I can't seem to get my blood sugar back in line and years of being able to keep it under tight control. Currently on Metformin ER, Symlin and recently given Novolog and Levemir but am still waking up with sugars between 150-180.
I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1999. Started using Metformin but was haphazard in controlling sugar. Byetta was added to Metformin in 2007. Sugars were ok but not great. In 2009 I changed my diet and started walking. A LOT of walking. I lost weight ...sugars improved. Smoked cigarettes off and on till 2010, started doing more cardio, did Weight Watchers and lost 20 pounds. (In 2008 I experienced hair loss...finally figured out on this board I think that it was probably caused by Byetta. After 3 years I got endo to change me from Byetta to Symlin)
A1Cs had been under 7 for 3 years.( I incorporated spinning into my exercise routine 4 days a week) I experienced a 3 week bout of inflammation..holding fluids... all of a sudden sugars starting going up and my Nov 2012 A1C was 8. Went on Novolog and Levemir, A1C went down to 7.4. by February 2013. Now it doesn't seem the either the Novolog or the Levemir work well for me.
I've had every test under the sun and no one can figure out. Endo just says "diabetes is progressive disease". Just seems weird that I was doing so well and on my way OFF meds until last November. Having trouble losing weight too. I really am afraid of increasing insulin and gaining more weight which will impact my sugar. Any ideas??
Extreme stress or other illnesses (even subclinical viruses and other chronic diseases) can definitely affect BG.
Barring that, it's extremely rare, but there are viruses that attack insulin receptors.
Insulin is strong stuff. I agree that it can be easy to get carried away with it and gain weight as that's what I'd done 1984 (dx)- 2005 (eek moment...). It is also very precise stuff. I have had a pump since 2008 and when I see AM elevated #s (which is not unusual due to Dawn Phenomenon...), I can just "cheat" but setting a higher basal rate for a short period of time to clean it up every day. Many people do this with long-acting insulins by splitting doses to try to get the mild peaks of the Lantus/Levemir to hit in the AM or have a heavier dose of it floating around.
I am not an expert on this as I've only done Levemir 2 days (I used to use NPH but got some during a recent pump failure) but I've read about it on boards quite a bit. Sometimes too a very small adjustment can get you there. I will change my basal rate .025U/ hour and it will make a noticible difference in my numbers. This would work out to a couple of U/ day, maybe not a big change but if you balance your food ok, it may not lead directly to weight gain and you may feel better. From 1984-2008 (pump), I'd have looked at 150 as a "win" in the AM as I found DP very challenging. If you want to share more of your numbers, perhaps some T2 folks or someone more familiar with playing around with Levemir will be able to suggest a more specific way to attack it.
