I’m just coming off inguinal hernia surgery and BGs seem all over the place. Also had to change out both pump and G6 last night. Thought it might be wonky G6, but finger sticks have ruled that out. I’m taking acetaminophen (500) along with ibuprofen at same time (prescribed that way, alternate is oxy which I’d prefer to avoid). Have gone thru several bouts of temporary preset increases to handle. Example: ate 12 carbs at breakfast (cottage cheese 2oz, blackberries 1oz, raspberries 1oz, 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties (home made no sugar, no filler)), punched me from 120 to 180+ And hard to bring down. Any clues as to why/how to handle appreciated; normally would have gone to 150 and back down in an hour or so. Hey, the hernia’s gone/fixed, now I just need to learn to poop without use of my abdominals for the next week! So I got that going for me….
I don’t really have any advice @TomH . I had the same surgery about 5 - 6 years ago. I did not take any pain meds but for 48 hours I had these weird balls with tubes going into the incisions that metered pain meds. The balls started out round but eventually collapsed when it was time to ease the tubing out.
I did not need any pain relieve after that. I will admit I had a lot of discoloration down south which the surgeon acknowledged was normal.
Either I am numb or have a high pain tolerance. I only took one pain pill when I had a prostatectomy. That was when I rolled over and pulled on a drain tube.
Hey I’m going through the same thing! Surgery Tuesday for a clavicle, immediately readings went to 300+ for 24 hours despite taking 300% my normal daily insulin during the same time period. Talked with a nurse the following day and she said I’d been given an IV steroid pre op. So thats at least partially to blame.
If you really want to figure it out you could get someone to runthrough everything on your chart from during/after the procedure. There will also be the trauma/stress of surgery that can cause hard to control highs. Or just live with the highs for a few days and see if they come down.
Glad to hear it went well otherwise and you’re able to avoid the oxy.
That would’ve done it to me as well. Me and steroids don’t mix.
@CarlosLuis Thanks for the feedback. Just took my first shower following and noticed the same “discoloration down south”, was just about to send the doc a msg asking if it was normal. At least now I’m not freaking out! Have to admit, its the flat-ist my lower abdomen has been in years! It isn’t so much that I’m in pain, but the discomfort/ache with occasional “twang” if pretty constant, though lessening with time as to be expected (either it goes away or we get used to it!).
I’ve never heard of type med you mention with tubes/balls! The image is interesting. On me, the doc used a Davinci robot, which may account for the difference. Three small incisions, though the right seems to be larger.
Thanks @Karl.n for the feedback, probably just something to work thru and hope previous normal comes back!
I had that for the prostate. The surgeon for the hernia said it wasn’t a good option because of the scar tissue.
My wife said I was decorated for Christmas, with the med balls.
Here’s a link about them
@TomH
Hi Tom. Hope you’re feeling well, and healing quickly.
I had hip replacement surgery, and I’m 3 weeks post-op and still not back to normal BG-wise. I’ve not had much pain at all, just Celebrex and Tylenol, and now I’m not using Tylenol.
My pre-surgery basal Lantus was 8u and I had to go up to 11u. I’m down to 10u now and still having some random nighttime highs. I’ve had to adjust my insulin:carb ratio (Aspart) from 1:10 to 1:6 (I’m still not back to 1:10, but 1:7 or 1:8), and adjusted my correction from 1:30 mg/dL to 1:20 mg/dL. I’ve had some daytime lows, which I take as a good sign, moving to less insulin resistant, but it’s taking longer than I expected.
I guess the trauma to the body from surgery is greater than I imagined. None of the medical providers I’ve asked has any idea how long the insulin resistance would last. It’s really frustrating! Hang in there, eventually it will pass. 
@Jan Thanks for the feedback. I’ve determined I need to change my ICRs temporarily. Correction bolus’s don’t seem to effect the rise much (resistance as you describe), so I need to try to impact before/as the food hits the blood stream and hope that has the desired effect. Seems a shame I just got back new blood tests in anticipation of Endo appt with good results all the way around, but an increased A1c of 6.0 vice the previous 5.6 (though I like to go by GMI/TIR more). Se la…it’s the long game that counts, eh?!
I had two surgeries a week apart about 5 years ago. I know I react strongly to steroids and they commonly give some during surgery so I asked not to be given steroids in the IV and no Glucose Drip. I had no issues with my BG levels after. I did use pain meds as needed, tylenol and codeine, maybe even some Norco, not sure. I had major shoulder surgery the second time so probably quite a lot for the first few days.
But steroids with me, depending on the dose cause high blood sugars very easily and stubborn ones too. A guess, but I suspect you probably were given some if you didn’t request not to be, and that might be what is causing the issue. Just a guess though.
Having managed BGs for 35 years…I’ve had to throw the carb counting approach out the window quite frequently in order to keep the numbers in line. The ratio can change quite a bit throughout the day with or without other reasons. At least for me, the lower the number is, the less of an effect the carbs have and the more of an effect the insulin has.
Despite my best attempts, I’m headed back to surgery to remove kidney stones! Instead of the .7cm identified by CT last September, pain returned a couple of months ago and I went in for lithotripsy (ultra-sonic/sound-blasting) that resulted in a little sand. That apparently didn’t work as a recent CT shows one stone 1.7cm “stag horn” and another .9cm all on the right side. The Dr said I had a choice of multiple re-try’s of the lithotripsy to get it all (didn’t sound encouraging), going “up the ureter” with laser/other method possibly 2-3 times, or one traditional surgery in a one-shot performance. I’m not looking forward to it, but going with the latter; need to stop the pain and get some reasonable sleep (hurts most when lying down at night); the ibuprofen just isn’t cutting it and I don’t like using heavier meds frequently. I’m concerned about the hospital stay and their “diabetes protocol”, but its just supposed to be for over-night (I’m on Loop, G6, and Dash pods which I plan to maintain). We’ll see what the hospital says, but as most of you know, I’m not shy about letting my beliefs be known!. On the down side, the procedure requires a tube and bag for disposal of “liquid” for a period…short as I can possibly make it! I’ve advised all of my T1 status, equipment, and intent; discussed with my Endo (standard 80% basil, adjusted as needed, maintain Loop, CGM, and pump). Will reiterate with two different Dr’s next week, the anesthesiologist as soon as possible. Here’s hoping for a positive outcome and good experience! And the hits just keep coming….! You younger folks: “Don’t grow old!”…or get this crap out of the way while you’re still young!
Best of wishes @TomH Surgery or stays in the hospital bring our own special levels of concern.
Hoping all goes well, loop does its job, and recovery is as pain free as possible🙏
Thanks to all for the well wishes! Getting everything scheduled has been an adventure: one date for the PCP doc for medical clearance, one date to meet the doc doing the surgery, one date for another doc to insert the tube/bag, one date for one of three docs to actually do the surgery, and one date and yet another doc to review the results of the work of all of the other docs…seems like 3 too many docs to me. Has US medicine gotten so “specialized” or this to spread the wealth and charge more?! No wonder US health care is the most expensive in the world! Yet, I’ve come to realize US doctors have outsourced scheduling and de-confliction to the patients; either its a cost-avoidance or “cost-saving” measure, or doctors’ staffs haven’t the time or capability to make outgoing telephone calls or use modern telecommunications (nor lean over and talk to their compatriot scheduler in the same office or group). I seem to recall from my time in the military one person being able to keep up with the schedules of one General and 3-4 Colonel’s using an Outlook Calendar to include local meetings, presentations, arranging ground and air transportation, tracking accompanying staff/briefers, hotel stays, and all while also typing up correspondence for them, reviewing/routing incoming correspondence, etc., and that was nearly 25 years ago…I’m sure there’s an aspect(s) I don’t understand about the modern medical office.
Sorry for the slight rant there… Thanks again for the well wishes! I’ll report back on anything of interest that may benefit someone else!
Unfortunately @TomH it’s about liability and about U.S. patients propensity to sue.
Think back to the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee incident and how that has changed everything in today’s society. Coffee is no longer served as hot, it’s served with little cardboard jackets, or double cupped, and often offered with ice cube “coolers”.
I don’t pump, so my experience is probably different than yours will be. With my surgeries (hip replacements, 8 weeks apart), I was expecting high BG, but it was much higher than I expected. During the 2nd surgery, the anesthesiologist gave me 20 u of Novalog during the 1-hour surgery (I normally take about 12 u per day). Immediately after, my BG went over 400. I dosed aggressively and it took a couple of days to get control.
I don’t know what a pump does in response to those extreme BGs.
Usually we have to set a temp basal to give enough extra insulin to compensate. If left to it’s own, Loop would keep giving corrections every 5 minutes, but it wouldn’t be nearly enough unless I changed my ISF so that Loop knew I needed much more insulin than normal.
@Jan Thanks for the feedback…that’s a big jump (up to 400), I haven’t been that high since dx. I’ve gone on excursions rarely to 250-255 but have stayed pretty consistent except when “trying out” a high carb food or grossly under-estimating carbs or failing completely on a pre-bolus time (I’m terrible on planning when to eat!). The first time I had procedure and cut back on basal to 80%, my high was around 150-155 (this was the time the nurse tried to give a IV with dextrose, but I caught it); the second procedure was with a general anesthesia and I stayed below 130 for the whole thing (with a warning of no dextrose IV’s!). My main concern is potential stay overnight at the hospital, what is their “protocol” for use of CGM/pumps particularly with a non-FDA cleared Loop app controlling the pump. Haven’t found the right person to answer the question yet. I did find a couple of people on T1 FB group in the Reston/DC metro area that used the hospital and had been assigned a nurse that ran interference for them (one of them was pregnant/delivering, the other I’m not sure of the procedure). More to follow….
@Jan Ref the pump and high BGs, it depends on the program/pump in use. Some compensate well, some don’t, and some CAN be modified (like Loop, AAPS, FreeAPS, etc) to dose higher for recognized stubborn highs or for highs over a certain level, and some allow temp basal changes for a short/long/indefinite periods for more or less insulin needs due to exercise, sedentary periods, surgeries, etc.