Yeah your right about previous post. That's what I am saying good number and felt fine just started to freak a little. As far as therapy goes no luck around my area so I have been posting here lately. Hoping it will help.
Well, here are a couple of suggestions, although you'll need to figure out what works for you to get you back in a more rational mindset. The first would be very slowly bringing down the numbers at which you react and treat. Yesterday you know for a fact that you felt fine at 118. So pick a number like 115 or 120 that you choose not to treat until you go below it. After a week or 2 you'll feel more secure about that number, and you can bump it down by 10 or whatever you choose. And keep going at it slowly. Your numbers have been so high lately that you might actually feel shaky by doing it too fast, which would freak you out again...
Suggestion number 2 is to make your "low" treatment something in a small portion. So you're not mega-overtreating for a BG that isn't low to start with. Because you should carry stuff with you just in case you have a real low, and it will probably be a mental security blanket for you in the meantime. Personally, I carry smarties because they're cheap at the dollar store and I'm not allergic to them. One smarties is only 6g carbs and works very fast. (The other day only 1 roll got me from 67 to 96 in 10 minutes) Better to "treat" with a known small amount of carbs than slugging down a bunch of juice or soda.
Totally not a doctor here. Just making some guesses as to where you might be able to start in working to help yourself.
Thanks, jims, as I've said before I downloaded your book onto my Kindle and read it and found your advice very helpful. I've never personally heard of anyone having lows on metformin. Can you actually have problems with it like you could with an overdose of insulin, or do you just have a lower than normal blood sugar for a while? From what you're saying, it sounds like it wouldn't be unsafe to just wait it out until your liver kicks back in, and then tinker with the amount and timing of the dose. Drinking juice at 118 seems counterproductive to me, and doesn't give a person much control.
Jan:
Thank you for writing and adding excellent comment.
First off; we live in analog world with much more experience with type 1 and insulin use.
What gets overlooked is this:
a) available glucose for burn/absorption is as follows:
- intestine liver digestion generation - minus glucose to refill liver storage.
- liver throw back of glucose when gut/intetsine liver have no more glucose generation from digestion - minus what metformin holds off from liver assuming metformin dose in blood is high enough.
- glucose absorption by skeletal muscles from insulin stimulation minus insulin resistance.
so when gut/intestine liver glucose digestion release is over; body BG control is implemented by liver buffer glucose release - usually more than needed and is chipped away by pancreas basil release to chip away at excess and send to skeletal muscles to keep BG at 80 to 100.
Whether you will have low is controlled by absolute level of glucose being released/ burnt, absorbed at any one time.
Traditionally we all watch insulin and think it is guilty part and most cases probably is but one does not want to loose track of the factors adding and subtracting glucose at any one time. If one has metformin dose cranked up sufficient so liver is told to haul back on glucose and it can; and gut glucose is reduced ( and no extra insulin; one can have low. Been there and had to add glucose tablets to play liver.
Be aware one has multi ring circus here of liver, gut/intestine, pancreas, insulin, skeletal muscles all at the party.
Funnily enough; my extensive experience injecting insulin indicates the pancrease can make same dam mistake and add too much insulin on a guess of stomach contents and overdrive the BG down. Pancreas doesn't care as properly working liver simply makes up shortfall and no issue. With metformin on deck keeping liver ramped back can be an issue.
Another issue that drives me nuts - a la metformin is :
if intestine decides to dump its contents due to a bug/food issue; one can also have glucose generation shortfall that with metformin liver crawl back need extra glucose tablets.
The other one is if one has mix of food/pasta that causes what I call is a pipeline stall as gut is reconfiguring emzymes - digestion cycle, glucose generation is suddenly stalled and liver is clawed back on metformin, one will get a low requiring ADDING GLUCOSE TILL GUT DIGESTION back up on track 1 to 2 hours late. A riot one does not want.