Increase of insulin needed after Covid-19

Hello All,

I've had Covid-19 for the last 9 days (first time), and my BGLs are regularly in the low 20s when I wake. Usually they wouldn't be over 11.

Has anyone else had to increase their basal insulin by a lot during Covid-19? If so, did they eventually revert to normal levels, or did it become a permanent thing?

Thanks,
Warwick.

Had covid back in July and in hospital for 6 days. Blood were all over the place as infection messed things up plus lack of energy and movement. Pleased to say it all calmed down once the infections was over and back to normal now so don't give up Warwick it will improve. May take a few weeks to get there but hang on in.

Thanks very much.

My BGLs are 28.4 mmol/L which is the highest they have ever been.

I've doubled my basal insulin. Hopefully things will return to normal soon.

Didnt seem to have any effect on me either during or after......

At least you have the tools to observe and adjust if needed.......and hopfully it returns to normal....

Thanks. My insulin sensitivity appears to have returned to normal levels. It might have been the immune system working overtime or the fact that I was down to less than 20% of normal physical activity levels or a combination of the two.

Thanks again.

I had a quite severe dose of Covid 10 weeks ago and it has affected my BG during the night particularly. I used to have levels 4.5-8 when I got up and now its often 9-15. My libre alarm is going off more because of High (set for 14.4) rather than low (set 4.4) during the night. I contacted my Diabetes Centre nurse who confirmed that Covid infections are causing increased insulin resitance in both type 1 and type 2. It varies every night but more often than not it goes high and just rises . I feel well in myself -so not long covid but I am quite worried about it. I should do the Basal Insulin test but it seems complicated. Its 35 years since I was diagnosed at the age of 35 and I have used Libre 2 for 3 years.

Hello Ruth,

It's not particularly complicated.

1) Have your final meal about 4 hours before you plan to sleep.
2) Before bed, take a reading.
3) When waking, take a reading.

The two readings should be within around 1.5 of each other. If they are more than that, then adjust the insulin accordingly (no more than a 10% change over a three day period)

If you have a hypo during the night that you are running the test and need to eat during the night, or you need carbs or insulin based on your bed-time reading, then delay the test until the following night as injecting insulin or eating during the test period will invalidate the test.

Also check your Libre to see when the BGLs are rising. If it is right from the time that you go to bed, then increasing your basal dose should help, but if it is in the early hours of the morning, especially around 3-4 am, then it is more likely to be dawn phenomenon. For dealing with DP, search the forums for Dawn Phenomenon and there are some helpful advice there.

Thank you for your reply Warwick. There doesn't seem to be a night time pattern at the moment. I have increased my Basal Levemir from 12U when I get up to 14U and from 5U when I go to bed to 7U. I found that my BG were higher after I had Covid the 1st time in Nov 2021 but wasn't sure enough to directly blame Covid. It happened again when I got it in October 2023 and is still unpredictable. Sometimes BG rises steadily when I am in bed and other times drops down and the Libre alarm wakes me. I will try to do as you suggest and eat earlier so I have 4 clear hours before bed to do the test. My HbA1C in 2020 was 43mmol/L or 61% which concerned the medics as too low and in the end I was allowed to have Libre on NHS to try to raise it. It was tricky to get used to higher BG levels after 30+ years trying to keep it low but now its 49mmol/L or 6.6% estimated on my Libre report. I do find my BG rises by 2-3 as soon as I get up in the morning without eating which I always thought was the 'dawn phenomenon'. Its a learning curve and we are fortunate to have all this tec at our disposal!

Thanks Ruth.

A1C of 49 is rocking it. Nice one.