HELP! Think I just gave myself 8 units of air instead of basal

I went off pump yesterday. told to go back on MDI's until next week. I take 2 doses of levemir am & pm and I draw up my levemir pen with a syringe because of use 1/2 units. I've NEVER used an entire pen, it usually expires before I'm done with it.

However, this pen is nearly empty. I drew up 8 units of levemir with syringe tonight...it felt funny when I drew it up and when I injected it felt weird, like nothing went in. I looked at the pen and the orange stopper is at the 50 mark but when I put the syringe in to see if there was insulin coming out it looks empty, no insulin drawing up. Thus, I think I just gave myself 8 units of air instead of insulin? WHAT SHOULD I DO? My numbers have been high today because yesterday my pump start was messed up and missed my levemir dose because of pump start. Blood sugars high right now anyway, 188, gave a correction.

I'm gonna call my endo I guess?

I would call the endo for sure, but would probably not take any more long acting til your next dose tomw. Since you don't know how much you took, it could be dangerous to guess and take more. Set your alarm every 2 hours or so and take a correction, maybe? That's what I did when my pump busted and I didn't wanna take the long acting for the day it took for the new pump to show up.

crap, i'm at 182 right now...i don't think i took any? so, just keep taking a small bolus you think? waiting for endo to call me. i frickin HATE this damn disease! thanks!

whatever you do, dont panic. Even if you didn't take any levemir you can manage it with the short acting insulin tonight. Your numbers may not be perfect but you'll get through. Def wait to hear from your endo.
I hear your frustration. Sounds like it's just gonna be one of "those" nights.

i'm kinda freakin out, my sugars are 210 right now i don't think i gave myself any and they've been messed up from the stupid pump yesterday. i just gave myself more novolog. i'm crying...! ugh!

Hi Sarah, my reply is late. I'm sure by now you've worked everything out. But don't panic at numbers in the low 200s. There are people who survive for decades with numbers consistently in that range. It is only a long term type of problem, which increases the chance of complications the more you are consistently high.

I have done much worse in my dosing mistakes! I'm also MDI, and have given myself air on more than one occasion. As suggested, just test more frequently and correct with fast acting insulin. One time I also took 20 units at night as usual, but then I couldn't remember if I had taken Lantus as usual or humalog by mistake. I had to wait for hypo symptoms to start. Of course I had used the humalog by accident, so I had to eat like a starving raptor and then I had to deal with the lack of the Lantus dose for the next day. It wasn't fun, but I survived just fine with no hospital visit or anything.

thanks! i did indeed panic because it was 10:30pm and I realized I hadn't given myself any basal in the AM either, that's why my BG's kept climbing all day and i was doing so many corrections. 200's yeah that's OK but climbing to 240's at night, giving correction after correction with nothing happening and knowing i had NO basal on board ALL DAY and wanted badly to go to bed. the reality is, if I hadn't realized I'd given myself air (confirmed after talking to endo and novo), gone to bed, I could have died.

It sounds like you did everything right. Still not sure how you reach the conclusion that you were on your way to dying. Short term high glucose is unhealthy, not fatal. What would have killed you if you hadn’t discovered the dosing error?

i'm a type 1 diabetic, if i hadn't injected any basal AM and injected only air for PM dose (i.e., no basal insulin for night time either) and gone to bed without realizing it, well...I'd have had NO insulin on board. NO basal, nothing. I've been DKA, of course, when diagnosed. If we don't get insulin, we go DKA and it can happen very quickly.

I'm also type 1. However, I disagree that you would get life-threatening ketoacidosis as quickly as you imagine. Remember that most people go for months with diabetes before they are diagnosed, and are likely above 300 for the entire time.

I was over 600 at diagnosis, and based on my symptoms I suspect my glucose had been high for at least a month. Again, I'd say that this is very unhealthy but the chances that you die in one day from high glucose and DKA are negligible.

There are also many of us type 1s with poor control, who are consistently higher than you were. However, deaths from high glucose are very rare. Its great to be concerned about keeping BG down, being aware of high BG symptoms, calling for help when needed, having and using backup plans when a pump fails, etc., but the panic is unwarranted.

I have to echo EB's comments above. True no one wants to be high, but while a 24 hour high might be uncomfortable it is not deadly most usually. I am so glad things have worked out for you. I wish you the very best in the future.

I have to agree with the others here. I don't think you were anywhere close to dying. We could probably stop all insulin for a couple weeks and still survive. Good to be on top of things though and it sounds like you are!

Also to Eb - I've made that same mistake before myself - not a way to get a good sleep!

YES, me too I was near 500 fasting and was DKA when diagnosed and I also was late onset and after going on insulin, I still had a small amount of beta cells left and yet still went DKA. So, that's why we're taught if we're above 240 and throwing ketones to act now. I was at 240+ doing and doing corrections, if I had gone to bed that high and ended up not having any BASAL for a full 24 hours...well, I don't know. who's to say. not something i want to go through again. yes, we go high, type 1's do, but we typically correct and if on MDI's have some basal on board. that's why when we're on the pump we test, test, test to make sure we're getting insulin because there is no long acting basal on board.

I’m glad you’re being told not to panic and I agree. However, my understanding is that at diagnosis we’re often still producing insulin so we don’t always go into DKA but once we aren’t producing insulin we can go into DKA within a few hours. I know symptoms will present and it will make itself known before you just drop dead, but it’s still a valid concern. There’s a few threads on here about how long it takes for a T1 to go into DKA. Search “how long diabetic ketoacidosis”

seriously...'a couple weeks'. you're on a pump, haven't you ever had a bad pod and seen how quickly your blood sugars climb. no way a week. type 1's can go DKA very quickly if no insulin on board. even if we under bolus and eat too much we can go sky high, if we don't bring it down, nothing will.

thanks. i think DKA can happen differently for people too.

here's one of the topics. https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/how-long-can-a-type-1-go

thanks, cat..appreciate it. yeah, depends if one is honeymooning, which I am not, and still producing some insulin, which I'm not. typically within a few hours...if no insulin on board. our blood sugars would just continue to rise and rise, that's what this is. thanks for your replies and support the other night. :)

of course! I get so worked up sometimes about this stuff too and my control is nowhere near that of yours. I'm pretty stoked if my blood glucose is under 200!
Anyway, One time my pod fell off in the night and I woke up feeling super nauseous. I checked my blood sugar and realized what had happened. I think the odds are pretty good your body would let you know what was happening, so try not to worry yourself too much.

Eb, I did the exact same thing once, took 20 units of Humalog instead of Lantus in the evening, but didn't catch it and woke up in the emergency room. Glad you caught it in time.

Sarah I hope you're doing better by now. Please be careful when doing your Humalog boluses that you don't stack your insulin and go hypoglycemic. My son did that when his pump broke last summer and he ended up in the ER.