Hi Everyone,
I've been type 1 since sept 03 and honeymooned with no insulin till Jan 04 then went on lantus and novolg. After a miscommunication, was on lantus for 62 days OVER the expiration date and paid the price in extreme BG and illness.
SInce being on good insulin since April, my sugars are stable but still high and I'll tell you why..
I'm scared to take insulin. I find myself only giving 2 units. I think my scale has also changed. It used to be 1 unit for 40 carbs but I can't even eat a luna bar at 28 carbs with out needing insulin. I didn't need much before but now I'm finding myself high often. I'm blaming myself..I thought I was eating ok..
My husbands birthday was tonight and I ate half his souffle. Most are made with very little sugar but after 2 hours, my BG is 300+ and rose to almost 400 even after additional insulin. I'm just scared and frustrated. I need help.
Liz

Sorry to hear that you are going through this. You have to give yourself time to adjust. Honeymoons can end slowly or can just one day be gone. Mine was gone overnight so coming off of it was a shock. Mine also only lasted a few weeks that we know of :confused:

It can be very scary to milk a high down because you know you can go too low. It can be really scary at night. I still have nights like that and I have been a diabetic for almost 10 years now. My best advice to you would be to get an appt with a Registered Dietician. She is going to teach you how to eat as a diabetic. She will also show you how to use your insulin in your meal plan. One of the biggest things she will do is give you ratios. This is very important because it makes the math easier. I am on a 1:10 insulin/carb ratio and a 1:33 ratio for insulin/high blood sugars. Basically, I know that 1 unit will bring my blood sugar down 33 points. This makes the math so easy that you arent as afraid. I have never been on a 1:40 ratio. I have always been 1:10 except when I was pregnant and then I was 1:5. I would make sure to go back into the Dr about that since it looks like the honeymoon is over.

Another thing I would do is get in to see an Endocrinologist. He should give you a sliding scale which, again, makes the math easier. It will be a chart that says how many units to take for a certain blood sugar. I would keep a food log to find out what foods trigger high blood sugars and foods you might be sensitive to. Then when you have a high, you can look back and find the trigger food.

This was the hardest for me to learn. You WILL have highs. There is nothing you can do to stop them all together. Keep in mind that you are doing the work of one of your most important organs. That is one tough job!!! Eventually, it becomes 2nd nature. You learn how the insulin works for you and you become less afraid of it. This is not like cancer or some other condition. This is ALL about control. Either you control the diabetes or the diabetes controls you. You have the power to control this. It just takes time to learn the how' s and why's... Good luck

Liz--it is much easier to keep glucose levels from rising than to bring them safely down AFTER they have risen. Keeping even is the major trick and triumph of diabetes, but as a type 1, you have all the tools to do this--insulin, and a meter. Test often. Eat sensibly, and see what every kind of food does to you sugars. Take insulin at the ration set by your dioctor as where to start, then adjust on your own from there. Write down EVERYTHING--every test, every injection, every bite of food. After a few weeks, things will begin to make sense.

The place you need to begin is with your basal, or long-lasting insulin. If that dose is not correct, nothing will work. Lantus is a wonderful invention--IF you are on the correct dose. You'll know that you are if you can skip all food and all bolus (short-acting) injections for 24 hours with no rise or fall in sugar. That's the acid test for your basal--with no food or other insulin, you stay even. If you drop, your dose is too high, and if you rise, then your dose is too low. If need be, adjust in small increments only. Basal dose is based, generally, on body weight and muscle mass. The less you weigh, the less you require. The more percentage of your weight is muscle, the less you require. I weigh 135, and am fairly muscular--I take a Lantus dose of 17.5 units at bedtime.

Bolus dosing is a bit trickier. Many psople find that their ratios change throughout the day. I take 1 unit novolog for every 20 grams of carbs at breakfast. I just cound them up. You do learn how many carbs in a banana, apple, carrot stick, plate of spaghetti, etc..., things not pre-packaged and labeled. At lunch, I take 1 unit for 15 grams, and at dinner, I require 1 unit novolog for every 10 grams carbs. This is actually a common type of schedule--but nothing is universal, you will evolve your own system. Even so, you WILL, in spite of seemingly perfect planning, sometimes be high or low. That's just how it is. Don't be satisfied with readings that bounce from 40 to 400, but expect and accept that it will happen just the same. Insulin IS dangerous stuff, and I understand your hesitation to shoot it--it CAN kill you, but it also is saving your life. Armed with testing results, careful planning, good common sense and some luck, you'll do fine...

Michael
Type 1 since 1965

Get a insulin pump and take the guesswork out of it. I was on needles for 17 years the pump is the best thing to happen to me. :D

Liz -
Good advice from both Mindy and Michael. May I add a saying that has helped me out tremendously over the years:
"Courage is not the absence of fear but, rather, the decision to act in spite of that fear."

Ruth