Basal driving me bonkers

This is ridiculous.

Perhaps I've brought it on myself with a few smug posts about feeling that I'm doing a little better lately, and how I finally seem to have wrestled Lantus into submission, but diabetic readers will be unsurprised to know that it's gone a little pear-shaped over the last few days.

Most annoyingly of all, my recent successes with Lantus have evaporated and I've been waking to early morning test results around 3.5mmol/l again. Starting the day a little low invariably has a knock-on effect for my control for the whole rest of the day for me, and I've been struggling to rediscover my recent run of good form. Diabetes is like walking a tightrope with complications on one side and hypo-induced coma on the other. Tricky enough if your balance is good to start with, but if you start out wobbly you're in for a difficult time.

So I'm basal testing again to see if I can discover the new magic numbers.

The technique I've come across goes like this:

1. Choose a day when you are not doing anything particularly strenuous and your fbg is in range
2. Take basal and any other medication as usual but miss breakfast and don't inject any bolus insulin.
3. Don't eat anything and drink only water until lunchtime and test every hour or two
4. If your basal dose is correct you should remain within 1 or 2 mmol/l of where you started
5. Repeat the test for another 2 days (they don't have to be consecutive)
6. Then move on to missing lunch, then evening meal
7. If you are really hardcore you can also test every hour or two overnight (I confess I've never quite managed this part of the process, and have always been able to convince myself that my dose must be about right, surely?)
8. If you notice a consistent rise or fall in bgs during the tests consider making (or talking to your doctor about) a modest change in your basal dose, perhaps 1 or 2 units up or down
9. Then start the testing process again
   

Not a perfect day to start the test today as fbg was 3.5, but I'm going for it anyway. I also had coffee rather than water which will also muddy the waters a bit (lactose in the milk will push bgs up a bit).

I'll let you know how it goes.

Update: Day 1 test went well despite the wobbly start. Completely solid bgs from mid-morning onwards. Now, do I sloppily move on to lunchtime? Or do it properly and complete the morning test a few more times? Hmmmmmmmmm...

Update: Lantus problems and going round in circles