This is Jo Tylers mom . Tyler had his lowest Blood sugar last night it was 34 . I almost passed out myself I was so nervous .
My question is well my problem is that he is 15 and he cant remember anything !! He was out with his dad did not check at his 8pm check so when he got home I said did you check your sugar he said "Oh I forgot " so he checked at 8:15 his sugar was 108 he was suppose to get a snack because he will drop at that time of night if he doesnt . Well at 8:40 he came in the room and said "boy I feel weird " I said did you eat your snack ? he said "Oh I forgot "
That is where we get the 34 BS that took almost 3 hours to get up and stay up he would eat go up a little then drop again .
But my question is is the oh I forgot normal for this age group or do I need to take him to a OH I FORGOT doctor LOL . He does have ADD . I was just courious if any of you remember this as a teen or any moms that feel that if you dont stay on your teen that this is the kind of stuff that happens ?
Thanks for any help you can give me ,he is driving me crazy and his dad is NO help LOL
Is he eating a lot at dinner? I recall that when I was 15, 1/2 a pizza was not unusual and would take a very large shot to cover the huge amount of food (although I didn’t bother counting the carbs or using a ratio, I just took wild guesses about the doses…). Ideally, I try to get so I don’t need to eat a snack if I am not going to remember and this works out ok most of the time. I’ll admit that in the evening, if I’m not doing anything, I tend to overestimate my dinner bolus by 15-20g of carbs anticipating either dessert or some sort of beer and junk food binge as the evening progresses but if you are going out and running around, I would want to get it very close so that I don’t “need” to eat a snack? When I eat a snack, I’d be taking more insulin anyway so I would think that if he’s still overbolusing at dinner and then needing to ‘catch up’ some carbs snacking, it might be useful to refine the dosage strategy a bit? Some times a little change, like +/- 1G of carb/ U will get me a 30-40 point swing in BG so, with a 74 at 8:00, he’d probably be quite a bit less forgetful?
I wouldn’t be too quick to say he “can’t remember anything” as insulin is pretty strong stuff and, if he’s running down like that every night because of a heavy-hitting dosing strategy, he would probably seem pretty spacey on a regular basis? It’s very hard to explain the sensation but, to me, it’s worse than being really drunk. Sylvia Plath touches on it a bit in “The Bell Jar” but was given insulin as part of her “Nurse Ratched” psych experience and she sort of mentions the floaty feeling but when I’m “in it”, I’m zonked.
Thanks acidrock he is on shots , and last night he ate a very low carb meal didt take but 4 units and had he ate is snack on time he peobably would not have went low . I guess we could back it down but he does like to eat something around 8 pm . Yes he was out of it last night foe sure , When I say forgeting if I dont remind him it is time to check when he is doing something he forgets and then goes low . When he goes low he then says I fogot to check ! Thanks again !
Do you understand what I’m saying about ratios? I’ve read other stories about some people on the forum who are on a plan “take this much insulin and eat this much food” which is sort of how they ran things when I was dx’ed in 1984. I think that some kids (particularly teenage boys…) tend to eat so much that this works out reasonably well but it is not nearly as precise as calculating a carb ratio? I use 9G of Carbs/ Unit of insulin so if I’m going to eat an 18G of carb piece of toast with a 12G of carb glass of V8 and some eggs/ bacon, I’d figure about 36G of carb (as some of the protein will convert to carbs and I’m going to drink about 1/2 a pot of coffee…maybe a bit more if MrsAcidRock doesn’t get up soon?) and take 4U of insulin.
If your doctor doesn’t suggest this, I’d suggest reading “Using Insulin” or “Think Like A Pancreas” to get a “primer” or “owner’s manual”. I don’t read mine all that often but they are really handy books to have around with useful charts and the basic steps for how to figure out a carb/insulin ratio and make adjustments to your dosing to get it much smoother, so you don’t go crashing out like that after meals.
I still think that if he’s drifting into the 30s a couple of hours after dinner, it’s not him forgetting to check, it’s that he’s had the insulin equivalent of having like 8-10 beers and remember stuff? Except it generally takes a while to slug that much beer down the hatch but the insulin can creep up on you, particularly if it’s a regular event?
I could say that its totally possible for him to forget to eat. Depending on what he was doing while he was out, diabetes could have completely slipped his mind. I’ll sometimes forget to eat a snack even when i’m just sitting at the computer not doing anything. Or even worse, I’ll forget that I took a shot and take another one.
Depending on how often he forgets then he could have legitimately forgotten, but if it happens several times a week, he might be doing it on purpose. What my mom did is if I forgot to do stuff, she would tell me to do EVERYTHING. “Check your bloodsugar. Take your shot. Are you SURE you took your shot? Did you eat?” Once I started to get ticked off at her, she knew that I was remembering.
Yes we have a insulin to carb ratio and this does not happen everynight matter fact he has never been 34 before , His ratio is different for everymeal for supper it is 1 unit of insulin to every 5.5 carb.
That is a pretty big ratio? I am sort of OCD about it and was a 6 for a long time, it might be worth it to try maybe a few days at 6 or 7 to see if he gets a smoother result?
I sometimes also find it hard to remember to test and eat…and I am a 32 year-old woman (not a teenage boy). Diabetes can be very consuming and it’s easy to sometimes let it “slip your mind” (consciously or unconsciously). One thing that has helped me is programming alarms into my iPhone. If your son has an iPhone or similar smartphone, he may find this helpful too. I program in reminders for eating and snacks, especially on days that I am really busy at work.
He also has to ultimately understand that managing diabetes is HIS responsibility. In the end, he is the only one who can completely take care of himself, and he needs to start learning that now, because in a few years, he will be out on his own. I don’t have any magic words of wisdom for him or you, but maybe helping understand the responsibility aspect of it might help.
Also, I will say that having had a few lows was all it took to help me “remember.” Lows feel HORRIBLE. Sometimes that’s all the reminder I need to take care of myself.
+1 for “Think Like a Pancreas.” That book gave me more information than any dietician or endo ever could or has!! That book has become like my bible. The author provides some really useful suggestions for managing food and insulin and all the other factors that play into managing diabetes.
You might want to consider lowering his basal a tad. If he is having to snack to keep his blood sugar from going too low (rather than snacking because he is hungry, which he wouldn’t forget!) then it is, basically “feeding the insulin”. Better less insulin and then no need to remember a snack or mom getting grey hairs from worry!
I have a 15 year old also-- same issues. Her lowest low was 27. I almost passed out, too. What she does is say that she didn’t eat anything, but her blood sugar is high, so we correct and then get really low because her blood sugar was not accurate. We have the other things too-- large boluses to cover a lot of food. Also, a couple times the insulin has gotten there before the food, maybe something that was really high fat and a lot of carbs.
Just read the thread, my 15 year old son only forgets to check rarely. I think its his appetite, any opprotunity to have a snack is cool for him. And because we have been tweeking his basal rates recently his been checking about 12x a day. His Omnipod PDM has BG check reminders he can enter too. We wish it could be set to beep at 15mins after a low but it only goes by 30mins. Sometimes I have to remind him to gather kit, glucagon, and snacks when he goes out. But since he lived nearly 14 years without the big D, I can’t blame him if he forgets now and again. I also recommend those same books and Pumping Insulin has a recent edition, for when he’s pumping; the info in it on how to presisely control blood sugars is great, it was very technical (Most books on D don’t seem to be), I learned a lot. His lowest number has only been 44, and same week 48 (messing with basal rates) but its going to have a benefit; showing the insurance company the need for a CGM, because usually his numbers are pretty good, except after breakfast or fast food. As for breakfast we are steady trying lower ratios 1/15 to 1/12, 1/10 now 1/8 he still goes high doesn’t stay up; still tweeking; can’t wait for the CGM. When you are considering pumps; my son loves the features the Omnipod offers; tubeless, wear in water and he wears it on his arms and legs because he had never liked shots in the tummy.
Candee I guess it is going to be a constant battle , the only time it works is when he eats low carb meals that take only low doses of insulin . He has perfect BS all day no highs no lows .
I guess now that he is older he just cant eat anything processed without having to take a huge amounts of insulin high for 2-3 hours then go low later or the other way around .
That just happen tonight he was going out to eat gave a lot of insulin and his sugar was very high even with a lot of insulin just now which is 4 hours after his shot and supper he 222 still high . Tommorrow it is back to low carb food !
I hate to think about them leaving us to go off and live alone .
Thanks Emily, Tyler just has no intrest in a pump right now anyway he doesnt want to have something on him all the time . We get level BS all day when he eats low carb meals no processed foods .
He always runs a little high 1-2 hours after breakfast but is a good BS at lunch . . Thanks again for all the info
I think he is just a typical teen also. I can set 4 different alarms on my Aviva meter & I use them to remind me about my Levemir, just in case. I know most meters don’t have alarms, but can you get him one of those watches with an alarm? Maybe that will help some.
I have a teen too, so I sympathize with you. Sometimes this “I forgot” is really more of a “I didn’t feel like doing it”, at least our house. We go through periods where she is very on top of it, and then not so on top of it. I do think it’s important to partner with your child wherever you can – you don’t want to make this soley his responsibility (even though lots of endos still preach this). Diabetes burn out is a very real thing.
The dinner ICR seems high to me, meaning he is getting a lot of insulin. You might want to talk to your endo about that.
Thanks Kelly we have one that goes off and most of the time he does it but sometimes it goes off he will I am going im going then the I forgot . I think it is a little Like midwestmommy says Just a litlle diabetes burnout .
I do that anyone with Diabetes has to get tired of it !
Midwest seems like you hit it on the head . Well it only seems high when he eats alot of carbs when he is at home eating a low carb meal he is only taking 3-4 units and he does not go low . He is around 100 at his 8-9 pm check so he will eat a little something before bed .
Oh trust me I partner with him he thinks too much LOL He says mom I know ! But I think it is like Kelly said also Teen stuff .
They have alot to deal with and I am sure you are right the “I forgot” is really" I dont care "or "I dont feel like doing it " They have to get tired of the big D !
Thanks agian
