Especially as it pertains to difficult-to-treat hypos.
Showing posts with label hypos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hypos. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Before you say "I do"
I'm having a problem, one that D kids in 1920 didn't have to worry about. The car in front of me is doing a circular jig + my brain is rapidly approaching shut down mode. I have to get off here, and I have to get off FAST.Before I pass out + crash.
Stuff Doritos into mouth, check Dex.
110-and trending down very rapidly.
I don't care what I actually am, I just eat. Pull off at exit, find nearest gas station, pull in + park. Appropriately enough, in front of the ice machines.(and across from the ice cream parlour)It's 32 degrees outside.
Drink juice. So cold, so dizzy. Dex has me at 80 now. Ah, my favorite gas station(Sheetz)- where else would I be getting low? Like Target, this place has
charms to soothe the savage hypoglycemic beast.
Lurch inside, buy more sugary drink. Go back to car, consume.
Dex shows me ???, I throw it into my bag in disgust.An hour later, I'm 311. And not shaking anymore, but still really dizzy. Recover from that, for the next hour. Bawl, feel sorry for self, hate diabetes.
Get back on Beltway. (the show must go on)
3 hours later, 376. Bolus 5 units.
1 hr later-180. Dropping like log, drink juice
2 hours later, 130.
3 AM- 260, high alarm wakes me up. Bolus 1.2 units
5 AM-62.(low alarm wakes me up) Yep, 1.2 units of insulin has dropped me 200 points.(if I'd have bolused like usual,I'd be dead) Eat.
7 AM-220
9 AM-300
10 AM-340
At this point, I figure infusion set is toast so I shoot 3 units and drop to 170 by 12 PM. Back on the Beltway, headed back home.
And things have been pretty good, without the pump on. Sure solves the prob of basal + bolus insulin colliding + dropping me like heck. Also had a low at lunch time yesterday, it was not a good day.
I obviously need some insulin though..but it needs a major overhaul! Just wish it wasn't now.
Got marriage lisence today, confirmed things with photographer. Rehearshal dinner tomarrow night,and Sat.morning it all comes together in the grand finale. Probably gonna check 10 zillion times that day..
(note to self: do NOT wipe finger on sleeve of dress, or suck it)
And oh, yeah. Happy birthday to these little dude(tte)
They are so much bigger..and even more cute!
Stuff Doritos into mouth, check Dex.
110-and trending down very rapidly.
I don't care what I actually am, I just eat. Pull off at exit, find nearest gas station, pull in + park. Appropriately enough, in front of the ice machines.(and across from the ice cream parlour)It's 32 degrees outside.
Drink juice. So cold, so dizzy. Dex has me at 80 now. Ah, my favorite gas station(Sheetz)- where else would I be getting low? Like Target, this place has
charms to soothe the savage hypoglycemic beast.
Lurch inside, buy more sugary drink. Go back to car, consume.
Dex shows me ???, I throw it into my bag in disgust.An hour later, I'm 311. And not shaking anymore, but still really dizzy. Recover from that, for the next hour. Bawl, feel sorry for self, hate diabetes.
Get back on Beltway. (the show must go on)
3 hours later, 376. Bolus 5 units.
1 hr later-180. Dropping like log, drink juice
2 hours later, 130.
3 AM- 260, high alarm wakes me up. Bolus 1.2 units
5 AM-62.(low alarm wakes me up) Yep, 1.2 units of insulin has dropped me 200 points.(if I'd have bolused like usual,I'd be dead) Eat.
7 AM-220
9 AM-300
10 AM-340
At this point, I figure infusion set is toast so I shoot 3 units and drop to 170 by 12 PM. Back on the Beltway, headed back home.
And things have been pretty good, without the pump on. Sure solves the prob of basal + bolus insulin colliding + dropping me like heck. Also had a low at lunch time yesterday, it was not a good day.
I obviously need some insulin though..but it needs a major overhaul! Just wish it wasn't now.
Got marriage lisence today, confirmed things with photographer. Rehearshal dinner tomarrow night,and Sat.morning it all comes together in the grand finale. Probably gonna check 10 zillion times that day..
(note to self: do NOT wipe finger on sleeve of dress, or suck it)
And oh, yeah. Happy birthday to these little dude(tte)
They are so much bigger..and even more cute!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Her Code Name Was: The Hypogal
Once upon a time, there lived a girl,a chronic disease, and an insulin pump.
This girl, who did not exemplify a model patient in any sense of the word(despite a recent 0.7 drop in the a1c, whoo hoo!) was especially hard-headed about wearing bodily identification proclaiming an association, however loosely, with that chronic disease. Most of the time, it didn't matter who did, and did not, know. The important people all knew.
One beautiful spring day, as the girl dashed about town doing errands, she pulled into the gas station to top up the o'le tank. After she had finished pumping, she felt the familiar exotic buzz of the legs turning to jelly, signifying an impending reaction. A quick quick of the blood glucose confirmed that to be the case. Predictably, no fast-acting carbohydrate was in the vehicle so she went inside the gas station to buy something. Deciding on a sugar-ish drink that didn't quite taste as disgusting as coke, she picked several bottles up and headed to the counter to pay for it.
"Something wrong?" asked the kid behind the counter.
The girl, confused, set the bottle back down. Did something look wrong?
"What?"
"Something wrong with it? You're looking at it kind of funny."
"No, I'm just looking at the nutritional information."
The kid laughs. "Not much, I'm afraid."
(mental slap of forehead, great response there..)
The girl went back out to her vehicle, drank some of the Vault. Reaction got worse. Meanwhile, she was being closely watched by security's white Toyota Cruiser,
and after about 10-15 minutes they pulled up beside her + motioned for the window to be rolled down.
"Maam, is your vehicle broken down? would you like to call someone?"
"No, I'm having a diabetic moment."
Security looked askance, and quickly backed away. It must be something they do not do, get involved with diabetics having weird spells.The girl drank the rest of the Vault bottle.
This reaction wasn't going away anytime soon.
The shriek of sirens/flash of lights from across the street brought the girl to (what was left of)her senses- crap, did they call out the cop-paramedic brigade on her?
She panicked, started the car, and drove 10 feet to the curb.
10 minutes passed, then 20. Finished 2nd bottle of Vault, the adrenaline shot the blood sugar up (temporarily) to 200's. Ate a sandwich- bolused VERY lightly.(1 unit)
2 hours after treatment #1, the girl's blood sugar was back to normal + she had learned an important lesson.Some people just don't care one way or the other about your medical problems, what matters is if you're impending the revenue flow. Really restores one's faith in humanity. It's not that they should have called for help(obviously, I wasn't passed out yet) it's that they didn't even ask me if I'd be ok, or checked later on. (they didn't care) As I wasn't thinking all that clearly myself, to be able to express myself.One needs all the backup they can get.
She wears that ID now.
The End.
This girl, who did not exemplify a model patient in any sense of the word(despite a recent 0.7 drop in the a1c, whoo hoo!) was especially hard-headed about wearing bodily identification proclaiming an association, however loosely, with that chronic disease. Most of the time, it didn't matter who did, and did not, know. The important people all knew.One beautiful spring day, as the girl dashed about town doing errands, she pulled into the gas station to top up the o'le tank. After she had finished pumping, she felt the familiar exotic buzz of the legs turning to jelly, signifying an impending reaction. A quick quick of the blood glucose confirmed that to be the case. Predictably, no fast-acting carbohydrate was in the vehicle so she went inside the gas station to buy something. Deciding on a sugar-ish drink that didn't quite taste as disgusting as coke, she picked several bottles up and headed to the counter to pay for it.
"Something wrong?" asked the kid behind the counter.
The girl, confused, set the bottle back down. Did something look wrong?
"What?"
"Something wrong with it? You're looking at it kind of funny."
"No, I'm just looking at the nutritional information."
The kid laughs. "Not much, I'm afraid."
(mental slap of forehead, great response there..)
The girl went back out to her vehicle, drank some of the Vault. Reaction got worse. Meanwhile, she was being closely watched by security's white Toyota Cruiser,
and after about 10-15 minutes they pulled up beside her + motioned for the window to be rolled down.
"Maam, is your vehicle broken down? would you like to call someone?"
"No, I'm having a diabetic moment."
Security looked askance, and quickly backed away. It must be something they do not do, get involved with diabetics having weird spells.The girl drank the rest of the Vault bottle.
This reaction wasn't going away anytime soon.
The shriek of sirens/flash of lights from across the street brought the girl to (what was left of)her senses- crap, did they call out the cop-paramedic brigade on her?
She panicked, started the car, and drove 10 feet to the curb.
10 minutes passed, then 20. Finished 2nd bottle of Vault, the adrenaline shot the blood sugar up (temporarily) to 200's. Ate a sandwich- bolused VERY lightly.(1 unit)
2 hours after treatment #1, the girl's blood sugar was back to normal + she had learned an important lesson.Some people just don't care one way or the other about your medical problems, what matters is if you're impending the revenue flow. Really restores one's faith in humanity. It's not that they should have called for help(obviously, I wasn't passed out yet) it's that they didn't even ask me if I'd be ok, or checked later on. (they didn't care) As I wasn't thinking all that clearly myself, to be able to express myself.One needs all the backup they can get.
She wears that ID now.
The End.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Today is not Your Day
(and tomarrow isn't looking very hopeful, either!)
I am so over trying to be helpful, it just gets me in trouble. Reps(reputation points) down on Slickdeals- + nasty comments from a coworker(after I'd worked hard 6 hours, finally getting all the old orders out) and when I got to do an easy order...about "cherry picking." Thanks, folks, I love ya too. No, I will not be volunteering for 5 hours of similar bliss on Sat. morning. Just seems like everything I've done lately, has come back completely screwed up(and would have been better if I hadn't gotten involved)
And my diabetes doesn't take to "being fixed" either...
this morning, further attempts to figure out the (Morning) Continuous Hypo Saga(w/out going high) weren't overly
successful:
6:11-115
8:37-157
10:54-228
12:09-148
1:52 pm-312
4:23 pm-286
6:08 pm- 167
10: 29 pm- 89
This morning, I'd cut the basal down to 0.2 between 6am-1 pm, which prevented me from the 8:30 hypo- so, I'd put a temp rate of 0.0 from 10-11 am, trying to prevent any pre-lunch hypos as well. I'm pretty sensitive during this time. Well, that was obviously a bad idea, promptly skyrocketed to 228 so I bolused 1 unit and continued the 0.0 rate, continuing to be cautious. I dropped 80 points on that, about twice as much as I had expected(I'm glad I was cautious). Conservativly bolused for lunch(not enough), had to correct at 4:30. Supper was late(went out to eat, restaurunt was busy) and though the SWAG bolus was obviously enough, I still have a unit of insulin floating around so I'll have to put on a 2 hour temp rate(0.0) and check at least once tonight(overnight basil needs tweaking down as well) to make sure I don't get low.
I really wish this were easier. With a $5,000 pump- it should be!
I am so over trying to be helpful, it just gets me in trouble. Reps(reputation points) down on Slickdeals- + nasty comments from a coworker(after I'd worked hard 6 hours, finally getting all the old orders out) and when I got to do an easy order...about "cherry picking." Thanks, folks, I love ya too. No, I will not be volunteering for 5 hours of similar bliss on Sat. morning. Just seems like everything I've done lately, has come back completely screwed up(and would have been better if I hadn't gotten involved)
And my diabetes doesn't take to "being fixed" either...
this morning, further attempts to figure out the (Morning) Continuous Hypo Saga(w/out going high) weren't overly
successful:
6:11-115
8:37-157
10:54-228
12:09-148
1:52 pm-312
4:23 pm-286
6:08 pm- 167
10: 29 pm- 89
This morning, I'd cut the basal down to 0.2 between 6am-1 pm, which prevented me from the 8:30 hypo- so, I'd put a temp rate of 0.0 from 10-11 am, trying to prevent any pre-lunch hypos as well. I'm pretty sensitive during this time. Well, that was obviously a bad idea, promptly skyrocketed to 228 so I bolused 1 unit and continued the 0.0 rate, continuing to be cautious. I dropped 80 points on that, about twice as much as I had expected(I'm glad I was cautious). Conservativly bolused for lunch(not enough), had to correct at 4:30. Supper was late(went out to eat, restaurunt was busy) and though the SWAG bolus was obviously enough, I still have a unit of insulin floating around so I'll have to put on a 2 hour temp rate(0.0) and check at least once tonight(overnight basil needs tweaking down as well) to make sure I don't get low.
I really wish this were easier. With a $5,000 pump- it should be!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
The Expert
Jaded. Cynical. When did I turn into that?
I tend to view doctors as diabetically ignorant, until proven otherwise. I am the expert on 95% of issues pertaining to my diabetes, after all, I've lived with it longer then some of them have been practicing medicine. I don't know it all- but like anything else, the same issue will pop up again + you just run through the trouble shooting list until one of the options works. Sometimes I wonder why I even go to the endo- it's not because I don't know everything she'll say. I think it's more for the support (that I'll feel like doing everything she says). She gets it, and I appreciate that.
So many people take a devil-may-care attitude when it comes to their diabetes - never check, attempt no self-management whatsoever. And doctors/healthcare professionals slap them with a "noncompliant" label + feel obligated to try and manage their disease for them.
I'd lived with diabetes for a month, when I had my first low blood sugar. It was a bad one, dropping 50 more points in the space of 10 minutes. And my parents, panicking, used the glucagon kit. Afterwords- they called the doctor.Asked how it could have dropped that fast. And there were no answers, its just the nature of the disease.
I guess then is when I discovered no one knows how to manage diabetes. Not doctors, not nurses, not CDE's. And if I did everything "by the textbook", I'd be seriously screwed up or dead by now.
Case in point- treatment of low blood sugar.
50-70 mg/dl- Responds within 20 minutes to 30 grams juice.
Anything lower then 50- Needs glucose gel, plus the juice.
Under 30- Passed out. Or about to.
If you're an adult and mentally competant- you can't depend on anyone to try and completely manage your disease for you. You've got to be ever vigilant. Support is a wonderful(and necessary) thing, but its still mainly the PWD's responsibility.
That's how I turned into that. (What you don't know- will kill you) So even if you don't have two initals behind your name- remember, you live with it- and that makes you more of an expert then they'll ever be)
I tend to view doctors as diabetically ignorant, until proven otherwise. I am the expert on 95% of issues pertaining to my diabetes, after all, I've lived with it longer then some of them have been practicing medicine. I don't know it all- but like anything else, the same issue will pop up again + you just run through the trouble shooting list until one of the options works. Sometimes I wonder why I even go to the endo- it's not because I don't know everything she'll say. I think it's more for the support (that I'll feel like doing everything she says). She gets it, and I appreciate that.
So many people take a devil-may-care attitude when it comes to their diabetes - never check, attempt no self-management whatsoever. And doctors/healthcare professionals slap them with a "noncompliant" label + feel obligated to try and manage their disease for them.
I'd lived with diabetes for a month, when I had my first low blood sugar. It was a bad one, dropping 50 more points in the space of 10 minutes. And my parents, panicking, used the glucagon kit. Afterwords- they called the doctor.Asked how it could have dropped that fast. And there were no answers, its just the nature of the disease.
I guess then is when I discovered no one knows how to manage diabetes. Not doctors, not nurses, not CDE's. And if I did everything "by the textbook", I'd be seriously screwed up or dead by now.
Case in point- treatment of low blood sugar.
50-70 mg/dl- Responds within 20 minutes to 30 grams juice.
Anything lower then 50- Needs glucose gel, plus the juice.
Under 30- Passed out. Or about to.
If you're an adult and mentally competant- you can't depend on anyone to try and completely manage your disease for you. You've got to be ever vigilant. Support is a wonderful(and necessary) thing, but its still mainly the PWD's responsibility.
That's how I turned into that. (What you don't know- will kill you) So even if you don't have two initals behind your name- remember, you live with it- and that makes you more of an expert then they'll ever be)
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