I'm LADA, insulin dependent on a pump. I've been on the pump for almost a year now and things were going really well with my BG numbers. Over the last few months, my BG's have been higher. My fasting numbers are always over 200, and the range is wide during the day. I've upped my basal rates by 1 unit, which then sent me crashing too low. Right now I have increased my basal a half unit and we will see how that goes.
I've been told by my endo and other docs that this type of diabetes is harder to control, but jeez, this is getting frustrating!
Yes, LADA can be more difficult because our beta cells don't die all at once, but can have fits and starts that makes control difficult.
But with sudden across the board increase in your numbers it sounds as if your pancreas is pooping out. I see you were diagnosed just over a year ago so that might be your body stopping producing insulin, or producing very little now. Have you had a c-peptide done? If you had one done at diagnosis, it would be interesting to see if it has dramatically decreased. I wish we could just prick our fingers and get a c-peptide because I feel it would explain a lot in terms of what our crazy LADA pancreases are doing! Hang in there! I can't give pump advice because I just sent in the paperwork for mine, but I'm sure someone else will.
Another thought looking at that adorable infant in your arms is you may still be influenced by hormones which could affect numbers as well.
Yes, it happens to me all the time. My insulin needs still change, even 10 years after dx. THis spring and summer my numbers were spot on.....starting in late October they got really wacky. I am in the process of still tweaking my pump from that time. My needs seem to change seasonally, not to mention what happens pre-menstrually. It is a constant job, keeping up with changing insulin needs. I believe I will have to do it for the rest of my life. When it happens I do what I can myself, adn then go back to my endo if I am having trouble. Good luck....just keep checking, recording, and it will help you get to thr right amount of insulin.
With LADA this isn't unusual. You have tougher beta cells than the rest of us old T1s. :) Unfortunately, our have an over-achieving immune system that is coming out on top of this one. Check in with your Endo. Your insulin requirements have quite settled yet. I much prefer the all-or-nothing approach. Are you checking your glucose around 3 am? You may be going low around then and sleeping through it (I used to do it all the time). I'd wake up with a 300 and wonder what the heck I had done wrong. I also found that I needed to increase my night time basal (from .65 u to 1.0 u/hr). If your insurance will cover a continuous glucose monitoring system, I would encourage you to get one. Run, do not walk. It is very empowering to see what your glucose is doing when it thinks you aren't watching. :)
Hi Yukon: You are at 1+ years after diagnosis, so it may be that your "honeymoon" is ending and your insulin requirements are going up (that happened to me at 1+ years). To get better fasting numbers, you need really excellent basal settings. Use the charts in "Pumping Insulin" by John Walsh to get your basal rates set correctly. Basal rates are everything when you are on the pump. It is a lot of work to get your basal rates right, but it is SO worth it. Best of luck to you!
Have you done formal basal testing since your numbers have started going out of control? I'm sure you know how since you had to do it when you started to pump. You might send the results to your endo or CDE to get suggestions for adjusting your basals or use "Pumping Insulin" as a reference.
Once you have your basals reasonably set again, you'll be able to re-calc your carb and correction ratios and cut down on the swings. But with fasting numbers over 200, getting your basals set should be the priority.
I agree, I am Type 1 and if I increased my basal rates by 0.1 (guessing this is what "one unit" means?) it would be too big of a difference. I only change my basal rates by 0.05 at a time and would use 0.025 if my pump could do it. A 0.05 unit an hour change overnight can make the difference between me waking up at 10-12 every morning versus 4-6, so it's a pretty big difference. I tend to leave it for a least a day before changing things again, if 0.05 an hour isn't enough of a change. I also sometimes only change individual segments (I use four basal rates throughout the day) if I'm only going high/low at certain times of day.
I’m glad you posted this! Yes there are others that are going through this like me! I spent a month tracking everything I ate, the insulin I took, exercise, sleep, everything to get my insulin to carb ratio and my insulin sensitivity factor. They worked like a charm for about a month and then I’m struggling again to adjust them. I need triple the insulin in needed in May. WTF?
