Sudden High BG!

[MikeyBikey]

After bumbling along all afternoon at slightly over 7 at 6:00 my BG was 17.3 (Libre) having risen in the previous two hours although I had not eaten since lunch. I took 10u Actrapid but afer dropping 0.5 - 1.0 mmol/L t was 18.7 (15.7 meter) a few hours later (no food only coffee and water). I then took my usual dose using a new vial of Actrapid. It's going down very slowly and is now 15.6 (13.1 meter). I feel fine although my missig leg has a post Phantom Pain tingling and I wonder if I had a bad bout whilst I had 40 winks. Anyone had anything similar?

 

[Merluza]

I have this happen occasionally and I generally put it down to having chosen a poor injection site or I may have forgotten an injection. It sounds mostly like a missed long acting insulin moment. If you took 10u of Actrapid to bring it down then this obviously didn't work, did you have a big lunch? Did you do either of the above before the peak, how are your injection sites?

In the past I've noticed that an extra injection without eating can provoke my liver into issuing glucose so it could be that. If you took your normal dose and ate a normal sized meal with a high BG then it won't be enough to deal with it.

I've found to my cost that taking more insulin in a sort of random manner can lead you to a bad place so for me the best way to deal with this is to stick to my routine, increase insulin a bit before eating and reduce carb intake and let my system settle down and sort it out.

 

[Inka]

It’s something in the air @MikeyBikey I had similar last night and this morning. I’ve changed my cannula, insulin cartridge and done plenty of corrections with a pen, but it was a very stubborn, prolonged high 😡 I put it down to poor absorption.

I hope your blood sugar behaves better today. It’s so stressful being high and fighting to get it down.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear about your BG wobbles @MikeyBikey

One high profile and very respected consultant I once chatted to at a diabetes event suggested that in his practice his experience suggests that ‘mid teens’ highs are most likely dose errors / mistakes in carb estimate, whereas once you get up to 18-20 it’s more likely missed bolus, non-absorption/bad site, or failed infusion set for those on a pump, or even failed insulin.

I have found that pretty helpful as a rule of thumb when my levels go haywire. By the time I get to high teens I begin to think the insulin hasn’t delivered properly. It’s not foolproof, of course, but it has given me confidence to take action earlier than I might (eg changing infusion site)