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Second honeymoon?

My partner was diagnosed with type 1 three months ago (although he is 43). After a few week he went ino "honeymoon" and cut back to 8 protophane at night, 4 in the morning and no rapid. Then a week before Xmas (while still working) the blood glucose went higher and higher and he increased his insulin until new year when he was up to 10 & 10 with rapid being 6,6, & 8.  Even with this regime the BG struggled to get below 15. Then after a big hypo (1.7) the BG has lowered again and he is on 10 protophane at night, 8 in the morning and no rapid again. Still he has unpredictable hypos and unexplained high numbers. He tests 4-5 times per day and his diabetes care team are trying to explain it away with science. I have given up on science and can only see very unpredictable BG numbers despite little variation in food and pattern of eating and exercise etc. Can the pancreas go into second (or third) honeymoon? Anyone with a similar problem? My theory is that the pancreas is spurting insulin out randomly and seems to stop/start when it feels like it.... The dietician has even suggested that hypos occur on Tues and Weds and he should eat more on those days (but no time patternand I think there is no statistical evidence that this is even a pattern!)
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Avatar universal
I am not a physician, but the mom of a type 1 and the daughter if a type 2 diabetic.  
I would suggest 2 things to do, first I would consider a second opinion, but in the mean time I would test blood sugars before eating and about 2 hrs after eating, also before bed.  This is because when you check your blood it is for that instant in time. The more tests you do the easier to see a pattern.  I would also suggest that it be about the same time everyday.

When my daughter has crazy numbers we do this and a pattern usually appears.

As for the second opinion, they might suggest a different insulin regimen or an insulin pump.   We have found that with the pump we get fewer; lows and highs.

I hope this helps, Good luck
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Avatar universal
The BG is measured in mmmol/L in NZ. Normal is 4-8.
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Avatar universal
Brooook,
I tend to agree with your assessment that his pancreas is sputtering & spurting at the moment.  He is likely still in the same honeymoon (they last up to a year or more), which is characterized by the pancreas still (sometimes) producing insulin.  The hard part is that the timing isn't always ideal and thus we can experience highs ... then the pancreas finally responds to the signals it received "a while ago" and dumps too-much insulin.

I hope he always keeps glucose tabs on hand.  Glucose tabs work most quickly and create no "rebound" signal for our liver to dump a lot of glucose, too.  When we treat a low with other foods, juices, we risk "over-treating" and also causing a rebound (a very high number).  If we don't have glucose tabs, juice or candy (not chocolate) do work.

If you do detect day-of-week patterns, pay attention to them even if you can't figure out the reason behind 'em. Sometimes the reason can be "simple" things like -- walking to certain meetings at work/school that cause/reduce levels of stress.  

This can all be so very maddening and it does take years to figure out our own patterns.  And then they change.
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Avatar universal
Some of us stay in the honeymoon phase forever, and this is a mixed curse/blessing. I am one of these, having been on insulin for 35 years now. I seem to make some insulin at times, and don't at other times. Stress and sickness can cause me to have severe lows, while most diabetics go high at these times. I have corresponded with others who seem to stay in the honeymoon phase, so it is not unheard of. Eventually there probably will be some sort of pattern that emerges. Even at that point, I find that occasionally I will run low for several days with no apparent reason. The blessing in all this is of course that we don't tend to have as many high readings as many diabetics do, and we require less insulin than many other folks do. So his chances of long-term damages are perhaps less of an issue if glucose levels stay on the low side of normal rather than high. But as long as he is doing this, he will need to keep a sharp eye on the glucose readings (I test every 3 hours as a rule) and keep juice cans or boxes handy at all times. I keep a desk drawer at work stocked with juices and other high-carb snacks to curb the lows when they happen so I don't even have to leave my office to help myself. Doing the frequent tests prevents glucose from going so low that it is dangerous without knowing about it. I also test before getting behind the wheel of my car every time I get in it. Better safe than sorry. But the tendency to spurt out insulin seems to have protected me from damage, for after 35 years, there are no complications. So tell him to keep his chin up and his juice handy.
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