hello

Hi
Just wanted to introduce myself, first time on DAFNE online. I am a DAFNE graduate who has had diabetes for 18 years. I am on BI Insultard currently 18u am and 16u pm and QA Humalog ratio 1-1.

I found the course extremely useful; however i am having some difficulties now in controlling my BG levels. Having read through some of the other topics in the forum, i was reassured to find others having similar difficulties. My BG levels are being wonderfully temperamental and I’m not having much fun trying to juggle everything about.

I recently went back to hospital for my follow up and the nurse told me I needed to change injection sites as I had some lumps! This has proven to work and my BG levels have lowered considerably, but too much as I have had 7 hypo’s in the last 4 days!!!

I’m trying hard to treat by hypos as advised, as previously i wanted to eat anything and everything when hypoing! But does anyone find that following a hypo their BG spikes?

Hi and welcome...........

It seems as though your injection sites may be the culprit of your high readings. Where did you inject before you changed sites, and were do you inject now..........

If your insulin was not being absorbed then its likely you will need to go back to the beginning....so testing your background doses first then Humalog.....

Trying to stick to the recommended hypo treatment was hard at first, but you get to a point were you know over treating will give your higher readings.....

Its quite common for the liver to respond to hypos, that's its job, or one of them, at least, and it will release glucose to bring you back up, but as type 1 diabetics we cant rely on that, just in case.........

When your having these hypos, do you feel they are coming on quickly, or have they came on slowly.....

the quicker they come and the quicker you drop, the more likely the liver will help you out, which will push up your readings after a hypo, so best to catch them early, or make sure the hypos you do have can be predicted and expected, this will come in time when you get the doses fine tuned.......

Any more questions, just ask away.......

Thanks for quick response i agree with you i think my injection sites were the problem, i was manly injecting in my stomach but the nurse advised me i was injecting too low down for a start as well as having the lumps. The thing i don’t understand i that i have my injection sites checked at every appointment and no other professional has picked up on this! Just glad the DAFNE nurse has. I now inject in my arms much more as i have changed my needle size which has helped (6mm from 8mm).

My recent hypos have been coming on very quickly but i am fortunate that i have good warning signs, but i have found that i tend to go higher at the next BG read.

Do you inject in your bum and thighs? They are good spots also.............

If you just get in the habit and consider those areas you will be good......

As your doses now need reevaluating, its likely you will have hypos like these where its a quick drop, unlike me where it would be a slower drop due to a mis-calculation of carbs, extra activity etc...........so the quick drop if panicking your body [good hypo warnings] and then the pancreas releases glucagon, which drives up blood glucose and insulin resistance, resulting in higher readings..............

So the quicker you test your background needs the better, if the hypos are getting bad, chop a few units of your BI dose straight away..........

I would contact your team also if you need to, as my experience wont necessarily reflect others.......

shelly said:

I’m trying hard to treat by hypos as advised, as previously i wanted to eat anything and everything when hypoing! But does anyone find that following a hypo their BG spikes?