I ve been experiencing some numbers lately that I have no explanation for – any input would be highly appreciated:
I am STILL not on basal (still honeymooning) although I was getting ready for taking that jump when I had a period of very active days which got my morning numbers right back to target, so I have been waiting it out. But yesterday this is what happened:
I woke up fairly high (115), so I bolused for my usual breakfast (which keeps my postprandial under 140 usually), I then ate, measured 2 h later, was on 165. Ok, sometimes this happens since the honeymooning makes my pancreas somewhat "unreliable". I went to work (a very active photoshoot) and thought that this activity surely would bring the numbers down fast.
At first it did. After working for about an hour I measured again, was down to 90. So quite a fast drop (70 points in 1 h)
So I kept on working, almost a bit worried that with the BG dropping so fast I might slide into a low, still having a wee bit left-over Bolus on board. (Not much though, only bolused 2 units 2 hours prior)
After another hour of working (quite strenuously) I measured again and was BACK UP on 140????
No food, just moving around)
In my relatively short career as a PWD this never happened.
I mean, usually, I eat, BG goes up, I exercise, BG goes down. I can handle that.
I cant handle random, unexplainable spikes which I catch by total coincidence. (Usually i wouldnt have measured at this point again)
Any suggestions to why this happened? I was thinking liver dump, since the activity was quite intense, but then: doesnt the liver only start releasing glucose after the BG being down for a long time? Or could it be the liver reacted to the fast drop of numbers? What does the liver exactly react to- low BG numbers over a longer period of time or is it something else that triggers it?
Or could there be random spikes because my home made basal is running out? But wouldn't that show all the time, not just once randomly?
Any explanations are highly appreciated ;)
Thank you!
Perhaps the honeymoon is over? I agree that two hour seems pretty close in to the bolus but I don't see rebound highs out of the 70s, if in fact you had been that low. Other things I'd suspect might be overlooked protein or fat deploying a bit later or DP or something of that nature. If the liver was involved, I would perhaps guess that it was some sort of "stress" from work itself too, more than a rebound.
Sometimes stuff, well it "just happens." I test my blood sugar and my reading is way different than expected. I'll often retest (in a more controlled manner) to reconfirm, but often I am left just standing there with a stupid confused look on my face. I often can't figure out why my blood sugar reacts this way, but at least I know what to do about it.
I still don't handle totally unexplained numbers very well six years in but it's a skill we have to develop if we aren't going to drive ourselves and everyone we know crazy.
Saturday I woke up at 189 (only a few hours after testing 95 in the middle of the night). I figured that one out - bubbles in my tubing. I finally got my blood sugar where I wanted it in mid-afternoon. Took an hour long walk and a couple hours later I was back to 180. I still have no idea what was going on. It's important to simply correct and move on. I'm saying that for my own benefit as well as yours. I had a tough evening because I wasn't really capable of following my own advice.
There are so many possible explanations for any given pattern or single reading that most of the time we're just making up a story to make ourselves feel better.
So true, Maurie, You wrote There are so many possible explanations for any given pattern or single reading that most of the time we're just making up a story to make ourselves feel better". Julezwrote; cant handle random, unexplainable spikes which I catch by total coincidence. (Usually i wouldnt have measured at this point again) I know you are a newbie, sweety, but this is often the nature of the type one game. Maybe what you ate had a longer hold-time from the protein and fat and the insulin was gone by the time the carbs hit, May be this and maybe that. I will tell you after 45 years with type one, on occasion, some blood glucose readings are explicable. You could eat the same thing at the same time every day for 5 days getting the same blood glucose results, and on the sixth day the numbers do not look at all how you had seen nor expected. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.You will learn to correct and movE On.. Will make life easier for you.
I am best at controlling my BG's if I can make some sense from seemingly inexplicable circumstances. I also realize that effectively managing BG's is comprised of a mixture of factors whose individual influence on the ultimate BG can vary from day to day and hour to hour. There is a danger, however, to write off events that can be understood.
I try to repeat the scenario (same meal quality, insulin timing, exercise timing) that led up to the bad BG. If the BG reacts the same (or nearly so) then you have a trend and trends are much easier to troubleshoot than a one off incident. For me, a trend is defined as aberrant BG's repeating three times at about the same time of day.
I'm not a liver expert but I understand that the job of basal insulin, whether you administer via a pump or long acting injection, is to metabolize the regular sugar release from the liver. Basal insulin should do this and not one drop more. This should not be confused with emergency liver glycogen dumps in response to hypo BG's. For me, readings below 55 mg/dl for anything longer than 20 minutes or so, not only results in liver sugar dump but also a release of counter-regulatory hormones that put the brakes on insulin action for many hours. This usually results in 200-300 mg/dl for more than four hours.
After all this long-winded explanation of possibilities, that unexplained 140 could have simply really been a 112 given the +/- 20% margins of error that our meters are permitted. I despise that inaccuracy but that is another issue.
My advice: write stuff down, look for trends ( at least three instances), only make treatment changes based on trends. Some things can't be explained but many can given your willingness to carefully observe and document. Good luck. You're doing a good job and asking the right questions. Compared to most T1D's, your BG excursions are moderate but not insignificant.
There are so many possible explanations for any given pattern or single reading that most of the time we're just making up a story to make ourselves feel better. Maurie
Geez, Maurie...ain't that the truth. that made me laugh. i remember when I was first diagnosed I would ask my endo about every single number, why is this happening, why this..he laughed one time and said, (kinda kidding), "how the hell do I know...you've got type 1 diabetes." we all try to make sense of this stuff but often times, there is no sense to be 'made'.
Also, julez, we (you) need to please look for patterns, not just one day. I too had a honeymoon but I always was on both basal and bolus. it's long gone now..but I just gradually had to add more and more insulin, although I'm still very insulin sensitive I guess. watch your morning - fasting blood sugars, and how you're doing 5 or so hours after meals.
i used to think stress caused higher blood sugars but I can't think of a more stressful situation, at least for me, when my CGM is beeping buzzing LOW with arrows down, my blood sugars are dropping, I'm going low, feel low - dizzy, scared, every flight or fight response (hormone) has kicked in and nothing is going to effect my blood sugars in bringing them up other then some glucose. so, i don't believe the stress theory, at least not for me, maybe that holds true for other folks.
