Hey guys, my blood sugars keep dropping below 4.0 even after ive eaten so i find myself having to shove sweets down my neck all day.I take the same units of insulin during the day as i normaly take which is ten three times a day of fast acting insulin (novorapid). These symptoms are occuring every few hours sometimes less than that, which means i have to check my bm's every half an hour just to make sure they're not dropping. I have even tried cutting the units of fast acting so it doesnt happen yet it still does. Any thoughts?
You are most likely taking too much insulin. I agree with AR that you should check your basals. But if you are going low after meals, you are taking too much insulin for the food you are eating. You are taking a "set dose" of insulin for your meals which is a really outdated way of computing dose. You need to learn about counting carbs and figuring out your I:C ratio to take the right amount of insulin for what you are actually eating. I recommend Using Insulin by John Walsh. Unless you eat the same exact thing every day, set doses are a recipe for blood sugar disaster!
You just made me laugh. I see bm's and think "bowel movements"...
Anyways, has your diet changed at all? I found that once I tailored my fast-acting to what I was eating (instead of eating to the amount of insulin I was told to take), that my levels were a lot more stable. Cutting your basals might help too since it seems like it's happening more than just after meals.
i think we are all assuming that you take a basal type insulin, such as Lantus. Correct? That is not clear in your question, but I will assume you are.
Taking a static insulin dose three times per day is definately old school. Almost all of us carb count, so the advice on that is so very correct. Here is the thing. My insulin to carb ratio is 1 u to 10 grams of carbs. So, if I took 10 units, I would need to consistently eat 100 carbs at each meal. Generally, I eat between 20 and 35 on most days. You cannot deviate from a set diet with your current regimine. And I do feel you are deviatig in the amount you eat for each meal, which is the cause of the lows. The need for sweets is proof of that.
Read Walsh's book, but even better talk to you endo or a certified diabetic educator. Life will get a lot easier.
