Hi all.. newbie here

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Permalink Reply by Kristin on July 2, 2009 at 3:59am

So glad that you found us Connie!

And that you are finally getting treatment that matches your condition!

This is a great place for support and for reminders that you are not alone. Hope that you will join in many of our discussions! Keep us posted on progress with the pump!

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Permalink Reply by Leona Peterson on July 2, 2009 at 10:09am

The Endo sounds like he's with it! Congratulations! Enjoy all the information here! There's so much! Love it! And WELCOME!

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Permalink Reply by Gerry on July 2, 2009 at 10:18am

Welcome to TuDiabetes. A lot of us have stories similar to yours. It's really frustrating when you're trying your best and numbers don't show improvement. It sounds like you and your endo are going to get things under control! Look at the LADA group here at TuDiabetes. And if you decide on a pump, whatever else you do, get and read the book Pumping Insulin (4th Edition) by John Walsh. I consider it a pumper's Bible! It explained so many things to me when I started pumping.

By the way, I'm in Roanoke, Virginia. There are also some regional groups you might want to check out.

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Permalink Reply by Josephine on July 2, 2009 at 10:32am

Hello Connie, great to hear your story. We all struggle with Diabetes, we all do our best, sometimes we get tired of the whole thing. Really glad you found TU, it keeps us focused and lets us feel less isolated. Hope you stay and meet plenty of new friends here.

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Permalink Reply by Anne L. Colleran on July 16, 2009 at 5:54am

Gerry,

I'm 51, LADA. also in Roanoke Valley. Day 3 of insulin..don't know what my numbers will be like or if I can have a sandwhich again. I've been controlling this roller coaster ride with a low carb diet. I'm still in disbelief that my Type 2 moved to a Type 1 diagnosis after the Anti GAD. But it all makes sense. I didn't have any of the clues for Type 2. I'm not overweight, I'm fit, no family history etc.... So you talked of regional groups, how can I find one.

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Permalink Reply by Connie on July 2, 2009 at 12:18pm

Thanks everyone for the welcome!

Gerry, I did do some reading in the LADA forum. It's a big reason why I decided to join this forum. A lot of what I was reading there resonated with me, and in all honesty I'd felt very alone about this for a long time. Thanks for the recommendation on the book, I'm going to try to pick it up this weekend. I need all the resources I can get.

I've been trying to tackle the novolog, but in all honesty I think the first pen I was using was a dud. So this afternoon I'm trying a different pen. I (gasp) actually ate some carbs (about 40g) this morning. I covered for sixty grams of carbs (six units) with a 128 blood sugar. Two hours after I ate, BS was 200. 3 1/2 hours after I ate, it was 207. I switched pens and took 5 more units of novolog and I'm waiting fifteen more minutes to check and see where I am.

I do have a question.. do any of you notice heart palpatations when you take the novolog? Is that just an early side effect that will go away, or is it something that should concern me?

Thanks again for the welcomes and the help!

Connie

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on July 6, 2009 at 3:52pm

Hi Connie,

Wanted to add my welcome! Happy you're here. Wonderful that you now have a good endo. Not easy to find one who's sensitive to our concerns.

Many people are more carb sensitive/insulin resistant in the morning & need more insulin to cover carbs at breakfast. Like others, I have different carb ratios for breakfast, lunch, dinner. That may be why your post breakfast reading was high. Something to discuss with the endo, so keep good logs of carb intake, doses & all readings. Do you know your correction doses/ratio? Five units seems like a lot to take & hope you didn't send yourself crashing. Everyone is different & I use Apidra to correct highs, but 1 unit of Apidra lowers my BG 60 pts.

Please keep us posted!

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Permalink Reply by Connie on July 6, 2009 at 4:11pm

Hey Gerri,

The correction dose they have (had) me on was 1 unit per twenty points. I called a really good friend of mine who has a type I daughter. She's seventeen and has been on insulin since she was two. I told her what my ratios were and what I was experiencing, and she suggested I try a correction dose of 1:15. I'm still trying to tweak everything and figure it out. I'm still too high for the most part, but I did have one low. Oddly enough, it was on the fourth when I'd only taken my lantus. I was busy all day, though. Did a lot of walking, etc. About two a.m. on the fifth I woke up at 56 just off the lantus. That happens from time to time, but I'm on eighty units of lantus/day. Otherwise, my sugars were fine all day.

Thanks for the welcome, and also the info about different carb ratios for different times of the day. That's the first time I've heard that, but it makes perfect sense!

Connie

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on July 6, 2009 at 5:12pm

Hey Connie,

Everyone's ratios are different based on weight, level of physical activity & personal biochemistry (that's the toughest part!). Our female hormones also factor in. Illness & infection play additional havoc.

A new vial of insulin is the most potent & it loses potency as it approaches the expiration date. I was on Lantus & would have rising BG as it approached the 28th day, so keep an eye on this. Now I'm on Levemir, which holds its on for almost 6 weeks. For me, Levemir was more level than Lantus. People react differently to different brands, so don't hesitate to ask your doctor to change if you're not getting good results.

As a general guideline, most people are most insulin resistant in the morning & evening. Morning rises are usually attributed to the dawn phenonmenon, when our lives dump sugar in preparation for the day. Evening resistance is probably because it's typically the heaviest meal & when we're least active. My smallest dose of insulin is in the afternoons & when I have lows. It's from all the running around, just as you experienced.

It's constant tweaking. Good records are the only way to figure this out. A good endo will carefully examine your logs & make adjustments.

Eighty units is quite a bit. Do you take this in one dose? Many people have better control taking basal in two doses. Lantus doesn't last 24 hours as claimed & your fasting BG will tell if you should be one two doses.

Did your endo give you a target BG for morning fasting, two hours after meals & between meals? Ideally, you want to be under 100 fasting. My target between meals is 90 & 120 after meals. Yea, well that's the goal anyway:)

Another reading suggestion is Dr. Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. Also Jenny's site & book http://www.bloodsugar101.com.

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Permalink Reply by Connie on July 6, 2009 at 6:08pm

Honestly, my lantus never makes it to the 28th day. I usually use a whole vial in about three weeks ish? I've never really paid attention that closely. Most of the time lately my fasting sugars have been doing much better. Occasionally my sugar will be crazy high when I get up. This morning was one of those days. It was 176. But even after a 45 minute walk this morning and a cup of coffee with about an ounce of milk and splenda my sugar only went down to 167.

This afternoon I had a cup of coffee and my sugar went up to 234. I walked for a half an hour and it was down to 116. I'm two hours past dinnertime and I'm at 90 right now and will probably need some kind of small snack to get me through the night. I've always taken the lantus at night.

I know that at certain times of the month, I'm WAY more insulin sensitive than others. Sometimes physical activity works to make me more insulin sensitive, sometimes it doesn't seem to have any sort of effect whatsoever.

The endo wants me right now below 140 post-prandial and 100 or below at fasting and prior to meals. I'm still trying to figure out carb ratios. It looks like I'll be able to do 1:15 on correction and maybe 1:8 on carb ratios. We'll see, right?

I've done a lot of reading at Jenny's blog. Tons and tons of good information there, and I've also got the Bernstein's Solution book on my list. Thanks for your help and guidance, Gerri!

Connie

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on July 6, 2009 at 8:31pm

Jenny's blog is great.

90 after dinner--fantastic!

I've switched to decaf because caffeine sends me high & it appears to have this effect for many. I've had mixed results from physical activity also. Seems to depend on the time of the day. If it's in the morning, I get high BG. Must be further liver dumping thanks to dawn phenonmenon is my best guess. If it's an after dinner spike, walking seems to do nothing to bring it down. Exercise in the afternoon sends me low.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Carithers on July 6, 2009 at 2:52pm

Hey Connie,

I just hate the way Doctors have this imperious attitude that they just KNOW you are not following the regiment. They are lucky it was not me. After a few times telling me that I was not following a regiment when I was,...they would have got a hearty..."F_ck you!...Wanna accuse me of lying again?!" from me....then I would have said, "now...lets figure out what is really wrong." I don't take crap from anyone no matter how big an ego or high their rank is.

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