Dennis wrote in message <[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:Jim Dumas <[email protected]!mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Dennis said:I have a question with BG drops maybe someone has experienced or has answers for. I have been a
T1 for 28 yrs with no complications. Prior to this year I have never had so much trouble
managing my BG levels. I usually averages around 7.5 A1c with MDI using NPH/Humalog and now
Lantus/Novalog. So far it has been unsuccessful trying to get multiple endos to give me an
explanation for my BG levels.
Hi Dennis,
My hypothesis is Novolog is the problem. I've found that Novolog has
peak
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:insulin action (maximum glucose uptake) between 3-4.5 hours post dose for my metabolism. Humalog
averages about 1-1.5 hour peak glucose uptake for my body. My explanation is antibody binding to
Novolog from previous Humulin R use. So the Humulin R antibodies cross-react with Novolog.
The
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:net effect is slower peak action. 18U Humulin R has a peak action of 5.7 hours post dose for my
body, for comparison. The most notable problem
with
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Novolog, is the longer tail. This gets worse with antibody binding
delays.
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:This alone would cause unusual hypoglycemia.
My recommendation is go back to Humalog and see if you stabilize.
HTH,
Is there some sort blood test that can be done to see if I have antibodies? How did you find out
you have antibodies?
I think Jim's post is excellent.
To generalize Jim's post: I have read of "mystery" lows and "mystery" highs associated with a
given insulin and the answer given by the medical community is "variable action", and one of
the reasons given for the "variable action" was antibodies.
NPH is notorious for this behavior. I know a fellow with a similar problem with Lente.
The Lente fellow actually follows your technique, he runs very high at bedtime to avoid night time
lows. We (T1 diabetic support group) are nagging him to split his daily Lente into more and smaller
doses as a way to minimize this problem until Levemir comes out. He could not make Lantus work but I
don't know why.
Everything I have read (very little, by the way, I'm just a T1 engineer fascinated with diabetes
topics) suggests that the medical community usually does not go "looking" for the antibodies in
situations like this. AFAIK, such a search represents a big investment in research dollars and
research talent. They must restrict their use of limited resources to more universal medical
problems..
Again, AFAIK, the convenient way out of the problem is to change insulins.
Switching to a pump seems to be the most common successful technique of fighting mystery highs and
mystery lows. However, Novolog is considered the most favorable insulin to use in a pump and Jim's
experience suggests that you should try Humalog instead.
If your pump experiment must be abandoned, you might experiment with your basal insulins.
a. Rule-of-thumb: One general attack on mystery highs and mystery lows is to experiment with
splitting your daily basal into more and smaller doses. In effect, that halves, or quarters
any possible problem with variable basal insulin activity. In your case that would be
splitting your daily Lantus into two equal doses, taken 12 hours apart but always at the same
time from day to day.
b. Levemir basal insulin is advertised to exhibit superior reproducible activity when compared
to every non-beef basal on the market. Trying Levemir as a basal when it comes to the market
represents another experimental approach to your problem.
c. Beef Lente represents a whole different way of handling basal insulins. Importing it from the
U.K. is very difficult and complex. However, it also represents an experimental approach to
dealing with your problem.
I assume that since you state that you run high sugars "for fear of going hypo and fainting", you
have actually gone low and passed out or had seizures. If not, your "run high bG" technique makes me
really fearful for your long-term health. I hope you are not confusing the very unpleasant false-
hypo symptoms associated with rapid drops or dropping into normal ranges when accustomed to high bG
ranges with a real hypo.
You might read up on the Somoygi effect when thinking about the complexities of dealing with low
blood sugars.
Your bG log suggests that you feel it necessary to take 45 gram of fast carb when you drop to 103
mg/dL. That's a bit of a shocker! I take 15 gram of fast carb when I drop below 50 mg/dL.
Conversely, I often shoot 6-8 units of Humalog when I see any sugar above 250 mg/dL. I am willing to
take the risk of going too low and needing glucose candy to rebound in order to reap the benefit of
the fast drop.
Regards
Old Al