When I was first diagnosed an increasingly large chunk of a century ago... the "standard approved hypo treatment" was sugar stirred into orange juice.
I hated it then. I hate it perhaps even more today. And even more than I hate it, I love to complain about it! Oh I love to complain about it. I cannot even think of orange juice without thinking about being in the hospital and them trying to force me to drink sugar-in-orange juice. (Of course I had no idea what my bg was at the time, this was before home bg testing, but I was being clearly uncooperative!!!)
I've been through the cycle a couple times too and yes it is very possible to be doing quite well, no big problems, and then WOOMPF for no apparent reason hypos start coming out from everywhere.
The second or third more-than-mild hypo in a few day stretch really begins to make things start to snowball not just physically but also emotionally.
I've had such stretches where hypos cause me to have double vision (eyes not pointing in same direction). That was about 12, 13 years ago.
For me even moderate alcohol consumption can set me down the road to chain-of-hypos. I don't know if you had any over the holidays or not. I understand this can inhibit the glycogen processing in the liver that normally would be released as glucose and which we probably already dosed for.
After doing well (not needing hardly any correction insulin) for a stretch, I think we are especially vulnerable to a very slight deviation that can send us low. We get lulled into thinking that the dose doesn't have to be tweaked. And I think the pressure to get low A1C's sometimes prevents us from tweaking our doses in a way that would result in slightly higer bg's.
I know the textbooks would have us make very very minor dose correction, but in case of hypo strings I think it is reasonable to make some sort of gonzo large correction all at once rather than spread out the changes over days. I know I'm breaking the rules. But it's hard to argue with the fact that there was a string of hypos.
If I keep this up, I will go see my doctor. I will give it a week. I have been on synthroid forever and that is tested regularly.
Yes, Zoe, diagnosis on Christmas at the age of ten was something. My folks (I make no judgments on their thinking) had known for a while. I had some tests, but the decision was made to let me enjoy the holiday. By Christmas day, I had no energy and tried to ski down a hill. I was so worn out, my dad carried me home and I was admitted into the hospital.
I agree--no normal. So many factors to consider all the time. Maybe Karen is correct: It is the full moon... I was 94 at bedtime (7 hours after the meal which was baked chicken and some couscous) and 242 this morning.
And no, AR, it is not you. Your obnoxiousness is absolutely obvious and usually makes me laugh.
Besides the moon, I've noticed that Orion, the syringe-bearer, has swung around from watching over my house to fall on his face off to the side of the sky. It may be nuts but ancients lived at the stars for thousands of years...
Yeah, I wasn't trying to be a smart***...just had a pretty bad time with it. For some reason (tighter control, I'm guessing) the gastroparesis subsided after a few years. Best wishes to you... Eric
Enjoyed your post, not for the drama, but for the fact that I have shared in your experience - thank you for sharing too. Personally, I have found that despite mastery in the numbers and counting, that small mistakes have dire consequences. So the initial advice I have is the usual, learn your carb / insulin ratios, and start off low carb until you master your numbers and get expected results. Big meals, big carbs, big insulin doses tend to lead to small mistakes that cause highs or lows. Sadly, the less grams of carbs you eat - you reduce your potential margin of error.
THAT being said, even old grand masters make mistakes. Not that I am old or a grand master (26 years T1 - and still full of mistakes) but to error is human. Given that, I try to eat less carbs and eat sure things - where I know the math and can calculate the exact dose.
Feel free to IM me if you'd like to chat. It's a tough road we lead, and we need as many D friends as we can find. Always willing to share.
Thanks, Drew. That was a very thoughtful and kind reply. I appreciate it very much.
I think learning the carb/insulin ratios is the basis of the problems. As AR said way back, sometimes the ratios shifted and that is what I think has happened. I already eat low carb, but not no carb; I average about 50 per day, over three meals. I will admit to a little higher carb count on T Day, and you may be correct that a small error with that meal and the way I ate that day was the cause of the problem.
