So I am about 4 months into my pump vacation, which means i am still learning how my body reacts to shots in different situations. I notice that there are weeks when i run very high…stuck stuck stuck in the high 200’s. Usually it is the mornings that shock me considering i have not eaten anything throughout the night. Thanks to advice from you guys, i have switched my lantus from AM to PM which even my endo agreed will improve my morning sugars. i follow a very low carb diet, most of my foods are green veggies, tofu, almonds, occasional red meat, etc. The pattern i have noticed is that my sugars will be perfecto for most of the month, and then towards the end, probably the last week and a half, i find myself stuck in those 200s. i think it has a lot to do with timing of my period. it usually comes at the beginning of the month and through it my numbers are pretty normal, it is the week and a half before (end of the previous month) that i run high. I know that most people find this same problem but i want to know if most people find that they are STUCK…for example…corrections, exercise, diet…NOTHING seems to bring down my sugars. i worry a lot that it is only me. i even open up new pens, nothing works. even with increased doses. still stuck at like 250.
Hellloo…
I find that I only sometimes experience this (like you, about 1 week-1.5 weeks before getting my period). Some months, I am fine, and experience no change in sugars, but every couple months I get the same type of resistance. It’s annoying! Especially when I can’t plan for it since it doesn’t always happen. I don’t really have any advice, but thought I would let you know those hormones in us do weird things! Good luck!
thanks for the quick response! yeah, i didnt find this to be as much of an issue while i was pumping. but i am glad to find that i am not alone. does it scare you? i feel like i cane blame these sucky weeks for a bad a1c!! its frustrating!
Yes, it scares me, when I can’t get it down after multiple corrections and then boom—it finally comes down and I usually end up going low! Very frustrating physically and emotionally! I haven’t found out my correction dose for times like this 
I keep just playing around with it. Do you have a CGM? This really helps me at least see where I am trending…like if I just raise randomly without eating and stuff…then I can kind of catch it before it gets too too high.
i dont even go low. just stuck like a stone at 256 all day…the lowest i will go is 180. it makes me crazy! normally i hang between 70 and 140! i cant stand it!
i mean 70-140 on weeks that i am not experiencing this.
Eek! I at least can get it down, but it does take about 4 corrections, so like half a day! All day would stink. I hope maybe playing around with it you will finally get it down. I am on birth control, so that probably helps my hormone shifts be less pronounced.
About a week before getting my period, I always run really high. I too will have days where I’m stuck in the 200s and nothing seems to bring me down. Then, the day I get my period, I go REALLY low. I can actually have small meals without bolusing. I have a couple of days of lows sometimes and then I go back to “normal.” That is, until my next cycle.
My understanding is that the hormonal surge you get before your period causes a lot of insulin resistance. I have made some headway in solving this problem by using a different basal pattern on my pump that week before my period. I am still tweaking and have not yet found the right combination, but that’s because I’ve been lazy and not done the basal testing like I should have. Need to get on that…
Hello! I definitely have the same problems as you and it starts about a week before my period. The hard part about it is that it doesn’t always happen on the same day and sometimes doesn’t happen at all, which is annoying. I have found that I need about 20% more basal insulin at that time. So, when I was taking shots I’d dial up my Lantus more during that time, and now that I’m on a pump, I need a higher basal rate during that time. So, maybe you could try upping your basal during that time instead of just giving corrections? I do occasionally have some lows with this method, because some days I think I’m less insulin resistant than others, but too me that is better than sitting above 200 for a week. Good luck figuring out what works for you!
I experience this … “easy” to control numbers for half the month, and then half the month with numbers that are much harder to control, especially the last week to week and a half. It drives me crazy! I did a recent blog post about how during this past month when I’ve been tracking it, my I:C ratio ranged from about 1 unit covering 12 grams to 1 unit covering only 8 grams, my ISF ranged from a unit lowering my BG by 2.4 mmol/L to only 1.6 mmol/L, and my basal rate increased by five units a day.
Then, a day or two before my period starts, everything reverses and I’ll suddenly start crashing low constantly and have to lower all my pump settings back down really quickly.
I find if I’m not on top of these adjustments immediately as soon as I notice “hormones” kicking in (usually notice high numbers for no reason, especially waking up high and spiking after meals, and knowing in my head that it’s about mid-way through my cycle), then it’s very hard to get under control. And during that week or two, even with increased pump settings, I still get random highs that are difficult to bring down.
ugggg its hard being a girl!
You can say that again! I feel like diabetes would be so much easier if my pump settings just stayed the same for more than a week or two at a time! I feel like I’d be able to get a lower A1c, too. 
I have the same issue, but not for as long as you. From about 5 days before my period until 2 days before my period I run high and have to give myself 10-20% extra on my basal rate. However the 2 days before my period and first day of, I have to decrease my basal 10-20% or I run low…
thanks! just joined the group and got lots of info.
does it stay high for you? i mean my corrections may as well be water…my numbers do not budge! is there any way to prevent these terrible weeks? would birth control help this problem or not really
Yeah, when I had my last period my sugars went crazy! This was the first time I experienced this and it made me feel so… yuck! My sugars were always between 200 and 320 in mid afternoon. Yuck! It is hard being a diabetic girl! Oh, and I’m on MDI, so that makes it worse because I’m on a tight schedule and cant just shoot extra humalog when my sugar is high! Ugh!!
That is EXACTLY what happens to me. 1.5-1 week before TOM, stuck in the 200s, nothing will bring it down. I bolus and nothing. I exercise and nothing. I bolus again and again and crash. I’m really wondering what to do about it. I hear it’s progesterone causing insulin resistance. There ought to be something one can do.
Maria