If you’ve read my previous discussion, you would see that my son has been dealing with lows at night. Well last night, I did not correctly calculate his carb intake. I gave him too much insulin at dinner. Before bed, he was low. I did the 15 carb - 15 minute rule. He went to bed within normal range.
Being my son is a newly diagnosed diabetic, I am still doing 2 am checks every night. Plus, Im anal.
At 2am, his bg was a whopping 401!!! (I totally failed.) I thought I should give him a correction, BUT he always wakes up in the morning low.
As I type this, the little guy is still snoozing. So, I do not know what his morning bg is yet.
I on the other hand, have tossed and turned all night wondering what I should or shouldn’t have done.
I know 401 is a VERY high bg. Should that be corrected no matter what??? Is leaving him to sleep high bad???
I hate that diabetes is not just a ‘black and white’ disease. There is way too much gray area for me. =P
It’s unfortunately a continuous experiment. But with each experience you will be able to learn something from it for the next time. Was last night the Mexican night (saw the pic)? You may have calculated carbs well, but there was a delayed reaction. Restaurant food (it looked like you were out) can have high fat content which delays it’s release to the bloodstream. That may be what you saw last night.
Yes, last night was mexican. That totally makes sense then!! He ate his weight in rice and tortilla chips. I thought I did a good job in counting chips and rice amount, but of course there was no precise serving amount or carb info.
I guess this is an example of your pasta night?
Im going to be completely gray haired much sooner than I had hoped. =P
Um yeah. My first grays sprouted about a year after dx, but I still only have a few.
For whatever reason anything served in a restaurant follows different carb counting rules. I think Caleb could eat a head of lettuce in a restaurant and still go Hugh.
The other thing I sometimes find with Caleb is that when he eats a lot - significantly more than usually - that seems to have a delayed impact too, like his body simply cannot process everything at once.
This is still very new Stacy and remember on dsma when we talked about hindsight? This is a perfect example. Sometimes you just don’t know what to expect even with the best of preparations.
File this little nugget away and see what happens next time. You may see a pattern and decide that maybe half a normal correction would be appropriate.
But to answer your question, I think you did what you should have done. I don’t think it was worth the risk of a low to experiment with a correction last night.
You can’t get upset over every high or low, you just have to accept that it will happen, no matter what. I find that when people hear that my son is high/low/whatever for one particular check that they happen to witness, they get all worried about it… you just can’t let it worry you that much or you will have too much stress. Managing blood sugar is an art more than a science sometimes. I don’t know how old your son is, but when my son was diagnosed at age 1, the nurse said, “just keep him conscious.” Well he’s 6 now and still conscious, thankfully. I don’t know how, we just take it one day at a time. All of it is trial and error, with a lot of errors-- every error gives you an opportunity to learn something. If you think of it that way-- what can I learn from this? OK, Mexican/restaurant food has a delayed rise… I can correct when he’s 400 in the middle of the night… then that’s progress. Eventually it will become more routine, and then just when you think you’ve got the hang of it, there will be something new to deal with… but it will get easier in any case. good luck!
I agree that there is too much “gray” with diabetes. I know the frustration of thinking you are doing exactly what you are supposed to do and the outcome isn’t what would be expected.
Our son was diagnosed at 1 also and I remember the same advise, sarhow! So much trial and error.
I stil get frustrated with the delayed highs. I think it really helps to keep a food journal, something I need to get back in habit of doing. Especially if there are foods we don’t eat on a daily basis. I forget what we did, if we did a dual wave bolus and for how much and how long. One food we always struggle with is pizza, even making it at home so we can more accurately calculate everything. But now he doesn’t even really want to eat it.
Things will take time to fall into place but gradually it does. But it is important to remember that sometimes highs and lows may happen for reasons you are not sure of, but knowing how to identify the symptoms of them happening and making the corrections is key.
I’m glad that things ended up okay Stacy! I know that I’ve had several sleepless nights with my daughter in bed next to me, as I’ve wondered what is going on in her blood. It’s SOOOO enough to make you go crazy. I love reading your dialogue with Lorraine, and want to know what dsma stands for?
Last word though, you’re an awesome Mom. keep up the vigilance!
Hi Stacy, we’re also new to this, my son Kynan who just turned 5 was diagnosed 7 weeks ago. We have been dealing with similar things. We would check his bg at his bedtime (around 2 hours after dinner) and he would be lower than the recommended level for going to bed and we would usually give him a cup of milk. Then we would check him before we went to bed at 11pm (around 3 hours after his bedtime) and he would be a little high, but at his 3am check (we have been told we don’t have to do this every night anymore, but I feel better just checking and I am also a little anal too) he was within the normal range. His dietitian said if he had low GI food for dinner it would take longer for it to affect his bg and that was probably why he was slightly low at his bedtime, so they recommended waiting until the check we do before we go to bed to see what his levels are instead of topping up his carbs at his bedtime when he was slightly low, our recommended guideline is that he should be between 6-10mmol/L (108-180) at his bedtime.
My son is going through the “honeymoon” period at the moment, so we have had to lower his insulin quite a lot, we tend to give him the same amount of carbs or exchanges everyday, but he was also still waking up low at times. So we lowered his lantus, which he has every morning and it is the only one still working through the night so that seems to have been working better for his morning bg.
I tell you though, those random highs and lows can be so confusing at times, my husband and I have just sat there and looked at each other dumbfounded as to how his bg was high or low.
We also tend to find Kynan has almost immediate and delayed drops in his bg when he plays sports, so on days when we know he has football training or a game we lower the insulin he is going to have prior to his training and game. Although it doesn’t help for those times that he will suddenly want to go outside and play with his dad and siblings.
I don’t know if you’re reading this Lorraine, but I came across your blog about 3 weeks after Kynan was diagnosed (that’s how I found this website, thank you). I showed my husband and children the slideshow you have on your blog, my son was so interested to know that you’re son also had diabetes and that his name was Caleb (because that is my older son’s (his big brother) name). From the first week he was diagnosed he was so interested in sitting next to us and looking up what famous people has diabetes, but especially wanted to know what boys had Type 1.
It’s all about learning and I still have so much to learn, Kynan has quite good bg’s for the most part, but those unexplained highs and lows can be a little frustrating and mind boggling at times. I do think a food journal is a good way to refer back to and see patterns, I like to keep a food journal for Kynan.
A food journal is definitely on my to do list. I am sure we have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to food that causes Caden James’ delayed highs. Joy.
First of all - don’t beat yourself up!!! Yes 401 is above target - but don’t fret - a high bg can always be brought into target. As you will find on this journey everyday is a new experience. When Malcolm was little and I used to get so upset with my inability to ‘control’ his bg - his endocrinologist would say "don’t worry - tomorrow is another day to try and get his bg in target’ let that be your mantra!!
On correcting - if you did not correct - what was his bg at 7am or when ever you next checked him? The big D is a trial and check situation - if you did not correct note the fluctuation in his bg and 2 hours later he woke up in the same 400 range then you know that you can safely correct. If he woke up at 250 then you know that you need to correct with a smaller amount then you would have at 401. Does that make sense to you?
Also is he on injections or a pump? If he is on injections his basal insulin will be playing a role - I have not read you previous thread - I’ll do it now so forgive me if I have said things already answered!
I can get very detailed on this stuff! lol - as many of us can!!! and am happy to do so if it will be useful to you so don’t hesitate to ask more questions - it is the way we all learn!!
Too zealous and we cause as many problems as we (may?) prevent. You made no “mistake”… second guessing ourselves will drive us all mad! The diabetic, the parent(s) all of us…
Ok - he is higher than you want but he is 150 points lower than at 2 am - so if you gave a full correction at 2 - he would have been dangerously low now. So I would not beat yourself up about it.
Good luck - hopefully these lows will ease up soon!
DSMA is Diabetes Social Media Advocacy They are on twitter and have a call in show. Lo was a guest speaker this past Thursday and was fabulous!! Very informative and personable. Here is the link if you’d like to check it out:
Thanks Lorraine, as I’m typing this I said to Kynan “you know that little boy Caleb” and he said “yes” (I didn’t even have to mention the diabetes, he remembered him straight away). I then told him that I was talking to his Mummy and showed him your little photo next to your comment. When I read to him the part about how he could contact Caleb, he had the cutest smile on his face (with his tongue coming slightly out of the corner of his mouth, lol).
Thanks, I agree about the boys names ; ) you have great taste too, haha.
By the way Kynan will be getting his pump soon, it’s at the Children’s Hospital Diabetes Education Centre waiting for him. We are just waiting on a date for them to educate us on using it as they only educate a certain amount of family’s each week. How did you find the transition to pump when Caleb first started using it?
I understand your frustration and have dealt with similar situations myself. I have had many nights getting up at about 2 and correcting or not correcting and then laying in bed second guessing myself for the next hour. I have found this will go in spurts and it does get better. I do find times when I need to revert back to night testing as my daughter is very volitile. My son, however, I never have to worry about. I see the gray all the time. I have two children with type 1 and they are very different. I cannot assume that what will work with one will work with the other. Puberty really affected my daughter. She has had many different episodes. My son grew 6 inches in one year and his insulin needs almost doubled and wow that was trying. But one thing I will tell you is I have made many mistakes, but I have learned that I must take away something positive from each one. I must learn from them. I also know that I have done some things well and it is very easy to think only about the mistakes, remember to celebrate everyday you have with good readings. That also proves you are doing things well.
