Oh bother this bloomin' basal!

[runner]

Hmmm...a couple of slight glitches today. I was 3.0 before my evening meal and 3.4 before bed. I don't think it's a basal problem, just too much novorapid - but thought I'd been under rather than over. The one before tea may have been because I decided to mow the lawn and should probably have backed that up with a hobnob or something! The other worrying thing is that I had no symptoms for either of the hypos, so maybe I'm losing my hypo-awareness - although they were both 'slow' hypos and not a rapid fall. Hey ho!🙄

Its strange how sometimes you can get a 5 and feel a hypo and onother time its 3. Hope you're not loosing awareness - probably, as you say they were slow, so not so noticeable.

I'm so sorry, but I was in hysterics when I read " I decided to mow the lawn and should probably have backed that up with a hobnob or something!" when you take it out of context, its just so surreal!

Hope things go better tomorrow for you.

 

[Steff]

im guessing they is also hyperawareness as well? do we pick this up ourselves as we learn to cope with diabetes are is they courses etc etc ??

 

[Northerner]

im guessing they is also hyperawareness as well? do we pick this up ourselves as we learn to cope with diabetes are is they courses etc etc ??

I'm not so sure about hyper-awareness, steff. I think some people do pick up on the fact that their levels are high, like feeling especially tired or unwell, but I think that hypo symptoms are generally much easier to spot - trembling, sweating, light-headedness etc. I can't speak personally, because I very rarely go above 10.

I woke this morning to 3.9, which is OK. I'm going to try and take less insulin with my food today and see if I can keep my levels raised a bit. I'd rather not, because I'm thinking of going for my HbA1c next week and I don't really want to raise that by deliberately raising my levels now as that's not going to be a fair indication of my average levels recently. Well, it is, but it isn't, if you see what I mean!🙂

 

[insulinaddict09]

I'm not so sure about hyper-awareness, steff. I think some people do pick up on the fact that their levels are high, like feeling especially tired or unwell, but I think that hypo symptoms are generally much easier to spot - trembling, sweating, light-headedness etc. I can't speak personally, because I very rarely go above 10.

I woke this morning to 3.9, which is OK. I'm going to try and take less insulin with my food today and see if I can keep my levels raised a bit. I'd rather not, because I'm thinking of going for my HbA1c next week and I don't really want to raise that by deliberately raising my levels now as that's not going to be a fair indication of my average levels recently. Well, it is, but it isn't, if you see what I mean!🙂

A 3.9 ok ??? , surely that is still too low What levels do you aim to achieve during a " good " day ? I try to stay below 10 at the moment ,
which sounds high but to me it is alot lower than my usual HIGH numbers .I had a morning blood of 7.5 and I am pleased with that as I have been having 18's and other silly numbers first thing. 😱

 

[Northerner]

A 3.9 ok ??? , surely that is still too low What levels do you aim to achieve during a " good " day ? I try to stay below 10 at the moment ,
which sounds high but to me it is alot lower than my usual HIGH numbers .I had a morning blood of 7.5 and I am pleased with that as I have been having 18's and other silly numbers first thing. 😱

Well, 3.9 is OK because they say to be between 4 and 7, so given that meters aren't absolutely accurate it could be slightly more or slightly less. 'Normies' have fasting levels down to 3.5, so there's not really any physiological reason you need to worry about anything down to that level, just that they give you 4.0 to aim for so there's a bit of 'cushioning' there for us diabetics. My meter only calls .5 a hypo.

I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties you are having - those kinds of levels would really worry me, as I'm sure they do you. You seem to have had a very poor deal treatment and control-wise over the years, especially given the fact that others in your family are Type1 - you'd think the doctors would have clarified your type much earlier on. Do your relations have similar problems with control? I would have thought you would be an ideal candidate for a pump!

 

[Northerner]

...I'm so sorry, but I was in hysterics when I read " I decided to mow the lawn and should probably have backed that up with a hobnob or something!" when you take it out of context, its just so surreal!

Hope things go better tomorrow for you.

It's not something you'd hear during the normal course of a day is it?!! Might be a poem in that...!🙂

 

[insulinaddict09]

It's not something you'd hear during the normal course of a day is it?!! Might be a peom in that...!🙂

Oh yes I think we need another poem !! its been ages since the last one !!

 

[insulinaddict09]

Well, 3.9 is OK because they say to be between 4 and 7, so given that meters aren't absolutely accurate it could be slightly more or slightly less. 'Normies' have fasting levels down to 3.5, so there's not really any physiological reason you need to worry about anything down to that level, just that they give you 4.0 to aim for so there's a bit of 'cushioning' there for us diabetics. My meter only calls .5 a hypo.

I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties you are having - those kinds of levels would really worry me, as I'm sure they do you. You seem to have had a very poor deal treatment and control-wise over the years, especially given the fact that others in your family are Type1 - you'd think the doctors would have clarified your type much earlier on. Do your relations have similar problems with control? I would have thought you would be an ideal candidate for a pump!

Ewww No , I dont really like the idea of a pump for me personally. I am quite happy with MDI , If I can just sort out my levels and try and stay in some sort of range and then begin to lower them I will be happy. My brother has been type 1 for over 20years and has very tight control , pretty much non diabetic levels !!! but he has suffered a lot of serious hypos because of that and did go hypo unaware 😱 , I think every Paramedic in the area knows him on a first name basis now!! He has managed to re-set himself and now is hypo aware again phew!!. I think All the others have pretty good control with the odd blip , its just me , the Bad Diabetic who is all over the place at the moment !!! ha ha But they have had it for years and I am only a Newbie , ive only been on Insulin since the begining of 2008. I am going to book for a
Hba1c when I go to the doctors for my script so [ yeah thanks Katie ] I will have some idea if it has changed from the 20 something the last one was 😱

 

[Steff]

I'm not so sure about hyper-awareness, steff. I think some people do pick up on the fact that their levels are high, like feeling especially tired or unwell, but I think that hypo symptoms are generally much easier to spot - trembling, sweating, light-headedness etc. I can't speak personally, because I very rarely go above 10.

I woke this morning to 3.9, which is OK. I'm going to try and take less insulin with my food today and see if I can keep my levels raised a bit. I'd rather not, because I'm thinking of going for my HbA1c next week and I don't really want to raise that by deliberately raising my levels now as that's not going to be a fair indication of my average levels recently. Well, it is, but it isn't, if you see what I mean!🙂

yes i know i can tell i assumed you had courses for things like that or books but like you say i get all thise symptoms and now when im hypering so i guess im already aware

 

[runner]

It's not something you'd hear during the normal course of a day is it?!! Might be a poem in that...!🙂

Definitely, bring it on!

I would be concerned still at 3.9, but I guess its how you feel at that level - I would be having hypo symptoms for sure.

Insulinaddict - I guess it's still early days and hopefully it will have come down from 20 - do you have software for your meter so you can look at averages and peaks etc?

 

[bev]

Hi Anne Marie,

I am a bit confused about why your levels are high? If your eating very low carbs or none at all - how can your levels be so high? I am not being critical here - i am just confused (blonde!). As Dodger says , if you dont put carbs in - you dont get high levels. What sort of units of insulin are you having with your food? Is your hba1c 20 or did you mean your levels are generally in the 20's? If your waking levels arent within range then perhaps you need to start there and either increase it or split the dose - is it running out before the 24 hours? Alex's are and last night i have split his levemir to see if that gives a more rounded 24 hours!🙂 Bev

 

[aymes]

If your eating very low carbs or none at all - how can your levels be so high? I am not being critical here - i am just confused (blonde!). As Dodger says , if you dont put carbs in - you dont get high levels.

I think there is an exception to that though surely, if your basal insulin is wrong then you could have high levels regardless of what you're eating due to the glucose being given out by your liver...

 

[bev]

I had thought about that too - but when at the jdrf day - i asked this very question about how often the liver will kick out glucose. We were told that at night the liver will kick out glucose - but - it wont keep doing this as its reserves run out and it takes awhile to get them back up - by which time the liver 'forgets' as it just gets used to the low levels. People in honeymoon are more able to do this - but after 5 years or so this ability is lost or at least its not as efficient. Its all very confusing isnt it?Bev

 

[sofaraway]

Aymes I agree with you, if the basal insulin is too low then the blood sugar is going to rise regardless of how many carbs you eat. I think it's probably more true to say that in people with type 2 that if you don't eat carbs the blood sugar is less likely to rise because of having insulin producation.

Bev are you talking about the Somogyi effect?

 

[bev]

Hi Nikki, yes thats what its called - i couldnt remember the name!🙂Bev

 

[runner]

Don't forget the carbs in the sweet treats and dried fruit - they can send my sugars way high.

 

[insulinaddict09]

Hi Anne Marie,

I am a bit confused about why your levels are high? If your eating very low carbs or none at all - how can your levels be so high? I am not being critical here - i am just confused (blonde!). As Dodger says , if you dont put carbs in - you dont get high levels. What sort of units of insulin are you having with your food? Is your hba1c 20 or did you mean your levels are generally in the 20's? If your waking levels arent within range then perhaps you need to start there and either increase it or split the dose - is it running out before the 24 hours? Alex's are and last night i have split his levemir to see if that gives a more rounded 24 hours!🙂 Bev

hi bev sorry for the delay , ive only just come back on , my last hba1c was in 2008 when i had dka , i have not has one since 😱. I think my problem at the moment is my basal is wrong , i have recently split the levemir dose as it did only last 18 hours . i also need to sort out my fast acting as i do just tend to guess my dosage 😱 most of the time that works but if i over estimate then its a rapid drop and hypo followed by a high and a correction .
when i actually do things correctly my range is alot better and i have gone from never being out of the top 20's [ for 6 years ] to being mainly 10's . i am getting there slowly ang the low carbing is so much better for me and the way i like to eat. my bloods were 7.4 this morning wooooo .

 

[insulinaddict09]

Don't forget the carbs in the sweet treats and dried fruit - they can send my sugars way high.

exactly , carbs are sneaky blighters , they even hide in lettuce !!! how fair is that !!!!!

 

[Northerner]

I woke this morning to 3.9, which is OK. I'm going to try and take less insulin with my food today and see if I can keep my levels raised a bit. I'd rather not, because I'm thinking of going for my HbA1c next week and I don't really want to raise that by deliberately raising my levels now as that's not going to be a fair indication of my average levels recently. Well, it is, but it isn't, if you see what I mean!🙂

Well, things went OK yesterday, with 5.6 pre-lunch, 4.3 pre-tea and 5.5 pre-bed. But today I seem to have been going low again despite dropping the NR a bit. I was 5.2 waking, then 3.7 before lunch and 3.3 before tea. No symptoms, so I guess I'm getting a few too many of those lows and my body/brain have adapated - the problem with that being, of course, that my symptoms might only kick in when I drop really low.

Tomorrow will be an odd day as I'm off to a wedding - drinks+canap?s after ceremony, wedding breakfast around 2:45, evening buffet. Not my normal day or eating pattern at all, nor my usual food. The bride has thankfully provided me with an early copy of the menu and the fillings of the canap?s so I can have some idea in advance of the insulin I might need to cover it all, but it's days like tomorrow where I would really welcome a pump so I could be a bit more spontaneous about my eating and drinking, and no injections to worry about! Plus, do I need to worry about dropping low, I wonder? I hate having to carry stuff around with me - normally that would just be a camera, but this time I'll need both pens, needles, meter gubbins etc., plus a bag of jelly babies ot be on the safe side. I suspect I'll end up running quite high levels (for me), but it's only one day and I intend to enjoy it!

 

[bev]

Northerner, enjoy yourself and let your hair down for one day! Your always within range - so one day wont hurt! Would you ever consider a pump? I havent heard you mention one before so i assumed you didnt like the idea.🙂 Bev