I’m having an odd night. I guess my pancreas decided to do its thing. I am so confused - I haven’t taken any insulin at all since a snack this afternoon (which was normal; same for breakfast and lunch doses).
Ride the train for as long as it will take you!!! Gratz on the awesome numbers!
Thanks! I’ve tested an insane amount of times (obviously) because I just couldn’t believe I wasn’t spiking. And a banana! I haven’t even eaten bananas with Novolog successfully yet. If I wasn’t so full, you can bet I’d be eating a donut right now…
I started low dose naltrexone two nights ago (my thyroid antibodies are up, and it’s successfully brought them down in the past); that’s the only thing different lately. I’m now trying to find any research on that and LADA. Or it could just be a random good night, but I’ve NEVER had a night like this in the past year.
That is great! Enjoy it while you have it.
The same thing happened to me a few months ago.
It’s just one of the joys of dealing with D
Wow! I did dose 1u Novolog this morning for breakfast, and then kicked myself because I have no idea if I actually need it. Good thing I have donuts in the freezer.
I would suggest not to focus on the (expected and normal) rise of BG after eating.
What happens afterwards is potentially more interesting.
What is your BG 2 and 3 hrs after eating when not dosing any insulin?
Well, I only have last night’s meals and snacks to go by - for the meal, the highest point I saw (143) was at 2 hrs. I was almost back to pre meal at 3hrs. For the snack, I pretty much hovered around 100 until I went to bed and stopped testing. So weird.
So far this morning I dosed my usual 1u for breakfast and BG has barely moved - from 82 to 95 (which is pretty typical for this breakfast, lower carb/lower GI foods). I guess whatever my pancreas was doing last night really was just a weird “I’m working!” blip.
@docslotnick, I read through your thread - seems your basal was too high, accounting for the lower numbers/no need for bolus? The thing for me is I’m not on basal. So last night I had absolutely 0 insulin on board, basal or bolus. And I ate things that normally cause a decent rise and/or spike even with bolus.
Sounds like you’re still making some of your own basal. Have you had a c-peptide test recently?
Point being if you do not dose any insulin, ignore any rise in BG but instead focus on the 2-hr and 3-hr BG readings and see where those are. Regardless of what the food is.
I definitely am - that’s why I’m not on basal yet, as my fastings are still fine. The last time I had a cpep done (fasting) was 1.2 in May. I know based on my ICRs and my responses to food that I am still making a decent amount of insulin (my d was caught pretty early), but last night was very unusual!
What would I be looking for then?
Rise in bg after eating is normal. If it returns to normal levels (less than 140) 2-3 hours later you may not need to be taking bolus insulin at this point… would be worth doing some more experiments to see what it looks like with moderate/ low carb and no bolus to see what your bg is 2 hours after eating— would be worth some more experiments, recording before eating and 2 hours after eating bg only without bolus and discussing the results with your doctor…
What if I don’t want to/can’t do moderate/low carb? been there, done that during pregnancy, and I was absolutely miserable. I have to eat carbs for my muscle disorder (to have any energy), and with my current diet restrictions (no eggs except in baked goods, no dairy, no sugar substitutes), that makes low carb kind of no fun. I probably will experiment, just to see, but with my current diet (or at least close to it - the ~150g carb days, which is generally the lowest I go).
Well see what happens with whatever diet you’re willing and able to eat. and if you’re down below 140 2-3 hours after eating maybe you really are cured
Thanks. This might push me to start changing some habits to get into (even more) healthier eating patterns - like subbing veggie noodles for the current corn noodles, lettuce wrapped sandwiches instead of bread, etc. I don’t love either of those things so much I would miss them; it’s just habit to make them that way.
Is there any (medical) reason NOT to be on bolus insulin if I still seem to have decent enough production on my own to handle lower carb foods? Even though I do eat more moderate carb sometimes and for specific meals (breakfast), I like the flexibility to eat high carb meals occasionally (especially with the holidays coming up!).
Is that the case even if a 1hr number goes up into the 200s (has happened recently, even with insulin)?
Hard to say… if your blood sugars aren’t out of control without insulin then no, you shouldn’t be taking insulin… it’s a much more nuanced debate as to when people whose blood sugars are out of control should start taking insulin
It’s hard to say… you might consider asking for a glucose tolerance test now that you’re no longer pregnant…
And of course maybe it’s just a fluke… but it is worth looking at
But yes there’s plenty of good reason to not use insulin unless you for-sure need it. It’s a very powerful and potentially dangerous drug. every day people have serious problems caused by their insulin… its benefits absolutely must outweigh its risks or its not a good thing
LOL I couldn’t just down some jelly beans and see what happens? Just kidding.
Very good points. I’m going to do some experimenting and see…today I’ve bolused normally with normal results, but might try not for dinner and breakfast in the morning to see if I can repeat last night’s amazing results (in fact, we’re eating leftovers tonight, so it will be almost exactly the same meal).
Tonight I ate a similar meal to last night - instead of a fajita, I stuffed the leftovers into a tortilla, making a quesadilla (with a few chips and salsa just like last night). Same thing as last night. This time I started in the 80s, and now at 2 hours later I’ve hit the highest point at 138 (was 111 at 1hr). Waiting to see if it’ll drop in the next hour like it did last night.
So my main question is - I dosed normally all day long (just like yesterday), experiencing the usual slight rises after meals. If I didn’t truly need that insulin, wouldn’t it have sent me low?
Hard to say, I suppose if you had functional alpha cells they could just be releasing glucagon to counteract, but I’m just speculating… worth experimenting with other meals of the day