Need some advice

[Kraftykate]

Just recovering from flu recently. Over the last few days My blood sugars are really high always above 13 and sometimes 21. I’ve changed insulin pen, sensor and were I inject but still can’t get my levels down. My diet is good. Granted I’ve not done much exercise recently, which I usually do. Is this why the levels are not coming down. I’ve been Type 1 for 2 years, so I’m still a newbie to all this. Should I be worried or will it come down naturally when I’m fully recovered. Would appreciate some advice. Thanks

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Granted I’ve not done much exercise recently, which I usually do. Is this why the levels are not coming down.

That's probably part of it. It's also normal to need more insulin (sometimes much more) when we're ill. And once you're over 15 (for some value of "15") it can take what seem like silly amounts of insulin to get back to normal (hence the term "rage bolus").

Should I be worried or will it come down naturally when I’m fully recovered.

You should try and control it, but in a bit more of a relaxed way (so don't worry if you're not able to keep as well controlled as you usually do). Use your sick day rules (and if you don't have any, there are links https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/board...for-people-new-to-diabetes.10406/#post-938456 ).

It's probably worth trying to get in contact with your healthcare team, and if things really seem to be getting out of control contact 111. Better to take some of their time now than to end up with DKA.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

What I find with my kid is that he may or may not need more insulin when he has signs of illness but that he definitely needs more for several days at least afterwards and sometimes a week or more. I think your body is probably still doing a lot of work but you’re getting fewer symptoms because it’s winning the battle.

You need the insulin you need. And once you get higher than 14-15 or so you tend to need more to bring it down. Do check ketones periodically if you’re really high but it’s more likely just that your body needs more insulin right now rather than dealing with ketones too.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Sorry to hear you have been ill and are struggling to control your BG levels now. Did you increase your basal or are you just using your bolus insulin to do corrections. Also which basal do you use? Have you done a DAFNE course or local equivalent?
If you have only been diagnosed 2 years, it is possible that you may still be in your honeymoon period and the virus may have triggered your immune system to have "another go" at some of your remaining beta cells, so it may be that you need to increase your basal insulin on a permanent basis if that is what has happened, rather than it just being a short term for the aftermath of the illness. I know I was really quite resistant to increasing my basal in the first couple of years and would firefight with corrections of my quick acting insulin and get very frustrated when my levels didn't come down. When I eventually gave in and increased my basal insulin, it would all be so much easier again. I have eventually learned to not be frightened of adjusting my basal insulin either up or down and that gives me much better results that correction after correction that seems to do nothing and then I get really frustrated and stick in a whopping big correction (often referred to here as a "rage bolus") and end up hypo and then after treating it, I am back up to where I came from, so it achieved nothing. Whereas increasing my basal by a couple of units often just fixes it without any real aggravation. If you are not confident about adjusting your basal insulin then speak to your nurse, but it is part of the sick day rules for dealing with high levels during illness.

Hope you manage to get them reined in soon and are back to more plain sailing.
Do let us know how you get on.

 

[helli]

I also recommend getting your levels back to normal sooner rather than later by increasing your insulin.
The reason for this is that high levels can magnify symptoms of illness and pain giving your body more to fight and prolonging the illness. With blood sugars closer to normal you will feel more human and allow your body to heal.

 

[Kraftykate]

Thank you all for your reassuring advice. I hadn't heard of the 'sick day rules' , to be honest, this is the first time I've really been ill since I was diagnosed.
Thanks for the link on sick day rules, very useful. Ketone test done and it reads 0.1. I will adjust my basal not bolus corrections and hopefully in a few days I will feel more human.
I was scared of using too much correction bolus insulin just incase I then went into a hypo.
Thank you all again, it's lovely to have this forum

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope you find the sick day rules helpful @Kraftykate

Like many diabetes things, you may find you need to treat the published advice as a starting point, and perhaps adjust them to suit yourself as you go along.

You may find the suggestions work perfectly for you… but it’s always a good idea to keep an open mind, and adjust to tailor tp your own individual diabetes 🙂