After a really rotten blood sugar week filled with 30s and 300s and an average of 169, I had a day like this:
0010 hours 80
0820 hours 104
1020 hours 100
1220 hours 95
1550 hours 72
1720 hours 102
2040 hours 86
2205 hours 125
Can you believe that goodness? Nothing at all high, nothing low enough to be symptomatic. AND I had a huge breakfast with life cereal and potatos, and a lunch with potatoes and pie and supper with sandwiches... not a low carb day- I took 39 units of Novolog and 8 units of Lantus. And I ran around and played catch and stuff. And it was frickin' perfect.
By comparison, here was the 15th:
0005 hours 377
0205 hours 151
0745 hours 45
1125 hours 304
1325 hours 173
1609 hours 86
1730 hours 101
1805 hours 119
2115 hours 221
2330 hours 221
Now, it totally makes sense that on the 15th, I felt like it was partly my fault, and partly a very frustrating body, and that I really wanted to change what was going on. I mean, out of 10 readings, 4 were in my target range of 65-155. But what doesn't make sense to me is that I felt almost as out of control today because... where were those numbers coming from? 8 out of 8 numbers in range?!
When I have one, two, three target range numbers in a row, I feel pretty good. When I have five, six, seven, I start to feel surreal. I start getting an urge to prove that I really do have diabetes, to test the bounds of my body. ARGH! Take your blessings and run, Jonah!
Fortunately, I haven't done anything stupid yet today. I'm plenty wiped out from the week I've just had and I could really use a run of days like today... not that that's at all likely to happen.
One thing I've been figuring out is that my ISF seems to have gone up. It was 35 for a while, then 40. A couple months ago I changed it to 50, but the way I'm crashing after corrections, I'm going to try 60, assuming I go high anytime soon :-) More surprisingly, I think my BCR has also gone up, and that that's part of why I'm seeing so many highs- that it doesn't take as many carbs to do the job. My BCR has been around 4.5 for a long while, maybe as high as five, but it's seemed to me lately that it has gone up- maybe to around 7? I am perplexed. My ICR I changed from 7 to 8 a few months ago and seems to be holding steady.
EDIT: It is now 2330 hours and my blood sugar is 201 (I haven't eaten in at least five hours). I think I'll go with 1.5 units of Novolog.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Pancreatitis and Type 1 Diabetes
This post was edited significantly after I discussed the facts with my doctor.
On Wednesday I was discharged from the hospital. The diagnoses I accrued while there were: choledocholithiases, cholangitis, and the biggee, gallstone pancreatitis. The spell checker thinks all of those are misspellings. Sorry, spell checker.
I had asked to be tested for pancreatitis three times in the past year, and had been. In fact, only ten days before my hospital admission, my lipase was 11; at admission it was 4040.
An ultrasound showed three stones in my pancreas, and an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed, removing, according to my discharge papers "2 large stones and several stone fragments".
In type 1 diabetes, the production of amylase and lipase is often mildly to moderately abnormal and may not be an accurate marker of pancreatitis. BEWARE.
Anyways, I am on the mend. I am dealing with much lower insulin needs, probably 'cause I'm not in so much pain and am eating less. Last night I took only 7 units of Lantus, but woke up with a blood sugar of 39 this morning. I think tonight I will take 5.5 units of Lantus instead.
On Wednesday I was discharged from the hospital. The diagnoses I accrued while there were: choledocholithiases, cholangitis, and the biggee, gallstone pancreatitis. The spell checker thinks all of those are misspellings. Sorry, spell checker.
I had asked to be tested for pancreatitis three times in the past year, and had been. In fact, only ten days before my hospital admission, my lipase was 11; at admission it was 4040.
An ultrasound showed three stones in my pancreas, and an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed, removing, according to my discharge papers "2 large stones and several stone fragments".
In type 1 diabetes, the production of amylase and lipase is often mildly to moderately abnormal and may not be an accurate marker of pancreatitis. BEWARE.
Anyways, I am on the mend. I am dealing with much lower insulin needs, probably 'cause I'm not in so much pain and am eating less. Last night I took only 7 units of Lantus, but woke up with a blood sugar of 39 this morning. I think tonight I will take 5.5 units of Lantus instead.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Tough News
I got my bloodwork results back on Tuesday, and I've been in shock since then.
My A1c was 7.0%, which was higher than I was hoping for but not a huge big deal.
My vitamin D levels were very low, and I have started on a repletion dose of 8000 IU per day, dissolved in olive oil.
My hemoglobin and hematocrit were moderately and mildly elevated, and I'm hoping that that was caused by dehydration.
But the kick in the stomach was that my liver enzymes, the ALT and the AST, came back dramatically elevated. I went in for more bloodwork on Friday and should have results on Monday. I will also be going in for an abdominal ultrasound this week. If the liver enzymes are high again, and the extra bloodwork and the ultrasound do not reveal an obvious cause, then I'll be seeing a gastroenterologist or hepatologist.
I am taking a low dose of testosterone, and my endo had hoped that this could be the cause, but he doesn't think it's likely; neither does the doctor who prescribes my T. Friday's bloodwork included a check of testosterone levels.
I believe that at this point the most likely diagnosis is autoimmune hepatitis, and I am scared.
I intend to post February diabetes stats soon, but right now they seem sort of moot point.
My A1c was 7.0%, which was higher than I was hoping for but not a huge big deal.
My vitamin D levels were very low, and I have started on a repletion dose of 8000 IU per day, dissolved in olive oil.
My hemoglobin and hematocrit were moderately and mildly elevated, and I'm hoping that that was caused by dehydration.
But the kick in the stomach was that my liver enzymes, the ALT and the AST, came back dramatically elevated. I went in for more bloodwork on Friday and should have results on Monday. I will also be going in for an abdominal ultrasound this week. If the liver enzymes are high again, and the extra bloodwork and the ultrasound do not reveal an obvious cause, then I'll be seeing a gastroenterologist or hepatologist.
I am taking a low dose of testosterone, and my endo had hoped that this could be the cause, but he doesn't think it's likely; neither does the doctor who prescribes my T. Friday's bloodwork included a check of testosterone levels.
I believe that at this point the most likely diagnosis is autoimmune hepatitis, and I am scared.
I intend to post February diabetes stats soon, but right now they seem sort of moot point.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I went to see the endo yesterday. And. I. Hate. Waiting! Not in his office, but for lab results.
I have a pretty great endo in that he takes the time to talk to me. Yesterday what happened was this: I arrived, I waited a little in the waiting room, I went in and got weighed (104 lb), asked the nurse if I could look through my file, she said she'd photocopy it for me. Then took a good look around the room. The endo came in, we crafted a letter of medical necessity together to try to convince insurance to pay for a CGMS, having a conversation in the process.
Then we talked about labwork: the TSH I really wanted and that was the primary point of the visit. The low creatinine that has been in most of my bloodwork, and which indicates hyperfiltration (more on that in a minute). How stomach aches really mess with my willingness to prebolus. Decided to measure vitamin D levels just because we haven't done it before and I'm curious and the endo thinks it's a good idea. Decided to run a lipid panel just because. Put in an A1c, and my guess of a 6.8. Talked about what lab values mean, reviewed the past. The blood draw itself was remarkably painless- I thought it especially special because I was pretty darned dehydrated, having woken up with a blood sugar of 358 (2010's high) and not really having gotten rehydrated since. Then I did a urine sample for microalbuminuria,traded it with the nurse for an envelope with my labworks for the last two years, and that was that. Afterwards I went to the downtown library, since I just so happened to be downtown, and picked out eleven lovely books.
From my conversation with the endo, a few things stick out.
Foremost is the creatinine. Two or three years ago I had a below normal creatinine and BUN, and pointed them out to the endo, and he said he hadn't seen that much and didn't know what it meant and don't worry. The next time, they came in normal and he told me that on the phone, relieved. But for the last year and half, about six readings, the serum creatinine has been low. With a normal range of 80-130, mine has been from 45-65. Sometimes the BUN is also low; sometimes not. I had looked this up myself and not found much, and I pointed it out again to my endo yesterday. Guess I have some great kidneys, huh? I said, knowing that that wasn't really great, not anymore than a hypoglycemic reading would be great on a diabetes screening.
And my endo then told me what I had already guessed: That the kidneys become overactive in a small percentage of type 1 diabetics, in a condition called hyperfiltration, and that this usually turns into the more classic form of chronic kidney disease. And I knew that, and at the immediate level that was a sort of a relief to hear him say what I had been suspecting. I left the meeting feeling really good and happy, actually. But at another level... I have kidney disease that shows up in bloodwork. I have blood pressure that is too low to make an ACE inhibitor seem like a good option, and I have had elevated microalbuminuria readings. I am afraid of what my future holds, and I am afraid of when my future might reveal itself.
My endo said he had to take a microalbuminuria reading because otherwise my insurance would send him a letter of admonition, and I said okay, but don't tell me the results unless there's something I can do about it. I don't want to know.
When I mentioned the hyperfiltration to my mother later, she said I should have asked if this could be the reason why I get stomach aches when I drink water. ???
I mentioned to the endo that I wanted my vitamin D levels checked and he said, "We haven't checked that before?" And then he gave me a mini-lecture (like a professor's lecture, not like a parental lecture) on new research regarding vitamin D. He told me about how, when vitamin D levels are low, parathyroid hormone levels go up, and looking at how much vitamin D it takes to keep the parathyroid less active is how the "normal" range for vitamin D got set at something that only 60% of the population fits into. I pointed out that my serum calcium levels have been a bit high the last year and a half, and said that I'd thought that was because of my thyroiditis (which led us onto a tangential look at ideopathic thyroiditis), and he said that while that is possible, it's also possible that was caused by a vitamin D deficiency. I asked him if the vitamin supplements were vegetarian and he said he didn't know, but that he thought they were synthetic. (My boss tells me that she and her husband get vitamin D supplements from a vegetarian vitamin company).
I've been reading a lot of books lately, happily, and it is driving me bonkers how in so many of them, people who ought to know better will say that they or their loved ones had "low blood sugar" or even "dangerously low blood sugar" when what they mean is that they were hungry. They did not check their blood sugar, they cannot say that they had low blood sugar, they definitely do not know that they had dangerously low blood sugar! This is one of my pet peeves.
I have a pretty great endo in that he takes the time to talk to me. Yesterday what happened was this: I arrived, I waited a little in the waiting room, I went in and got weighed (104 lb), asked the nurse if I could look through my file, she said she'd photocopy it for me. Then took a good look around the room. The endo came in, we crafted a letter of medical necessity together to try to convince insurance to pay for a CGMS, having a conversation in the process.
Then we talked about labwork: the TSH I really wanted and that was the primary point of the visit. The low creatinine that has been in most of my bloodwork, and which indicates hyperfiltration (more on that in a minute). How stomach aches really mess with my willingness to prebolus. Decided to measure vitamin D levels just because we haven't done it before and I'm curious and the endo thinks it's a good idea. Decided to run a lipid panel just because. Put in an A1c, and my guess of a 6.8. Talked about what lab values mean, reviewed the past. The blood draw itself was remarkably painless- I thought it especially special because I was pretty darned dehydrated, having woken up with a blood sugar of 358 (2010's high) and not really having gotten rehydrated since. Then I did a urine sample for microalbuminuria,traded it with the nurse for an envelope with my labworks for the last two years, and that was that. Afterwards I went to the downtown library, since I just so happened to be downtown, and picked out eleven lovely books.
From my conversation with the endo, a few things stick out.
Foremost is the creatinine. Two or three years ago I had a below normal creatinine and BUN, and pointed them out to the endo, and he said he hadn't seen that much and didn't know what it meant and don't worry. The next time, they came in normal and he told me that on the phone, relieved. But for the last year and half, about six readings, the serum creatinine has been low. With a normal range of 80-130, mine has been from 45-65. Sometimes the BUN is also low; sometimes not. I had looked this up myself and not found much, and I pointed it out again to my endo yesterday. Guess I have some great kidneys, huh? I said, knowing that that wasn't really great, not anymore than a hypoglycemic reading would be great on a diabetes screening.
And my endo then told me what I had already guessed: That the kidneys become overactive in a small percentage of type 1 diabetics, in a condition called hyperfiltration, and that this usually turns into the more classic form of chronic kidney disease. And I knew that, and at the immediate level that was a sort of a relief to hear him say what I had been suspecting. I left the meeting feeling really good and happy, actually. But at another level... I have kidney disease that shows up in bloodwork. I have blood pressure that is too low to make an ACE inhibitor seem like a good option, and I have had elevated microalbuminuria readings. I am afraid of what my future holds, and I am afraid of when my future might reveal itself.
My endo said he had to take a microalbuminuria reading because otherwise my insurance would send him a letter of admonition, and I said okay, but don't tell me the results unless there's something I can do about it. I don't want to know.
When I mentioned the hyperfiltration to my mother later, she said I should have asked if this could be the reason why I get stomach aches when I drink water. ???
I mentioned to the endo that I wanted my vitamin D levels checked and he said, "We haven't checked that before?" And then he gave me a mini-lecture (like a professor's lecture, not like a parental lecture) on new research regarding vitamin D. He told me about how, when vitamin D levels are low, parathyroid hormone levels go up, and looking at how much vitamin D it takes to keep the parathyroid less active is how the "normal" range for vitamin D got set at something that only 60% of the population fits into. I pointed out that my serum calcium levels have been a bit high the last year and a half, and said that I'd thought that was because of my thyroiditis (which led us onto a tangential look at ideopathic thyroiditis), and he said that while that is possible, it's also possible that was caused by a vitamin D deficiency. I asked him if the vitamin supplements were vegetarian and he said he didn't know, but that he thought they were synthetic. (My boss tells me that she and her husband get vitamin D supplements from a vegetarian vitamin company).
I've been reading a lot of books lately, happily, and it is driving me bonkers how in so many of them, people who ought to know better will say that they or their loved ones had "low blood sugar" or even "dangerously low blood sugar" when what they mean is that they were hungry. They did not check their blood sugar, they cannot say that they had low blood sugar, they definitely do not know that they had dangerously low blood sugar! This is one of my pet peeves.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
January Stats
Four Highest Highs: 344, 331, 314, 306
Four Lowest Lows: 31, 39, 42, 43
30-day average (n=50) on the last day of January: 142
Median daily Lantus dose: 10 units
Mean daily Lantus dose: 10.3 units
Range of Lantus doses: 8-16 units
Mean Novolog dose: 27 units
Range of Novolog doses: 11.5- 40 units
and just 'cause I was looking through what was on my calendar
Total number of bus rides: 47
Total number of train rides: 2
Total number of car rides: 7
Scariest story of the month: So, it was noon and my blood sugar was 220. I decided to take 3 units of correction, add that to 6 units for lunch (I use a 1:7 carb ratio), and to wait an hour or so to eat, in order to come down a bit before eating.
At 12: 45 I develop an excruciating stomach ache. At one, rocking and grimacing and biting myself, I check my blood sugar, and it is 120. I cannot eat; I am in too much pain.
I rock on the floor and breath in every calming way I know and hold poses and rock and rock and try to stand and fall. At some point, I feel prickles down my back and know that I have gone hypo, but I can't even stand and I really don't want to try eating. I spit and my stomach clenches as though I were going to vomit but I don't.
At 2:15, the pain suddenly goes away, leaving me exhausted. I check my blood sugar.
It is 31.
I've been a lot more cautious about prebolusing since then.
More triumphant story of the month: I got a second job, teaching after school chess, and so far my blood sugars have not been an issue and I am doing a good job of it. Yay!
Four Lowest Lows: 31, 39, 42, 43
30-day average (n=50) on the last day of January: 142
Median daily Lantus dose: 10 units
Mean daily Lantus dose: 10.3 units
Range of Lantus doses: 8-16 units
Mean Novolog dose: 27 units
Range of Novolog doses: 11.5- 40 units
and just 'cause I was looking through what was on my calendar
Total number of bus rides: 47
Total number of train rides: 2
Total number of car rides: 7
Scariest story of the month: So, it was noon and my blood sugar was 220. I decided to take 3 units of correction, add that to 6 units for lunch (I use a 1:7 carb ratio), and to wait an hour or so to eat, in order to come down a bit before eating.
At 12: 45 I develop an excruciating stomach ache. At one, rocking and grimacing and biting myself, I check my blood sugar, and it is 120. I cannot eat; I am in too much pain.
I rock on the floor and breath in every calming way I know and hold poses and rock and rock and try to stand and fall. At some point, I feel prickles down my back and know that I have gone hypo, but I can't even stand and I really don't want to try eating. I spit and my stomach clenches as though I were going to vomit but I don't.
At 2:15, the pain suddenly goes away, leaving me exhausted. I check my blood sugar.
It is 31.
I've been a lot more cautious about prebolusing since then.
More triumphant story of the month: I got a second job, teaching after school chess, and so far my blood sugars have not been an issue and I am doing a good job of it. Yay!
Friday, January 01, 2010
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
I called the patient information network this morning to access the lab results from my blood draw and doctor visit Monday.
My A1c is exactly what I guessed, 7.1%. Last time I was spot on accurate too, but last time it was 6.4%. I think my endo was joking when he said in the message that maybe we should stop drawing it since I guess my A1c so precisely.
My TSH came back 1.54, normal normal normal. Also, only .02 different from last time, so maybe I've stabilized. I can hope, hey? My thyroid is still tender.
My endo didn't say exactly how my other labwork came in, just that it was normal. Except for my blood sugar, which was 207. My accu-chek had read 206 just a few minutes earlier. Which reminds me that I've been meaning to make a list of things about the accu-chek aviva:
1. It's accurate.
2. It takes .6 microliters of blood (half the amount of the newer accu-chek).
3. There are four ways to turn the meter on that I've figured out so far. You can hit the forward button a few times, you can hit the back button a few times, you can hit the rather redundant on button, or you can insert a test strip.
4. It comes with the multiclix, which comes with easy to change, not horribly painful lancets.
5. It has skins.
6. And it comes with great customer service from accu-chek.
My A1c is exactly what I guessed, 7.1%. Last time I was spot on accurate too, but last time it was 6.4%. I think my endo was joking when he said in the message that maybe we should stop drawing it since I guess my A1c so precisely.
My TSH came back 1.54, normal normal normal. Also, only .02 different from last time, so maybe I've stabilized. I can hope, hey? My thyroid is still tender.
My endo didn't say exactly how my other labwork came in, just that it was normal. Except for my blood sugar, which was 207. My accu-chek had read 206 just a few minutes earlier. Which reminds me that I've been meaning to make a list of things about the accu-chek aviva:
1. It's accurate.
2. It takes .6 microliters of blood (half the amount of the newer accu-chek).
3. There are four ways to turn the meter on that I've figured out so far. You can hit the forward button a few times, you can hit the back button a few times, you can hit the rather redundant on button, or you can insert a test strip.
4. It comes with the multiclix, which comes with easy to change, not horribly painful lancets.
5. It has skins.
6. And it comes with great customer service from accu-chek.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Yom Kippur Log (written after Yom Kippur)
September 27, 2009
1704 hours -bg 153 Injected 20 units for the before fast feast. Started stuffing my face.
1814 hours- bg 103 20 minutes until the fast. Decided to eat another 30 carbs of fig newtons. Was absolutely full, vomitted a bit. Stayed home from services.
2011 hours- bg 213 Ignored it, read.
2035 hours- took 10 units Lantus. Ketones negative.
2116 hours- bg 246 Two units Novolog. Hoped it wasn't too much.
2249 hours- bg 217 Went to bed.
September 28
0628 hours- bg 252 Took two units of Novolog, went back to sleep.
0909 hours- bg 147 Ketones negative. Walked to the synagogue (about a mile and a half)
1030 hours- bg 121 no action
1205 hours- bg 156 no action
1426 hours- bg 163 morning services ended, I decided to stay in the synagogue rather than risk lowering my blood sugar by walking someplace
1655 hours- bg 149 evening services started
1942 hours- bg 128 evening services ended
2000 hours- took 6 units Novolog, broke my fast with 2 cups chili plus half cup granola, a little (I mean a little) melon, three slices cucumber, one slice tomato, one cup water
2119 hours- bg 331 took another 6 units Novolog, 14 units Lantus.
So, all in all, it went well. I should have been more aggressive with the post fast feast.
1704 hours -bg 153 Injected 20 units for the before fast feast. Started stuffing my face.
1814 hours- bg 103 20 minutes until the fast. Decided to eat another 30 carbs of fig newtons. Was absolutely full, vomitted a bit. Stayed home from services.
2011 hours- bg 213 Ignored it, read.
2035 hours- took 10 units Lantus. Ketones negative.
2116 hours- bg 246 Two units Novolog. Hoped it wasn't too much.
2249 hours- bg 217 Went to bed.
September 28
0628 hours- bg 252 Took two units of Novolog, went back to sleep.
0909 hours- bg 147 Ketones negative. Walked to the synagogue (about a mile and a half)
1030 hours- bg 121 no action
1205 hours- bg 156 no action
1426 hours- bg 163 morning services ended, I decided to stay in the synagogue rather than risk lowering my blood sugar by walking someplace
1655 hours- bg 149 evening services started
1942 hours- bg 128 evening services ended
2000 hours- took 6 units Novolog, broke my fast with 2 cups chili plus half cup granola, a little (I mean a little) melon, three slices cucumber, one slice tomato, one cup water
2119 hours- bg 331 took another 6 units Novolog, 14 units Lantus.
So, all in all, it went well. I should have been more aggressive with the post fast feast.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
A No Good Rotten Cold
I started showing symptoms of a cold at exactly 1:40 PM on Monday. It was unusual mostly in its suddenness. I got a runny nose, sore throat, sore eyes. On Tuesday I woke up feeling horrible in the middle of the night covered in sweat (bg 142). I went back to sleep after an hour, woke up again at 6 AM feeling better by a bit, even more coated in sweat (it is not hot in my place). I made it through the day with nothing worse than a persistant runny nose and a sore feeling in my throat.
On Wednesday, my students heard it. Mr. B, are you coming down with something? Mr. B, I have a question. Are you sick? I know you feel, Mr. B, my baby sister is sick, too.
On Thursday, I started losing my voice, throughout the day, my voice fading in and out. I developed a hot feeling all over my body, and felt very sore when anything touched me.
On Friday, more of the same.
Saturday (today, really), I stayed home and did nothing much all day. I've only had two or three times when my voice didn't come out and I don't feel too bad.
Thing is, the insulin resistance is driving me insane.
I had 0 readings above 300 from August 2- September 14 inclusive. I had an explainable reading of 300 on September 15. But then, what happens with a cold? Two readings in the last week above 300. And insulin resistance unpredictable.
Here's a story. Today, I finish lunch (and its insulin) by half past noon. At 3:20 PM I check my blood sugar: 221. Nothing too unusual about that, I'm sorry to say. I would usually correct that with an injection of 2.5 units Novolog (at an ISF between 40 and 45), but I decide that I'll inject 9 units of Novolog, wait an hour, and then eat for the extra 6.5 units. Brilliant, right?
So an hour comes and goes, I check my blood sugar again. 246! No drop at all, in fact a rise!
So instead of having a lovely 45 carb meal, I go have some tea (peppermint papaya, no carbs or caffeine) with some celery and lettuce (that was my mother's idea). After another two hours, when the Novolog has done it's job, I am down to 132. Not a bad number- but it took 9 units to get there?!
So I had some more to eat at that point, took what should have been enough insulin too. A couple hours later I'm at 123, looks good. Took a bit more Lantus than usual. Shabbes ends, I go on the computer.
Three more hours later (right before writing this post, in fact), I check my blood sugar just because and SURPRISE! 340. Now what? I haven't seen a number that high since August 1. I'm not at all sure what my insulin sensitivity is. What to do? I took 9 units. I'll check again after an hour, I suppose.
And the worst part of this story? Yom Kippur is on Monday! It's hard enough fasting on Yom Kippur with my body's usual shenanigans- now I have to add a cold into the mix?! Oy vey!
What Lantus dose will I take next? Will I be able to fast on that holiest day of the year? Stay tuned to find out...
On Wednesday, my students heard it. Mr. B, are you coming down with something? Mr. B, I have a question. Are you sick? I know you feel, Mr. B, my baby sister is sick, too.
On Thursday, I started losing my voice, throughout the day, my voice fading in and out. I developed a hot feeling all over my body, and felt very sore when anything touched me.
On Friday, more of the same.
Saturday (today, really), I stayed home and did nothing much all day. I've only had two or three times when my voice didn't come out and I don't feel too bad.
Thing is, the insulin resistance is driving me insane.
I had 0 readings above 300 from August 2- September 14 inclusive. I had an explainable reading of 300 on September 15. But then, what happens with a cold? Two readings in the last week above 300. And insulin resistance unpredictable.
Here's a story. Today, I finish lunch (and its insulin) by half past noon. At 3:20 PM I check my blood sugar: 221. Nothing too unusual about that, I'm sorry to say. I would usually correct that with an injection of 2.5 units Novolog (at an ISF between 40 and 45), but I decide that I'll inject 9 units of Novolog, wait an hour, and then eat for the extra 6.5 units. Brilliant, right?
So an hour comes and goes, I check my blood sugar again. 246! No drop at all, in fact a rise!
So instead of having a lovely 45 carb meal, I go have some tea (peppermint papaya, no carbs or caffeine) with some celery and lettuce (that was my mother's idea). After another two hours, when the Novolog has done it's job, I am down to 132. Not a bad number- but it took 9 units to get there?!
So I had some more to eat at that point, took what should have been enough insulin too. A couple hours later I'm at 123, looks good. Took a bit more Lantus than usual. Shabbes ends, I go on the computer.
Three more hours later (right before writing this post, in fact), I check my blood sugar just because and SURPRISE! 340. Now what? I haven't seen a number that high since August 1. I'm not at all sure what my insulin sensitivity is. What to do? I took 9 units. I'll check again after an hour, I suppose.
And the worst part of this story? Yom Kippur is on Monday! It's hard enough fasting on Yom Kippur with my body's usual shenanigans- now I have to add a cold into the mix?! Oy vey!
What Lantus dose will I take next? Will I be able to fast on that holiest day of the year? Stay tuned to find out...
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
New Meters
On Friday, I changed the code chip in my meter, and had a hard time putting the new chip in because the plastic was loose where the chip goes in and was blocking the place where the chip goes in. So, although my meter was well out of warrantee, I called Accu-Chek. When the woman on the phone (named Eilene) found out that my back up Accu-Chek Aviva meter, also out of warrantee, also didn't totally work (the forward button is broke), she said she'd send me two new meters.
The new meters came today. I took out my usual meter, and both of the new ones. I drew a large drop of blood from my right big toe. I applied it to my usual meter on a test strip. Then I took the code chip out, put in one of the new meters, put a strip in that meter, and put blood from the same drop there. I repeated that for the third meter.
And a minor miracle occurred, for lo and behold! My meters were not 50 points aparts, not 10 points apart, no! Not even by one mg/dl did they differ. So I decided to capture the moment. Look!
The new meters came today. I took out my usual meter, and both of the new ones. I drew a large drop of blood from my right big toe. I applied it to my usual meter on a test strip. Then I took the code chip out, put in one of the new meters, put a strip in that meter, and put blood from the same drop there. I repeated that for the third meter.
And a minor miracle occurred, for lo and behold! My meters were not 50 points aparts, not 10 points apart, no! Not even by one mg/dl did they differ. So I decided to capture the moment. Look!
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