Oh oh, back on steroids again...

[madonbrew]

And my blood glucose is 31.5 😢

Just took some more insulin! Thankfully only 5 days worth!

[sassy59]

Wishing you well Dee. Take care xxxx😘

[madonbrew in reply to sassy59]

It’s come down to 26 in an hour! I hate steroids from a diabetes point of view. I never know how much more insulin to take!

My diabetes consultant is amazing but I email her nearly every week atm and I don’t want to bother her anymore!

[sassy59 in reply to madonbrew]

You bother the consultant if you need to Dee, your health is important, xxxx

[madonbrew in reply to sassy59]

Thank you Sassy!!!

I have actually just emailed her. She won’t mind! But she won’t get my message until morning! I think if I just go up 2 units at a time until it comes down a little more it will go down over night, until breakfast!

[sassy59 in reply to madonbrew]

Thinking of you Dee. Xxx😘

[madonbrew in reply to sassy59]

🤗🤗🤗💐

[Hidden]

Oh dear I think you should check in with your diabetes nurse or diabetes UK helpline, or 111 or 999 if your blood glucose doesn't come down. 31.4 mmol is dangeously high.

nhs.uk/conditions/high-bloo...

Surprised you are still awake. I get sleepy when mine go to 12 mmol

The steroids are not good for diabetics.

[madonbrew in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Bkin!

I have this situation every time I end up on pred& ring 111 and they never know what to do.

I have taken a few more units of insulin. I have emailed my lovely dr! But she won’t get my message until morning.

Just checked ketones and they are only 0.1, so I’m not quite so crazy worried. Aaaaggghhh, steroids are helpful for the lungs but not for my duff pancreas! 😢

[Hidden in reply to madonbrew]

Take good care of you, they are awful the steroids, I called out the paramedics when I got to 21.5 once, my breathing was affected and I was treating the lung infection with ABs and steroids, the doc on 111 said I should be checked out because I was experiencing breathing problems, I did say I am recovering from flu and chest infection. Afterward my GP recons I shouldn't worry until it gets to 26 mmol to which I answered would I still be conscious then ha ha. But I see you are still conscious at 31 !!

[madonbrew in reply to Hidden]

They are definitely a tricky one aren’t they! It’s made a bit more difficult as I have autoimmune chronic pancreatitis and my diabetes is a rare form , type 3c! ...as a result of damage to my pancreas!

Bless you, it’s then tricky to know if breathlessness is from chest infection or high glucose levels! Did you go to a&e? Did they check for ketones? I think that’s when they usually really start to worry! ..at least in my case.

[Biofreak in reply to madonbrew]

As long as your ketones are low you should be ok. I'm type 1 diabetic and Prednisone plays havoc with blood glucose as you know. When I am taking Prednisone the advice from my diabetes doctor was to take 2 more units than your normal dose and check blood every 2 hours and if still high give another 2 and so on. It's not an exact science unfortunately and I think you have to accept that there's only so much you can do to keep the blood at a reasonable level. At least if you don't go over the top and keep the increments at 2 you won't have a hypo. Are you on Novorapid?

[madonbrew in reply to Biofreak]

Thank you Biofreak. Yes I’ll check it again after another hour and see where it’s at& take 2 more. No, I’m currently just on short acting apidra. I have only been on insulin since lockdown and unfortunately started it in May with my last lot of steroids.

111 last time also suggested drinking water which did actually help bring it down a bit too.

[Biofreak in reply to madonbrew]

Water does help. Novorapid is short acting too. The Prednisone is obviously needed but hopefully with only a couple more days to go your blood won't be too high for too long.

[madonbrew in reply to Biofreak]

Yeah, I just downed 2 big glasses and now it’s 15.2 so it’s going the right direction! Yes thankfully like you say...it’s just a short stint. Thankfully I only end up on steroids 3/4 times per year...averagely. I used to be on them long term but they cause really bad depression in me...as well as this, acne and the moon face. So now, it’s written on my notes not to treat me with them on a long term basis.

Do you find your diabetes easy enough to control? Really hope you are doing ok for now!?

[Biofreak in reply to madonbrew]

I've had type 1 diabetes for over 40 years now. The treatment and education surrounding diabetes has improved greatly over the years. When I was diagnosed we still used glass syringes with detachable needles. I had to sterilise the syringe with surgical spirit and quite often the needle used to fly off mid injection.🤣 I've learned a lot over the years and fortunately for me the diabetes clinic runs courses to teach patients how to manage to condition more effectively. So now it's mostly quite controlled but there are still times where try as I might my blood sugar goes high or falls fast for no apparent reason. Especially if I get ill. Even just a common cold can cause it. But there's worse things and I certainly feel for you and your struggles.

[madonbrew in reply to Biofreak]

Wow, bless you, that’s a long time! Isn’t it amazing how far medicine has advanced over the years! That’s good to hear that it’s mainly well controlled. I think infections/illness is known to raise glucose levels isn’t. I find it all quite fascinating, how our bodies work...or don’t!

I’m pretty much a ‘just get on with it’ type person, but I do have my moments!

Hope you have a good night sleep too!

Dee x

[Hidden in reply to madonbrew]

I didn't go to A&E as I said I didn't feel like I needed it, not sure if they did check my keytones, I am type 2, think they only do that for other types. Type 1 and your type, must be very difficult for your to manage being type 3c

[madonbrew in reply to Hidden]

Yes it’s definitely a bit of a challenge!!! Hopefully I’ll actually be able to see my consultant face to face somewhen! Bless her...she replies always with 24 hours and I email her way too much! I also have chronic kidney failure....it’s all a rare autoimmune disease called IgG4 systemic disease. When I was diagnosed back in 2000 I was only one of 100 in the world. Think a few more have been diagnosed since as it’s becoming slightly more recognised. But obviously diabetes needs to be controlled to prevent my kidneys getting worse. Complicated!!!

You know mainly when you need more input don’t you. It’s scary when it goes that high isn’t it. From experience I know it will come down over night but my dr will advise me how much insulin to take tomorrow. I would definitely ring 111 or 999 if ketones were high but as they are ok I think I should be ok with a few more units of insulin.

Thank you so much for your concern and advice!

Dee x

[madonbrew in reply to Hidden]

My sugars probably generally run a bit higher on average. My eyes are slightly blurry and I’ve been weeing more.

[Hidden in reply to madonbrew]

Those are my main symptoms when blood glucose goes over 12 mmol, that and can't keep awake, but usually when its like that I try and do some exercise instead of succumbing to sleep, and that does actually bring it down a couple of notches.

[Caspiana]

Hello Dee. 😔 Sorry to read you are on the devil's tic tacs again. Awful stuff. 🥴 But it does help too. As for your blood glucose I wish I knew more about it, but my knowledge bin that department is lacking. 😌 Please take it easy and rest as much as you can. Thinking of you. Lots of love. xx ❤️🌻☘️🌼🍀☀️⛱️

[madonbrew in reply to Caspiana]

Thank you Cas! They have a mind of their own don’t they!!! I’ll be going to bed in an hour or so, so will rest. Think they’re helping my asthma! 😂😂😂 Only 3 more days of them...although probably 7 of getting blood glucose back to normal. D’oh! Stupid lungs!

[Caspiana in reply to madonbrew]

*HUG* xx 😘

[madonbrew]

It’s come down to 15.2 now, so heading in the right direction!

Thank you all of you! You don’t know how much you all mean to me!

[Biofreak]

You're welcome. Hope you have a good night's sleep x

[Ergendl]

Hope you manage to stabilise very quickly and get off the steroids again.

[Ladyindistress79]

I hope you are now more or less back to your normal self now madonbrew. My best wishes anyway.

[madonbrew]

Thank you guys!its nicely behaving at 7.3 this morning before breakfast but will go crazy as soon as I’ve eaten & taken today’s pred. But my consultant has just replied to my email & will tell me how many units of insulin to increase to.

[watergazer]

Must be very hard on you taking the steroids and controlling diabetes. Hopefully you'll be back to your normal soon. Take care. NEVER HEARD OF TYPE 3C. XX Anita

[madonbrew in reply to watergazer]

Thank you! Lol ...yes it’s a rare type! Google it, but make sure you write 3c and not just type 3 as that’s to do with Alzheimer’s....which I haven’t got at 41!!! Although sometimes I do wonder!

[watergazer in reply to madonbrew]

I'm intrigued as I'm sure my blood glucose levels are due to something other than life style as they keep telling me to watch the diet- I'm eating somewhere between 50-100 g of carbs a day (LESS SOME DAYS) and walking 4-5 miles and have a BMI of 19.4 XX

[madonbrew in reply to watergazer]

Have you have an Hb1c blood test done? It sounds like you do well from an outward glucose control point of view. I can see why you are intrigued!

To be honest, I find the diabetes totally hard to get my head around...although I also struggled for the majority of my adult life with an eating disorder, which along with everything else complicates matters a bit more. I’m basically much better now but food is still the bane of my life and I wish I could live on fresh air rather than figure out food 😢

[watergazer in reply to madonbrew]

I’m on 3 monthly checks. My last HbA1c was 47 mol/mol

[madonbrew in reply to watergazer]

Hmm, yes it’s just above the border isn’t it. Have they actually said you do have diabetes?

It’s an interesting one isn’t it! Sorry I’m not any help, but like you say, intriguing!

My pancreas is damaged because of autoimmune chronic pancreatitis, but I don’t know other causes other than being overweight...which you’re obviously not, your diet seems ok.

Maybe someone else here might have more knowledge?

[madonbrew in reply to madonbrew]

High blood pressure?

[watergazer in reply to madonbrew]

More like low blood pressure. I will ask to see a doctor next time if it’s still high x the nurse in whom I had faith has left the practice And so it’s the HCA who hasn’t got the in depth knowledge . Take care x

[madonbrew in reply to watergazer]

Good idea to ask the doctor! Hope you find some answers!

It’s a shame when your trustworthy drs and nurses disappear isn’t it!

Look after yourself too!

Dee x

[madonbrew]

Aaaaggghhh, now it’s 26.7 BEFORE dinner 😢

Wish it wasn’t quite so tricky to fathom out!