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I got my blood work results in the mail last week. All the usual suspects...kidneys, CBC, liver function, thyroid...came back within normal ranges. But my A1c was totally off the charts.

Back in July, it clocked in at 7.2%. I wasn't surprised by that because I'd switched from the pump to Lantus and had a few bumps along the way. I was also struggling with getting my exercise numbers into a decent range. So 7.2% was good, all things considered.

But now, my A1c has jumped to a whopping 8.6%. It hasn't been that high since 2007 when I wasn't taking care of my diabetes at all in the midst of college and living on my own. I have to say that this result totally shocked me. I want to say that something is off, something has to be off!

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It's my time...to change my habits.

Numbers have been consuming my life in the past two weeks. Every time I turn around, a number pops up that leaves me feeling out of sync, exhausted, and completely burnt out. Averages like 241 or even 301 are consuming my logbook. Seeing numbers below 170 are a rare occurrence, with most riding in the upper 200 and 300 range.

The other side of the numbers is the insulin levels. I've raised my Lantus to 32 units in the evening now. And from that, I've had my first low in a week (and it was only a 72 after not eating for quite some time). I've also almost doubled my Humalog, which seems to be the biggest deterrent to those pesky 300's that I was seeing so regularly.

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Saturday night, I raised my evening Lantus dose to 16 units and kept my morning dosage at 13 units. I also moved the evening dose up by about three hours, hoping to stop those highs that sent me into sleep at 218 and 241. I also took the plunge and decided to do a trial run of boluses with the pump instead of pen or syringe. And I'm still as perplexed, but this time for the opposite reason.

Within a few hours of bolusing with the pump, I saw a 55 that bounced up to 114, 131, and back down to 93. Several snacks throughout the night left me at a morning number of 130. For most of Sunday, I stayed under 150 with a brief spike after working out. After dinner on Sunday night, I dropped to 84 then 69. And after about an hour, I was 146. But at 4am, I woke to an unexpected 47. I also lowered my evening Lantus to 15 units since I'd seen a rise in lows after the 16 units.

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Exercise can be a really tricky thing when you're diabetic. Whether you're starting a new routine or just changing up an old one, it's tough to manage blood sugars alongside cardio and resistance training. The ups and downs add an extra edge to the difficulty of staying in shape.

Last week, I decided to try some new exercise classes which sent my blood sugars into a tailspin. Luckily, I was able to lower my insulin and fend off the lows...but I wasn't able to achieve the balance that I crave. This week I'm still working hard to get back into shape (and lose some more weight)...but mostly I'm trying to find that medium ground between the highs and lows of exercise.

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I think one of the things I hate most about my diabetes is that I never seem to follow any patterns. It seems like other people have these stable highs and lows, where it's so much easier to adjust basals or carb intake. But me...my body has a freaking mind of its own!

Before bed last night, my blood sugar was at 159. For me, I'm very comfortable with that number right before bed. It says that I won't wake up too high, but I probably won't drop in the middle of the night either. But I'd just jumped from 103 to 159 after a post-low snack (you know, the snack you eat after you've had the juice about an hour before). So I decided to bolus anyway.

About 4:30am, I woke up with a panic in my gut and a clammy feeling washing over my skin. The CGMS beeped at me LOW! I know! I tested. Sure enough, 60. I treated with 15 grams of orange juice and about 15 grams in graham crackers. Then I went back to sleep.

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I'm always high on a site-change day. I've tried doubling the recommended amount of fixed prime, but I still wind up in the upper 200s. I've tried doubling my fixed prime and overbolusing for breakfast (I typically change my site first thing in the morning before breakfast) and I'm still high.

It occurred to me recently that I didn't know for sure if the "trauma" to my body from the site change was the culprit or if it was the insulin absorbing into a new place or both that was to blame. Because I'm only high after breakfast; back into range by lunch time.

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For the past two weeks or so, my blood sugars have been running high. I had lowered my basals when I came back to school because I was having too many lows with my new schedule. I'm guessing that the basals need to be raised again since I've slowly adjusted to the schedule and I'm hitting exam times so my stress is increased.

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Being back to school is the hot topic lately. For me, being back to school is a big change. Not only do I move away from home again every semester, but also my schedule is constantly changing. The stress is different. The food is different. The exercise is different (walking an extra 3 miles a week around campus). My control is different.

Over the summer, I really watched what I was eating. I finally got my other health issues sorted out and had the potential to lose the weight I had gained because of them. I was motivated. So I started limiting my portions, choosing "smarter" carbs, and decreasing my overall intake of carbs.

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Last week I wrote about my experience with my new endo. Today marks a week from that first visit and the day I am supposed to fax over a weeks worth of BG readings and boluses from my pump.

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