So, for some background. I’m 15 years old, and have had t1 for 7 years now. I take pride in managing my diabetes very carefully. I have had the pump for 2 years, and I was having some infusion set related problems with it, but once I changed to Sure T infusion sets, my control has been great. However, I have NO idea why my BGs are so high now.
This is what I did today…
I woke up with a number of 147.
I worked out for an hour after I ate a half a banana and was 169. I bolused for a correction and for 15 carbs (rice cakes with peanut butter)
At lunch, I tested and was 235! Why? I don’t know. Was it the rice cakes? I’ve had them before, but they’ve never impacted my BG’s like that before. I just did a normal bolus. was that the problem? did I need a square or dual wave?.. I bolused for that number and a (well thouroughly calculated) lunch of 40 carbs. I had a tortilla wrap with a veggie burger and a salad.
Then… This is what kills me… I tested 2 hours later, just now, and had a number of 435!!! I tested again (hands clean clean) and was 432. I am so upset. How did this happen? My site was fully plugged in the whole time. I didn’t miscount carbs. Adrenaline was not released (haha). And my basal never changed (I’ve had the same dosage that’s worked well for me).
Can anyone tell me why this happened? I’ve had this site in for a day already and yesterday was close to perfect numbers. (It’s in my thigh.) I feel extremely frustrated. I know everyone has some bad numbers sometimes, but this doesn’t make sense at all. I’m just stumped. Why…?
I have never used Sure T’s, but I know that sometimes with other sets they can on occasion ‘go bad’ after a day or so. I’ve had a few that I get perfect numbers with for the first day to day and a half and then all of a sudden…it’s like I’m getting no insulin.
I’d recommend you bolus with a syringe, to get that BG down, and then change your set!
Thanks for the quick response. After waiting an hour and I tested and was 235. I don’t have any ideo what happened. That was odd. Something i’ve never experienced before
Another idea is that your insulin might be ‘pooling’. Once in a while I’ll get a set where, for reasons I can’t figure out, the insulin pools in one area and so I go high…then a few hours later, after I’ve already corrected for the high, that original insulin disperses…and so now I technically have too much insulin and go low.
This only happens to me (twice now) when my infusion set it bent and is rendered useless. I am pretty new to all of this so I haven’t experience higher bg due to a menstrual cycle or being sick.
Sweetie I just read this in AWE, I started crying, you are 15 and I was 16 when diagnosed, and you know so much and I had no help or info or even a Meter when I was diagnosed. its just simply amazing to me to here a 15 yr old and she is so so smart.
Now this, as I have learned on my Journey, Carbs, and the starchy ones can and will cause high BS when they feel like it:) thats how I look at it. So its best to replaced them with a less starchy kind, and a Protein with that Banana just might help. Put some peanut butter on it:)
I know how it to have High BS and sit there trying to figure it out when some food didn’t do it last time. Its frustrating to say the least.
But don’t give up, it will get better:) debbie
Kari - I use Sure-T’s - and luckily - because they don’t have a plastic cannula - they don’t bend (or never heard of it bending).
Egal - Is the thigh where you normally place your infusion set? Sometimes that makes a difference with absorption of insulin as well - especially if you’re close to muscles with your infusion set. Also as mentioned, PMS/infection can put things out of whack. I just know sometimes that I can’t explain why my BG’s are going wacko - and often at that point - I will end up injecting rapid insulin to bring myself down. Also, what about your bottle of insulin, could it perhaps be the problem - insulin gone skanky? Just shooting some ideas your way. Hoping that things resume back to normal for you today. Hang in there.
That’s so sweet of you to say that! I feel really grateful I am as “on top” of diabetes as I am. I just have to wonder why the standard is so low for teens-- don’t they care about their health. It’s a good suggestion about starch. I have noticed a pattern in my numbers that they’ve been higher when I haven’t mixed it with fat or protein. Thanks for the tip.
I did get my number down, thank goodness!
However, even with the plastic cannulas I sometimes get pooling and bad sets, and I’ve never had one that I took out and discovered was bent. When it happens I can’t figure out WHY the insulin pooled or the site seemed to go bad. Thus I thought it might be a possibility with the Sure Ts as well for this to happen. I just don’t associate it with bending!
Do not blame yourself for the extreme growth hormones, known as “raging” teen hormones. Highs can occur very quickly even on tested basals and in the absense of food. Not food related at all, just typical during these years of very extreme growth. This should end soon, in a year or two. In the meantime, when you see an extreme high for no reason, in addition to correcting, note the time period. Log it. You may see a week of the same pattern. We use basal increases, may use temp basal increases and have gone as high as 200 percent during the evenings, early overnight. Highs in the morning 4am thru 10am, we increase basal, usually 30 percent, rarely 50. Whatever is necessary to bring the BGs down. You can often tell when this is occuring if you gave a correction, yet BS stayed the same. So next correction, give as usual and factor in a temp basal increase. Only consolation I have to offer is this will end soon.
It’s a good suggestion about starch. I have noticed a pattern in my numbers that they’ve been higher when I haven’t mixed it with fat or protein. Thanks for the tip.