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I've been having a lot of lows lately. I've been increasing my insulin, so I'm in that middle stage of fixing highs and avoiding those pesky lows. But it seems like every time I turn around, another low has snuck up on me.

Sure lows are great for my A1c, but they are horrible for my weight, my nerves, and everything in between. I'm trying to treat sensibly, but it seems like if I don't carb load that I'm low again in another hour. And I can't get it out of my head that I'm at risk of lows constantly now (like during a quiz in class, at work, and driving home from Target).

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When I look back on my blood sugars today all I can think is WTF?

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Lows come in all shapes and sizes. They come with grueling symptoms or no symptoms at all. They come with reason and purpose, and other times with no cause in sight. Sometimes they're short-lived and sometimes they linger for hours. For me, lows come in several forms:

The worst kind, the night low: Night lows for me come sometime between 2am and 6am. Usually it's a reading in the 50's or 40's that wakes me from a deep sleep. I wake with panic in my heart, it pounds in my chest. My body coated in sweat, the sheets damp under me. And an overwhelming weakness that leaves my knees shaking in the darkness. For me, this is the worst low because I have a history of seizures. I'm deathly afraid that one of these lows won't wake me or I won't catch it in time. Glucagon stashed by my bed does nothing to quell the fear. The only peace of mind is having someone close by listening for the sounds of a low.

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My blood sugars have been rocky in the last few days. I haven't made any insulin or exercise changes, but I've been staying fairly "low." And this evening, I hit rock bottom.

Most of my blood sugars have been in the 120's, which I'll take any day of the week. There have been a few 160's and an episode of 200's during my workout on Tuesday, but mostly I'm doing okay. Yet the bad lows are back.

Last night, I had a 56 a few hours before bed. And after juice and crackers, I was only 92. So I ate about 25 grams of LifeSavers and hoped for the best. Only to wake up to a 58. I ate breakfast, did insulin for the extra carbs, and headed to class.

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The last five days have been exhausting to say the least. My nearly non-stop lows started on Thursday. I thought it was just one of those days. But Friday brought its fair share of lows as well (though not as many as Thursday).

Saturday my family, along with my mom and dad, drove the RV from Phoenix north about two hours to Sedona, also known as Red Rock Country. The extra nearly 3,000 feet of elevation provide quite a respite from the valley heat.

On the way up, while Mom and I were attempting to entertain No. 1 and No. 2, I got that familiar low feeling. I tested immediately and rang in at 50 mg/dL. I was pretty shocked considering I tested as soon as I felt the low. I went for my Skittles and fortunately Mom had some non-diet soda in the RV fridge.

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I've worked really hard the past few months to lose some weight. I've been eating better (cutting out fast food, "extras" like dinner rolls or second servings, and leaving the snacks on the snack aisle at the grocery store). On top of that, I'm working out about three times a week either at the gym or on the treadmill at home. And I'm proud to say that I've lost six pounds and several inches.

But the past week has thrown a major kink in my progress. I'm too scared to even step on the scale to see how these low and "lower" blood sugars are affecting me. I know my calorie intake has increased between the cokes, snacks, and extra carbs I'm consuming to offset these things.

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Three of my last four blood sugars have been under 100. Two of those blood sugars have been under 50. I haven't increased my insulin or even eaten much less. I actually decreased my basal overnight because I was 99. By this morning, I was 47.

Because my blood sugars have been so out of control in the last few months, lows are few and far between (for me, at least). Usually, three lows in a twelve-hour period wouldn't be that confusing. Yet I'm perplexed. I haven't started getting back in control consciously so there is no excuse for these lows. Actually, I should be running a little high considering that I'm fighting off a cold.

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Is that why my A1C jumped the way it did? Is that why I’m not more aggressive with my bolusing? Is that why I sometimes look at a 186 and decide not to correct?
 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the perfect eater and that certainly has had an effect on my A1C, but do you remember how utterly shocked I was at my last endo appointment when Dr. R said 7.5? Well, I do! I could barely focus on anything she said after that because I was so dumbfounded. I even thought about asking her to repeat the test because it just couldn’t be true.
 

Since that time I’ve made an effort to be more proactive with my bolusing and to bolus prior to eating instead of after. It’s a little unnerving and out of my new comfort zone. It’s hard to get back into the habit of bolusing first.
 

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