Hi, first post here… first off my control was pretty good till around 3 weeks ago when my wife of 27 years said she wanted a divorce. Since then, normal sleep is non existent, and my sugar has been difficult to control with no consistancy what so ever.
My dosage’s are as follows, 45 units of Lantus in the morning along with 10~12 units of Humalog. When I check around 10AM I’ll shoot another 5~8 units of Humalog if I’m over 200. At dinner time I’ll shoot another 10 ~ 12 for that meal. It’s been difficult to lower my numbers, but if run or ride my bike some improvement will be realized. I know it’s because of the stress and I’m just looking for some insight as to what I might do
It is definately stress. I am so sorry…
However, are you really sure your doses are correct? 45u of Lantus is a lot, as it acts as a basal insulin–idea is to act like a pancreas. Some endos recommend that splitting it into two doses of 22.5 is more effective for control. When I took Lantus that was my regimen
Are your counting carbs and taking humalog to cover what you eat, or are you just taking 5-8 units? Do you know your insulin to carb ration: 1 unit to XX carbs? Do you know your correction dose? How much does 1 unit lower your BG over 4 hours? With Lantus and humalgo, you are really on a type of insulin pump regiman, so the rules are similar, except we use rapid acting insulin instead of Lantus delivered in smal doses.
Do you ever basal test? With that you take your Lantus and check your BG for 4 or 5 hours without food, stress, exercise, etc. to see if it remains pretty steady. It gives you a good read on how your Lantus doseis working. I usually do it from 6-12, next day 12-6, and finally 10 to 6. Really does provide a better picture.
I hope this helps. You might want to talk to your endo or a CDE if possible for assistance. This is a tough time and D only makes it worse. Good luck.
Jim - first point, I am very sorry to hear of your marriage issue. Very high on the stress level scale. I have read T1’s reply and wont repeat his points about Lantus. Before I went onto an OmniPod pump, I was doing 16 (am) and 18 uts (pm), and on Humalog for the day with meals. So do have a look a splitting the so called once a day !!
However, over and above, I think that the stress you are kicking out is similar to an exercise stress. So, if you look up Bradford, on this site, he has been very useful to me with hypers after max execise, but it has also worked with major stress. So I lost my job, three kids, been in the City for 26 years, but I exercise to get rid of stress. It doesnt stop there, the spikes are also after major stress situations where I now take a bolus release (OMnipod) before it hits me. Have a word with him re glucose release.
Life = Stress… Diabetes and stress = Hyperglycimia…You do the math. I’d bet once my parents pass away close to normal blood sugar will be a thing of the past.
First of all, I’m sorry to hear about your divorce, Jim, I can only imagine how stressful that must be.
I haven’t experienced the increase in blood sugars due to stress myself, mainly because I don’t have any stress in my life! But I’ve heard enough people comment on it to know it is very real. I absolutely agree with everything T1 says about dosing. I also got the impression you were doing set doses or sliding scales, and that isn’t really the most effective way to determine dose. I encourage you to get the book Using Insulin by John Walsh as that will help you with some of the things T1 mentioned such as carb counting, I:C ratios and basal testing. If nothing else, learning new ways to determine dose will give you something to focus your mind on during this difficult time in your life.
What I do want to add is that while divorce is stressful without doubt, and that won’t change, you can do things to help alleviate some of the impact of the stress. Things that come to mind are: talking about what you are going through, either with family members and good friends or with a therapist (or both as they serve different functions). Another thing that’s important is to take extra care of yourself during this difficult time. That might be counterintuitive as you may not feel like it, but it really does help to eat well, healthy and regular meals, and get enough sleep. Also there are many things that help people relax, from specific relaxation techniques such as progressive relaxation of muscles, to yoga, to listening to meditation tapes or relaxing music, to exercise which produces endorphins and improves mood. We each have our own individual things that reduce stress and help us relax: For one person it might be a hot bath, for another a golf game, a walk on the beach, a drive in the country, petting your dog, , etc., etc. Whatever it means for you, just take extra care of yourself during this difficult time. All these things will also help the blood sugars.
Stress and sleep deprivation will F-u-up my friend. Get some Sleep! Stay steady, maybe your wife doesn’t really want a divorce. Maybe she is just frustrated, people say all kinds of outragous things when they are upset that they don’t really mean. “Just cause I said it, doesn’t mean that I meant it.” [Adelle]…Your life seems to be spinning out of control. Take a deap breath. Remember WHO YOU ARE. Get some sleep. Things will get better. Communication with your wife is KEY! Don’t right fight.
Hi JIM,
We’ve had many divorces in our family. A family that was so conservative you wouldn’t believe. EVERYONE has been better off, happier, after the divorce, has been able to breathe deeper, explore more activities, enjoy life MORE!
What you’re going thru right now can be alleviated a little by looking forward, planning for later on, figuring what you may want to take on as a hobby. Take a deep breath and KNOW things will be less stressful after you have gone through it. When you get together with the lawyers, realize this is a legal process and that your life will go on after you’re out of the office & courtroom.
Now as to control of the two big Ds, exercise is hugely important for both. It pulls together those hormones and body productions you need. Make it bigger in your life, and test more often.
When stress gets to me, I do basal testing again and then write down every gram I’m eating & every unit I inject. After the 3 days of basal testing, I start working on the Humalog. I repeat my meals on 2 and 3 days in a row to get the absolute correct dose of Humalog. So get in the same food and decide to repeat meals awhile. Then 4th day I move on to a different set of meals and repeat for 3 days to get the Humalog correct. Finally I get it right. You will, too!
Your body won’t need so much insulin after your stress has settled, and you will then have to take care of lows. Ever think of a CGM?
Not to sound ignorant, but I am… I don’t understand the term " basil testing" does the web site have a FAQ section or somewhere I can read what these terms mean? I feel like I’m woefully uneducated in the terminology dept>
Basal insulin, Jim, is the long-lasting insulin you take if you’re on shots - in your case, your Lantus. If your basal dose isn’t right, nothing else will work. If your basal dose is correct you should be able to miss a meal and still remain stable. Hence the basal testing involves fasting at different times during the day and seeing if your blood glucose stays relatively stable. If not you know the dose isn’t right.
I strongly encourage you to get a copy of Using Insulin by John Walsh. Perhaps this is where you can focus your energy during this difficult time - working on learning more and getting your D under control.