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Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April of 1980. I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. I hope to share my struggles, my successes, and everything in between.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

When D-Instincts Go Wrong...

Logbook courtesy of Kevin

My last post talked about a great day I had, and how my d-instincts helped me avoid a major middle of the night low.

Well, I had a not-so-awesome day on that Saturday. Here's the other side of the d-instinct coin.

I woke up low. I had a little bit to eat (about 60g?).

I was heading out to the yard to mow the lawn and do some trimming and edging. These are activities that usually drop my blood sugar and cause a low, so I talked myself into not bolusing for my breakfast.

I went out and worked my tail off in the yard. Trimming and edging, then mowing and bagging the lawn. Twice. Yes, it was really that long.

When I got done I realized I was very thirsty, and my mouth felt dry.

You can see from the graph why...

20/20 hindsight - I should have taken some insulin for breakfast! It took me most of the day to get back on the map, and I didn't break into my target range until sometime after midnight.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Diabetes just plain sucks and hardly ever is consistent, probably one of the reasons I don't log.

8:02 PM  
Blogger George said...

blah, i hate this stuff dude. There is always that flip side to the D.

I agree with Karen. IT just plain sucks.

11:09 PM  
Blogger Kevin said...

Holy Shit is right!
I'm so sorry that happened.
Can't dwell on it, though. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back in there (which it seems like you're doing).

And I don't agree with Karen. Yes, Diabetes sucks, we all know that. And Yes, it doesn't always make sense. But that DOESN'T mean we shouldn't try. Any increase in the signal-to-noise ratio we can muster is beneficial, and to do that you have to log, you have to think, and you have to calculate.

(Stepping down from soapbox and walking away now with second thoughts about what was just written).

7:01 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

7:40 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

bleh. I hate that. Many times our insticts are right on, probably in a million different ways we barely even acknowledge because it's become so second nature to us, but then something like that brings us back to rethinking our calculations or being a little more unsure, at least temporarily.

You do an amazing job, but I know it still sucks. I tend to run high in the mornings, so for me if I'm gonna have problems, it's often in the morning. It's gotten a lot better, and I had been waking up in range, but this morning I woke up at 342. bleh. A terrible way to start the day and I'm not sure why. I dip low without knowing it and then spike at night. Yet another reason the CGM should be covered by insurance.

7:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When this kind of thing happens, I call it a "diabetic curveball." You stand in the box ready to swing, but by the time you figure things out, it has already gotten past you.

We can add up the carbs, work out the insulin ratio, factor in the exercise, and account for stress and other variables, and still come out so far off the mark sometimes that all we can do is scratch our heads. We aren't precision machines, unfortunately, so we all learn to accept the consistent inconsistencies, and try again tomorrow.

Thanks for your comments, Scott. It's nice to know you're stopping by. --Jeff

4:19 AM  
Blogger Chrissie in Belgium said...

Hi Scott, we can't ALWAYS guess correctly. There are no doctors either that have all the answers, so just chalk it up to experience and next time DO take a little insulin. You live and learn. In my last comment on my blog entry I spoke about how I took extra insulin when I couldn't sleep in the morning - well I didn't take enough! Mistakes are what we deal with daily with D! Anyhow I am glad the day before was good! Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I am still using my arms and thighs for needle sites. It is so good having more places to use than just mt stomach. Thanks again for encouraging me to try !

11:38 PM  
Blogger Drea said...

Whoops! Hard way to start the day.....!!! :)

6:58 PM  
Blogger Cara said...

That's always the hardest time for me to remember to bolus...when you don't need to bolus now cause you're low...but you do need to bolus later for the food. It's happened to me! Several times. Oh well, the wonderful world of diabetes.... :)

8:38 PM  

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