A few weeks back I disconnected my pump for the first substantial time period in 29 years. I wanted to try the basal insulin, Tresiba. It’s worked out well but not without some challenges. I’ve had problems with two consecutive Dexcom sensors. The first was erratic and I terminated the session after 5-6 days. There was a spot of blood on the Dexcom bandage.
The second sensor turned out very stubborn to calibrate. It was showing false lows and as much as I tried to educate it with a series of calibrations, it insisted on staying low – until it went high. When I gave up on it after 4 days or so, it came out with an almost 90 degree bend in the sensor wire. Both of these sensors were on the back of my arms, my preferred location these days.
Two days ago I started a new sensor and returned to my abdomen after months of giving it a sensor rest. I have gained about five pounds over the last month or so and my belt was getting tighter. With the change in insulin regimen, I needed to take some action. I’ve kept up my daily walking during this weight gain so I didn’t think increasing exercise was going to help.
I remembered back four years ago when I lost a lot of weight. I was doing a 24-hour intermittent fast once per week. I remember that it not only helped keep my weight in check but also diminished my appetite and tamed my blood glucose traces. I only eat two meals per day, a late breakfast and an early dinner. To do a 24-hour fast, all I need to do is skip my breakfast and fast from after dinner until the following day’s dinner. So that’s what I did today.
I woke up around 2:30 a.m. and my fingerstick was at 110 mg/dl. I wanted to nudge it lower and took 1 unit of Apidra. Did another fingerstick at 5:30 a.m., 127 mg/dl. The earlier 1 unit of Apidra did not have the effect I expected. I decided to inhale 4 units of Afrezza. That did the trick, when I woke up at 7:30 a.m., I was at 87 mg/dl.
I busied myself with some household repairs, nothing overly taxing. My blood sugar locked into a 73-92 mg/dl channel for over 10 hours, like a laser. I’ve seen this before when I’ve fasted but it always seems to surprise me with how tight the BG line can be. I know that my Tresiba basal dose is very close to what I need.
I know I can’t generalize my experience to everyone else but I think a little fasting every now and then would be a good tactic to try when things get crazy BG-wise or you want to put the brakes on a weight gain. Anyone else use intermittent fasting to good effect?