I was diagnosed in February of this year with an insane A1C - after three months of strict monitoring I managed to bring it down to 5.0.Now my A1C is 4.9, but about two months ago I started my first year of college.Being moved away from home scared me at first and it was showing through my readings.I wasn't as good as I used to be. I will be going for another A1C soon enough and if it is below 10 I will be amazed.
Every day my readings range from about 8-20 and I'm sick of it.I have increased my Lantus from 12 up to 20 over a few weeks - gradually. And I used to follow this Novorapid system which was working perfectly.Breakfast 4 units, lunch 5 units and dinner 6 units. But now it's like 8 - 10 - 12. I heard something about the 'honeymoon' stage of type one diabetes.
I was just wondering if anybody has any suggestions as to how I should get my insulin : carbohydrate sensitivity for the insulin I'm taking. All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Within the current protocol of either 4, 5, 6 units or 8, 10, 12, are you counting your carbohydrates?
In the nearly 40 years I have had T1, my Total Daily Dose (TDD) has ranged from as little as 20 units to 50 units. When it was 50/day, I had no idea about carb counting. My I:C has ranged from 1:12 to 1:34. For me, it requires lots of testing and paying attention to carbs, exercise, sickness/activity level with mental state thrown in just to confuse things. Did I mention lots of testing?
OK, I will do a "mom" thing: relax, take a deep breath.... Diabetes is ever changing. You can do the same thing with your food, exercise and insulin everyday and have radically different numbers. If your A1C numbers relate to U.S. numbers. 4.9 is scary low to me..
College is a HUGE change. Again,relax, take a deep breath.... It is unlike anything you have experienced with new places to live and to eat, lifestyle things to deal with, stress from classes, parties.. Your diabetes is going to react to change at all times and this is a huge one.
As you must be an up to high tech level student, have you considered a pump? Hate to say it, but Lantus is pretty old school with all the advances in pump technology, continuous glucose monitoring,and insulin.
Getting your insulin dosages worked out is an on-going process, and is different for everyone. You may be honeymooning, which can be a phase where your body is making some, little or no insulin, and may vary day to day. Do you have a doctor or CDE to communicate with while at college ?
The best advice is to read one or both of the books Using Insulin, by John Walsh, or Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner. Gary Scheiner has a good website with some of the same information in his book and some on-line 'courses'. (integrateddiabetes.com)
Make your changes gradual. Many folks split their long acting (Lantus) into 2 doses, one in morning, one at night. You determine the right dose by fasting for 6-8 hours to see if the dose is right. Once you have the basal (long acting / Lantus ) worked out, then you can work on the Carb ratio for meals and correction factor. This is covered in detail in the books, along with how to adjust for exercise, sick days, and other situations.
Try not to think of your numbers as 'good' or 'bad', but instead being within range, and if not, what adjustments might be needed. You will learn what an amazing job a normal pancreas does, and how difficult it is to mimic it perfectly.
Yes I must really inquire about the CGM ! But since I've only had T1D for like 9 months or so my doctor recommends that I stick to the insulin pens for a least a year. I don't really know why that is necessary but anyway thanks for the reply :)
Thank you, those books sound really helpful I must get them , I appreciate the reply. I hope I start getting on top of things soon. And no I don't have any doctor where I am as of yet.
Yes up until recently my carb rate to insulin was about 20 carbs + 1 unit. But that has drastically changed for some strange reason> I'll just have to adjust to this new change and start on trying to find my new insulin to carb ratio. Thanks for the response !
