Don't know where to reply to everyone, but this is why diabetes sucks. No matter how hard folks try, no matter whether they do everything right, there are variables in their sugar readings very often and no explanation it seems. One endocrinologist said it can be hormones affecting it, and sometimes with type 2, everything clicks and you needed less insulin or more, but there was no way to tell that ahead of time. Seems like it is all guess work. Its what makes diabetics want to give up and do nothing but you can't. You keep doing the best you can and accept there can be highs and lows anyway. The moon is full now...who knows, but I have not seen it causing a corelation in readings on my husband. I didn't know that exertion could affect a diabetic for more then one day, nor that one day of laying around could affect readings for more then a day. Thanks for that info
that's how i'm feeling right now, while still on MDI's..i think we're both about to go on pump soon, yes? I just want to keep taking a bolus, MDI to get these stupid numbers down..I know my issue is with my Levemir, basal..high, low and it effects everything. UGH!
So true, Leo..great post. The job of becoming our pancreas is so ambigious, I'm most certain I don't have the qualifications for this 'job'..but, what's the choice..none. So hatin' this stupid disease!
don't you think too, there's a big emotional - psychological component built in to all this, at least there is for me. frankly, while still being some what of a rookie with this, I get a bit fearful of increasing my basals at night not knowing what my body is going to do, having to do corrections - dropping like a sky rocket, etc...frankly, it's scary. health care professionals need to take this into consideration too. this is not an easy thing to manage. every time I see a high number..I'm like crap..now I have to correct, hope i get the right amount..and then I just want to test like every minute to make sure I didn't give myself too much. ugh!
Tom,
I have been experiencing a very similar thing lately as I get more aggressive with my weight training schedule. It used to be I never wore my pump to the gym because I would experience lows. Now on days when I lift especially close to my max I feel like I am all over the place. Some days I will leave the gym and my bs will be 42 some days it will be close to 200. I have maintained tight control for years so this is very strange for me. I am trying to figure out if it is something specific to the stress response to lifting. Like a release of corisol or something else. Anyway, just thought I'd share that I am experiencing something similar after years of no trouble.
I completely agree Type1Gal. I've developed this nightime problem where I'm dropping like 60 points overnight beginning shortly after midnight. Only it doesn't happen every night. If I take less basal at nightime, I run high. So not knowing if it's going to be "one of those nights" where I drop like crazy, I am fearful of correcting at night.
But, yes, health care professionals need to take into consideration the fear involved with trying to correct problems that crop up. My endo and CDE listen but the way they respond to my concern and fear is to want to adjust my settings so that I'm too high.
Yes I go on the OmniPod at the end of this month. I pushed back the training because I have to attend a retreat type meeting for work at a camp in the middle of the woods...spotty cell phone reception. I opted to wait until after this work meeting for pump training.
As it is, a little nervous about dealing with potential nightime lows and dexcom alarms in a dorm type sleeping situation. I'll probably just let it run a little high on purpose but I hate having to do that.
So I share your frustration with the lack of flexibility in dosing with MDI now that I'm close to a pump. It's worked for me for years but my insulin needs were stable for many years, now not so much.
I'm thinking its growth hormones perhaps.
i've pushed my final pump training out too, delay of actually going live on insulin, for a week, too much activity planned, don't want to go low, etc. Ya know, I must say...when I get my numbers right (today was a good 85 - 100's day) it's amazing to me how truly GOOD I feel, it's night and day; all my aches, pains, headaches, eye pain, excessive sweating - chills, exhaustion..etc...it all goes away..all of it...I LOVE INSULIN..but seriously, it makes me so grateful that we do have these 'new insulins'. Makes me also realize how much my body truly needs insulin, when it doesn't get it, it's sick..well, that's basically the same for all of us. Our drug of choice!
I attended a diabetes support group where we were told that almonds stabilize blood sugar and we should eat 16 almonds each day. I followed that advice and, to my amazement, it helped. I am on a pump after 55 years of diabetes and still enjoying life.
A lot of things can make ratios and rates change. Some wouldn't apply to you (ie women's hormones), but others might. I know for me....lately I've had to make a ton of changes. I think that some of it is due to eating a bit lower-carb than I was previously. My body seems to handle the lower-carb meals in a different way and both my I:C ratio and my basal rates have decreased.
Full Moon!!!
That is why we test and correct every two hours. Once I am close to fairly good numbers with basal and bolus dosages. I test and correct.
One very bad endo I went to, who was a Type 1, said every day is different and I have added it is not an exact science.
I have had diabetes for over 30 years and it seems my ratios vary as well. I am on a pump. Most exercise makes my bs drop 100 points…but started Zumba last year and my bs actually goes up. No idea why. Day after Super Bowl, over 500 and wouldn’t come down. Again, no idea why. If I do the same routine, different results during the week. It drives me crazy. I only see my endo once every 4 months and he only looks at the last week or two when I do see him. I was glad actually to see other diabetics are having similar issues.
little things make us happy :)
I actually bolus extra for weightlifting. I've come to believe that the stress hormones, adrenaline, cortisol etc cause a blood sugar rise. Without the bolus, I would regularly be 200 mg/dl after lifting. I have found that by eating before and bolusing, it can help buffer against the rise.
I also experience a stronger overnight Darn Phenomenon after lifting. I believe this is growth hormone, which often surges overnight after training days.
I think most children with Type 1 have extremely changable basal rates; sometimes ICR and sensitivity is manipulated as well. Due to growth spurts, primarily. You just may not have noticed it or you are completely through with even the vestiges of your honeymoon. Our DD was pretty stable for a year and a half after the honeymoon was over. With LADA, progression is slower. Diabetes Mellitus, Uncontrollable was our DD's diagnosis. You can manage it, respond to changes but not control it. I would say that is an accurate description. I am convinced, in our case, most of her changes are basal, but you can more easily adjust ICR to deal with sporadic basal changes during the day (much as you are forced to do on MDI). Sensitivity stays the same for a much longer period; however exercise has an immediate 12 hour (at least) effect on sensitivity. With exercise we also must immediately give less insulin for meals. And to complicate matters, different foods require different amounts of insulin. By testing two hours after each meal, you can adjust with more insulin or Ex-Carbs if you know how high your blood sugar must be at the two-hour mark in order to reach target when the insulin finally has done its work. It's a very precarious roller coaster Type 1s are on but you will figure out what works best for you. I truly think the best device to aid in glucose control is the continuous monitor, if you don't object to wearing one of them. This will take the mystery out of your readings and you will be more able to correct sooner and when necessary, more aggressively. As well as see the true real time picture of what is going on.
Recently I went on a CGM and I've had to change Basals, IC Ratios,and ISF. I was constantly up and down with low & High BGs. The ISF seemed to create the most positive change, but still having some challenges.
I agree. I have to change stuff all the time. I didn't realize it clearly until I got a CGM, although I think I might have had signs of it w/ the pump and more accurate data collection? This is a big thing that people without diabetes and, apparently, most doctors, don't realize?
I agree on the CGM. Makes it much easier to correct afterwards. Are you familiar with the differences between types of activities, and take that into account? Muscle Building activities tend burn your liver and fatty tissue more to increase glucose in the blood stream, and cardiovascular activities tend to decrease the glucose in the blood stream and improve the insulin sensitivity.
So lifting may increase sugars, and jogging may decrease sugars. High heart rates will also increase sugars, counter to what seems logical.
On the meter, once I tested myself on 4 different meters at the same time. One was a BD and three others were different types of One Touch Ultras. All of the ultras read a sugar between 60 and 75. The BD meter showed a 143.
Lastly, illness is a big problem on sugars. I've had a cold for the last week and a half and have had to set my basal rate at 140%. And that doesn't even cut it sometimes. Once I called my doctor when my sugar was over 350 for about 8 hours straight. I hadn't eaten anything but I had taken 6 units of novolog each hour with no effect. He asked if I was sick, and attributed it to that.
Thisis the reason I found all u people here.I was looking for help after 5 days with readings not lower then 350 and perfect atempt to do everything right.To this day I dnt know what happened.I changed from belly to leg to belly again and it seemed to work on my shoulder>Go figure :( Pumps paly tricks on you too :(