Hi my name is Claire and I was diagnosed January 23, since then I have coped with the condition and changed my lifestyle, I went away 3 weeks ago and caught a virus, since then I have struggled with my blood sugar levels to the point I went to see a doctor who told me to give it 4 weeks before seeing it settle, I know I have another week to go, but has anyone else experienced this?
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- Thread starter Callymc74
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rebrascora
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Hi Claire and welcome.
Can you tell us a bit about how your diagnosis originally came about? Were you symptomatic and if so which symptoms or was it picked up during a routine blood test or perhaps some other means?
Do you know what your HbA1c was at diagnosis and has it come down much with the lifestyle changes you have made.
It sounds like you are testing your BG at home. What sort of levels were you getting before the virus and what are they now?
How frequently do you test and do you follow a testing strategy ie before and 2 hours after meals or are you just randomly testing or some other system?
What if any medication are you on to help manage your diabetes?
Can you tell us a bit about how your diagnosis originally came about? Were you symptomatic and if so which symptoms or was it picked up during a routine blood test or perhaps some other means?
Do you know what your HbA1c was at diagnosis and has it come down much with the lifestyle changes you have made.
It sounds like you are testing your BG at home. What sort of levels were you getting before the virus and what are they now?
How frequently do you test and do you follow a testing strategy ie before and 2 hours after meals or are you just randomly testing or some other system?
What if any medication are you on to help manage your diabetes?
Leadinglights
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Welcome to the forum. It can take a while for the body to recover from a virus and people often have to be a bit more strict on their carb intake to keep blood glucose down. It will of course depend on what, if any medication you are taking as to how much reduction in your carb intake you can make. Keeping well hydrated is important.
What type of virus was it, respiratory or gastric.
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Sorry to hear your levels have gone a bit AWOL since your illness @Callymc74
Hope things begin to settle for you. How long did the virus last? Was it a stomach bug or more like a cold/flu thing?
Hope things begin to settle for you. How long did the virus last? Was it a stomach bug or more like a cold/flu thing?
stephenS50
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Hello there @Callymc74 and welcome to the forum.
Hi all apologies for late reply i went on holiday shortly after i posted this and when i came back i ended up in hospital! Since then ive been diagnosed with type 1 and now inject insulin, when first diagnosed my hb1ac was 115, that then dropped to the 40's slowly increasing to the 50's and when i got back of holiday it was 116! and my cholestrol was high at 7, since the virus (respiratory) my blood sugars were not coming down i eventually went to my own gp and he diagnosed urine infection and sinus infection, was given antibiotics and told it would come down once the infections have gone, by this time i was on holiday abroad, i started to feel like i did when i was first diagnosed (thirsty, tired, blurry vision, weight loss) by the time i went to a walk in centre by blood sugar was 29.9! and i had elevated ketones 
they sent me to a and e and was put on drips for dehydration, potassium to bring my ketones down and insulin, they kind of diagnosed me with type 1 and now i inject although they have not 100% confirmed this yet until blood results come back its very frustrating! When i think back my problems began when i switched from normal metformin to slow release, its been quite a stressful few weeks!
they sent me to a and e and was put on drips for dehydration, potassium to bring my ketones down and insulin, they kind of diagnosed me with type 1 and now i inject although they have not 100% confirmed this yet until blood results come back its very frustrating! When i think back my problems began when i switched from normal metformin to slow release, its been quite a stressful few weeks!
Inka
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At least it was spotted @Callymc74 and you got appropriate treatment 🙂 There are lots of people here who were diagnosed with Type 1 at a similar age to you. Some of those were wrongly assumed to be Type 2 first, but then got the correct diagnosis.
Type 1 and Type 2 are very different conditions so you might well have to have a bit of a mental re-set to help your approach to it. What insulins are you on?
Type 1 and Type 2 are very different conditions so you might well have to have a bit of a mental re-set to help your approach to it. What insulins are you on?
I'm on Humalog and the 24 hour one cant remember name, i started on 14 units for the 24 hour one but this has since been increased to 20 units - however i think this may increase again as my blood sugar still a little too high! i suppose its trial and error - did you find this when diagnosed?
Inka
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Type 1 is very much trial and error @Callymc74 not just after diagnosis, but often years later. Things change, change again, then change back. It’s not easy being your own pancreas!
It’s normal to be started on less insulin than they think you’ll need. This is for safety reasons (to avoid hypos as much as possible) and also to bring your blood sugar down gradually so it’s less of a shock to your body.
Are you on fixed doses of the Humalog at meals?
It’s normal to be started on less insulin than they think you’ll need. This is for safety reasons (to avoid hypos as much as possible) and also to bring your blood sugar down gradually so it’s less of a shock to your body.
Are you on fixed doses of the Humalog at meals?
Im on 4 units and if my blood sugar is over 12 for every 3 its over i have to add on one unit when i see dietician they will explain how to carb count
Inka
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Ok @Callymc74 Carb counting is actually pretty simple so don’t worry about learning that. I’ll put a couple of links below that should be helpful. As you’re on a fixed dose of Humalog (4 units, presuming your blood sugar is in range), try to eat a similar amount of carbs at each meal. If you eat too few, your blood sugar could go too low; if you eat too many, then it could go too high. So keep things as constant as you can.
Learn about carb counting
Being aware of the amount of carbs in food and drinks is important for everyone with diabetes, we've got some tips to help you do this.
And:
Bertie Diabetes
bertiediabetes.com
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Thanks for the update @Callymc74
Goodness! What a time you’ve had 😱
T1 in later life often seems to present like that, as it can come on a little more slowly, and sometimes gets picked up when there are a few beta cells still valiantly struggling on. These can then rally a bit, and initially it can look like the oral meds are helping, but as the beta cells continue to be attacked by your immune system, sooner or later a tipping point is reached, and you need insulin to survive.
It seems possible that this may be what happened for you.
Have you been offered Libre or Dexcom to help you see how your levels are responding to the doses you are taking, and meals you are eating?
Goodness! What a time you’ve had 😱
T1 in later life often seems to present like that, as it can come on a little more slowly, and sometimes gets picked up when there are a few beta cells still valiantly struggling on. These can then rally a bit, and initially it can look like the oral meds are helping, but as the beta cells continue to be attacked by your immune system, sooner or later a tipping point is reached, and you need insulin to survive.
It seems possible that this may be what happened for you.
Have you been offered Libre or Dexcom to help you see how your levels are responding to the doses you are taking, and meals you are eating?
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