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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.
Since I have to do about 20 minutes of walking to and from class, I'm always careful to head off the lows before they hit. Today wasn't any different. I ate a package of cookies and drank most of a can of Coke despite a blood sugar of 147. I'd rather end up a little high after class than have a low in the middle of class or while I'm walking back to my car.
After all that, my blood sugar was 164. I grabbed a late lunch, bolused for the fairly carb heavy food, and settled in to study for the evening. An hour later, I was feeling tired....a normal, afternoon sleepiness settling into my bones. So I dozed on and off thinking I'd nap for an hour or so then head to a meeting I had.
But when I woke up, I didn't feel like going. I was still tired and just feeling "unmotivated." I'd already decided I'd call the meeting off and just rest when I figured it'd been a few hours since my last blood sugar check. I tested...only to be shocked by the 37 that appeared on the screen. It looked so small, so scary.
I felt okay, but I knew the nap meant the low symptoms wouldn't be "normal." I grabbed juice, hoping I wouldn't have to deal with any symptoms. But as soon as I'd drank the first cup, I needed more. I was getting that heavy feeling all over, the spinning in my stomach, and the quick breathing that comes on with lows after I've been asleep.
After another glass of juice and a snack, my blood sugar was only 76. The heavy feeling was mostly gone and my stomach churned a little less. My breathing was still quick and restless. As I waited to see what my blood sugar would do, I tried to think what variables had changed over the last few days.
I'd been considering raising my Lantus over the past week because I was starting to hit that point in my workouts where they were getting easier, meaning they were taking less out of my body. But I'd postponed it to make sure I wasn't going to hit another low point. And I'm thankful that I had...although I'm not sure exercise is really the reason for the lows.
Maybe it's stress from the summer semester coming to its half point? Or maybe I've been eating differently and not noticing? Or maybe I'm just having a flukey week of lows?
Whatever it is, I'm glad I decided not to head to my meeting but also disappointed that diabetes is yet again interfering in my life. And it's making me wish that I was spending the summer with my mom or roommates (or that my cat was more low conscious)...because sleeping at 37 reminds me of the pain and danger of the seizures I've had before.
I think I'll be putting the CGMS back on tonight (and hoping it works as well as it did the last time I used it).





