Diabetic Recipes
Leo Reynolds
Eat dinner no later than five pm and fast until seven am. Perform five blood sugar checks throughout the night. Fast until twelve pm, six pm or ten pm. Check your blood sugar every two hours. Does this sound familiar?
You guessed it. Basal tests. My least favorite thing about the pump.
I hate having to eat at a required time (and worrying about what I eat to make sure there isn't a huge delay). I hate having to check my blood sugar every two hours. I find it a little frightening to fast for that many hours at a time. Plus, I just hate fasting (I like to eat when I'm hungry).
I realize in order to truly get the most out of my pump that I need to perform basal tests. I also realize that you test every two hours to watch for a drop in your blood sugar and stop a low.
But that doesn't change the fact that I don't want to do it. It's already five pm and I was planning on doing the night basal test tonight. Now I'm being forced to eat in order to make sure the basal test is done right. And I'll be up every two hours over the night, when all I want is a good night's sleep.
Then there is always the issue of the day tests interfering with school. I have to say, it's particularly hard testing in the middle of a class of three hundred while a professor is droning on and on about goodness knows what.
My post is short today. I just needed a place to let out my hatred of basal testing (a place where people actually understood the words basal and blood sugar). Now I'm off to make sure I eat before my time is up. Or maybe I'll just forget the test and worry later. My blood sugars are running decently anyway. That's good enough, right?
Lindsey, is basal testing something that is done periodically with the pump? I've only been pumping since last month so I'm somewhat clueless.
Thanks,
Pamela
Hi Pamela! Welcome to pumping! Yes, basal testing is the best way to make sure your background insulin is doing the best it can. There are differing opinions on how often it should be done and circumstances that change that. Check out the book Pumping Insulin by John Walsh! It definitely helped me with all my beginners questions.
Hi,
I've test in my university lectures all the time, in large classes and the small (less then 15 students). I figure it is what it is, and I will test when I want (or need to). On the plus side, it has started some great conversations that I may not otherwise have had!
How often do you basal test? It sounds almost like me fasting for religious reasons and trying to make sure I don't drop below the doctor's recommendations... except that I generally don't have issues with going low when asleep. OTOH, the usual fast is about 26 hours, without even water...
constant- i prefer not to test in classes unless i just have to only because i know many people who are deathly afraid of needles and blood. i'll do it but i'd just rather not cause a scene just because my basal testing overlaps. it is a great way to start convos tho!
tmana- in 7 months on the pump, i have basal tested twice. i'm still getting everything adjusted so i'm doing it more than most. i think the norm is to basal test twice a year or if there are any major changes in your climate/exercise/stress/etc. religious fasting is really hard to do being diabetic, so kudos!
I'm looking at going on a pump and was really excited about it after doing the reg. injections for a while to get basal rates but now I don't know. I'm not a breakfast eater. My breakfast is 11am to 12pm. I eat maybe one meal a day. I live alone and hate to cook but I've been on 4 oral meds and sugars just yo yo. I can't believe you have to do it every 2 hrs. For me that's a disaster. I'll open a can of green beans cold and eat them cold out of the can. Or stir up instant potatoes. I've got so I don't even check my sugars maybe once a day. My Drs. nurse pract. told me I was testing way too much and she doesn't even know my Dr. said to test 6x's a day so to H with it all. I havent't got the results of 3 days of continous glucose monotoring yet. When I plug my meter into the computer and get those readings, I freak out and go to the Dr. crying. Never been to a nutrisionist. Don't know about counting carbs or that stuff. I'm not a good diabetic for the last 4 yrs. when I found out.