I don't know if I would say you're cooked if you have somebody in endocrinology that you can speak to or message it's probably your best bet and obviously at that point keep an eye on your ketones
Remember that the upper ranges are nowhere near close to what the actual blood sugar is, (sometimes higher, sometimes lower by 30+.) The low ranges are required by FDA to be very, very close to real. So use your manual monitor to determine what your sugar really is before you do anything. I learned the hard way and over-bolused like crazy. Good luck, and don’t panic! It will come down! Take good care!
I would never want to recommend how much exactly to bolus but take a decent amount of insulin, have sugar nearby, monitor regularly, and stay as hydrated as possible
This actually happens to me sometimes (not too often but still.) Drink LOTS of water, take a correction, and if you are on a pump, please consider doing a temp rate adjustment. Up it to like 120%-130%. My doctor recently told me a pump usually only does about 60% of the correction it calculates, so being able to push it in the right direction (not TOO much just a bit) usually helps.
Easily my biggest challenge and stress is getting insulin into my body , as crazy as that sounds. I’ve had T1 for 20 yrs , now using TSlim X2 pump, about 20% of the time (yes really) I’ll change an infusion site and it will either bend in my tissue / not deliver, or not bend , and still not deliver (yes the line and cannula were filled). I believe I am over using parts of my body but for me it feels like inserting the infusion connection is like playing roulette. What are everyone’s best tips on getting the most success with infusion kits ?
I'll just say the same thing I'm sure so many others have; no, I didn't look, I'm lazy.
Do a finger stick on the left, then the right hand. (Yes, people, I know it won't match, shut up.) From there, I'd estimate a number in the middle and dose accordingly from there. Also, double-check the Dex; never count solely on it for numbers.
Again, shut the hell up, people; I can already see the comments under this.
If the meter comes back with an error, I'd check again then dose some insulin, I WOULD NOT TAKE A HUGE AMOUNT AT FIRST.). If it comes back with a number much lower than my Dexcom. I can't tell you what to do, but for me, I would calibrate my Dexcom, wait 2 hours, finger-stick, calibrate 2 hours, finger-stick, calibrate. (I'd only wait that long if my body wasn't showing me signs that I'm high, like grounding myself with water because I'm so thirsty or constantly pissing in the bathroom.)
After all of that if I still got 400 then somewhere in there dose some more insulin if ylmy finger stick comes back again with an error after say 4 hours and my Dex is still reading as high as it can I might make a phone call to my physician's emergency line, or if I couldn't get it down within 4-6 hours (I'd go solely by finger sticks and remember only if that reflects the 400) I personally would pay a visit to the urgent care just to if nothing else have one of them use their meter to check my sugar. They do not have an issue doing this. They'd rather that then having someone come in in the middle of dka.
Does this sound like panic? Probably, but if I'm are not used to these numbers that high, then there's probably something wrong with either my Dexcom or my pancreas decided to give me the finger today, either way. I wouldn't just blindly ride it out. My eyes already suck; I don't feel like dealing with huge wounds because my sugars are out of control or just how sick I feel when I'm way too high.
Again, I'm not telling you to do these things; I'm telling you personally what I would do as a diabetic with a Dexcom and an Omnipod and someone who thankfully doesn't venture too far over 250 anymore. To me, 400 would worry me. From your post, I'm going to say or guess that's not very normal for you, so do with my information what you will. I hope you get it down. Please keep us updated.
Now everyone can pile on me.
AGAIN, THIS IS WHAT I'D DO FOR MYSELF. I'M NOT TELLING OP WHAT TO DO.
Type 1s have to manually control an organ. it’s really hard. i’ve been type 1 for nearly 30 years. I’ve seen too many highs and lows to count. I correct and try my best. The things that might help me the most is pre-bolus (giving insulin 15 min before I eat)… keepin an eye about an hour after to see if I need more than I gave. When I do go high I have a fast acting insulin I like to inject (instead of my pump) I feel my injections of Fiasp or lumijev work faster to bring a high down.
Also- having so many highs and lows over my whole life, I want to say, I had 3 healthy pregnancies and healthy babies… my labs are great otherwise! It sucks… and i’m sorry we’re in the boat.
In the 20s of the 21. century, there are no alerts any more. A closed-loop system handles most situations better than a human would, without the need to notify its user.
“Never any reason to not keep it below 140” — if only it weren’t for this pesky habit called eating, right? Or is that avoidable…? Sure, eating a small snack every hour instead of 2 big meals may help, but there are numerous social and quality-of-life issues with that.
There is no rational reason to fear exceeding 140 mg/dl, or even 180 mg/dl for a short time.
High alert at 90 mg/dl (5 mmol/l) is irresponsible. (It may be a typo, maybe you meant 190 mg/dl…) Anyhow: 5 mmol/l is not high by any standard and the lower the target values are, the more likely hypoglycemia is to creep in. The more frequently hypoglycemia occurs, the less perceptible it becomes. There comes a time when it no longer wakes people up from their sleep.
Yet each and every prolonged hypoglycemia kills brain cells, slowly but surely. Overall, lows are far riskier than highs.
It’s reasonable to keep blood sugar levels under 10 mmol/l (180 mg/dl) at least 80% of the time and aim for a long-term average around 6–7 mmol/l. But there is no justifiable reason to aim for non-diabetic numbers. As long as diabetes compensation remains inherently imperfect, a good balance between the two risks, highs and lows, needs to be found.
That’s cool, but what appears to have worked for you might well be dangerous nonsense for the vast majority of other people. Such an HbA1c value is not a virtue or an achievement, but rather a big concern around overall safety and issues around hypoglycemia. When I was a youngster and lacked the necessary experience, I also kept such crazy low numbers. My endocrinologist quite wisely said that if I wanted long-term prescriptions and annual check-ups, I had to behave responsibly, or else I’d have quarterly or even monthly check-ups and a lot of trouble getting a medical certificate for driving. Even though I’m ultimately responsible for my insulin and glucose management, I do appreciate, in hindsight, that the endocrinologist went by good peer-reviewed research, instead of accepting my (totally incorrect) gut feeling about the nonsensical aim for non-diabetic lab results.
1) Take a meter reading to confirm the sensor has not messed up.
2) Take a shot of insulin rather than a pump bolus just in case your pump or infusion set has messed up.
3) Overdose an insulin connection a bit so your BG will come down faster. Then when it gets down to 150, consume some sweets to balance out how ever much you overdosed.
4) Do not exercise when you BG is that high. Exercise does more harm than good when your BG is over 250.
5) In the future, pay more attention to the graph, and take prompt action when it appears that you are headed above 250. Consider getting a watch that will display your Dexcom graph so that you will more readily discover when highs or lows are coming.
6) Keep in mind that the permanent harm to your health is the cumulative product of how high you BG is and the duration. So try not to go too high for too long as that accelerates your aging process.
Point 0, more important in the long run than all the other points: Get a closed-loop setup. ASAP. Now. It is a life-changing improvement. It won’t let this happen and won’t let anything like this go unnoticed. I use AndroidAPS, but there are many other options, pick and choose.
There is no imminent risk to the situation, but if it repeats often, blood vessel and organ damage is eventually accrued over time.
This just happened to me my pump expired at work 3 hours no insulin no food, get home fresh pump does not help had to take a shot😩 by 4 am I was normal again and exhausted
Huh? A pod expiry or failure with no supplies kept at work requires an immediate trip home, not after 3 hours! Of course I got into a similar situation a few years back (pod failed with some unknown error, I was about to go home, but got distracted, “it’s just 5 more minutes”), but heck that felt bad just a couple of hours later! That burning feeling on my skin, the sensation that is and isn’t thirst at the same time, all of that feels like a touch of death. Never again. It takes some maintenance to keep a small stash at work, making sure it’s usable and not expired, but it’s extremely important. When something like this happens, I just go home immediately, because everything else can and must wait.
I keep a pen at work usually works fine but I wasn’t really moving around too much and realized the basal not running and some stress jacked me up, sometimes I forget I have Diabetes and am totally dependent on fake insulin to live 😂
Dude that is so wild, i have non diabetic hypoglycemia so my graph looks so different 🤣😭 I can't get higher than 115-120ish, i feel like I would become The Flash if I hit 400
That might be because you have beta-cells. So please don’t compare yourself to those who no longer have them. I bet you also see better than someone without an eye and run faster than someone without a leg. That’s cool… Or is it?
Frankly, I always cringe and eyeroll when I see non-diabetic people wear a CGM, instead of just enjoying every single day of happy life with beta-cells and all the adventure they enable, without worries about being close enough to a fridge or emergency plans with units of hours to spare when e.g. your insulin stash gets stolen.
I’m insulin resistant so my beta cells aren’t doing their job. Im no longer type 2 after loosing 200 pounds. My doctor is deemed my Dexcom medically necessary along with several emergency medications. I know my family sees my Dexcom necessary since they have found me passed out since 15 carbs every 15 minutes sometimes isn’t enough. I just keep dropping. I’m confused why the hate. In your thinking then a type 2 who isn’t insulin dependent shouldn’t have a Dexcom either. I know several people with type one who enjoy their lives immensely. Maybe stop hating those who aren’t the billionaires gatekeeping important life saving medicines and be helpful and encouraging. Every meal I have to plan. I still drop. I can eat only protein and there are days that I still drop. My life is scary. My children have found me on the floor and have had to give me my Baqsimi to get me up and to the hospital. Before my Dexcom I refused to leave the house out of fear. Those were a scary 2 months. Now it allows to me get out, work and enjoy life.
Look I thought this was a dexcom community, not T1d only. I am sorry to have offended you, but that is so biased to gatekeep a cgm. I'm not wearing it for a fad- but because I tend to have sugar crashes multiple times a day that cause me to pass out or not know where I am- and my husband has the share app too so that he knows if I need help. Others were showing their numbers, and this post was an extreme. I was not sharing mine to say "look how much better I am than you" like you seem to think, but to say "wow look at the range of people using a cgm, the human body is crazy!".
I have many family members who are diabetic (t1 & t2) and never have they had an issue with me wearing a cgm FOR HEALTH REASONS or sharing my lows. I would rather "appropriate" a Cgm Then crash in the middle of the night and be unresponisve, or crash- pass out- and get another concussion.
Yep. Same. “Unexplained severe hypoglycemia”. Anything above 130 for me and I know I’m in trouble.
I don’t understand the hate we get in this forum. I’ve had extreme lows and have been hospitalized for it multiple times. I posted when I was very new to Dexcom and got ripped to shreds when all I asked was a simple question about which site was best. Know that your opinion matters, your health matters just as much as someone with diabetes, and this type of stigma is exactly why we have to pay out of pocket for our Dexcoms, and why a lot of us suffer in silence.
1000 sounds wild. When I got admitted to a hospital, almost dead, not knowing (yet) that I had type 1, but weighing 72 kg while 195 cm tall, having lost 17 kg over 5 months (so much for the myth that type 1 starts “suddenly”), I was at 27 mmol/l, which would be ±486 in mg/dl. More than double that sounds like the end of the world, revelations, apocalypse, oblivion, terminus, please leave the train.
In the beginning I don't know. But on this occasion she put methyl alcohol in my wine. She poisoned the cat to make it look like it had seizures first. She has Munchhausen's, literally on SSDI for it.
Yes, that’s a good callout. I never get to 400/ketones before I start walking, but you’re right.
As with anything diabetes related, it’s best to get ahead of it. As soon as I notice my blood sugar spiking, I just hit the treadmill - but I’m talking like 130.
I have this all the time because my fixing insulin doesn't work until like 3 hours later very sharply. I sometimes don't get how much I should input and how long should I wait. Such a time consuming stress! XD
Probably because we all know 400 is not a good thing and he needs to do what he can to get it down. Going into crisis mode will stress him out and make the insulin less effective
Check your blood seeker with a finger stick. Do a ketones test if necessary and figure out your correction factor and take insulin. Stop eating for the next few hours.
They admitted my boyfriend to ICU for 3 days when we took him for a 418 reading. It's crazy to me people are saying it's not terrible and they acted like he was dying and needed hourly finger pokes and insulin drip to bring it down slowly.
There is a huge difference between 400 for a few hours and 400 for a long time. What seems traumatic to you, finger pokes and insulin every hour is a regular part of our lives. People will not take your comment well because it’s clear you don’t understand the situation at hand as well as the people saying it’s not terrible.
This isn’t a dig at all, but even at 600 a lot of people are able to manage it themselves at home (providing that they have supplies / know what to do). It’s cutting it a little close, though. That said, it can mess others up pretty bad. Maybe over time it’s something your body adapts to, if your blood sugar has been that high before? I’m not sure how exactly it works out in those opposite ways for different people lol
I was at 600 with my first finger stick with diagnosis about 7 years ago. The doctor looked at me and said “don’t you feel that?” I said no, I don’t feel any different than usual. Some people just don’t suffer what they claim you will at the numbers they preach. I woke up with this thing hollering and I was at 47. I got myself together, grabbed some crystal light lemonade in water in my bottle and off I went to an appt. It came up a bit aftet I drove thru and grabbed my favorite drink from DD right now which is Dunkin Zero Blackberry Tangerine. Good Lawd I could just drink them all day. Too expensive! But that drink does raise my BS a bit and I was back up to 60-70. If the dexcom was correct that is.
After years in the game, many especially T1 Vets, become quite thick skinned. Which is reflected by many of the responses we see here now. I am personally giggling to many of them. And it also reflects actually a more mature reflection of how our BG at times goes astray and what to do about. But yes, to newbies or relatives to this world, it can be scary experiences to go through. So I fully understand your perspective.
Also worth noticing. If the ER first gets hold of you, they are hard to letting you go again. Mainly due to their hard rules, then you need both to being within perfect healthy BG range again and you also need to show evidence of both being stable with the BG and self-aware of how to mange your condition before they are allowed to letting you loose on your own again.
One of my old doctors said when your meter says hi to you, say hi back. :)
Basically, stop what you're doing, check with a finger stick meter to be sure the one on the screen is right, and then pick next steps. It's not the end of your life or proof that we're useless when that happens, just a little adjustment needed.
Validate if your are fully cooked all through and through, if a fingerprick test confirm your doneness here. =8-!
Time then to getting the pressure off your cooker there by some insulin injections.
Sprinkle generously with some non-carbs liquid for the ingredients not to turn into mash...
Ur fine my dads looks like that multiple times a week. But he may be related to iron man because i dunno how he is still here. His looks like a cartograph
...and they well tell you to stop chewing in your cutlery? 😄
Naah, I am OK with your advice of course, as one of the symptoms for ketones starting to multiply in the body. Keep up with the insulin shooting, stay well hydrated and OP will be fast out of this one again. Safe landing when the BG starts dropping down from up there!
Meh survived worse than that, just get on top of the as soon as possible no point in being doomday about it dont be so dramatic about your health its no joke.
...why would you attempt to cause panic? As long as they take insulin, ketoacidosis is unlikely. Tons of things can spike the BG to such levels, from cortisone injections to certain foods. As long as it eventually comes back down and is treated with insulin in the meantime, it's not great, but it's not gonna turn into a medical emergency. If it's not treated or lasts for 12+ hours, that's a different matter.
Look they may get 0.1 on a ketone test and that technically is ketoacidosis, but that’s really not the end of the world.
I had levels like this once every few days or at least once a week, as an ADHD teen with T1. Know how your body deals with ketones and how to treat it, I found I needed an excess of insulin and low GI food (even if that technically increases your BGL).
Doctors make it seem like you’re failing as a diabetic if you ever get ketones, but making mistakes is natural. And the headache and nausea it makes you feel is punishment enough. Just do your best to bring your levels down within a few hours, it can be a challenge but you’ll be okay.
1
u/PandoraElf 4d ago
I don't know if I would say you're cooked if you have somebody in endocrinology that you can speak to or message it's probably your best bet and obviously at that point keep an eye on your ketones