Have you discussed getting U500 insulin with your dr? You would only have to inject 20% of the volume. BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE HYPER VIGILANT, to not mix up the different insulins.
White rice slays me. Itās like drinking double glucose or something, not sure why either.
I guess itās just super-easy to digest.
I honestly had no idea that such a thing existed on this earth.
Huh.
Iāll ask him about it. With my big boluses on ānormalā days, youād think heād have mentioned it.
Well, dear, you just described me to a T. (Or is that an N?) When Iām depressed, I have to FORCE myself to test and bolus, and I DO binge. Did it twice in the last 2 weeks ā with angel food cake, and chocolate layer cake, and butter cookies, and ice cream. I have a CGM, but I DONāT have to look at it, and I AM capable of going up into the 400ās without any trouble at all. I did eventually force myself to bolus my BGs down, but I also have the problem of there being the lasting effect of driving my BGs higher than I want.
I also have the problem with not injecting enough insulin. I just had a cup of tea with some Kavli crackers and cream cheese, and it came up to 26g, but I only bolused for 15. I think itās sort of wishful thinking ā hoping that maybe my moribund pancreas will kick in with a little, although I know that it wonāt. I also let myself run at 150 all night long, hoping that just maybe, my pancreas would work if given enough time, but it didnāt. Maybe I need to have a funeral for my pancreas, because itās really not showing ANY signs of life.
I had a long talk with my psychologist about it, and realized that I binge and struggle with treatment because Iām feeling BAD about myself, and Iām throwing a tantrum, screaming for help. Which is hard, if not impossible to find. One resolution Iāve made, but not had any success in following yet, is to absolutely NOT read the media. If the word ādiabetesā comes up and itās not in a scientific journal, and does not specifically say Type 1, then I need to close my eyes and turn the page. Even in your case, where you ARE a Type 2, most of what the media says does NOT apply, and you are better off not getting near it. You are an individual, not a statistic, and you just donāt need the crap.
I also make bargains with myself when I really canāt resist a binge. Iām going to quote our fearless leader, AR: āGo ahead and binge, but BOLUS for it!!!ā Itās probably going to take time to figure out why you binge, but your immediate well-being is much more important. If I binge, and bolus for it, and keep correcting, and therefore keep my BGs in a relatively good place, Iāve won half the victory. The other half is concentrating on eating better for the next few days to try to get my āgrooveā back in the right place. Current groove is 120 - 140, whereas Iād REALLY like it to be 70-90, but will settle for 100 - 120.
Nobody ever said diabetes would be easy, no matter what the particulars of your own case ā but I really appreciate your talking about it, especially since I have some of the same problems. Just gotta remember to keep on slogging.
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500 U insulin is a great suggestion.
Aaah, indeed, why do we do the things we know we shouldnāt? Denial, rebellion & then inevitable shame & self-punisment followed by more rebellion & denial & indulgence. An inter-related complex web. Iāll pretend I didnāt really eat that much by under bolusing. Iāll punish myself by taking my lumps with high BG. Ooo, Iām so ābadāāfurther proof I canāt do this. Easy to get too caught up in the overwhelming daily minutia, over think, over analyze & toss it all out. Another avoidance strategy.
Understand the fear of lows. Itās real. It feels horrible. We all hate lows. Easier to correct a low than a high, though. Nothing I detest more than the high/low roller coaster scene & Iāll do anything to prevent both.
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Usually you canāt just go to any pharmacy to get it (not sure if GH would cover or not) and like peruvian said it can be dangerous if mixed up. It also has a slow onset and a quite wicked tail (obviously everyone is differentā¦) so by and large I do not see a whole lot of it used. I do think when this size of a bolus is needed thoughā¦
Part of it is, I think, that I ran so high for so long that Iām more scared of seeing 79 on my meter than I am of 179.
I have now printed across my log book sheets:
Remember: Anything between 71 and 99 is normal.
I have an irrational fear of double-digit readings, but Iām working on it.
Yeah, itās tough. Of course, I have no trouble telling you, āOh, gosh, go ahead and bolus for it, Nat.ā But do I heed my own good advice?
Sometimesā¦
I agree with every word you wrote. Thank you for your sincere honesty.
I just need toā¦stop it.
Jean, Iām the opposite:) I get white hot mad at highs. Know Iāll be spending the rest of the day or night testing & attempting to bring numbers down. Feels like it takes forever to get back into range. I get impatient & frustrated when the high is already physically making me feel irritable.
Iām struggling with this whole issue as well. Recently Iāve noticed Huge insulin resistance in the morning. I had eggs, sausage, and one slice of wheat bread for breakfast Saturday and my bg went from 133 to 210 2 hrs later. And usually Iām 1:15 but I bolused 1:5 and it didnāt help. Went up and down all that day 111 before to190 after. 131/222 and finally down to 145 at bedtime. Sunday was 138 before and 157 after. not too bad. But went out for Fatherās Day Lunch and even tho I bolused like crazy I went from 142 to 293 2 hrs after. Hours later I finally ate dinner even tho my bg was still 164 and after was 167. At bedtime my body relented and lowered to 106. Now itās morning and my wake up bg is 147. I feel upset and donāt know what to do anymore.
The reason I allow myself to go ahead and bolus for it is because the alternative in my case is NOT to bolus for it, but binge anyway, and I almost killed myself doing that last year. I DO agree with the person who suggested shining the light on WHY we binge, but first things first, which, in my case is keeping myself alive (and I HOPE the same goal in yours.)
I donāt usually bolus ENOUGH for the binge, mostly because I donāt know how many frigginā carbs there are in the food, nor how much Iām going to eat. But again, the agreement with myself is that I keep checking hourly, and keep correcting until I get my BG down. I had a problem last year in that my boluses and corrections were way too small, and I never did come down satisfactorily ā go up a lot, come down a little, go up more, come down a little, etc. And this was with all food, not just binge food. So the agreement now is that I take as much as I need, EVEN if I throw myself low. (Thanks, AR!!) I have good hypo awareness, and I can catch them before they go dangerously low. I donāt like them (actually, am terrified of them), but thatās the price I have agreed to pay for bingeing.
Of course, I am only talking about my own experience, may or may not be relevant to you, but I think the process of making a plan for handling binges is better than just bingeing mindlessly, and then feeling sick and guilty afterward. I donāt need to punish myself even more when I already feel like the worst, most unloveable woman in the universe. Taking care of my diabetes is self-love, EVEN though it is sometimes almost impossible to do it. Still gonna keep tryinā . . .
Agree 100%, lots. To be honest, I find it disturbing when people receive sympathetic hugs & āitās ok, we need a break, itās fine to treat yourself, a 300 now & then isnāt going to kill you, etc.ā Itās not ok to binge (I donāt mean the occasional goodie). It becomes a slippery slope. Damage is cumulative & I donāt think itās helpful to justify that itās acceptable. Diabetes isnāt a game to try to cheat. This disease steals our life, our health, our time, our finances.
Insulin resistance/carb sensitivity in the morning is typical. Itās a continuation of dawn phenomenon. My morning ratio is crazy low & I eat only protein for breakfast. I eat & bolus as soon as I wake up or my BG continues to climb. If I postpone breakfast, itās a mess because BG is rising & so the usual ratio doesnāt work. Near impossible to bolus adequately for restaurant meals. I stay with the basics of protein & veggies, sauces on the side. Restaurants add sugar, corn starch & other BG raising ingredients.
lotsofshots wrote:
all of us are having a hard time letting go of the idea that first we treat the binge and later we will figure out the rest and reach our goals.
I said something to this effect elsewhere, but while the bingeing may be the main problem, the first priority is to stay alive, which means bolusing for it, even if itās a big bolus. So, OF COURSE, first we treat the binge, and then we figure out the rest of the issue. Thatās exactly what Iām working on. But I almost killed myself last year by bingeing and not bolusing for it, and thatās NOT going to happen again.
I can see that but, to me, if you are eating b/c of whatever reason (potato chip addict myselfā¦so Iām not totally unfamiliar with the āmysteriesā of which you speakā¦) you can either eat and calculate the bolus and end up āin the ball parkā or you can eat and not calculate or take 1/2 as much insulin as you should and have two things to be annoyed/ upset/ depressed/ etc. about. If you can keep your BG in line while binging, it seems like youād be more able to focus on why one is binging in the first place, instead of being distracted by cleaning up the diabetes debris everywhere?
Oh, I hear you loud and clear. I did that a couple of times in my teens and learned my lesson.
If only it were as easy for me to avoid over-eating as it is drinking. I could go the rest of my life without drinking a sip of alcohol and Iād never even think to miss it.
Over-eating mountains of food? Thatās another story.
You make an excellent point. I find it easier to recover from a binge if Iām not bouncing around on the ceiling, hitting my head on 280ās and 340ās. Ow!!!
I think limiting myself to protein in the a.m. will be key to maintaining control through the day. I need to plan better for breakfasts (the night before),
Planning better on general would help thwart the urge to just eat whatever and to heck with the consequences.