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Insulin vial faulty?

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.

Ames29

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi, type 1 last two nights I’ve gone to bed blood sugar levels at 10 so slightly high but not major. Woke up next morning and there in the 20’s!!! They were perfect all last week usually 5.2 5.4 when I wake up and I havnt altered the dose, also last ate around 6pm so can’t see it being food related. Could my insulin be faulty? It’s a new vial. Also noticed my blood starts to creep up between meals so not sure if my Basal injection is working correctly. Anyone had this before?
 
If I see an unexpected rise, I retest and then I change my insulin.
It may not be the cause - it could be a particularly fatty meal which took a long time to digest; it could be a bad night's sleep; it could be stress; it could be that you are starting to go down with a cold; it could be that you are coming to the end of your honeymoon period if you are newly diagnosed.

If your blood sugars are rising through the night when you are not eating it is most likely to be your basal insulin rather than bolus, especially if you are seeing your blood sugars rise between meals.

I highly recommend lots of testing
 
Definitely change the vial @Ames29 Then if it continues, look at your injection sites and consider if you need to change to a different body area.

It could be something else - approaching illness, stress, etc - but starting with the insulin is always sensible.
 
How long have you been diagnosed?
If it is quite recently (last few months) I agree with @helli that it may well be your honeymoon period coming to an end and your basal needs are increasing as a result.
The other thing I would ask is, when you did your air shot before injecting the basal, did you see insulin come out of the needle as I have had a couple of needles which were blocked over the last year, so it is possible that the basal insulin didn't go in if that was the case and you didn't see insulin come out when you did the air shot.
How far into this pen/cartridge of basal insulin are you and have you left it anywhere hot... ie. next to a radiator etc. It is very unusual for insulin to go off when it hasn't been exposed to extreme temperatures. If it was working OK last week but suddenly not and it has been stored at room temp then again, less likely that the insulin is to blame.

It is very normal for basal needs to change throughout your journey with diabetes and you often have to tweak the dose to get it right. If you are newly diagnosed then discuss this with your DSNs. There are education courses like DAFNE which teach you how to recognise the signs that basal insulin dose needs adjusting and how to do it, but if you haven't been taught then seeking advice from your diabetes team is important. There should be an emergency helpline at your diabetes clinic. It is just an answering machine here in my area but if you leave a message, someone rings you back.

Hope you get it figured out. Let us know how you get on.
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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