I have previously posted about my Diabetes Brain, the small organ sitting atop my pancreas, sending out instructions and controlling/complicating my life according to its own moods. It made its presence known again Friday. I was leaving home to go to the library when it reminded me that I should take some backup insulin. Right, I thought, that’s sensible, I’ve been taking my Apidra vial and Levemir pen in an insulated carrier all summer. So I packed them up and went off. Later that day my blood sugars began to rise. And rise. 300’s and wouldn’t come down. You’ve got to quit watermelon full of sugar, said my DB, and all carbs, every single carb. Finally on Sunday evening it came to me: very probably I had frozen my insulins–don’t need that insulated container with blue ice in cool weather. I told that devilish Diabetes Brain of mine to calm down: life would soon be normal. I started a fresh vial and pen; Sunday night and Monday more normal, except for my catatonic state due to having been hovering around the 300’s for days.
End of story, except on Monday evening I thought, O.K., I’m going to have a nice big bowl of coffee ice cream after all that carb deprivation, which I did with a proper bolus. 2:00 AM on Tuesday morning my husband woke up out of a deep sleep fog, saying, “Check your blood sugar, check your blood sugar!”. “How do I do that?” I asked. He put my monitor in front of me. “With that,” he said. “Oh,” I answered. It read 37. One Danactiv and one mini York pattie later, I was ready to go back to sleep. More York patties! insisted my DB. O.K., one more… Woke up at 189, and no doubt my Diabetes Brain thought that was very funny.
I didn’t have any temperature problems with either Lantus or Novalog, in fact, I didn’t bother to do much to protect them once I had opened them. Levemir and Apidra are a different story. When I did something like you described, they quit working at two weeks instead of 28 days. When overheated or more or less frozen, they quit totally. At my request, my endo prescribed Novalog for me again, and I just hated it–too slow–I need fast corrections! So I now keep my Levemir and Apidra in the vegetable bin in my kitchen fridge all the time, except for the times I’m away from home.
For lows, I drink one Danactiv (appox. 13 carbs) and one mini York patty (dark chocolate). Being addicted to chocolate, not sure I could switch to carob! I grow mint and freeze a little for winter for my tea. Do you like tea? My husband will only drink black, my favorite is oolong, white at night.