I was diagnosed type 1 two years ago. my sugar levals swing from hypo to hyper constantley, I inject 4 times a day. I always have infections which cause high blood sugars if I increase my insulin I almost certainly go hypo. Does it get better?

Margaret -
Are you seeing a diabetologist or endocrinologist? It sounds as if your blood sugars are not being very well controlled by your current regimen.

There are several types of insulin on the market today. Your doctor should work with you to find a combination that works well to control your BS without causing extreme lows.

Also, you may want to consider going on an insulin pump. Many people I've spoken with have told me it was the best thing they ever did, and gives them a lot more freedom in terms of scheduling meals, etc.

You mentioned you were taking 4 shots a day...what are you taking and when?

Also, I didn't understand the comment you made about infections...did you mean that when you get an infection, your blood sugar goes up? What kind of infections are you getting? Any illness can make your blood sugar go up, but if you're constantly getting infections, your doctor needs to address the cause of the infections. Otherwise, you're absolutely right...every time you increase the insulin, you're in more danger of having lows, especially once the infection is cleared up. You may want to use a dual regimen...that is, one for "sick days", and one for well days.

I take humalog (fast acting with breakfast dinner and evening meal) and humalin I. Once this is slow acting insulin and I take at bedtime.
I tend to get ear nose and throat infections and am waitng to see a specialist, My doctor blames it on bad control of my diabetes as my SL running high makes my imune syten low!!! My diabetes clinic blame the high SL on infections. I don't seem to be able to win. I am very tired all the time.

Margaret--
I've been a type 1 for 37 years, since I was 12 years old, so I've been through it all. It sounds like several things may be at work here contributing to your poor control. If you've only been diagnosed for 2 years, it might be that you have just finished with your "honeymoon" period, when there is still some endogenous insulin production. Once that's done with, sometimes there is an adjustment period. I have definately seen that poor glucose control makes infections harder to fight. In addition, infection does indeed cause a rise in blood glucose levels. In a case where these 2 syndromes seem to be chasing their own tails, you must intervene with all the tools you have. Those are diet, insulin, testing and record-keeping. I've found, over the years, that good control is best restored and maintained with knowledge about your own body and how it reacts to all the factors. Take a week or more to monitor and record everything you eat, every bite. Test often--10-12 times a day, to see when and what the food is doing to your sugars. Record every test result. Begin to then make adjustment in both diet and insulin to change the patterns you see emerging in your records. This roller-coaster of hypos/hypers, high/low can be broken. Make certain you don't overtreat your lows--I had a very bad habit of doing that for a long time. You get a bounce up which requires more insulin which then repeats the cycle. Also make sure you don't habitually take too much insulin--in other words, try and see, through your monitoring, how many units of insulin cover how many grams of carbohydrates. That, of course, means counting every carbohydrate you consume. This takes a LOT of attention to the details--you cannot be casual about it. But after you get it stable and evened out, you should be able to lighten up a bit.

In addition, a change of insulin might be considered, or even going on the pump. Demand better control from your health care team, gather copius information about your own diabetes and about treatment strategies, and be a team leader of your health team's plan. Hard work, training, education and strict attention will pay off--not fun or easy, but necessariy for good health and long life.

Michael

Regarding your ear nose and throat infections. I am going to tell you what has helped me tremendously with chronic sinusitis/sinus infections. I am now taking a good brand of multivitamin as well as antioxidants and have been able to stay off antibiotics and out of the docs office for over year and I normally needed antibiotics 3-4 or more times per year. This is by no means a miracle cure but if you are not on a good vitamin/antioxidant routine it might be worth your effort to try it.

Originally posted by margaret Aspinall:
I was diagnosed type 1 two years ago. my sugar levals swing from hypo to hyper constantley, I inject 4 times a day. I always have infections which cause high blood sugars if I increase my insulin I almost certainly go hypo. Does it get better?

How often do you monitor your bloodsugar and how high does it go? What does your diet look like? Do you closely watch the carbohydrates you consume and adjust insulin injections accordingly? Do you choose carbohydrates that are low on the glycemic index which prevents rapid rises in bloodsugar? Sugars and starchy foods like bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice are high on the glycemic index and make bloodsugar control difficult without a functioning pancreas. Are you getting adequate protein and fat in your diet?

An excellent book on the subject of diabetes is "Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution". Dr. Bernstein is a Type I diabetic that has been treating diabetics with great success for many years. The book is an interesting read, even for those without diabetes. You can read on-line reviews of the book at Amazon.

Regarding the infections, are you eating plenty of vegetables? (not grains and potatoes, but the green leafy kind) What about supplements? Do you take extra anti-oxidants like Vitamin C? I recently read an article that stated that Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) competes with glucose for absorption. It was stated that both utilize the same metabolic pathway for absorption, and if your glucose levels are high, this will inhibit the absorption of vitamin C. I haven't researched this in any depth, so I can't state with any certainty that this is true, it's just something that I recently read.

Sugar in the diet (any carbohydrate consumed other than fiber converts to sugar in the digestive system) has also been shown to suppress the immune system (A. Sanchez, et al. "Role of Sugars in Human Neutrophilic Phagocytosis."American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 1973, pp. 1180-1184)

Sugar has also been shown to contribute to a weakened defense against bacterial infection (W. Rinsdor, E. Cheraskin, and R. Ramsay. "Sucrose Neutrophlic Phagocystosis and Resistance to Disease. Dental Survey 52. 12 1976 46-48)

Alan

Thank you all for your advice, I have monitered my levels more often, and got an appointment with my diabetes nurse at last. I still have the sinus problem and am also still waiting to see a specialist. My Doctor has told me to insist that the clinic help me moniter and balance my diabetes. I feel like I might be getting somewhere so I hope my appointment goes well. I am still very tired, and constantly short of breath, on some occasions my lips have turned blue, I have lost three and a half stone to date. All I want is to feel well again.