I know that things like stress, infection, etc. can cause highs to sneak up on us, but are there any explanations for seemingly random lows? About two months ago I was having pretty significant overnight lows, but was able to get rid of these by lowering my Lantus dose by about 30%. This seemed like a major decrease but I figured if it worked, I wasn't going to complain. My morning blood sugars have been pretty stable for the past month and a half, and any morning highs/lows are explainable. Over the past week or two, I've noticed that my necessary bolus dosages seem to be all over the place. Despite carefully measuring food portions, eating identical meals 2-3 days in a row (I live alone so when I cook something, it lasts a few days), no changes in daily routines, times of meals, etc., I've been finding that insulin dosages that work perfectly one day frequently leave me crashing the next. My lunch time bolus yesterday had me at 140 1hr post-meal, 130 2hr post-meal and 105 4hr later, but the same meal and same bolus today (with identical breakfasts, boluses and Lantus doses) had me at 55 1hr post-meal and at 85 2hr later, this coming after 7(!!) glucose tablets (I was at 90 after 4hr, so I don't think the 2hr reading should be seen as "85 and rising"). The absolute only difference I could think of between yesterday and today was that I had two extra cups of coffee today, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't effect me to this extent.
Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on? This near-perfect followed by random lows pattern has been happening every few days for the past week or two, so any thoughts you can offer are truly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!!
It's soooo annoying. I've tried the same routine thingy before, that is same food, same activity, same insulin with totally different bg coming back at me. I mean how on earth are we suppose to handle this if there are so many variable. I get these weeks, also get what I call quiet weeks, were the bg go to plan. I had a bit of an unexplained low at lunch today, it was probably the full moon. The thing I don't understand about coffee is that it can cause spikes in some, but then again you couldn't take it to treat a low. Strange substance.
Diabetes can be so weird. When I was a kid, I was sick every Christmas until my Mom realized I was low (in the days before home glucose testing). All the excitement about Santa would drop me like a stone. On the trip to summer camp would do the same thing. Sometimes it's ambient temperature. Sometimes hormones. Sometimes it's better absorption (for whatever reason) from the injection site. There are all kinds of reasons that you just can't pinpoint. Wish I had a good reason for you. I could win a Nobel prize if I could figure it all out.
I think Cora really hit the nail on the head. Sometimes there really isn't a good explanation. Changes in the weather impact my glucose levels all the time. Right now we are bouncing from 63 one day to 85 one day to the next, so I really need to be careful.
Absorption is something I never really considered until I had a pump. If you use the same areas all the time for injections, the way you body takes that insulin in can be dramatcally different from 1/4 inch of skin to another. A site change for my pump can often solve a string of highs or lows.
It is freakin' frustrating--no doubt about it. We feel your pain.
For me, random lows can sometimes be attributed to hormonal factors (namely, getting my period). I also get more random lows when the weather is warmer. For example, I had a low last night that I think was due to the fact that it's warm outside and we weren't running the AC. Not exactly "random," but it took me awhile to identify the cause.
Sudden lows were caused for me by issues of the gut/intestine having to switch/dump things.
Thw worst is you have taken insulin - eaten meal and then suddenly intestine depending on how far along from small to large intestine decide to do reactor scram and you do quick visit to porcelan idol. The size of low will be dependent on how far back to stomach; things are scrammed.
The other case is the intestine has bumped into a food combo it is having to change things/digestive juices that result in what I call a pipeline stall whereby ones system puts out a little glucose then stops and sits there an extra hour (thinking) and then finally picks back up and continues normally - after delay. Duirng the shortfall liver/you have to make up glucose shortfall or experience a low.
One needs to look a food mixes that cause gut/intestine to waltz around and have fun re-configuring and changing digestive juices. Pasta for me causes this merriment.
Yes at upper level - these things look random but at lowest level one needs to investigate why gut/intestine have done a digestion stop/dump/stall and cut off glucose production. Temperature of course is a factor.
I talked to my doctor about this once. I had just had nearly a week of random highs and lows with absolutely NO reason. His response: "Diabetes is a weird disease, so I guess that means any weirdness is normal!" Very tongue in cheek, of course, and he did give me some ideas of what to check for but, as it turned out, everything kind of settled back into normal a few days later.
It's sure frustrating, though, when you're going through it.
The story is even more annoying/deeper in that I came across these issues chasing a :unwarranted liver dump as if my blood glucose was sub -70.
This was traced using cgms and cross checking with caveman machine and was traced to:
a) at end of digestive/glucose output cycle as BG is coming back down, fingertip BG was above 140 and could be up to 210, yet as BG was dropping and if I ate a snack during that time; I would see my BG stall flat and hold for a couple of minutes and then jump vertical as liver was dumping in glucose as fast as it could go.
b) this was carefully checked and proven fully repeatedable. For some idiotic reason some sensor of body in intestine track had told brain that blood glucose was going danerously low ( yet at fingers - fine - 140 plus)and brain oblidged by kicking liver to hit body with a glucose dump.
c) surprisingly, metformin stops this nonsense as long as pill up to strength in blood during end of glucose cycle of digestion. This means I take my met 1 hour before eating and that usually ensures met up during end of major digestion cycle. I have no idea what this is about but clearly metformin in sufficient strength in blood has powerfull signalling effect on liver and its dump cycles.
Lastly, there is books and data out there describing food pairing and its effects on digestive process and dancing body does on wierd combo's to do digestion and recommending appropriate pairing to aid digestion.
