Diabetic Recipes
Over the weekend, I had a low blood sugar in the middle of the night that left me feeling like I had been beaten soundly and left in a ditch. (Covered in petrol, a la Eddie Izzard.)
It was a strange experience, though, because the "low hangover" feeling was neatly accompanied by a feeling of guilt. This low wasn't one that came out of no where and smacked up upside the head. This low was the result of a miscalculation while I was at dinner.
Scene: My fiance and I are at a nice little Italian place near our hometown. I test before the meal and ring in at 202 mg/dl. Not so great. So I bolus in a few units to correct the high.
Then the bread arrives. Knowing full-well I should sit tight and wait for my sugars to drop back into range but itching to have a taste of that "fresh from the oven" italian bread, I laced in a few more units of Humalog from my pump and enjoyed a piece of bread.
The bread was followed by another piece. Then more insulin. Then my pasta dinner. More insulin. With restaurant portions a bit tricky to count and my sugars already elevated to begin with, I was SWAG-bolusing and not paying the closest of attention to my numbers.
We returned home. I tested before bed and a result of 180 mg/dl greeted me. No problem. That's elevated enough for a sound sleep.
I knew I had stacked the boluses and guesstimated the carb count of my meal.
Which is why a low blood sugar of 34 mg/dl greeted me in the middle of the night.
I treated the low. I dealt with the emergency and ended up on the safer side of 100 mg/dl within a few minutes. My sugar the next morning was 114 mg/dl - safe and sound.
Yet the guilt I felt for that low had me by the throat. That low wasn't a "freak moment" that happens to me sometimes. This one could have been prevented. Of course, we are all human, making plenty of mistakes and learning from our experiences, but hitting that kind of rock-bottom hit my conscience hard.
Diabetes is more than just number management and medication wrangling.
It's an emotional bonfire that sometimes burns out of control.
Life isn't fair, insulin dependent diabetics can indulge in what the want and just compensate with a alittle shot of insulin. And when they miss the calculation they get to write about the low.
I don't like pasta but do love hard rolls but I am not on insulin so if I eat carbs my nubers go thru the roof.
You young kids have all the fun:-)
What isn't fair is when you have been diabetic and on insulin so long you don't know what normal feels like. I have been diabetic almost my whole life, being diagnosed at just 2 1/2. Try explaining to a toddler why they can't have ice cream, or pop, or any of that! And boy oh boy is it great if I forget to give insulin and my bloodsugars end up in the 500's, or, when I eat and give my insulin and find myself on the verge of a seziure because I didn't calculate right and I have to try to figure out how to eat more when I'm already full... Yeah, life is great when you're type 1. To think that if I wasn't on insulin, I wouldn't have rebounding bloodsugars makes it hard for me sometimes. Insulin can be effected by so many issues.... it really sucks when the amount you give doesn't work the way you expect it to.
Life isn't fair; non-insulin dependent diabetics don't have to give themselves injections, test their blood sugars 10+ times a day, worry about giving too little/too much insulin all the time, worry if their blood sugar is dropping in a place where they can't test, worry about how much less insulin to give during exercise......etc. The grass is always greener on the other side, I guess. Personally I'd rather give up this pump and injections alltogether and go low carb.
It's true life isn't fair... However, I'm sure if you wanted to start taking these really fun injections of insulin on a daily basis, you could. Then, you might be lucky enough to have scary low blood sugars that you can then write blog posts about.
Good luck!
us young kids have all the fun, eh?
well that's just great, but even if we don't indulge we still have to inject ourselves. and we still have these super fun low blood sugars. oooh, everyone loves them!
in fact, the most enjoyable part is getting to reminisce and freak yourself out all over that this could happen again.
I've had these problems for the past 42 years so don't be calling me a Kid. Like the old saying goes the grass is always greener on the other side of the road. Well it's obvious you have not been to the other side. You say you are not on insulin, well it sounds like you will be joining us on the other side soon.
It's interesting to read this blog as I can identify with it totally. SWAG does absolutely nothing positive for us yet sometimes we just "give up" taking readings, counting carbs, figuring out the correct bolus etc. I use a pump that calculates my bolus by the carb count I enter. Even so I find that pasta has a different "glycemic index" so affects me differently. The tomato paste in the sauce causes me to go high and I can't always calculate the sauces from various places.
I haven't experienced the night time lows but I do get the highs. Guessing at carbs causes the problems but using a palmpilot has helped.
New to diabetes as a Type 1 and 42yrs old I'm only on long acting insulin right now unless I have a real high before a meal. That fact that I can take insulin isn't a gift. I don't think it matters whether you're on insulin or not being a diebetic sucks for us all. Regarless of your situation there should be a little more compassion and support from each other rather than criticism! No matter what your situaion is with diebetes, it is a constant struggle and none of it is easy. This site is a great support to us all, so let's all behave like adults instead of children. We have to all stick together!