Since my illness and ER episodes in April, I find I am often need more insulin for meals and correction boluses. I still feel very tired and “not quite right”, which I am guessing contributes to the changes in my insulin needs. But I feel like it’s more than that and am just wondering whether other folks have had similar experiences. Thanks!
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I had a flu like illness a few years ago that wouldn’t quite go away. I’d get better and then get worse again on and off for about 3 months, or most of the winter! And yes, I was taking way more insulin for the whole time, even during the better periods. Your body probably needs more time to recover even though you yourself feel better. Higher insulin requirements sometimes is a good indication to let you know your body needs more rest. Then again, it often means absorption is off and your pod/pump needs changing! I hope you feel 100% back to normal soon!! 
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My second COVID shot laid me out for five days with crazy extra insulin requirements. I still seemed to need a lot more insulin than usual for about three weeks afterward, as well. Not as much as I needed when I felt really bad…but still much more than I typically need for my current activity level. The only thing that I could think of was that is was somehow related to the lingering immune effects from the vaccine. I don’t remember experiencing that persistent resistance after recovering from anything else so it really stuck out to me.
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@CatLady, please remind me, did you ever have COVID or were you tested during your hospital visits? Just curious since COVID seems to have such a high variability of presentation and effects and duration…
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No, I have not had it as far as I know nor was I tested while in hospital. But my husband has also wondered about this…
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I wonder if getting an iGg antibody test from LabCorp or somewhere could help with this mystery? My husband has gotten that test twice so far bc of work stuff. They only cost $10 here and he could just call and schedule it. He didn’t need an order.
Our neighbor found out he’d had COVID via an antibody blood draw. He had it in February 2020 after flying through Chicago for work. That was back before COVID was known to have arrived in my area! But he was super sick and then he figured out what it was months later. He just thought he’d gotten glutened (he has Celiac) but he probably caught it traveling pre-lockdown.
Maybe it’s a long shot…but I’m trying to think of what else to look for. 
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@CatLady,
Remind me, did you have a fever?
(A lot of the Covid symptoms vary, but a fever seems to be fairly standard. The problem with using your temperature is that the fever can fluctuate up and down. So if you happened to check it while it was down, you might think you never had a fever. But then it might pop up a few hours later. So you would have had to check it frequently to know for sure. I think I had a fever only roughly about 50% of the time!)
By now it’s too late for you for the fever of course, so @T1Allison’s suggestion would be really good to look into.
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No fever, headache, loss of taste or smell. In hospital vitals all normal.
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I definitely will ask my husband about this.
I gotta say, if I hadn’t had successive bouts of GI symptoms, I’d think I had a Pod related problem run amok. 
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Hi there CatLady. I would say that getting tested for Covid would be one of the first steps they’d suggest around here. I got the Pfizer vaccine back in Jan/Feb and only after the second shot felt a little soreness on my arm when someone asked if I had any symptoms. An Advil cured that. That infection affects people in the strangest of ways and I’m so relieved to know I’m much less likely to catch it now.
As you may recall, I’m going through significant stress in my life these days, so my insulin requirements have increased. That said, I test much more often and as a result noticed I’ve had to make lots of changes. I added an extra dose (almost another half my usual dinner bolus) every night about 4-5 hours after dinner. I tried Regular insulin, rather than Humalog, to help with the timing, but my insurance didn’t like that (wouldn’t cover it) and it really made no difference. When I feel my morning BG looks higher than expected, I now add a few extra units of Toujeo, my long-acting basal insulin too. So yes, my insulin dosages have gone up, my A1C (before 6.6, now 6.11) is not as great as it was 6 months ago, but I’m getting over time. The added testing helps.
Stress causes lots of havoc on these BG for us with diabetes, so I hope the experiences I’m sharing helps you to see you’re not alone.
My insulins are Humalog + Toujeo, both pre-filled cartridges. I do not use a pump, but give myself a shot about 4-5x daily. (I was on a pump for years and years, but prefer to respond to BG measures as needed rather than assume my levels are steady enough to formulate the patterns for a pump.) I test with my CBM about 12x daily, and confirm with a meter at least 2x daily. (sometimes my CGM is WAY, way off!, like 50-70+, depending on certain factors like what/when I ate. Other times, it’s only 10 pts. difference between the CBG and the meter.)
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