Newbie with Potential Severe Problems

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jasons6930

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hey guys,

I am 50 and have been T1 for around 35 years and i am currently using Humalog and Lantus for my medication.

Over the last 24 hours my blood sugars have been 20-25 and i just cannot seem to get them down, by increasing my Humalog dosing.

This evening, i was at around 15, so i upped my normal dose of 20 units to around 26 units, tested 2 hours later and i was at 24.

I took another 10 units of Humalog and tested another two hours later and now i am at 25!

Lantus dosage is around 34units per day.

I will certainly be monitoring over night and will speak to my doc first thing tomorrow.

I am 6ft and around 12st, admittedly less than healthy diet (although good carb intake), double vaccinated (early 21) and just boosted (7th Dec).

Took an LFT earlier and all negative.

Has anyone any experience of this?

Thanks for any pointers.
 
Could you have forgotten your Lantus? Definitely change your Humalog cartridge as @helli suggests, as well as testing for ketones.

Even if the booster was pushing your blood sugar up, the Humalog should be working. Do give it time though. With blood sugar that high, it will take 3 or more hours to start moving down.

If you can’t get your blood sugar down at all, I think a call to 111 would be sensible.
 
Hi all and thanks for the replies

Thinking about it, i may have forgotten my lantus last night but the trouble is, when one has been doing it for so long, one does fall into such a routine that i can't always remember! ( I have just now had my Lantus!)

When changing the cartridge, i assume you mean binning the current one and inserting a new one with the off chance it may not be 'working'?

Would that make a difference considering it would be from the box/batch?

In all honesty, i have never tested my Keytones as this is normally checked on my routine check ups. I have now ordered these from Amazon which should delivered tomorrow.


🙂

One thing i did forget to mention earlier is that i have noticed a small amount of hair loss on my pillow over the last few weeks. Not sure if that is related.
 
jasons6930 said:
One thing i did forget to mention earlier is that i have noticed a small amount of hair loss on my pillow over the last few weeks. Not sure if that is related.
Click to expand...
Has your thyroid been checked?
It sounds to me as if you need to do a basal test to find out if your lantus is giving full cover (That's if you took it in the first place.)
Also as all the others have said with their good advice 🙂
 
No idea about the hair loss bit. Checking ketones is a good idea if your numbers are persistently high but by the amount of insulin you have taken you might have stacked it so your numbers might suddenly drop.
 
Sue's comment about checking your thyroid blood tests is a good one - having shaved my legs since I was about 14, once I hardly ever had one grow on my lower legs 20 years later, I always told friends it must be because all the money I'd spent by then having them waxed......... mind you my school friend always wondered why it worked for me but not for her .......

What a twerp! - by then I was hypo thyroid!
 
Thanks again everyone for your replies, they are much appreciated!

Well, things are starting to improve, with a test now giving me approx 16.

I had my Lantus just under 2 hours ago so i think as that is starting to kick in, this was probably the cause of my concern, although i suspect my extra Humalog is assisting as well.

I will also look at getting thyroid checked, along with doing a basal test when i get the soonest opportunity.

I will admit that i have not lead a particularly healthy lifestyle, and with that in mind, i think there will be a few issues starting to crop up.

Latest one being a slight numbness in my big toes, which i know goes with the territory albeit in my case, probably sooner than normal due to my history!

Thanks again!

🙂
 
You may want to monitor your levels over night because you may have stacked the humalog your numbers might suddenly drop
 
Morning all,

Test this morning comes in at just over 11 so heading in the right direction, although as mentioned above, was expecting to have a sudden drop but this clearly hasn't been the case.

I have adjusted the Humalog as i always would to account for this, had a couple of slices of toast with a little butter and will be heading out for a short walk soon.

I'll keep you posted!
 
jasons6930 said:
Morning all,

Test this morning comes in at just over 11 so heading in the right direction, although as mentioned above, was expecting to have a sudden drop but this clearly hasn't been the case.

I have adjusted the Humalog as i always would to account for this, had a couple of slices of toast with a little butter and will be heading out for a short walk soon.

I'll keep you posted!
Click to expand...
Make sure you do not make to many changes at once, otherwise you wont know what works and what doesn't.
No1 rule is sort out your basal before you start on your bolus adjustments. 9 times out of 10 it's a basal problem.
 
Thanks Sue,

Never made it out for the walk, however two hours later, result came in near enough the same at just over 11.

Yes i am thinking you are correct so this evening i will up my basal a couple of units.

Is it common to have to up basal as one ages and deteriorates in health? :D
 
jasons6930 said:
Is it common to have to up basal as one ages and deteriorates in health?
Click to expand...
Basal can change if the wind direction changes 🙂
Some people need more basal in the winter than summer and others are the opposite, and yes health problems tend to lead to more insulin needed.
As I always say we are humans not machines so we do not run on well oiled cogs so need to adjust as life indicates. 🙂
 
I’ve fixed my ability to forget my basal insulin (Levemir) by using an Insulcheck device on the pen. These are available for your particular pen from the Diabetes UK Shop (there’s a button on the top bar of the forum pages). It’s simply a device to tell you how long it it is since you last injected. In your case it would be every 24 hours, in mine every 12. I’ve just checked, and it’s now 11.29 hours since my night injection, so in half an hour I need some more. Simple, and as I demonstrate, idiot proof.🙂
 
So, tested about 30 mins ago and now at 7.7!

Also just did a keytone test and that is showing negative so that's a relief!

I think at this stage i will monitor over the next few days to see how things settle and if it all starts going haywire again, ill call the docs.
 
That’s good that your number has come down and no ketones although they do mostly appear only when you numbers are high
 
Ok slight update!

Monster levels of 22-25 throughout the day, despite me upping my Lantus but only by a couple of units.

Just did a keytone test and the result of that is 4mmol/l.

I have taken on some extra Humalog around 6.30 this evening to hopefully deal with it, so should i test keytones again in a couple of hours alongside another blood sugar test?

(I am beginning to wonder if i have a bad batch og Humalog cartridges although i did change a couple of days ago but from the same batch/box).

Thanks guys
 
jasons6930 said:
Ok slight update!

Monster levels of 22-25 throughout the day, despite me upping my Lantus but only by a couple of units.

Just did a keytone test and the result of that is 4mmol/l.

I have taken on some extra Humalog around 6.30 this evening to hopefully deal with it, so should i test keytones again in a couple of hours alongside another blood sugar test?

(I am beginning to wonder if i have a bad batch og Humalog cartridges although i did change a couple of days ago but from the same batch/box).

Thanks guys
Click to expand...
That level of ketones is high. What I would do is test BG and ketones every half an hour (that’s what I would do) It may seem too much testing that much but ketones can be dangerous
 
Lily123 said:
That level of ketones is high. What I would do is test BG and ketones every half an hour (that’s what I would do) It may seem too much testing that much but ketones can be dangerous
Click to expand...
Ok thanks, message received.

Will test both again at 20:45 and report back.

🙂
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top