Well, I would really encourage the pump, if you can get one. What I like about it is that if I underbolus, and correct later, it won’t let me stack insulin, and that’s what used to cause most of my lows. I still have lows if I exercise and don’t remember to reduce my basal, but I really have my numbers pretty much under control. Not normal, but not bad!
All of this is NOT to say that the pump is magic – you still have to put in time and mental energy, and there’s a steep learning curve, and lots of trial and error. At the moment, I’m learning (after 12 years!) how to use the square-wave (or extended) bolus, because if I eat protein, it takes longer to digest, and does raise my BG maybe 3 hours after I eat. So the regular bolus doesn’t last long enough. I haven’t got it down pat, but I’m working on it.
For me, making sure I get enough protein really eliminates the carb cravings, except when I’m depressed. I don’t know the details, but glucose and protein work together in your body, called the Krebs cycle, and if they don’t balance out, you will crave carbs. So when you want a muffin, try some protein instead. At least, it works for me, so why not at least try it? YMMV, of course.
Keep on truckin’, girl – do you realize how far you have come since you first got on here? From my view, you have done amazingly well!
Try not to Freak… What ever it may be… miscalculation or stress. Just deal with it.
Example: Problem bs 250 2-3 hours after a meal. I would monitor closely for the next hour or so. Insulin sometime works at its own speed. If it is still high I will bolus.
Half of the battle with diabetes is trying to manage it.
omg I had to do this at work back when I worked outside the home. I hated it too, I feel for ya. I always got high while running that aspect of my job because I didn’t like it, I guess it kicked my adrenaline up a notch and even if I didn’t eat, I’d be high later!
I freak out sometimes when pms season is in. It’s like a high blood sugar is the last straw. Speaking of which that season is currently “in”.
NO jumping off bridges, dear one. We need you too much for that.
There is no doubt that a higher than usual number can freak you out, because your first reaction is probably oh no!! What did I do wrong? But the fact is that you may not have done anything wrong. It’s the nature of diabetes to have BG swings. And while you TRY to control them, it’s just not always possible.
It IS possible, however, to think about what you have to do to bring it down. Which can take hours when you’re on diet and exercise, and especially when your exercise capacity is limited. So you just watch the numbers and use them as information – maybe this was a rare freak, or maybe it will turn into a trend. If it’s a trend, maybe you will need medication, but that’s NOT the end of the world. Because all of us do whatever we need to in order to get the best control we can.
If you can bring yourself to use the numbers as information and nothing more than that, and not let your emotions get in the way, you can take a dispassionate approach, and in the long run, it will serve you well. I mean, I too, say OH ■■■■!! when I get a high (or low) number, but I don’t take any blame, even when I KNOW I caused it – the past is past, and I only need to concentrate on getting it lower or higher as the case may be. I DON’T need to freak out about it!
And yes, your pancreatic function may deteriorate as the years go by, but it can be treated, and that is all that matters. Who cares how you get your good numbers, as long as you find something that works!
I didn’t freak 10 days ago when my BG went nuts, I went into scientific/data mode. Fail! Still all over the place with no explanation I can find, even with +20% basal for the last 4 days. I guess if you call depression freaking out, I am.
One of my favorite “old skool” disco hits, Acidrock thanks!!! I recognize Nile Rodgers , Slash but not the “girlies”… Who are the singers in this reincarnation?
Some times you just need more insulin… I do not know why? for you and sometmes do not know why? for me. That has happened to me, jrttpup, on more than one occasion. In retrospect, it was probably unacknowledged stress, or the beginning of the tineiest infection, reactions to medications, or even muscle/nerve pain from my variety of on-again off again ailments( fibromyalgia,spinal stenosis, etc)… Any change to the body/mind will definitely change, usually increase my insulin needs. I tend to push up the basal by 20 to 30%, depending on how high I have been running. I keep it there for a coupe of days. If I run low for several hours on two consecutive days at this" sick day" level, I push it back to normal. I also try to drink more water , I have a “sick day” pattern on the pump, but I have to re do it, as it is a trifle too high for the afternoon hours.
Do I" freak"at the sight of an unexpected high?.. As I posted before,NAAH… I treat and keep going. 43 years of Type one has taught me to take one day at a time and to be grateful for the relatively good health that I do have.
Depression is the pits; Jrtpup. I know it is easier said than done, but can you try to crawl out of it.? We are here to help!!!
Brunetta, thanks so much I’m not all the way under a rock, just depressed in the background, if you know what I mean?
You hit a nerve (pun intended) saying spinal stenosis! I too have it, and started PT for nerve stretching which is working wonderfully. Never even thought that this reawakening/rearrangement of muscles etc. could be the culprit! I have a wonderful PT who diagnosed neural tension as the cause of my excrutiating cramps, and is treating it successfully by stretching the nerve.
I finally dawned on me that maybe I don’t freak out enough. When I was heading into the coma last year, and seeing 300’s and 400’s and then 500’s and HI on my meter, I shouldn’t have let my endo send me home with no advice, no help, no nothing. I should have been screaming at him, “I’m NOT OK!!! I’m in TROUBLE!!!” I did know I was in trouble, but didn’t know how much, and I was failing mentally, but in retrospect, I now realize that there WAS a point where I should have been demanding help. And not let people brush me off – when I called the diabetes wellness center, all the CDE did was offer to send me a booklet on carb counting. When my BG was in the 400’s, NO amount of carb counting would have helped, and the booklet only came after I had been hospitalized anyway. Why don’t these professionals take you seriously???
So my take away lesson was to do what you have to, and don’t let anyone tell you no. Demand what you need, even if you have to dance naked in their waiting room (homage a Jean V). LOL!!
I know how you feel. You just described my first decade and a half with diabetes. Whatever number my parents and I saw on the meter, 375, 519, 402… we just treated according to my given sliding scale and went about our day. When my A1c was 15%, why wasn’t someone shaking me saying “Something is WRONG here!!!” I didn’t see an A1c below 10 until I was well into my 20s. And the scary part was, I didn’t know there was anything wrong with that. The first time I was told it was in the 9s, I replied with “isn’t is supposed to be closer to 20?” and the nurse gave me the oddest look.
I didn’t know when to freak out because I thought PWD just ran numbers like that as part of life. Now that I know, it gives me shivers to think I used to accept 200s and higher as perfectly normal.
I’m a T2. I dance between 159 to 400. I don’t freak out with the numbers… It’s when I try to figure out how am I ever going toget to a dentist, how am I gonna pay for a doctors visit or meds? Am I EVER going to have insurance again? Then itall catches up to me and I freak out!
