I've been working really hard for tight BG control and I succeeded with a home A1c of 6.1 (doctor appt tomorrow for official results)....
Since wednesday last week my bg has been increasing dramatically for no reason. I've corrected, I've changed insulin vials, I've changed my pod site... nothing.
I've been running my basals +50% all day long only to drop me from the 300 and 400s into the mid 200s.
(may be tmi: I had some brown spotting wednesday. I took a pregnancy test, came back negative)
Does anyone know what could be causing this? Of course I'll bring it up to the doctor tomorrow but Im getting really frustrated with feeling like crap due to bg that I can't control.
(btw: not sick, sinus infection but its not bad and has never caused this before)
emotional stress?
different eating habits?
new job?
new living situation?
new friends?
Developing scar tissue in your pod area? Since you changed your pump site, did you switch it to a place that you don’t normally use at all? Can you try injecting insulin with syringe into your thigh to see if it drops you down? That way you’ll know if it’s scar tissue or just some kind of resistance to the insulin for some reason.
every few years your allergies change. Every few years (for me) my insulin needs change. When i started becoming insulin resistant, (I’m a double “hybrid” diabetic… but I’m tall and thin) it happened really fast. Suddenly, one day, I just had to double all of my corrections, boluses and basal dosages to achieve normal BG. How long have you been T1?
Nothing has changed, which is why Im so baffled. I’ve been T1 since I was 11, so 13 almost 14 years? Ive had 3 different pod changes since last wednesday (back, right arm, left arm- I used to wear my cozmo in my stomach or hip- so no scar tissue)
I’m printing out reports from copilot and highlighting the weirdness for my doctor for tomorrow.
today:
wake 631am 122
breakfast was toast 22 cho-3.05 units
For me, every fall and every spring, same thing. Dramatic changes in insulin requirements. Have absolutely no explanation. Nothing changes as far as my eating habits or execise and I only recently noticed it (a few years ago?) Last fall had to lower my lantus 3 units suddenly. About 3 weeks ago (exactly with the first warm days) my BS went throuh the roof. I had been perfect for months,couldn’t get a high or low if I tried!!! Then suddenly 250 every morning, 300 by lunch etc. I upped my lantus 1 unit and now, perfect again. I never noticed the trend until someone else on this site mentioned it and low and behold, the timing fit exactly what I was going through. My Doctor said he had heard of this before but he explained it with a change in activity but this is just not true. I exercise same amount indoors; summer, fall, winter, spring. It’s crazy! There are a lot of factors, I know stress can play a role and sometimes you don’t realize you are stressed, but this fall/spring routine is really getting to be the norm for me.
For me allergies seem to have a major impact on my blood sugars and make them much higher if they (the allergies) aren’t well controlled, almost like I’m sick. My endocrinologist said it makes sense, since you’re body is reacting to allergens as if it’s fighting off an infection, so it’s the same hormones involved.
I’ve had the exact same thing going on for about 2 weeks! Usually well controlled and had awful days last week with nothing under 200, lots of high 200s-low 300s. Absolutely crazy, and very frustrating. I eat the same, exercise the same. I upped my predawn, morning and afternoon basals and changed my carb ratios. Highest yesterday and today 180 - better. I am so damn tired of having to think about sugars so much. My 14 day average is awful, and I am scared to see what this has done to my A1c. I get it done next week. Incidentally, the weather here in Tampa has warmed considerably during this time period. I wonder if it’s related?
Sorry to hear about the struggles recently. I also had an increase in my insulin needs in the last few weeks and my doctor increased my basals.
The only other thing that I can think of is a bad batch of insulin (i.e. the whole shipment got overheated). If the increases don’t do it, I would try insulin bought from a different pharmacy.
Thanks. Yeah I took the 2nd home A1c test today… 7.9. Ouch. Im not too sure if the 6.1 was accurate or if the 7.9 was accurate, especially after these 300 and 400s. I’ll find out offically tomorrow.
I got 3 month supply from this pharmacy… I really hope all 9 boxes arent like this if its an insulin issue. Ive been holding steady in the 140s since I last tested (of course!) so who knows
This has been my first season with wildly erratic BG due to allergies. I spent 3 weeks in January barely able to stay under 300… I had a full day where my dexcom read “high” (I was not over 400 all that time, but was pretty close). I kid you not… I was injecting corrections of 30u several times a day and it was doing nothing… I had at one point tripled my basal rates and that held me steady at around 200.
Then, out of the blue, one day I started having lows and it all just stopped… everything back to normal. It was like the twilight zone.
I’ve since changed some things about how I’m dealing with my allergies (I’m taking THREE different allergy meds right now) and things have been much much better
Sarah,
I woke this morning with 279, no explaination. I was so frustrated, I took some extra short term insulin, but forgot to take my long term, b/c I was so confused. I thought I was going crazy, not really, but I was upset.
I am glad you asked this question, b/c I was trying to blame it on stress, since I have been under more stress at work, but allergies fits better with what I have been experiencing. We’ll see if that does it for me. I get an A1c tomorrow, too. I should get the results Friday. I am pretty affraid of what mine will be, too.
It’s possible that the change in temperature was seen by your body as stress, as in anxiety, and responded by raising bg to “fight” the situation? “Fight or flight” syndrome can affect our levels in so many ways.
