High bloods all night

[CharlotteH]

Hi there, I'm type 1 diabetic since I was 11 17 years now. It's never been controlled great but I try my best. I had a baby in December and since then it don't seem to be going right. It was probly the best ever why I was pregnant. I do carb counting for my insulin amounts usually 2 unit of insulin to every 10g of carbs. Then I have levemiur morning and night. I've tried upping my night basal and tried bits in the day but every night I go to bed and it's about 8 but then I wake up threw the night to it being 20 n in the morning it's high to. Plus if I have a hypo I have a few sweets n a biscuit after and then next minute it's 20 again I also have a libre which is great. Does anyone have any advice for me had enough now thank you Charlotte

 

[trophywench]

Yes Charlotte - we do! Bloomin nightmare when it all goes 'base over apex' for all of us, so firstly you absolutely have all my sympathy for your current predicament.

I would very strongly recommend that you spend the next few days doing a full 24 hour basal insulin test because unless you get your basal insulin dose as closely in tune to your own body's individual requirements, you may as well be juggling fresh air as try to get your bolus insulin doses adjusted properly without doing the first one. See https://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120 for how to go about this.

Levemir doses do not need to be taken 12 hours apart, each dose of it does not need to be an equal amount - eg I needed 14u when I got up at about 7 or 7.30 am, and 4u before bed BUT not at bedtime (11pm ish) - at 9.30pm ish cos my BG shot up around 10pm until around 2am - without basal testing you could never know the things your body does!

I agree basal testing is a drag when it has to be done - but there again if it then goes on to make our life a lot easier - it's worth it.

The other thing I want to say is that everyone's individual body goes through changes as we progress through life and so do our insulin doses and timings because of it. Yeah 'they' warn us about certain bits like pre our period, pre and during pregnancy and the menopause - but natural changes in the body never get mentioned. They happen to everyone not just people with diabetes and are normally totally invisible and unrecognised - just because we're diabetic and using insulin - us lot certainly do notice it !

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear the Diabetes Fairy is up to her tricks again @CharlotteH

It’s so frustrating when you are putting in all the effort, carb counting and making careful food choices, but only getting chaos and confusion in return

@trophywench ’s suggestion of starting with a basal test is a really good one - much easier to do with a Libre too 🙂

It IS a faff, but unless you’ve recently had a look at what your background doses are up to when not confused and covered over with meal doses and/or corrections it can be a nightmare if running is circles like a headless chicken changing all sorts of things but without a stable base. What your Levemir is supposed to do is hold you steady, through the whole 24hours not moving much more than 2mmol/L up or down - and if you can tweak it to do that, then adjustment for activity, gym classes, big meals, small meals, missed meals, hormones, and all the rest can suddenly click into place.

Or at least, it becomes pretty obvious when your meal doses aren’t working right.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[CharlotteH]

Hi there
Just an update on how I'm getting on. Don't seem to be any better. I'm now up to 24 units of levimur of a night and same in the morning, still all over the place. Trying my best but don't seem to be making a difference. Even if I have a none carb dinner my bloods seem to go up so I don't understand.
Any more advice would be very grateful

Thank you in advance

 

[Inka]

Hi @CharlotteH Are you getting up to your baby in the night or being woken? I found that a disturbed night meant I had higher sugars. I didn’t really find an answer because obviously I couldn’t predict how disturbed my night would be beforehand, but what I did was do a correction bolus if I woke with high sugars in the night. Only do this if you know what you’re doing obviously. I was careful to under-dose slightly to be safe.

My other thought is hormones. Yes, I know we blame them for everything, but I found my hormones were slightly different for around 9 months after giving birth. This gave me some insulin resistance which I don’t normally have.

It’s difficult to give advice without seeing your whole day laid out, but I found I did more ad hoc dosing when my children were babies to correct highs or ate a few more carbs to keep my sugar up.

I find no-carb meals can put my blood sugar up a few hours later so you might be best having a moderate amount of carbs.

 

[Amity Island]

Hi Charlotte,
Are your non carb meals fat free and protein free? Both of these can affect blood sugars later on.
How did you get on with missing a meal (basal test) and checking basal blood sugar on your libre?
You mentioned 2 units per 10g of carbs, is that throughout the day? My ratios are much higher upon first waking, then lunch and dinner ratios are less.

 

[CharlotteH]

Thank you everyone. @Inka yes I do get woken by my baby probly twice a night and check my bloods which seem to start getting high then. I do correct sometimes but even the correction don't seem to make a different its high again in morning. I'm wondering if I should change the times of my basal injections. Instead of 9pm and 7am of 24 units each is what I currently have. Also @Amity Island missing my meal I ended up going low then. Yes I have 2 units for 10g for every meal. Before I was pregnant I was only on 1 unit to every 10g and then during pregnancy that went to double. But my basal went down I was only putting 8 units in of a night and 18 of a morning. Since I had my baby in December I'm now on 24 units for both I've upped my night every couple of days but still isn't there yet. Threw my pregnancy I had high proteine levels and doctor said it was making my bloods high as well so I'm wondering if that's happening again. Or if it is my hormones plus with the lockdown I'm not doing much before I was constantly doing stuff. Hopefully when I come of maternity leave and I'm back to work might all change. Had blood tests today so we will see if anything shows up

 

[Inka]

Hi again @CharlotteH Getting up in the night can definitely affect your blood sugar, so it could be that, as I said. I do think it’s interesting that your insulin to carb ratio has doubled. That’s unusual. I can’t remember exactly what my insulin did but my basal went back to normal after the birth. I might have altered it by a unit or 2 or 3 but it was basically the same as pre-pregnancy. I wish I could remember my mealtime ratios, but I do know there was no drastic change. Possibly I needed a little more insulin but they didn’t double.

The basal test suggested above is a good idea because it’s possible some of your doubled ratio is actually compensating for the fact you need more basal. That might also explain why your hypo treatment shoots your blood sugar up.

I know it will be hard basal testing with a baby, but maybe have a go over a week or two? The Libre will be a help.

You could try moving the time of your evening basal like you said. Most people need less basal at night than during the day, but you need what you need as an individual. All I would say is change things gradually and be cautious.

If you find you’re basically sitting around with your baby - which is completely normal when they’re young - try to make a point of doing some exercise during the day, even if it’s only walking/jogging on the spot for a few minutes. It’s surprising how much exercise can help insulin sensitivity.

 

[Amity Island]

Thank you everyone. @Inka yes I do get woken by my baby probly twice a night and check my bloods which seem to start getting high then. I do correct sometimes but even the correction don't seem to make a different its high again in morning. I'm wondering if I should change the times of my basal injections. Instead of 9pm and 7am of 24 units each is what I currently have. Also @Amity Island missing my meal I ended up going low then. Yes I have 2 units for 10g for every meal. Before I was pregnant I was only on 1 unit to every 10g and then during pregnancy that went to double. But my basal went down I was only putting 8 units in of a night and 18 of a morning. Since I had my baby in December I'm now on 24 units for both I've upped my night every couple of days but still isn't there yet. Threw my pregnancy I had high proteine levels and doctor said it was making my bloods high as well so I'm wondering if that's happening again. Or if it is my hormones plus with the lockdown I'm not doing much before I was constantly doing stuff. Hopefully when I come of maternity leave and I'm back to work might all change. Had blood tests today so we will see if anything shows up

Hi Charlotte.
It sounds like you're trying all the right things, all you can do is persevere with increasing your 9pm night time basal until it steadies. I think you are right in just increasing it gradually, because I've found increasing or decreasing basal by just 1 unit can make a massive difference.
I hope you get it sorted soon!

 

[Julietonk1]

Hi I have got high blood sugar levels from 16,3 to 30.3 thro out the day They have put my insulin up speaking to dr tomorrow fingers crossed I am on Toujeo 3 times the normal insulin Talking about starting another insulin at meal times x

 

[trophywench]

An additional pre-meal insulin, or instead of the one you already take?