We’ve all been there. Looking for the lost sock for hours only to find it in the most improbable place disguised as a bookmark in the book… Metaphorically speaking.
Few weeks back, something similar happened to me. This time it took me around a week and a half to find this “sock”.
Shortly after my last blog about the amazingly high insulin sensitivity that hit me at the beginning of spring, things started to go weird. I found myself stuck with glucose levels that are not typical for me, or at least, not for a long period of time.
My days and nights were around 12-16, I would bolus many insulin units, nothing would happen. I was not able to get below 10. In the end, I went up with the total daily insulin consumption by 30 percent thinking that the situation was related to some hormonal changes and even this was of no help. It left me very exhausted, as my body was not used to such high levels of glucose. And frustrated, as I was spending the whole days fixing this situation and not being able to figure out what the problem was. Frustration and high glucose levels are best pals… And yes, I did meditate.
My head was full of thoughts: Is the cannula bent? What about the tubing – is it not blocked? Is there any leakage? Has my insulin sensitivity changed? Is the pump working correctly? What about hormones? Changes of weather? Is there any stress ongoing? Am I bolusing correct? Dehydration? Meal timing? Am I getting enough sleep? Scar tissue or lipodystrophy? …
After going through all the usual suspects, I remembered.. During my 13 years with diabetes it happened to me twice that I was using insulin that turned out to be bad. Despite it being properly stored in the fridge. Based on my experience, it is more susceptible to freezing than to high temperatures. So in case it was not transported properly, it might become partially ineffective.
This was my last hope. I knew that if this was the case, I would see the reactions pretty soon after the insulin change. And I wished I had thought of this sooner, but it’s not the first thought you get…
What happened is clearly depicted on the picture below.
Here are a few comments:
I dosed 6.4 units of insulin over the night without any effect. Normally, it would take 1-2 units to get below 8 from the previous glucose level of 13 within 2-3 hours. It is as if the insulin was working just 50 percent.
I got hold of a different insulin from a friend of mine. I was very grateful that I was able to test it. Within 30 minutes, there was a linear drop in the glucose level with just a small dose of correction bolus… By 2.5 hours, I was in the green numbers after such a loooong time. I had my dinner which did not skyrocket me, but kept me in green numbers still.
And this is how I found the sock. Hidden in the fridge…
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