Yesterday morning before eating anything my Blood Glucose (BG) started climbing and it ended up just under 300 mg/dL. I have tried everything I could think of to lower my BG (shots, increased water intake, etc.) but even with >23 units of insulin on board my BG has not dropped below 250 mg/dL.
I suspect that this may be a signal that I may have caught something which has not yet fully developed. (Father’s Day and the funeral of a friend’s father caused me to be around sick several sick people.)
Although I have fought this for several years I had not had this thought and wonder whether anyone else has seen this or if I’m grasping at straws.
Hi @Composed yea it could be. When I get sick I sometimes see a rise and extended high blood sugar. The key thing is to not just load up on fast acting. The key is about basal. On a pump I can easily set a higher basal rate and it makes all the difference as the high background insulin and higher meal insulin together can get me back in control again. On shots you would have to adjust that all-day long basal shot. Maybe check in with your doctor?
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Thanks, Joe.
I had not considered changing the Basal rate. I will do the calculations for a small increase and see if it helps. I have a Service Dog and also have several alarms set for low BG’s so I am comfortable with a small adjustment.
Thanks,
Glenn
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Yes Glen @Composed I have had a similar experience a few times and one somewhat more severe. And not caused by diabetes management. The more instances happened because of infections that were detected by lab blood testing.
If your pump settings have been working well, and you eliminate the cartridge/infusion set as “possibilities” I suggest that your attack should be using a needle and syringe. If your high doesn’t abate after injections every other hour, seek a physician and lab work.
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Thanks, Dennis.
I suspect you may be right about the possibility of an infection and have contacted my endocrinologist office (usually very good about answering quickly) and waiting for an answer. If I don’t have an answer soon I will head to my local PCP’s office.
Composed aka Glenn
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Have you tried increasing your activity, such as walking or going up and down the stairs, with your insulin bolus?
I’m going through something similar today, although my BG isn’t as high, increased insulin doses aren’t bringing me down. There are two reasons: 1. Dinner the night before included a potato and 2. I’ve allowed myself to be stuck in from of the computer all morning so my physical activity has been 0.
And that’s after an extra 5 units at 11pm the night before.
When your cells don’t need more glucose and there is an excess of insulin one of the few things your body can do with the glucose is make fat which is a slow process.
When I’ve had numbers that won’t come down with either pump or shots it’s always pointed to an infection: a couples of times it was a UTI that presented with absolutely no symptoms except my numbers. And on one or two others they were accompanied by a mild toothache that turned out to be a dying nerve that required a root canal. So you may need to check with your dentist too.
In either case antibiotics for me back on track quickly.
I just realized I had not been back on the forum and did not want anyone to think I was ungrateful or rude. Because of this, I offer my sincere apology.
I did hear from my endocrinologist as I was leaving my PCP’s office. I was placed on MDI until we could get my BG’s stabilized. I also was placed on strong antibiotics.
Once this was past I spent a lot of time just trying to catch up from my downtime.
Thank you everyone. I appreciate your help very much!
Composed aka Glenn
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Soooooo, Glen @Composed, did you get an answer to the question you posted to the Community at large? I,e., what might be the cause for the BGL spike and apparent loss of sensitivity to your insulin.
You did tell us the solution or correction, but not the cause you asked us to guess at.
,Dennis, They determined that it was an infection but never told me what the infection was… When I have my next visit with my endo I plan to visit about my lack of preparedness for sick days. Thanks to you and everyone for your help. Glenn
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