Numbers of hormones dramatically influence glucose release. So their peaking and waning can make a lot of difference, particularly but not only in young men.
You mention different amounts of insulin over several days. That is totally normal for my son. His insulin amount can double on bad days, sometimes worse. You should not assume in any way that it means there is anything else at work than normal mechanisms.
I would be VERY leery of any written materials that suggests that there is anything else to use to bring down your BG than insulin when high. There is nothing I know that is scientifically based, except for insulin combined with exercise. There is a tremendous amount of trash information about controlling diabetes. Outside of diet, sleep and other tools that make it easier to mage in the long run (not in the short run), the only way to go down is insulin possibly combined with exercise.
Talk to your endocrinologist if you have any doubts. It is easy to end up dead that way.
I also had it happen due to poorly placed cannula but I checked it an it improved. Even after I did a new infusion I had over 350 for 4 hours without any eating. I printed out my Tidepool record and it shows no lack of insulin in the 4 hours prior to the high BS. My Active insulin level is going down indicating it is being absorbed. My phone indicates I have 225 U left in cassette. Thanks for the guidance.
For me, exercise is a more powerful way to control blood sugar than even insulin. Also, I find that exercise can “activate” insulin so you become more insulin sensitive - sort of the reverse analog of the “insulin resistance” that I think @jbowler discusses in this thread.
@andrea8 - think about your activities when you are experiencing insulin resistance. More activity equals less resistance (in my experience).
Yes, insulin sensitivity is simply the inverse of insulin resistance. Unfortunately these terms are loaded so on the AI search you have to search for “sensitivity”; the AIs just reflect our bias. I’ve quoted stuff before but probably on TuD. This article is from 2017, nine years ago, and summarises pretty much everything I’ve learned in this matter, I believe:
That’s a review paper, a “second source”, so authoritative. I haven’t read it yet but it seems to reflect everything I’ve posted in tis thread (based on the summary).
It’s been 9 years, there should be something more recent.
That’s happened to me (the bent canula) with the Omnipod. A most excellent picture of a bent canula; I wish I could take pictures like that.
For me when my body starts reporting high BG and it doesn’t make sense I pull out the very cheap ketone blood test meter and stick in the very expensive test strip; lack of insulin means rising ketones even if BG is normal. It’s the rising ketones that my body responds to, not the BG.
Yeah, let me have some Affrezza, just for emergencies mind you, like the very expensive glucagon kit that no one will ever be able to use except I could use Affrezza.
This is an IDD thing; not T1 and not T2. IDDs do not produce enough insulin to avoid DKA so when using AIDSes we have to be very careful. It’s not just true AIDSes; anything that does Low Glucose Suspend (LGS) can produce DKA if it gets it wrong.
Good luck with the twiist and @jbowler is right about the ketones. Anytime we suspect we’re not getting insulin for any reason its prudent to test for ketones.
Insulin Dependent Diabetic - IDD. Most T1s and some, maybe many, T2s. DKA results from a lack of insulin so any IDD is at risk. Endos normally use a C-peptide test these days to determine the transition to insulin.
Terry, as ever you speak a lot of (my)truth. I’m on my first day of hols in Spain and have had a nightmare day wondering if my pump was broken as the increased basals and corrections were just not hitting the spot. It’s been around 8 hours now and it’s on its way down thanks to two injections, but my goodness what a terrible day. I will be pleased to put this one behind me. Best wishes to everyone.
It gets worse. My dexcom ran out 2 hours ago and the new one has warmed up and is saying sensor error. I’m ready to throw in the towel at this point.
To compound this just a little bit more, I unfortunately brought a box of test strips with me which is the free sample that came with BG machine and only has about 6 strips left, instead of the new box which has 50 in…I will try to buy a new box tomorrow or potentially another new machine which comes with a free box.
I will ring my DSN first thing in the morning to look at returning to MDI for remainder of holiday as I’m not convinced i can trust my pump and not entirely sure how much lantus i need to take.
And maybe I’ll just “holiday” in the UK next time.
Sometimes when things go bad, it comes in batches. The important thing is to keep your mind in the game and don’t give up. You can turn this around! Get a fresh supply of test strips and a new meter - you got the right idea. I suggest you start an old-fashioned hand written log; it will help with making important decisions.
Be conservative with your food choices and make your life a little easier. When’s the last time you used MDI? Does Lantus last you the full 24 hours? I’ve not used it myself but I’ve heard people split their Lantus total into two doses, one in the morning and one in the evening.
Sorry for your rough holiday start but you can do this.
I use Lantis and Toshiba for I don’t know two years. I did MDI until January of this year when I got the TWIIST AID. I still did injections when I was so high and it wouldn’t come down. I used the pen NovoLog
@Terry Splitting a Lantus dose is relatively common, at least with the folks here and elsewhere I’ve read about. I was on it for my first year and found Lantus as a single dose lasted around 22 hours. Based on comments here on FUD, I split my dose and took it in the morning before breakfast and evening on going to bed. At first it was 9IU AM and 10IU evening, it went up slightly to 11iu AM and 13iu evening, but my results were much more even. By the way I discussed the issue with my Endo and he endorsed the process. That said, please discuss with your doc.
I am very worried about the same issue. I am leaving for a month long trip to Europe (from the US) and I called ADS to see if they would send my next shipment of G7s early so I would have extra on my trip. Reason being I have had an unusually high rate of early failures in the last few months and if this happens while I am gone, I will not have enough. The ADS rep said no - I didn’t pursue it further. If I have no issues, I will be fine but recent trends suggest otherwise. So I will be packing extra strips and insulin pens. So much stuff to pack!!
@funk If you call Dexcom about a replacement, see if they will Fedex it to Europe for you. Maybe call ahead of time and ask if that is possible, might set your mind at ease. They overnighted one to Hawaii for me once but that was years ago.
I am in the same boat, heading to northern Europe Saturday. I’ve got about half a bushel of spare gear packed…I use twiist pump and have a month of pump supplies in my carry on and another months worth in my checked bag. Plus everything else…
I looked into shipping a box over full of even more spare supplies but decided there are pharmacies everywhere over there so if worst came to worst I could restock basic things like test strips, syringes and insulin there. I called twiist customer support and they say they can’t ship supplies to Europe so I packed two months worth.
P I don’t take Atlantis when I’m on the twist. I only take short acting insulin. I used to take I don’t know 51 unit mantis Daily. I was always said before bed.