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FieldD88

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Type 1
Hey all!

I have very recently been diagnosed with type 1 (Wednesday) although, we're awaiting antibody results over the next 6 weeks to confirm if its type 1 or type 2, but currently being treated for type 1!

Question though. I've had a load of information about hypos, but is there such thing as a hyper? My BM is currently 11.3 and coming down each day, it was 26.7 on Sunday. Any and all help appreciated

Dean
 
Welcome to the forum
Hyper is when blood glucose is higher than it should be sometimes substantially higher which is usually what gives the symptoms of thirst, peeing a lot, blurry eyes and in the extreme ketones which can lead to the dangerous DKA, which would always need immediate medical treatment. It is a good idea to have ketone urine test strips to use if you have high blood glucose in the high teens or more.

I assume you are being treated with insulin as your Hb1AC was very high, it is usual to give conservative doses of insulin initially to bring down your levels slowly as otherwise you can get issues with your eyes and nerves.
Do make sure you have hypo treatment always to hand.

What insulins have you been prescribed and have you been given a Libre and blood glucose monitor for finger prick testing.
 
Leadinglights said:
Welcome to the forum
Hyper is when blood glucose is higher than it should be sometimes substantially higher which is usually what gives the symptoms of thirst, peeing a lot, blurry eyes and in the extreme ketones which can lead to the dangerous DKA, which would always need immediate medical treatment. It is a good idea to have ketone urine test strips to use if you have high blood glucose in the high teens or more.

I assume you are being treated with insulin as your Hb1AC was very high, it is usual to give conservative doses of insulin initially to bring down your levels slowly as otherwise you can get issues with your eyes and nerves.
Do make sure you have hypo treatment always to hand.

What insulins have you been prescribed and have you been given a Libre and blood glucose monitor for finger prick testing.
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Hey!

Thabks for the reply. Yeah, I'm on insulin. I have Lantus (10 units once per day) and Novorapid (2 units before each main meal).

I get the difference between the two, but do people suffer effects from there blood sugars being too high like you would do with hypos?
 
FieldD88 said:
Hey!

Thabks for the reply. Yeah, I'm on insulin. I have Lantus (10 units once per day) and Novorapid (2 units before each main meal).

I get the difference between the two, but do people suffer effects from there blood sugars being too high like you would do with hypos?
Click to expand...
Hi Dean, welcome to the club no-one is too desperate to join :rofl:

Speaking from my own experience, I would say that when my blood sugar is high (perhaps over 16?) I get a fast heart rate and feel nauseous - this has thankfully only happened once to me since diagnosis and it came back down really fast (I had a faulty needle and didn't notice!). Before I was diagnosed I had these symptoms to the extreme on a couple of occasions, pretty sure the sugars were well, well into double figures when this happened (although if course being undiagnosed at the time I could not check), this was accompanied with the sensation of being so incredibly tired I could fall asleep standing up. I should als say that if you produce ketones because of high blood sugar then these can also make you feel unwell and would need to be monitored really closely because of the risk of DKA.

I find that if my sugars are mildly high e.g 11/12, then I can't really feel it unless I scan my Libre. Obviously the symptoms of lows vary from person to person (not sure if you've experienced one yet?) But include sweating, shaking, feeling weak, slurring words etc (my hypo speciality is I start to feel light headed and 'drunk'!), and of course must be treated with fast acting carbs straight away. I find lows can come on more suddenly than highs, but they're over and done with faster too - I remember a nurse saying to me once that a low tries to harm you quickly, whilst the highs will do slow damage.

Others may be different, but I am guessing we perhaps only get symptoms of extreme highs because they are damaging to our bodies (strain on blood vessels, organs, eyes etc) and lows as they are immediately dangerous because our body is trying to protect us? I found having a CGM, such as a Libre, invaluable for helping me to spot the small signs that I may be heading in one direction or the other, as well as obviously the alarm functions. If you don't already have one, I would ask your team or GP if you can get one asap - they are available free on prescription to all Type 1s.
 
Hi @FieldD88 and welcome to the forum. I am sure some of out T1's will be along soon to answer your question from a T1 point of view but in the broad if your blood glucose gets very high you run the risk of very severe short term problems leading to hospitalisation. It is called DKA (read up about it) and is something to be aware of rather than worried about. If you have high blood glucose for a prolonged period then you run the risk of progressive nerve damage that could give problems later in life.

One thing for sure is that any time put into working out how to be your own pancreas and get your blood glucose control close to what nature intended will be well spent. Don't forget nature has had years to get its automatic system right so don't expect to get it right overnight when operating in manual but as many of our T1's show, you can get close enough when you have got the hang of things.
 
FieldD88 said:
I get the difference between the two, but do people suffer effects from there blood sugars being too high like you would do with hypos?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum @FieldD88

Short answer - yes.

Different people will get different warning signs for both low glucose levels and high glucose levels.

Some people’s warning signs are more marked and clearer than others for high levels, and you need to be careful to maintain your warning signs of low blood glucose by limiting exposure to low levels as much as you can - because low blood glucose levels are more immediately problematic and worrying in the short term (very low blood glucose can lead to confusion, convulsions, coma and death)

Aside from the risk of DKA if high glucose levels persist for some time, high levels generally cause problems over the longer term by causing damage to fine blood vessels and nerve endings. These can give rise to potentially life-changing complications including serious problems with eyes, kidneys, heart and feet.

Diabetes is potentially very serious, but try not to get too anxious about the possible nasties that may lie in wait down the line. Focus on trying to keep your numbers as in-range as you can for as much of the time as you can. Some straying ‘outside the lines‘ is inevitable, but with modern insulins, monitoring, and gizmos it is more possible than ever to keep your levels in a healthy range for a substantial amount of time and significantly reduce your risks of long-term complications 🙂
 
When you are initially diagnosed, your levels are likely consistently high and your body adjusts to that a bit so whilst you may get the thirst and weeing and fatigue, the more subtle hyper warning signs seem to develop once you have learned to manage your diabetes well and keep your levels more stable.
So when I was first diagnosed my levels were consistently in the teens and very occasionally 20s and other than feeling a bit rough I didn't notice because that was the norm, but when my levels dropped fast or got a lot lower, even if I didn't go below 4 I felt really bad with hypo signs. Now 4 years down the line my levels are much more stable and I start to feel hyper signs above 8 sometimes, particularly during exercise as it makes it much harder and I sleep really restlessly and get hot and sweaty when levels are above 10. This morning I woke at 4.55am hot and sweating because I was hyper with levels at 11.9. 3 units of bolus insulin fixed it though.

Edited to change an erroneous hypo to hyper where highlighted in bold print. .... I was hypo this morning whilst typing my reply so brain wasn't fully engaged. 🙄
 
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