Sleepless in SoCal
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 9:44AM I cannot get it right. My basals are off. My insulin to carb ratio is off. My corrections are off. At least it seems they all are since I cannot get anything right when it comes to my blood sugar.
Things and foods I thought I knew how to handle have all suddenly changed. I have spent more time out of range, both high and low, then in.
Worst of all is the time I spend during the middle of the night trying to fix it. Bolusing and bolusing trying to correct highs and then the awful lows that follow. It is simply frustrating.
So my mornings have been torture. Dragging myself out of bed and sliding into the shower, only to stand under the hot water and wish I could go back to bed.
I may need to take a lesson from my friend Gina and do a 24 hour fast to figure it all out. But with the lack of energy I have, thinking about doing that makes me tired!
December is crazy busy so it makes me want to wait until after the holiday before attempting it. Then I think, is this something to wait on?
This post is quickly unraveling into a mess (I blame the sleeplessness) so I am going to stop now and hope to get some trusty advice from my friends in the diabetes community online.
Reader Comments (8)
You are so right George - it adds insult to injury when things change and you do your best to deal with it but your ability diminishes because you are sleep deprived and thus have less capacity for clarity of thought. I've been there many times and the one thing that gets me out of it is sitting down and working out the numbers. I put pen to paper and lay out the insulin doses (focusing on basals first) and the BGs and make adjustments. Until I do that, it can be a jumbled mess that only gets more jumbled. But laying in out in an orderly way usually works and I can get a little sleep and move on (at least until everything changes again). :)
This is very wearing on any of us. But you must do the fasting. My CDE does not do a 24h fast though, she breaks it up into 4 days. I think I still have the worksheets and if so I'll email them to you for you to play with.
Sometimes, the lack of heavy food and more water is kinder to the body. It isn't as tiring as it sounds, bro. I was thinking it would be torture, but after an hour or two, I saw the bg going down a bit and actually felt better.
I know one thing, you are far too decent of a human being to be in this state. You should, IMO, give my CDE's method a go.
I'm off to find those worksheets.
Feel ya! ... still trying to get it right myself... A1c is coming down a tad but not any where near where I want to be yet...then I think it's been since april since I've started pumping & think to myself I should have this down better than I do so far...then I get discouraged and a bit overwhelmed as each day passes with all the other everyday life going on around me...trying hard to refocus but feels like I'm stuck in reverse at times...baby steps I know but I'm bad about jumping on the guilt & failure in the #'s bandwagon....I really need to read the rest of pumping insulin book but have not found the time yet...bottom line is I need to put myself first & that never seems to happen...one day at a time my friend... <3 Ya!
I understand all too well about adjusting insulin and making corrective measures and the highs and lows yo-yoing and then the crappy way you feel after from all the bouncing around. It may not make sense in your head right now to do the fast, but it is a smart decision to do it. Your health comes first. I know you know it, eveyone knows it... they just need a reminder sometimes (I know I do).
Since I'm just finishing Day 3 on the Ping, I certainly can't offer advice but...
It makes sense to take the time and the effort to work on it now. This week w/ the pump start I have to log everything - actually have been doing so for 3 weeks. The log sheet sits on the counter or goes to work w/ me. And yes, it's been a bother but, I keep telling myself that it is going to be better for me in the long run.
Sorry you're getting the combo whammy. If only diabetes could wait until we are well rested, and the rest of life slows down. But it acts up when we aren't looking, or are sleeping, or just need a break. Instead of doing a basal check (I hate those and avoid them at all costs), can you download your CGM data and see if those graphs maybe speak one easy change you could make? I'm making an overdue increase in my basal rate tonight based on that, and hoping to turn the tables on D while it is sleeping. Hope you can get some rest and find the mental energy that is so hard to summon to mount a stealth ninja strike!
sucks. a CDE friend of mine told me when things get wonky... go back to basics. get rid of all the different basals and start with one consistent basal. Skip 1 meal. (or eat all protein/veggies without carbs) to see if your basal is right. once you get your basals fixed, work on your I:C ratios. Long process, but maybe worth it to avoid the highs and lows. I am sorry you are having such a hard time.
24 hour fasting isn't cool with me. it makes me anxious to just think of it. I can do 1 meal without carbs though. breakfast is super easy... eggs and bacon!!!! ;)
Dang man. This sounds miserable. Could you be fighting off some sickness or something?
There is great info on doing all of the pump setting tests in the "Pumping Insulin" book. That and/or Jenny's info might be the ticket. Definitely do not try to do 24 hours in one sitting. That is just way too hard.