Why have my blood sugar numbers been so high lately? Not normal anymore

I am 15 years old. I have had type 1 diabetes for 2 years. I am extremely athletic and fit for sports. I have never had to take nighttime 24 hour lantus shots and my A1C is ok. Until about last week I have had my numbers pretty much Great for the whole 2 years I got diagnosed. I take my insulin 5 minutes before eating and when i check 2 hours later they are in a good range (80-120)... 2 weeks ago I pulled a muscle playing sports. I have been inactive in running because of the injury.

Just last week I noticed that after my 2 hours of eating my numbers were in the 200 to even 350 range!!!!!! It is very rare for me to check them and for them to be this high. I took the normal insulin dose as usual and it still ends up that high as if Insulin doesnt work for me anymore. I changed my insulin pen a few times thinking that could be the cause but I am really not sure.

Any Suggestions?

Unfortunately, it sounds like maybe you are coming out of your honeymoon, Johnathon. You say you don't take any long-acting insulin at all?? How are your numbers in between meals/fasting and bedtime? It might be time to start on long acting as well as reevaluate your I:C ratios. You say you noticed that high after meals last week. How has it been since then? Do you correct when you are high?

I afraid the honeymoon end might be the case, but how did it change in a matter of days? Before then i had good numbers and I always knew what insulin to take with what I eat which keeps my numbers stable. I never had to take long acting insulin because of how good i kept my numbers normal… This past week they go up for no reason and my insulin doesnt bring my numbers back down after a meal. Its quite scary.

This could be either one of several things or it could be a combination of things:

  • End of your honeymoon period
  • You've stopped doing an intensive activity (running) because of your injury
  • The injury itself could be causing an increase in your blood sugar levels
  • Your age; puberty is the WORSE time for T1D (IMO). Your body is producing all these hormones (growth hormones, sex hormones, etc) and these cause the insulin you're injecting to work less effectively. Many T1s have to take a lot more insulin during the teenage years and then see a drop off in their insulin requirements in their early 20s once puberty has completely finished.
  • You've grown/gained weight, thus resulting in a need for more insulin (at 15, I am pretty sure you're still growing!)

Your insulin needs are what they are. If you're BGs are high, the most important thing is to get them down into normal range. Don't be surprised if you find it hard to stay within normal ranges for awhile, especially if your sudden highs are due to a growth spurt. It also sounds like you need to get on some basal insulin, so please do that ASAP.


Have you contacted your endo about this?

Because of your injury and lack of exercise, your metabolism is slowed and your need for insulin increases.

I have been in my honeymoon period for over 2 years now and I would love to see it keep going… I just now started back into high activity sports because my injury is finally healed… I feel like it has to be my honeymoon because i have really high numbers after my 2 hours of eating which isnt too normal. I meet with my endo next week actually

You're lucky you got such a long honeymoon period! Don't hesitate to call your endo before your appointment if your numbers are running that high and staying high. Even a week is too long to go with numbers like that if you don't have to.

Question - are they coming down when you correct at 2 hours? Are you correcting at 2 hours when they are that high?

Yes if I see them this high, I always correct them which lowers it. My insulin pen I was using was expired. I took almost 6 times amount of insulin I should to lower my numbers which didnt even work. I changed to a new pen which seems to work and my numbers are still tough to handle right now. I am thinking of starting the 24 hours lantus again just to see if that helps.

Your endo should be willing to call in an Rx. A small dose of lantus may do the trick. If you're really active, high BGs can be especially dangerous for a variety of reasons. DO NOT engage in strenuous physical activity if your BG is over 250. In many T1s, an already-high BG can go higher when working out.

Yes that has happened before. I usually try to start with numbers at 80-100 before I play. I think 1 lantus dose would be perfect to start. I will take that tonight probably.

I second everything Mybustedpancreas wrote. I got diabetes at 10, and ages 13-24 were ....there are not words to describe them. I took hundreds of units of insulin daily and it was all Lente and NPH; regular was only used in rare cases of really high glucose levels. Fifty years later, my basal totals 9.35 for a 24 hour period. I am not a big eater--about carbs per day--so I bolus between 4 and 5 more per day. One caveat to this: the intense heat we have had seems to be impacted my glucose levels, so I have made reductions in my basal and now use a 1:15 carb ratio, instead of 1:10.

Most everyone who is not still in their honeymoon needs long-acting insulin, johnathon (unless they're on a pump). Just think that it does what a normal person's pancreas does naturally: They produce a small amount of "background insulin" 24/7, then spurts (bolus) for food.