Diabetic Recipes
I wish I could attach Olivia's log for this week so you could see what I'm referring to. She's had some massive changes in blood sugar levels. Tonight, she was 39. When she got home from school, she was a decent 174. Last night? 329. Oy.
I'm pretty sure the day she claimed to be putting in her numbers and bolusing, she really didn't because I haven't seen anything else like that. I haven't said anything to her to that effect, though. I don't want to accuse her of something that I have no way of proving. And if she is right and the pump is starting to go, I don't want her to think I'm doubting her about it. If she thinks I don't believe her, she tends not to tell me things, which is not what I want right now. Or ever, for that matter.
I keep adjusting her basal rates to combat highs but now I'm getting these late evening lows. I don't get it. Where are they coming from? Could gym be making her fall that much later in the day? She has it at 8 a.m., for an hour. I had her disconnect for gym, but that seemed to send her spiking. And then she crashed a bit before lunch. Not too low - a 66 - but that's a big drop from 306 at 9 a.m.. So I increased her basal rate during the morning, but now I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have, since I'm going to have her leave her pump on for gym tomorrow.
Gah! This is so frustrating. I feel like I'm just fumbling around blindly with all of this. I feel like I don't know what the hell I'm doing these days, like I'm completely new to all of this and it's frustrating me to no end.
Maybe she's got some hormonal/development things going on...? Sorry, wish I could be more help. I like that you're going along and working the problem with her, instead of accusing/doubting her. It makes a big difference--speaking as someone who had T1 at Olivia's age :)
I agree that there could be hormones involved -- on both parties' sides... You need to let Olivia understand that you're frustrated with the disease, not with her. She's old enough to understand the condition and what the consequences are of not managing her diabetes. She's likely just as frustrated as you are (if not moreso). You may need to conference -- either just the two of you, or both of you along with her care team -- to hammer out some strategies to rule out pump problems and to even out the highs and lows.
Another thing that might help is letting Olivia research, conference, and take increased ownership of the current issues. Talking with peers may be an answer. I remember seeing that someone was looking to start a teen support group on the dlife forums; also, some of the teens who are part of the "Safesittings" group hang out on tudiabetes.com. Between these, perhaps Olivia can find a company of peers who can relate to her and help her through the bumps and valleys of adolescence-with-diabetes.
I know exactly where you are at right now. My 13 year old daughter, Katie, has had swinging blood sugar levels since before Thanksgiving. So much so that she is on hospital homebound from school. The endo told us, after reviewing her BS logs and diet logs, that it is nothing we are doing or not doing, but mst likely a problem with her hormones. Apparently, a certain percentage of teens can develop somewhat of a resistance to insulin due to hormone fluctuations. We have set and reset basal rates on her pump trying to gain some stability. Just when we think things are leveling off, lo and behold, here comes the rollercoaster again. The main problem Katie was having to begin with was a drastic rise in BS levels overnight. She was waking up with fasting levels of anywhere from 250 to 400 for almost two solid weeks. Kind of odd since most diabetics have problems with BS bottoming out overnight!!! We would give correction boluses with breakfast and then by lunch she would either level off or drop considerably. The final straw was when she woke up with a fasting BS of 580 on November 19th after having gone to bed at 114!!! She was spilling large Ketones and the whole nine yards. She has not been in school since! AND because she is swinging so much and her BS levels are so unpredictable, I have been getting up at least every hour and a half all night long since then just to make sure she doesn't bottom out (which thankfully I have been doing because there have been numerous occasions that she has plummeted to below 40 during the night when all was well two hours before!!) UUUGH! I completely understand your frustrations and sympathize immensely with what you are going through. I wish you the best of luck!