Sort by: Relevance | Most Recent | Most Active | Highest Rated

We found 10 result(s) that match your search "hypoglycemic unawareness":

Thursday night, I decided to stay up a little too late (or early, we shall say). My mother always warned me when I was younger to monitor my blood sugars closely when I threw my sleep cycle off. I never figured out why, because I always seemed to be fine. What does me being a night owl have to do with blood sugars?

 

But Thursday night was an extreme. I didn't get to bed until just before the sun was rising. I made sure to sleep in as long as possible (and managed 6 hours of sleep) just to make it through the day ahead of me.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

I was a little shocked, actually, to have gotten a real answer instead of a blow off "It's in medical review" answer.
My pump rep and my endo's nurse have jumped through hoops giving my insurance company the information it needs/wants in regard to approving my CGMS claim. I thought there was going to be a conversation between the insurance folks and my doctor's office, not just a flat out "No." I really thought that giving them all this information and stressing that I have hypo unawareness would surely make them say yes. Like I said, I was shocked.
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I'm still ready for a fight. I've called my pump rep to fill him in and see where we go from here--not to say, "I give up, thanks for trying." On this hand I feel a little angry that they have all this information detailing medical necessity and still say no. (READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

I'm staring at the last three weeks of blood sugars. I've calculated my averages and circled every blood sugar that isn't between 60 and 250. But now, I'm just staring. I'm wondering what to do next.

 

Some of the highs are fairly unexplained (marked with the traditional question mark in my logbook) and some are the result of inadequate boluses, late/skipped boluses for snacks, or overtreating lows. And most of the lows are from decreasing my carb ratio at breakfast (saw a bout of 50's after breakfast three days in a row). Sadly, quite a few of the lows are unexplained just like the highs...late hit from exercise, stress, or just diabetes in its confusion...I'll never really know.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

In my last post, I mentioned that I would be wearing some Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS) and deciding if any were right for me. 

 

I tried both the DexCom and the Navigator.  My decision was this: there is simply no way a separate device is going to work for me.  This was proven by the HOURS worth of dead zones - where I'd accidentally left the device behind.  Further evidence, the fact that I regularly leave my cellphone behind when I leave my house in the morning - and that since childhood I've been known as someone who "would lose their head if it weren't tied on."  Really, I think I'd lose my pump if that weren't tied on!  

 

So, I am starting the process of trying to get a Minimed Real-Time System.  I've got new insurance with my new job- so the pump part shouldn't be too great a struggle.  But the CGM to go along with it is a different story. 

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

Diabetes is never just one disease to handle. Sure, technically, medically, or definitively, diabetes is simply one disease. But in the daily management of the disease, it's a complex ball of diseases and risks.

 

Most of us understand the complications that come along with diabetes. We know that better control lowers our risk for all of those complications. We understand that those complications sometimes have a mind of their own, that despite years of good control they might still creep into our lives.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

There comes a point where death isn't scary anymore. But hope...hope is scary.

 

I'm a fan of Grey's Anatomy on ABC. The latest episode featured a terminal cancer patient...a young and seemingly vibrant woman (minus the disease ravaging her body)...who was seeking physician assisted suicide. Those lines up there were ones she said in defense of her own death.

 

As they passed through the TV speakers, they hit me. Hard. I know they're just fiction, that some TV writer/producer thought them up. Someone thought they knew what it felt like to face that precipice. Maybe they actually do. Maybe they're writing from experience the way that I am now.

 

Those words hit me hard because it's a way that I've never verbalized about emotions that I constantly feel. I've never really considered death and hope in that way. The fear. In a reverse kind of way.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (8)

---

Sometimes I'm forgetful. And sometimes I choose to forget. Like yesterday afternoon, I got frozen yogurt with my mom before I headed back to school. But I'd been trending south on the blood sugar line after several hours walking around the (scorching) zoo with my family. So I decided to forgo insulin after my treat.

 

Big mistake. Because the sun, the heat, and the walking didn't have anything on the 50 carbs of waffle cone and yogurt. And my blood sugar was the one that took the hit. At a lovely 351.

 

Four units of Humalog later, I stopped kicking myself for being so dumb and got on with my evening. But as I dove into studying for my first exam and chatting with friends, I completely forgot about diabetes. I didn't think to check after an hour and a half to see where I was headed. I didn't even think to assess where I thought I was headed.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

Things have been busy lately. And they are about to get even busier. I've been working on the scrapbook from my Europe trip. I'm still applying for jobs and researching my move. Plus I've had the odds and ends of having a life, a family, and friends...like my brother buying his first house, my best friend leaving for 5 weeks, and helping my mom with a volunteer case.

 

So once again, it's one of those times that I've let diabetes slide into the backseat unnoticed. Instead of sitting down with my logbook and actually recalling the details, I'm guilt-ridden when I glance at it. I'm not even sure what kind of insulin to carb ratio I'm using. It was supposed to be 1:8 and maybe I've done that but I just can't seem to recall. My brain is just not in diabetes mode.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (3)

---

Everything seems to be all over the place lately. Despite catching up on school work and actually de-stressing this week, my blood sugars are bouncing like rubber balls in an airplane bin. My averages are up, yet I'm having rashes of severe lows. And by severe, I don't mean symptoms. I mean numbers and hypoglycemic unawareness.

 

Like last Thursday night, I cooked chili for a friend. Ate a giant bowl with cornbread, bolused for what I expected was way too little, and went on my way. Only to feel an urge to test a few hours later. No symptoms, just something in my brain saying that I should bite the bullet to test. And that urging left me staring at a 37. How?

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

I spent the Friday morning after I returned from my vacation at my primary care physician's office for a check up and some lab work. I've been having some concerning symptoms that I wanted to get checked and I also wanted an updated A1c since I'm switching endos next month. My PCP is competent albeit frustrating at times.

 

I went in with the following symptoms: occasional shortness of breath (like my breath is suddenly getting knocked out of me), tingling in my hands, shocking pains in my heels in the morning, and my ongoing fatigue that I've battled for several years now. My two main concerns were the tingling and the shortness of breath.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (1)

---