Walking bgs

[Victoria]

Walked the first part of a long distance path yesterday and by 11am felt the need to test and down to 5 so had a banana to keep me going till lunchtime which I had with hubby in a riverside pub,whipped out my bag containing meter strips pen etc tested then found I had forgotten needle by which time meal was in front of me so I ate veg and meat leaving the spud and pastry pie top ,then ooh my! fell for a pud telling myself that I had another 5 miles or so to go but of course got home tested and 8 two hours later 11.2.This morning I cant seem to get bgs down to normal and have corrected twice today,so what do you think (apart from memory going re needles)is this due to lack of proper control yesterday and if so what to do?

[Pattidevans]

Victoria

What I would have done was to have injected as soon as I got home, not the full amount you would normally have injected for the meal, but I find about half will normally get me down to reasonable numbers in that situation.  However you didn't so what was your FBG and what corrections have you tried?  I have days when nothing will get me back to "normal" figures if I've woken high and in that situation I have increased my night time Levemir by 1 that evening.

[Victoria]

I had meal 1 hour after getting home so didnt correct as was hoping the excercise factor would still be bringing it down and injected the larger bolus as suggested by the expert with that evening meal ,thats why the 11.2 suprised me at bedtime, and this morning only I higher than other fasting bgs but again 5 hours later 8.2 at midday and then 8.3 at 3 pm . Had gp visit this morning so maybe the stress of that is a factor we will see

[Chas C]

I know its not recommended but I only used to change the needle when the cartridge ran out.

You don't need to do this but you could leave the needle attached to the pen and change it just before injecting - that way you always have a needle. Just need to pump a few units through before to make sure like a new needle you have it loaded with insulin.

[nytquill17]

Not the best idea though, as having a needle on the pen provides an opportunity for insulin to leak out of the cartridge and air to leak in, and worse, a pathway for bacteria to get in and contaminate the insulin inside the cartridge, making the insulin not work as well and possibly even lead to a skin infection.  Since we already say you "really should" use a new needle every time, then you really really should take the needle off the pen when you're done injecting every time.