I’ve been taking insulin since January 2009 - 6 units Levimir in the morning and 15-30 units of Novolog throughout the day, depending on what I eat. I am doing low carb, but need to gain weight, so I have the luxery of indulging in slightly higher carb foods from time to time.
My last A1C was 5.9 last week, down from 13.3 in Jan '09. My target is to stay between 85 and 100. I just started this on Friday and have had pretty good success with it so far. But I’m noticing that as I get my numbers lower I have more energy than I’ve had in a long, long time. Its like I am on some sort of stimulant. I noticed this once before when I first began taking insulin and starting brining my numbers down from the 300’s.
At first I thought maybe it was adrenaline, but now I’m wondering if my body isnt just using sugar correctly for energy and I’ve just forgotten how it feels to be fully functioning. I’m not alarmed and I dont think there is a problem. I’m just suddenly have so much more engergy and am wondering what to do with all of it.
So maybe it is the adrenaline kicking in?? Housework is what really does me in. I absolutely hate, hate, hate cleaning and will put it off until absolutely necessary. So when I do go about it, I am angry and cleaning like a charging bull and it lowers my BG every time. I get super charged until I start to get the visual effects, things start shimmering and then the weakness sets in.
I am doing MDI right now and am also surprised at how quickly my sugars will drop. I’m taking very low doses, but 20 to 30 minutes after injecting my numbers can drop like a stone. This is magnified by physical activity.
After diagnosis, I felt REBORN. I had been craving insulin for months and I was finally getting it.
I do not feel good when my blood sugar is actually low (below 70 mg/dl). But I did have this feeling you describe when my blood sugar came down after diagnosis.
i feel the best when my bs is around 80-100. so full of energy and so happy. i don’t however feel energized when i’m below 75. i have more of a drained feeling at that point.
I’m currently on Novolog. The exercise thing is something I am still figuring out. I walk strenuously (sp?) for half an hour nearly every day, but it doesnt do much for my numbers. But make me clean the house and I will go below 80. I wonder if anger and contempt for cleaning burns sugar.
You hit it on the head. I am going to use that word - reborn. I dragged around for so long with high BG and any improvement, even with the smallest amount of insulin, was dramatic.
Being on speed is nothing like being low. Ecstasy is. But with E you feel low and high at the same time, only you are enjoying the feeling a lot more. If it’s laced with any hallucinogenics you’re screwed. Once it dawns on you that you are feeling low, high or both, paranoia sets in and you start correcting both at the same time (insulin followed by sugar followed by insulin and so on and so on). Not to mention how ugly it can get when you pull a syringe out and stick yourself in the middle of a rave . . . just don’t go there.
I spent a great deal of time being constantly high so when I went low I felt more energetic (since I felt spent when I was high). At a certain point though the lows made me feel spent too.
I think you’re right in that it’s the difference between being fully functional and unwell. When my blood sugar is in range, I feel normal. When it’s not, I don’t. I lived for ten years with an A1c above 10 (childhood/teenage years). Now, that it’s 5.8, I wonder how I survived the last 20 years. It feels so good to feel so good.
Housework is a common harbinger of lows. Always plan a snack mid-cleaning session. It will help keep you level. If you ever go on a pump, you can set a temporary basal rate before, during, and after to adjust for your activity level.
