I was put on Lantus and Novolog in July. It appears the honeymoon is over now and we are having to adjust my dosage. I started at 10 units of Lantus every night, then had high sugars before dinner, so we did 6 units twice daily. Now I am up to 10 units at night and 6 in the morning. I also think I have a nice case of dawn phenomenon. I went to bed last night with a blood sugar of 126, tested at 2am, was 106 and in the morning was 151 before I ate. I also woke up sweaty, had a pounding headache and had strange dreams all night. So, long story short, what would a good goal blood sugar before bed be, and any advice about the high fasting after what I considered a good blood sugar before bed and at 2 AM? BTW, until we went up on the Lantus, my usual fastings were in the one teens or less, and except for my dinnertime blood sugars, everything else was great during the day. My A1C is currently 5.8, so I think up until the last few weeks things had been well controlled. Thanks in advance for any help!
Forgot one thing, my Novolog is dosed for a 1 unit to 15 gram carb ratio which seems to work most of the time. Thanks!
What is your diet like? I'm still in the honeymoon of Type 1.5 because I'm eating raw vegan foods only.
I dont usually test at 2 AM, but I had nearly an identical episode the morning before, went to bed OK, woke up high(162), was sweaty with a headache and funny dreams, so I tested at 2 this morning to see of I was getting too low in the middle of the night. I only take the Novolog with breakfast lunch and dinner- I usually dont need any with snacks if I keep them small. I have only had high blood sugars the last 2 mornings-but I feel so awful when I wake up I thought maybe something was going on at night. I will probably test at 3 AM tonight to see if there is any difference.
Right now Im back to eating meat etc during the holidays, but normally eat vegan. My family is not on board with the vegan thing and very judgemental about it. It is impossible to not eat during a visit for many reasons- I am taking the easy way out because my mom is extremely confrontational and with all the other things in life I have going on-kids, stress from hubby's family issues etc, I dont have the energy to deal with her issues right now. I am still mostly vegan though. It didnt seem when I looked back at my log books that my sugars were much if any worse vegan vs meat. I definately can tell a difference in my tummy though- all the hearburn is back, my ankles swell up and it might also explain some of the other headaches I get. Right now I try to limit myself to 20-30 carbs a meal. Snacks are usually raw veggies or 1/2 a fruit(once a day). I dont eat after 8 PM.
I'm so sorry that you're getting confrontation and not support. I should have clarified. I don't eat any grains, cereal grain, and sadly not much fruit. The meat will NOT raise your glucose levels, but it does contribute to other factors regarding your health.
With your busy family life, I know squeezing in a book is difficult. Read all you can, and you will know what is best for you, your husband, and your beautiful children. You'll want them all to eat well!
The other thing which is very hard during the holidays is getting in exercise. Exercise really helps.
Today, my own fbg was 94 after 10 units of Lantus at night. That's really high for me. Then I realized that I've been dealing with a client at work who is difficult. My stress levels are up. It sounds as if you've got stress. Stress really makes it hard to keep glucose levels even.
For your own health, resolve to eliminate as much of the stress as you can. This is for you. You're worth it!
Thanks for the very understanding reply. My mother who is an uncontrolled type 2 and refuses insulin just said to me on the phone a few minutes ago-and I quote " I think if I were on insulin, I would try a little harder not to be"'. Good grief, I am up to 2 doses of lantus and 3 doses of Novolog a day-5 injections plus at least 4-6 glucose checks. I do watch what I eat pretty well but I'm not perfect(not many of us are). She is a control freak who thinks she can control everything including her pancreas. I guess I can just will or pray it away-goodness! My mother in law also just informed me she will use brown sugar in all her Christmas recipes this year because it's natural and diabetics can have it. I quit! I will be sharing no more information with them. At least my husband is a flight paramedic and gets it! Anyway, thanks again for your understanding and help. I really appreciate it!
I think I will make a call to the doctor tomorrow, I'm out of ideas. The only other thing I just thought of is I had a root canal that got infected- I am on my 3rd round of antibiotics since Thanksgiving. That may very well explain things. I am very fortunate to almost never get sick or have any sort of infections- so I don't know what is normal for me yet when I do get sick. Thanks for your help! It's a nice change to talk to others who get it and are supportive- definately not something I'm used to!
I personally shoot 80 units of Lantus. I use Humalog as my fast actor. I have a long way to go in order to decrease my dosages. I'm not a big fan of lows, or of any sweeteners, including all sugars and artificial stuff. I just try to tell myself that I'm not a child and do not need to candify my food in order to enjoy it. lol...it works sometimes! Thanks for your great posts! They help.
I´m type 1 using both Lantus twice a day and Novolog for meals and corrections. My experience with Lantus is that it peaks after 5-6 hours and thus can cause lows during the night if the dose is incorrect.
When you wake up sweaty, with a pounding headache and have had strange dreams all night this could all coming from having had an episode of low blood sugar during the night. How many hours after your evening dose is the 2 am test? If it´s only 3 or 4 hours after the Lantus try testing again at 3 am. If it´s still stable then, test again at 4 am.This way you will find out when it gets too low. If it does.
Another thing to do is to switch the doses. Using 10 units Lantus in the morning and only 6 units in the evening. This way you can see if the 10 units is too much for you without risking sleeping through a an episode of low blood sugar. My splitting is 8 units in the morning at 7 am and 5 units in the evening at 10 pm. I do it this way because it´s 15 hours between the morning and evening dos and only 9 hours between evening and morning dose. I also split the injection in the morning into 2x4units because of this article:
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2007/11/28/5565/why-smaller-shots-of-insulin-get-absorbed-faster-peak-sooner-and-are-out-of-your-system-quicker/
Dr Bernstein has some interessting thoughts on Lantus in this article:
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2007/11/30/5559/in-my-opinion-there-is-no-24-hour-basal-insulin-/?isComment=1
@Vegan Aurora: You write that:"...meat will NOT raise your glucose levels..." This is sadly not correct. It hink it´s 52 or 54% of the protein that converts to glucose only at a slower rate than carbohydrates. You can read more about it in the group here at TuDiabetes called TAG, meaning Total Glucose Available:
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/tagers
Thanks Siri, I've been thinking about splitting my Lantus for a while since I get midday lows and fasting highs. So if I lower my morning dose I will probably avoid those lows during the day and wake up with a decent fasting blood sugar.