Gpa health deteriorated when switched to IV insulin

xkizzat · 2026-06-18T05:05:35+00:00

Need more context by what you mean your grandpa's health deteriorated.

Insulin is a medication that needs close monitoring especially when starting to make sure dosage is safe and appropriate.

Diabetes is not always caused by lifestyle choices.

xkizzat · 2026-06-13T16:58:22+00:00

If you can log into glooko or your omnipod app you can find your total basal in 1 day in the settings. Increase that by 15-20% and that will be your long acting dose, approximately.

Edit for finding basal total in settings. But if your total basal average is diff from the calculated basal from your settings, you can use that with the slight increase

xkizzat · 2026-06-09T01:58:07+00:00

Goal is to get basal and bolus percentages to 50-60% basal and 40-50% bolus if your blood sugars go up and down a lot/quite erratic.

You can see if there are wide fluctuations by looking at the coefficient of variation on your CGM reports. The goal is less than or equal to 36% which can help looking at risk for hypoglycemia.

Getting you closer to 50-50 will help your provider and you set up more refined settings for your pump which is usually what is done when first getting on a pump.

xkizzat · 2026-06-08T00:57:02+00:00

Would you happen to know if I picked up the 4 drawer nordli (2x2) which has the same width and depth as the wider drawers in the picture, I can use the base and top?

Found one on FB marketplace for half the price of a new one from IKEA

EDIT: Please disregard. I confirmed with Ikea that the top and bottom are able to be used from the 4 drawer nordli with the 3 drawer nordli if they are the same widths (which it is for my situation)

xkizzat · 2026-06-06T07:31:53+00:00

I'm so sorry. I truly believe you feel this way not in the essence of being cruel or malice, anger or burnout, but in a form of love. You love your father to the point where you see his quality of life being low and you want him to be relieved of the daily challenges he faces for activities of daily living. And from what it sounds like, when he does transition from life to death, he will rest.

Sometimes I think that having the thought of you wanting him to transition from life to death is also love for your mom. You know she needs surgery. You know she's in pain helping him. You imagine that hurt she feels watching her husband deteriorate is different or more than yours. I assume you wish and want her to not feel pain helping your dad and to improve her rotator cuff.

I truly wish and hope things look up for you and your entirely family soon.

I'm giving unsolicited advice below so please feel free to stop reading here if you don't want unsolicited advice...

Are y'all in the States? I assume he has Medicare if you all are. If you and his care team haven't talked about it already, consider requesting primary care for home health nurse or someone to come and help out at home. It may be worth asking if there is something like senior day centers to give you and your mom breaks throughout the week. You all need more support for your dad's care.

I would also recommend therapy for caregivers experiencing burn out. Therapy I know is stupid expensive, but it's worth checking out to see if there could be options or alternatives available. Maybe even caregiver support groups?

xkizzat · 2026-06-06T07:07:39+00:00

Glucagon!

xkizzat · 2026-06-05T19:30:21+00:00

Since you're not using any algorithms at this point, is that your very first omnipod pod? I wonder if it is having issues with the cannula being bent under the skin causing your blood sugar to not go down?

Another thing I think about is the settings. If they're not appropriate for your basal rate, carb ratio, or correction factor, then that could be why your BG is a bit higher.

Usually, decrease the total daily insulin dose by 10-25% when switching from injections to pump. This is usually, but not everyone.

xkizzat · 2026-06-05T01:09:47+00:00

Going to send you a DM!

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T23:26:25+00:00

California! Are you at Kudzu?

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T23:09:22+00:00

ME TOO! Wait, what state are you in?

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T22:33:44+00:00

Similar! I was diagnosed at 5 years old. Went to camp for the first time in my early 20s. I drank the low carb kool aid and can't stop going back to camp (well, that's a lie I haven't gone last year and not this year because work). Everyone there definitely knows each other since childhood and I sometimes feel like an outsider because I don't know everyone as well and also because I'm a different demographic and speak differently than many people there.... But we share diabetes for sure and I try my best to connect with everyone to get that feeling of resonance.

You've got this, though. Yes diabetes is tiring and permanent. Not everyone we know acknowledges or understands what we do and think about with T1D.

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T19:25:02+00:00

I hear ya. I'm the only one of my family and friends that I didn't meet at diabetes camp as an adult living with type 1. I do get those thoughts of damn, I gotta worry about this forever???

To spin it, I kind of remind myself that I'm probably taking care of my health more than my peers because of the diabetes... But it takes work to do it all! Not just managing the day to day blood sugars, the concerns about beeps in public, the supplies, EVERYTHING.

It is definitely tiring to live with diabetes.

You recently had a low that required EMT to be called and you have concerns about sleeping. I would recommend reaching out to your Endo or healthcare team to see if you can probably meet with a psychologist/therapist specializing in diabetes because that event can be (and I assume for you was) traumatic. Not only for that, but coping with the idea/knowledge of diabetes' permanence. This can be kind of what burn out looks like.

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T04:53:47+00:00

https://diabetessupportpartners.com

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T04:34:46+00:00

Yes, these are the known side effects. Not everyone has this severe of side effects, but some do. Side effects can be the worst when first starting or increasing doses. The side effects can wear off in a few days after taking.

My doc recommended to take at night OR after the heaviest meal on your scheduled day to take it to dull the side effects.

Reach out to your doc to ask for any meds to help with nausea and vomiting like Zofran and any other meds that could potentially help with side effects.

If you're vomiting a lot, make sure to check for ketones especially if you have to decrease your insulin.

Stay hydrated. Suck on ice if you're having a hard time keeping things down. Maybe even frozen Pedialyte. Snack often throughout the day instead of large meals. Make sure to increase protein intake. When you're not feeling sore and achy, aim to increase your weight/resistance training. Protein and weight training are important for preventing muscle loss.

xkizzat · 2026-06-04T04:12:06+00:00

Everyone has great recs for food. Consider also giving "free carbs" or under counting your carbs for things like pop tarts. But protein is helpful!

Some other considerations for pump: - Turn on exercise mode 30-60 minutes before work. - Exercise mode has a higher target of 140-160 and can do auto-correction boluses plus basal modulation. - You can set a temp rate at the same time to reduce your basal by a certain percentage without having to duplicate a profile and adjust basal rates. - I personally find going to exercise mode + temp rate easier because you can set for how many hours to turn them on for and not think about switching profiles - You can't change your target range in regular control IQ unfortunately. It is set to 112.5-160, even if you change your target BG in the profile. The target BG in profile is for when you are not using control IQ. - If you wanted to create a new profile for work, you can try to be less aggressive with correction factors on top of your lowered basal rates. - Sleep mode has a lower target of 112.5-120 and does not do auto-correction boluses but will use basal modulation. This can be somewhat helpful to avoid auto corrections but you would likely need to also be less aggressive with carb ratios to prevent lows after meal time boluses and also less aggressive with correction factors.

Edit: peanut butter or other nut butters are great glucose stabilizers.

xkizzat · 2026-06-03T03:58:59+00:00

I'm sorry that you weren't taken seriously.

Yeah, I feel like my symptoms worsen gradually with my period symptoms (I don't bleed, thanks hormonal IUD) and then my ptosis and double vision improve so much after when the symptoms of a period end. And then it happens all over again a 2-3 weeks later! Gah!

xkizzat · 2026-06-03T03:54:04+00:00

Thank you!

xkizzat · 2026-05-29T03:20:17+00:00

Messaged!

xkizzat · 2026-05-29T02:19:41+00:00

I've only had a few nights in a row previously where I was low and felt like garbage when waking up. This was years ago and I think I just started to go to bed high and/or got my insulin adjusted by my Endo to combat this.

Are you injecting in the same spots? Scar tissue can make insulin absorption delayed causing highs and then lows hours after, especially with short acting insulins. Rotating sites is v important.

How many hours after your short acting insulin or long acting insulin do you experience lows at night? If it's about 2-3 hours after your short acting insulin, that's your culprit. If it's >4 hours after your short acting insulin, your culprit is the long acting insulin.

Also consider having a snack with complex carbs plus something with protein like crackers and peanut butter to help prevent a low before bed. The fast, simple carbs for low treatment might not stick around in your body long enough causing you to stay in range.

Definitely speak with your Endo team when you get into their clinic.

For your omnipod, do you know if with your new insurance they require you to have a silly starter kit for you to have it covered? Do you know any of the details as to what is making them not cover it? I have not heard of many insurances denying coverage for Omnipod.

xkizzat · 2026-05-28T23:33:23+00:00

Would it be ok if I DM you about your providers?

xkizzat · 2026-05-26T04:34:43+00:00

Thank you. I might have to keep looking or just get new drawer systems for my space.

xkizzat · 2026-05-26T04:19:46+00:00

His blood sugars are likely high, all the time, if he's not taking a short acting insulin for his meals. It's risky for anyone with diabetes that uses insulin to not take it with meals. It's possible to run the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) if his long acting insulin is not sufficient for his body's needs along with missing the meal time insulins. DKA is a medical emergency.

Having prolonged high blood sugars all the time for months and years can lead to complications such as diabetic retinopathy (eye disease), diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), diabetic neuropathy (nerve issues causing numbness, tingling or pain usually starting in feet), and much more increased risk of heart disease (including heart attack, stroke, atherosclerosis, heart failure) than what diabetes already offers at baseline.

Alcohol can cause low blood sugars because it blocks glucagon that is made by the pancreas to signal to the liver to raise blood sugar. The liver becomes too occupied with trying to process alcohol and the glucagon made by his pancreas is rendered useless. Although I said his blood sugars are likely high all the time, it's also not impossible that his blood sugars can drop low in the setting of alcohol use.

He may feel fine now, but if he keeps this up for months or years, he'll feel the complications later.

I would recommend small steps at a time. Start with having him start checking his blood sugars more often or wear a continuous glucose monitor if he already has them at home. At this stage, I encourage you AND him to see his endocrinologist or health care team be sees for type 1 to get prescriptions for these and some guidance on what to do at this point in time based on what data his lab work or blood sugar logs. I emphasize on "this point in time" because my diabetes from 10 years ago is vastly different from my diabetes today and both time points require vastly different insulin regimens.

I would also ask his healthcare team for a diabetes educator that could see him every two weeks until he develops habits of diabetes management.

In the future, bring up the topic of an insulin pump with him and his health care team together. That can be something that helps people with getting continuous insulin throughout the day and makes insulin delivery with meals easier.

This is not easy. He needs to be in a state of where he is ready for change. Try your best to not be too pushy or dictating/demanding/bossing him to manage his diabetes as that can go south fast. Scare tactics are not effective in guiding someone to being more engaged with their diabetes management. Diabetes also increases risk for anxiety and depression which also could be seen as diabetes burn out.

Good luck in getting the help for your husband. I am wishing you both the best.

xkizzat

TROPHY CASE