When the meter reads HI..

[Mom2Deacon]

I was wondering what you do when the meter reads HI. How do you know how to correct if you do not know the number?

--Sara

[momofsingingdiabetic]

We correct as if it's 500... and then check ketones, infusion site, etc.

[Amy C.]

I was wondering what you do when the meter reads HI. How do you know how to correct if you do not know the number?

--Sara

You need to find out how high your meter goes -- my son's meters go up to 599.

Then correct for the number that is the top range of the meter.

[Emmasmommy]

we correct as if she was 34 (599) range because we know thats as hi as the meter goes and then correct again later when she has come down to where the meter can give me a number

[twodoor2]

That's why I won't use any meter that says "Hi." That really makes me mad, like you cannot tell if your child is high if they're registering a blood sugar over 400. Puhleesee!!

The AccuCheck Aviva doesn't do this, I will get a reading no matter how high.

[Adinsmom]

When our meter (freestyle flash) reads HI I give 1 unit of insulin. I know 1 unit will drop Adin 375 bg points (give or take) and get him in a range that our meter can read his bg. I check consistently after to see how much extra I need to give him or if I caught it at 500ish.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

depends on the meter you have.. the one touch ultra smart HI is over 600, the flash and lite HI is over 500.. the only thing you can assume is they are 500 or 600, depending on the meter, and correct using that figure, check in a hour.. typically we see a change.. sometimes it will still say HI.. we wait a little longer and recheck, and correct if need be....

[Ellen]

We always double check to make sure it's really that high before correcting. I would ask the endo for how much insulin to give. Remember they may be very insulin resistant when bg is that high, and it's important for the child to be well hydrated if possible for the insulin to work properly.

[Boo]

When our meter reads HI, I say, "OH SH!T"!!

Fortunately, it has only happened once in almost four years. (Bad pump site)

Seriously though, I assumed it was the meter cutoff #, bolused for the #, then tried (unsuccessfully) to be patient while te number ame down. Since I wasn't patient enough with the slow steady drop, we stacked insulin, and he ended up at 34. oops!..I'll be more patient next time.

[wilf]

That's why I won't use any meter that says "Hi." That really makes me mad, like you cannot tell if your child is high if they're registering a blood sugar over 400. Puhleesee!!

The AccuCheck Aviva doesn't do this, I will get a reading no matter how high.

Hey I didn't know that.. Thanks for posting. :)

Note that in Type 1 Diabetes by Hanas (2005) it says on page 131 that:
"A temporarily very high BG (>450-550 mg/dl) can often be caused by not drinking enough. If the person is able to pass plenty of urine the BG can go down to approx. 360 mg/dl without extra insulin.."

We have found that giving lots of water when DD is really high does a lot to bring BG quickly by itself, so we get her to drink and don't correct for the full meter reading all at once.

[M&MMOM]

We were 4 years into D before we had the HI reading. I had no clue what it meant. I tried 3 different meters and then resorted to the users manual. I freaked when I figured it out!

[hawkeyegirl]

Note that in Type 1 Diabetes by Hanas (2005) it says on page 131 that:
"A temporarily very high BG (>450-550 mg/dl) can often be caused by not drinking enough. If the person is able to pass plenty of urine the BG can go down to approx. 360 mg/dl without extra insulin.."

We have found that giving lots of water when DD is really high does a lot to bring BG quickly by itself, so we get her to drink and don't correct for the full meter reading all at once.

That is really good to know. We're still honeymooning, so we don't have many highs, and have never had a "HI" on the meter (although we use the Aviva, so according to twodoor2's post, I guess we wouldn't), but I'll try to remember this when we do.

I swear, I learn something important on here everyday. I don't know what I would do without this website.

[Momof4gr8kids]

We correct for 600
We check for ketone levels
We trouble shoot
If we figure it out we fix it
And then we check again in about 2 hours, and correct as needed.

[Ivan's Mum]

oh, and there I was thinking it was just being friendly ;-)

I start with retesting, then gessing at about 30 and correcting down from there. find that we need a big correction factor to budge it when that happens. I would normally use a night time correction to get him down ASAP, I can always get him up again but don't want to spend hours saying "No food buddy, gotta wait for your #'s"

Don't want to be the evil D witch so it's better for us say "Stop, Hammer TIme" and go hard.

Of course, all of this had been WAY easier since we've went untethered.

[Mom2Deacon]

Yeah. I noticed that Deacon needed a big push to finally get the Hi to budge. I am hoping that I can keep him below Hi for a while now.

--Sara

[wendyc]

Our endo has us correct for 550 via syringe, then increase the basal for 2hrs 100%. We've only had it happen twice, once for a bad site, once the pump died.

[czardoust]

We correct as if its 600 (5 units) and then an hour later I check Kat again and use the IOB formula to correct the rest. The IOB (insulin on board) formula is counting how much insulin is left in the system so you can adjust to exactly (or close enough) to what is needed to reach the happy 100 range. Its:

After one hour -- 66% is left (multiply original dose by .66 to find IOB)
After 1.5 hours 50% is left (multiply original dose by .5 to find IOB)
After 2 hours 33% is left (multiply original dose by .33 to find IOB)
After 2.5 hours i dont bother to be honest :o I just start as if the whole 3 hours has already past.

Say Kat had HI at 10 pm. I gave her 5 units. At 11 pm she was 580. 5.0 X .66 is 3.3, so thats how much she would still have in her, which would only bring her down to about 250, so I would give her another unit. Then check her at midnight to 1 am and see how things were going. Does that help or screw with your brain?

[sammysmom]

That's why I won't use any meter that says "Hi." That really makes me mad, like you cannot tell if your child is high if they're registering a blood sugar over 400. Puhleesee!!

The AccuCheck Aviva doesn't do this, I will get a reading no matter how high.

Actually, the aviva will only read up to 599. After that it says HI. We have used that meter before and the little D boy that I watch uses that meter. I have seen it read HI before. All that info should be in the aviva manual. I will go to the website and see if they list it there also. I just wanted you to be warned if that ever happened to you that it does read HI.:)

shannon

[twodoor2]

Actually, the aviva will only read up to 599. After that it says HI. We have used that meter before and the little D boy that I watch uses that meter. I have seen it read HI before. All that info should be in the aviva manual. I will go to the website and see if they list it there also. I just wanted you to be warned if that ever happened to you that it does read HI.:)

shannon

That's probably why. Elizabeth hasn't been that high since diagnosis. :)
She was actually 598 at diagnosis. The highest she ever got after that was probably in the 400's.

[Judith]

Neither the manual nor the website lists the specifications for hi/low limits for the Aviva meter/strips. However, a call to the 800 number resulted in the following answer: The range is 10-600mg/dl, with anything below 10 displayed as "LO" and above 600 as "HI"

Other brands of meters may have slightly different ranges, but I know of no home meter that displays anything over 600.

[mph]

Note that in Type 1 Diabetes by Hanas (2005) it says on page 131 that:
"A temporarily very high BG (>450-550 mg/dl) can often be caused by not drinking enough. If the person is able to pass plenty of urine the BG can go down to approx. 360 mg/dl without extra insulin..".

We had this happen today!!! Unfortunately!!
501 :eek:, we were out with everything, even the kitchen sink ;), but NO SYRINGES!!!!!!!!!!!:mad:
He had a huge glass of water and by the time we got home to "correct" he was 369!!!!!!!!!! How "textbook" for once.

CRAZY day of resistant highs and I have no idea why..........it's gonna be a long night of "corrections" and a vigil for lows............:(

BTW, we usually only correct at night if over 250. He is just too sensitive unless a day like today (sick or growing.........?????).

[twodoor2]

Neither the manual nor the website lists the specifications for hi/low limits for the Aviva meter/strips. However, a call to the 800 number resulted in the following answer: The range is 10-600mg/dl, with anything below 10 displayed as "LO" and above 600 as "HI"

Other brands of meters may have slightly different ranges, but I know of no home meter that displays anything over 600.

That's an acceptable range. I think some meters still read "HI" when it's like 400, and that's not acceptable to me.

[Jacob'sDad]

I think this is a very important question.
Here's what I do:

1) After it reads HI wash Jacob's hands very well.
2) Do another check.
3) If it still reads high subtract about 20% from the meter's highest reading (in our case 600) and correct for that. If it's 600 I'd correct for maybe 500 at the most.
4) Double check no more than 1 hour later to see if he's coming down.
5) If he's not coming down figure out why that is and deal with it. If he's coming down check again in 1 1/2 hours.
6) After 3 hours correct again if necessary.
7) Analyze why he was so high in the first place. Try to come up with a way to avoid it in the future.

[taximom]

My friend's son's meter was reading "HI" for an entire day :eek:. He was pumping and they kept correcting (no ketones). The next day he was looking rather pale and feeling very dizzy at school when they decided to use another D-child's meter at school. I'm not sure of his actual number, but he was very low according to this other kid's meter. Turns out his (my friend's son's) meter was malfunctioning....it just went bad. Moral of the story....have a back-up meter and use it, if you get any bizarre readings.