High all night

[Hollyb]

Rough night with Aaron last night. I guess we've been lucky that this scenario is really unusual.

Anyhow, he changed his set in the early afternoon. Had a normal reading before dinner (Swiss Chalet) and went low about 9, so we knew the set at least started off working right.

By bedtime he was 13 - corrected and asked me to check on him in 3 hours. I figured the chocolate cake he insisted on bringing home for dessert was giving him delayed grief (which would explain the early low too). But at 2 he was 16.7/16.2 on retest (about 300)! Corrected again, went back at 3:45 -- 15.5. Gave him an injection, and he was in normal range on waking.

So that's a long, long time for a piece of cake to haunt you. Much longer than we've dealt with before. And while it could be the set (I sent him to school with his pens, just in case), I don't really think so.

Aaron wonders if the original 13 was wrong and he actually overdosed himself, went low and had a liver dump. Which might explain why the high was so persistent?

What do you guys think? It freaks me out to think he could go that low, that fast, but if you corrected a false high I guess you might?

[Lee]

I am not sure how low 9 is...but I would believe his scenario. Cake, even with the choc, doesn't have that high of a fat content...I believe that it acts more as a quick acting carb then a slow acting because of all of the sugar, but I could be wrong on that. so I'm not much help, but just wanted to say good for your son for asking for the 3 hr recheck!

[Nancy in VA]

The only thing I would add is if I see a persistent high like that, I'm pulling out the ketone meter. If its a persistent high from the cake, you won't have ketones. Presence of ketones is a sure sign of a bad sight, due to the lack of basal and I use that as my guide for a bad site. I've actually been surprised a couple of times I expected a bad site with a run of high numbers and her ketones were negative.

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

How did he measure the cake for carbs? It sounds possible he over bolused, and then you fought a stubborn high after the rebound.

[Hollyb]

Actually we looked up the cake on the Swiss Chalet site -- good question though.

He is just back from school and the site's working fine --things seem to be back to "normal."

I do wonder now if that bedtime high was really something sweet on his finger. When in doubt, retest!

[hrermgr]

Maybe his overnight basal rate needs to be adjusted. We notice the highs at night with T much more. It seems wre are always tweeking the basals!

[Hollyb]

Also a good suggestion, but I don't think so. I've actually been checking him in the night fairly often because we tweaked his basals a couple of weeks ago -- he's never remotely that high. I've been worrying more about lows just lately.

Anyhow, thanks to everyone who helped us figure this out. Here's to a better night's sleep tonight!

[Boo]

We often have stubborn highs like that following restaurant meals (which we eat way too frequently). In those scenarios, especially when dessert is involved, we will often set a dual wave bolus for 6 or even 8 hours. Even then, I sometimes find myself correcting again at 3:00 am. Food seems to stay in my son's system for a LONG time.

[Jensmami]

Did you eat some fondue or raclette at the Swiss Chalet, if so that might also delayed his numbers?

[SweetieA]

Hi Holly - My name is Adrienne user name is Sweetie A - it may be hormones - in adolescence I had a very hard time regulating my sugars I've had diabetes type 1 for over 35 years - I also a have a masters in nursing

Aaron and you sound on top of things ...hormones can run havoc - he may be going through a growth spurt requiring more insulin , thus the high , make sure Aaron's doctor/NP/team is informed - have Aaron keep a log

another reminder I know you know but just to refresh when sugar drops it drops quickly AND the more controlled a diabetic is there is more chance of having hypoglycemic episodes I know it sounds paradoxal but as his parameters lower through stringent control his symptoms maybe less noticable this has happened to me when I was pregnant ....Jaclyn (who is now a healthy fourteen yo) and I fared very well...Aaron will too ...hang in there....

hope this helps any questions let me know :) A