried missing meals to see if your basal insulin is holding your blood sugar steady?
 
I hate jabbing my fingers so really only testing as on new insulins.Normally don’t do it at all.I love one of thoses machines but can’t afford £100 per month.
 
Totalwar said:
So how much novarapid should I use? To get my sugar levels down?
Click to expand...

If you want to carry on eating as you described above, then you have a couple of options. The first is to count the carbs in what you’re about to eat, then give yourself enough Novorapid to ‘cover’ those carbs. The amount will be different depending on the individual. So, you might need more than 10 units for some meals, less than 10 for others.

The second option is to use your Novorapid to correct high sugars (ie bring them down). To do that, you’d work out how much Novorapid you needed. This would depend on your correction factor. As an example, mine is 1 unit/4mmol - ie 1 unit will bring me down 4. So if I was 13 and wanted to be 5mmol, I could inject 2 units and I should drop 8 mmols. However, you really need some guidance on that.

Basically, your insulin(s) won’t be being used to the best effect if you’re not taking the right amount. If you don’t want to actually count the carbs, you can just jot down your meals, noting the amounts of what you have, then when you have them again have the same amounts. That way you can graduallywork out the best dose of Novorapid for that meal. Does that make sense? I hope so. As an example, if you have chicken tikka and half a carton of rice, and find your 10 units of Novorapid isn’t bringing your blood sugar down enough, then you would try 11 units, say, next time you ate the same meal (same=same amount of stuff, particularly the carbs). Gradually you’ll find a dose that works for that meal.

Hopefully that way you’ll at least get a repertoire of meals you can eat and take the right dose of Novorapid for. It sounds a pain but once you know what works for you, it’s easier.
 
I tried 20 units today did t bring my levels down at all.Thanks for the feed back.I feel a bit overwhelmed to be honest.I really don’t know what I doing and have 0 support.If I not careful end giving myself a hypo.

I wondering weather I getting severe insulin resistance.
 
Last edited:
Totalwar said:
I tried 20 units today did t bring my levels down at all.Thanks for the feed back.I feel a bit overwhelmed to be honest.I really don’t know what I doing and have 0 support.If I not careful end giving myself a hypo.

I wondering weather I getting severe insulin resistance.
Click to expand...

Ok. I know the temptation to give a massive injection, but diabetes is really a balance and, as you imply, it’s better to inch carefully towards a higher dose than do a sudden leap because then you risk a hypo. Go carefully.

You’re Type 2 so it’s likely you are insulin resistant, yes. That does make you job a bit harder, but there are Type 2s here on insulin who have good control. I think you know that your chosen meals aren’t helping. If that’s something you can’t change, then that will make your job harder. Ideally you’d have a moderate amount of carbs per meal. This doesn’t mean you couldn’t eat your favourite foods but you’d have to change your choices a little to limit the carbs.

I mentioned your basal insulin early on in this thread. That insulin should keep your blood sugar steady in the absence of food. Getting that dose right is the foundation on which you build your control. You probably don’t want to not eat for a whole day, but you can split the day into segments to do a basal test (test your basal insulin is the right amount).

If your blood sugar is high before a meal then that high sugar will add to your insulin resistance (even for a Type 1 like me) so you will need more insulin than you would if your blood sugar was normal.

How far in advance of your meals are you injecting? Injecting the NR far enough in advance will give it time to work better.

I know how hard it is when your blood sugar feels out of control. You can improve things. It will take careful, steady work. I don’t want to ramble on here at you, but I’ll post a link to BERTIE. It’s for Type 1s but it might help you with carb counting:


https://www.bertieonline.org.uk/

Have you tried phoning your GP and asking for more support?
 
15mins to 30mins before meals and on max grargine 80 units.there four in my household can’t afford specialised food shopping just don’t have the money.Also have mental health issues where food is a addiction.
 
Last edited:
Totalwar said:
15mins to 30mins before meals and on max grargine 80 units.there four in my household can’t afford specialised food shopping just don’t have the money.Also have mental health issues where food is a addiction.
Click to expand...
It may not do the rest of your family any harm to have some of the lower carb alternatives and that would improve your situation.
 
Eating lower carb isn't specialist food, fish, meat, eggs, lower carb veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower things like that, rather than spaghetti for your bolognaise use an alternative like a spiralised veggie, if takeaways are able to be afforded then I'm pretty sure you'd have no issues in getting foods lower in carbs as even on insulin some would struggle with getting the dosing correct
 
Hi. You must move to a low-carb diet. I suspect you may have insulin resistance and the words say all i.e. the body can't use any injected insulin effectively. What is your BMI? If you can get any excess weight down, assuming there is any, you may find you can reduce the insulin and your BS should be more stable.
 
Totalwar said:
Anyone recommend where I can find low carb food please
Click to expand...
Most supermarkets will have veggies like butternut squash, celeriac, swede, cauliflower, which can be used as alternative to potatoes or rice. The veggies to be more cautious of are the starchy ones like potatoes, parsnips and sweetcorn but most others are fine.
Meat, fish, cheese, eggs, full fat dairy, are all low carb so nothing special there.
The things to avoid are ready prepared sauces and ready meals and takeaways, pies and pastry, breakfast cereals, bread, cakes, biscuits and fruit like bananas.
The book Carbs and Cals gives the carb value of a whole range of foods and there are apps, some free some people pay for.
 
Don’t know my bmi but 135kg and 6.1 and diabetes type 2 does run my family.
Yes my GP and Community Diabetes Team said that I am resistant to insulin
 
Last edited:
Totalwar said:
15mins to 30mins before meals and on max grargine 80 units.there four in my household can’t afford specialised food shopping just don’t have the money.Also have mental health issues where food is a addiction.
Click to expand...

You might find that some meals (eg breakfast) need you to inject more in advance than others. I find that. Although it sounds a trivial thing, getting the timing right can help reduce spikes after eating.

I remembered about your MH issues. Have you asked for support with your eating addictions? There is help out there, hard as it is to deal with.
 
Totalwar said:
Don’t know my bmi but 135kg and 6.1 and diabetes type 2 does run my family.
Yes my GP and Community Diabetes Team said that I am resistant to insulin
Click to expand...

The NHS calculator gives you a BMI of 39.4. The insulin resistance creates a bit of a vicious circle as far as weight is concerned. It can also cause you to feel unnaturally hungry, which obviously can’t help your food addiction issues.

So any improvement in weight and/or insulin resistant would be worth it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top