Do you bump your bloodsugar?

I do this quite often where I test at 2 hours and too low for my liking so I bump my bloodsugars with carb intake?

Am I the only one that does this more than I like to?

Definitely not. I’m at an age where I gain weight easily and it’s hard to lose. The last thing in the world I need is extra carbs. If I’m low (which i define as below 60) I treat with 2 glucose tabs. If I’m feeling “at risk of going low” I watch it. But if I were experiencing regular lows at a certain time in between my meals than I would lower my basal for those time periods

I cant go to bed if my bg is under 150. My overnights are set to deliver very little insulin, but my BG drops in a big way from midnight to about 8 the next morning. Worse if we walk after dinner.
So yes, in that instance I have to consume carbs to get things set so I can sleep.
I find granola bars work the very best. They stabilize things at a perfect number, even during the day time.

I also consider low (for me) below 60. The exception is when I’m driving, then I want it higher, around 80. I can’t abide glucose tabs, so use skittles. 5 (5 cho) usually does it for me. I usually only have lows during the night, and keep those tiny containers of apple juice by the bed for those times.

At 60 I see giant white flashing blobs which resemble Ms. Pacman.
For those who dont know Pacman, you’ll have to look it up.
I cant drive under 100, I cant get my BG to hold at anything less than 120.

I do this all the time if I feel like I’m at risk of going low and am doing something where it’s not easy to stop and check, such as heading into a meeting or teaching or something.

I even did it today. I was 5.2 heading into teaching and didn’t like being that low. I know it’s not a real low, but I don’t actually feel low until I’m there, I never feel myself “dropping” unless I’m already low, and so in places where I’m not able to easily stop and test and eat, I get nervous. So I ate 10g of carbs. An hour and a half later after finishing teaching I was 7.2 which is a perfect level for me in terms of not being too high but not being in danger of dropping low, either.

If I’m 5.2 but just riding the bus or at home or out shopping or somewhere else where I can easily stop and test, I’ll just leave it. Unless I have insulin on board and/or am active, in which case I will eat something.

I suspect if I had a CGMS that showed a nice little trend and arrow that showed “holding steady” before going into situations where I can’t stop and test and eat on a moment’s notice, I might do this a lot less.

Yes, as you said Jen the CGM is a huge help. I don’t think I’d let myself be as consistently low without it.

Sometimes I do if there is something I am going to have to do - such as attend a meeting where a hypo would be downright inconvenient if not embarrassing! But rarely.

I could certainly see situations where a low would be dangerous; and my life is such that I have the luxury of checking often and not being in risky situations, but it also seems to me that feeding a “low” of 90 shows something of a fear of hypoglycemia, risking highs and weight gain all to head off a possible low down the road!

You are right. I hate, HATE going low in situations where it’s impossible to stop and have a “time out” for ten or so minutes. One of my worst fears is having a severe low while at work. Three times now I’ve had unexpected blood sugars of 1.8 (twice) and 2.0 where I went from feeling fine to feeling like I was about to pass out over the span of about a minute. Those times I obviously stopped and treated; luckily once was while I was student teaching and so my cooperating teacher took over, and twice was between teaching periods. And I’ve had countless more minor lows during teaching and/or at school, which I treat as needed. I dread the thought of ever having a severe low with students around, though.

Also, if I go low while I’m teaching, or in a meeting, or making a presentation, or any similar situation, it means I have to continue doing those things even while low. I may stop and test quickly and eat, if possible (or may just eat if I can’t easily stop and test), but I have to get right back to whatever I’m doing immediately … which just sucks when I’m feeling all weak and can’t quite think properly.

So in all those situations above I would rather be trending slightly high than slightly low.

Thanks for explaining, Jen. I do have more time than I used to and your description helped me remember work type situations, which for me were before my D diagnosis, and put myself in your shoes. I also don’t usually go that low that fast. Except one time when I first got on insulin and which I now know had special cirumstances, I have never had a low I couldn’t just pop 2 or 3 glucose tabs for and feel fine in 15 minutes. When I taught live (now I just teach online) I had the flexibility to just call a break or have the students read or work on projects for that length of time. But in my other job as a Counselor I could imagine circumstances where it would have been inconvenient or very inappropriate to take even 15 minutes out. So I can understand a little better what you are talking about now.

I suppose in a post-secondary or similar setting it would be fairly easy to just have a break as-needed. I work in special education in the elementary and high school environment, so it’s not possible to just stop what I’m doing and treat a low (or, at least, very inconvenient).

Yes, I do that if I am on my way to bed or getting ready to get in the car. Neither of those times are times I want my BG to plummet. I am fighting a weight problem since my celiac diagnosis and the high carb gluten flour replacements that are part of my diet, but I still am not willing to risk a dangerous low to save some carbs. With hypoglycemic unawareness until I am in my low 30s, I can’t depend on feeling low at a safe level to alert me. If my BG is below 120 at bedtime, I will drop into the 40s 40% of the time. I can’t adjust my overnight insulin any lower for the 60% of the time it doesn’t. Same with driving. If my BG is below 120 and I am making more than a 15 minute drive, I don’t get in the car without eating something before I go. I just figure I’d rather risk the weight gain than being dead or causing an accident that hurts someone else. Sometimes, thanks to my gastroparesis, it all comes back to bite me later when my stomach finally empties and my BG runs high. It’s a tiring vicious cycle.

Your situation sounds much like mine (though my Mom is the Celiac, and I dont gain weight unless my thyroid is way off).

I have the very same problem with overnight drops and they say I have some gastropathy (not full blown gastroparesis) which makes things go awry.
This is also the reason I dont want to go back to MDI. My BG will not hold steady if I go shopping or anywhere that involves walking. So anything under 120 just falls, and even more so if I dont cut down my pump basal before I head out the door.
It is a cycle, but it just goes to show you we are all dealing with different situations and not everything works the same for everyone.

I’ve finally started working with taking extended boluses to cover the delay in digestion and I think it just may be working a little bit. Of course, it’s going to be months of trial and error but it is a plan

Only at bed time and only <100 since I know it’s going to drop further.

In all other cases, I’m awake, why should I mess with a perfect bg? Unless it’s really a low and/or I know it won’t stay there but go lower.

I have extra carbs all the time but if it goes on for a while, I’ll turn my basal rate down .05U/ hour at the offending time(s). I also usually have like 3-5 jellybeans if it’s not that low, instead of 15G. This will vary depending on IOB, what I’ve got to do and any other factors but I am not convinced that I need to send it skyrocketing to get it fixed.

I use the 3-5 jellybean trick. For example today at 3:30am I felt a little funny when I got up to the use the bathroom. BG was 75. Not low…but not a number I’m comfortable with for going back to sleep. So I ate 3 jellybeans and woke up at 6:15 with a BG of 109.

The more normal the blood glucose the more we will need additional carbs to moderate the process. The difference from normal to low is small and the 20% error margin in test stripes is another factor. Just add unforeseen physical activity and we are in trouble. Injected insulin is active for several hours in contrast to the micro dosing of a healthy body. This is also recognized by the artificial pancreas project: a glucagon pump is a necessary part of the system.

What about a new classification for insulin users?

Dragger = corrects more often with insulin to reach normal numbers
Pusher = corrects more often with cabs to keep normal numbers

That makes me a Pusher!

I sort of think that pushing and/or dragging might be a permanent sub-condition as, a lot of times, the data will suggest “.95U is too much but .9U isn’t quite enough” so .925U/ hour might be perfect but the pump can’t do that so I am sort of choosing between one or the other all the time. I suspect that if one were in a situation where one didn’t also have OCDiabetes and check your BG all of the time, it could pretty much turn into a slot machine every time you test?

Yep, do this all the time, especially if I’m about to engage in an activity where I know I’m likely to go low (i.e., running, hiking, a long walk, etc). Chewy granola bars (the low sugar variety) are my bump of choice. They taste great and have 17 carbs, the perfect amount that I need for a bump.

I also tend to bump (often unnecessaraily) before important meetings at work. I am always really scared of being low in a work situation so I let myself run a little high during times like that. Anytime I start going below 65, I have immense trouble concentrating and speaking coherently and that’s nothing I want happening in an important meeting!