Really Awful 24 Hours

Type 1 and LADA
#1

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24 hour graph. Since midnight today, nothing seems to work. Eat Chinese and bolus normally. Low,low, low overnight. Then wake up high. Had a commitment for the fund raiser at our fire department, but BG kept spiking. Must have done 15-20 fingersticks today. Changed infusion set on pump. CGM readings good. About 3:30, started doing down and just kept going. DOWN. Was careful not to layer insulin. Ate fairly high carb dinner, with a lower than normal bolus, DOWN AGAIN, but finally reading 44.

These are the days I fight so hard, keep losing, and just want to give up. QUIT fighting Type 1. Almost 55 years.

#2

Donā€™t give up. I have those kind of days all the time and Iā€™ve been doing it not quite as long as you but since 1978 so I know the aggravation of trying to keep oneā€™s blood sugar in check 24/7. Hang in there.

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#3

Before I got the Dexcom G5 I tested my blood sugar an average of 15 times per day for many years. I just got the Dexcom in September

#4

I using a Dexcom and still testing that much

Thanks for the response. Think I just need support tonight.

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#5

I have days where the sensor is not reliable and for those days Iā€™ve actually used more strips than if I wasnā€™t wearing the G5. Iā€™m talking strip usage around 20 per day. My usual (w/o G5) is 15. Otherwise, when the G5 is working well, which it usually is, I use on average, 10 strips/day.

#6

So sorry , I know how it feels. Yesterday was like that for me, and it was awful. No clue why but I couldnā€™t keep my blood sugar above 100. I would correct with juice or something, and it would go up but crash an hour later. Then, I ate a normal meal with normal amount of insulin, ended up 378. Corrected that like I normally would but a unit less to be safe, crashed low again. Itā€™s so tiring! And annoying when you have literally no explanation. I had been so level and doing great the past week or so and then all of a sudden my body wants to be wonky. I could sleep for days now. :sleeping:

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#7

These types of days are the hardest. You can do everything possible to try to correct the situation and your body still doesnā€™t cooperate. And then on top of working super hard, you feel crappy from never being in range. Hoping tomorrow is a better day for you.

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#8

Just had a day like this myself. Allow yourself to process what youā€™re feeling for a few minutesā€¦angry, frustrated, wearyā€¦and then remind yourself that the next 24 is a fresh start. Take whatever info you can from this set of data, and try something different tomorrow. Donā€™t think of it as a ā€œbadā€ day, just a day with new and different data points. :blush: FYI, Iā€™m talking to myself as I write this.

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#9

Thatā€™s exactly like my day. And exactly how I feel. I didnā€™t even want get up today. As long as Iā€™m asleep, I donā€™t worry.

#10

Okā€¦a little off topic, but I have started trusting my Dexcom more. Some days I only do 2 finger sticks fo calibration if things are in line. Sometimes a couple more. I find that this has reduced my stress level and hasnā€™t caused any additional bg issues. Margin of error on meter is something like +/- 10%. When the numbers are off, how do you know itā€™s the meter thatā€™s right? Sometimes the Dexcom gets a little wonky, but most of the time itā€™s fine and I go with it.

#11

My wifeā€™s most frequent comment when I show her some irrational blood sugar result is ā€œThatā€™s impossible!ā€ and yet sheā€™s been watching this chaos for the last 36 years. The idea that diabetes is controllable and that only ā€˜badā€™ patients fail to achieve strict control is a stupidly which only doctors are dumb enough to believe.

I would say, though, that Iā€™ve often had surprisingly high results with Chinese food, so maybe thatā€™s what kicked things off.

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#12

Sweetpee2, I was testing two times before entering a BG, as it was a volitile situation. Sometimes they are 40 points different.

Everything we depend on is desperately flawed.

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#13

Seydlitz, I LOVE Chinese food. We have it every Friday. Iā€™m pretty good at carb/insulin ratios. Rarely have problems.

#14

Well I hope you can catch a break and things even out! Hang in there!

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#15

I find my sugars go wacky when I let myself eat food that
I know will cause problems, yet I do it anyways. Then I say, ā€œI know how to treat itā€, but I end up chasing my sugars all day and night till the food is out of my system and Iā€™m back to a normal carb, low sugar metabolic person. And to top it of- I feel better! So cookies, chocolate and ice cream are slowly disassociating from me. :blush:

#16

just had one of these days too. worst part was I was on a retreat. always convinced my body has lost its ability to receive the insulin. beat myself up, test a million times even though the dex is on, then bottom outā€¦we all do itā€¦we all know the scene. IT STINKS!! thank goodness, THINGS change and its a new day. this disease is impossible to ā€œget it rightā€ as often as we would like. You are not alone, we have each other, and we must learn SURRENDER TO WHAT IS. Hope today is a good day Dave!

#17

Just a note to tell you that youā€™re not alone in your struggle. I know how you feel. Iā€™ve been fighting my T1D for 53 years and sometimes it can just be downright exasperating. I had a low yesterday morning of 40. Then a high of 363. Then another low of 56. Then another highā€¦ and so on and so on. Finger sticks? I quit counting. Thereā€™s no rhyme or reason to it sometimes. Just a word from a fellow long-term T1D. Hope things get better for you, as Iā€™m sure they will.