Category Archives: Random Glucose

That Time of Day

July 3, 2019 – 10:11 am

I don’t know what it is about that time of day, but…

There’s something about 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

It seems like every single day between 4 and 6, my blood sugar takes a nosedive. Doesn’t matter what I’m doing, doesn’t matter where I am. It’s a strange, strange thing.

This has been happening for years. It goes back over ten years, in fact. Some things have stayed the same during that time, but some have not.

I still work for the same company, though I’ve worked in my current office location for almost a decade. On the other hand, I don’t go to the office five days a week like I did back then. Now I work two days each week from home, and the lows happen on those days too.

On the days in the office, I have about a half mile walk from there to catch the train home. Typically, between the time I leave the office, walk to the subway, get on the train and come home, my blood sugar will drop 50 to 80 points. When I work from home, it will still drop 30 to 50 points during the same time of day.

I’m not as active as I was back when I first noticed this phenomenon. I’m still fairly active for someone my age, but let’s face it, I’m not as young as I used to be either. Who is? My blood sugar is still reacting to this time of day like I was on the spin bike for two hours straight.

Before you say it, I adjusted my pump settings long ago. Between 4:00 and 6:00, I’m getting half a unit of insulin per hour. That’s it. And most days, I could just suspend the damned thing for two hours and I’d be just fine.

One of the hardest things to explain to people who haven’t had diabetes in their lives is the constant changing nature of our endocrine systems. It’s like, they hear you when you say diabetes isn’t “set it and forget it”, but they really don’t understand that it means I need 1.6 units per hour in the morning, and less than a third of that (or less) during those two hours.

And truly, even the regular basal settings on the pump aren’t perfect for each moment of the day, because every day is different, right? Stress, no stress, exercise, diet, caffeine, alcohol, and any number of other things can affect my BGs from day to day, minute to minute.

But if I had to pick a time where my diabetes is most consistent, I’d have to say it’s during that magic time between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Becoming a Chameleon

March 22, 2019 – 10:11 am

The longer my life goes on with diabetes, the weirder it seems to get.

I’ve been experiencing a strange situation lately, where I can tell when an infusion site for my insulin pump is giving out. Or, maybe I can say I can just about tell, with the help of my Dexcom CGM, when it’s giving out.

It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it’s always on the last day before a site change. You know, when you’d rather be doing anything else, and when you’d like the last remaining drops of insulin in your reservoir to last all week.

But there I am on those days, eating low-carb or no-carb, bolusing way more than I should have to, and watching my BGs go up even higher. It’s frustrating.

Sometimes I can finally get the numbers to come down a bit, if I rage bolus enough. But it’s only temporary. Eventually, I’ll start to see another trend upward, and the insulin I had hoped would last for a whole day or more winds up lasting only 2/3 of a day. Even more frustrating.

This is one of the many things that People With Diabetes think about when they consider the burden of living with this condition. Despite our best efforts, efficient glucose management does not come easy, even on the good days. Days like this make it even harder.

But you know, the weird thing about it is that I haven’t really experienced this particular issue until the last six months or so. Even more proof that diabetes is not set it and forget it.

Fifteen years ago, I had a terrible problem with morning highs, and for a while, it seemed like I would never get over it. At some point, however, that problem went away (mostly), and then seemingly, another issue took its place. Now this.

This diabetes is a chameleon, and we’re forced to become chameleons ourselves in order to adapt to it. If possible, while avoiding the trap of feeling like ourselves and our diabetes are becoming one.

I wonder what new issues the coming years will bring to myself and my diabetes. Regardless of the issues, I hope to still be here to experience all of them.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Because it’s important.

March 5, 2019 – 3:20 pm

I took the time to donate blood last week. Actually, I was lucky in that there was a blood drive sponsored by the company I work for, so it made things convenient. I didn’t even have to leave the floor I was working on.

If you’re a frequent reader here, you’ve seen a lot of stories about the importance of giving your blood if you’re able. You may be thinking, “Why talk about this again?”.

Because it’s important, that’s why. In fact, donated blood is as important to some as insulin is to People With Diabetes. They can’t live without it. It’s particularly important to those with more rare blood types.

**Note: People living with diabetes in the USA are able, should we meet eligibility requirements, to donate blood.

I’m an O Positive, which puts me in select company, and that means my blood type is in demand. Who could use my blood? Think about it:

– Surgery patients
– Trauma center patients
– Cancer patients
– Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia and other blood disorders

And that’s just scratching the surface. Every blood donation can save up to three lives.

I’ve known a number of people in my life who needed transfusions at one time or another, and without people like me, they might be left needing. I don’t like it when people are left needing something I can so easily give away.

I mean, here’s something I can do that doesn’t cost me anything but an hour of my time. Besides, I’m used to being stuck with sharp objects, so the whole process is no big deal to me.

I hope you’ll go to redcross.org/blood to find out more about the blood donation process and schedule your appointment to give.

Trust me… it feels really great knowing you helped someone who needed you.

By StephenS | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Influences

January 17, 2019 – 11:45 am

I was reminded recently of how much we’re influenced by our experiences. Our surroundings, the things we encounter as we go through life have a profound impact on our lives. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that.

Genetics play a role too, I suppose. But lately, I’ve been thinking about how I’ve learned, grown, been influenced, and influenced myself, the world I live in.

Small things have been a part of helping to make me the man I am. Big things too. In many ways, influences that seem small to me now may have, in fact, have had a lot to do in how I’ve come to where I am with my diabetes. Even my diagnosis.

I guess we’ll never know for sure about the diagnosis part. But when I’ve thought the past few weeks about how I’ve managed (or tried to manage) diabetes since early 1991, both well and poorly, I’ve been blown away by how much early and current experiences have been a part of that.

I grew up shy as can be, sometimes painfully shy. That led to some bullying, and being excluded from a lot of social situations growing up. By the time I was an adult, I was still a social infant in many ways.

In later years, that led to my insistence that I’ll never count on anyone for anything. Ever. So when I was diagnosed at age 28, I didn’t look for empathy, and I believed that it was up to me to live with diabetes or not live with it. I needed to rely on me, and no one else. I didn’t even want to go to the doctor to get my prescriptions filled, and where I could get away with it, I didn’t.

That helped me in a lot of ways, because I learned how to take care of myself from the very beginning. But in many ways, I also missed out… on innovations and changes in care and a hundred other things. I didn’t even hear of an insulin pump until maybe six months before I started wearing one, years after others had started. Until then, late 2009, I was still eating off of the old exchange diet and failing miserably.

Today, me and my diabetes are doing a little better. And I’m engaged with more people, inside and outside of the diabetes community, than ever before. I’m not only wearing a pump, I’m wearing a continuous glucose monitor full time. I’ve participated in clinical trials. I’m still working on improving my dietary choices, but I’m not doing too bad on that either.

I guess what I’m saying is that we all have things that make us what we are today. But we don’t have to let those influences rule us forever. I am faaaar from perfect. But I’m different than I was, hopefully in a good way.

My focus isn’t perfection. It’s being better. For me, for the people I influence, and for those who influence me.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (2)

What I Had to Learn About Living with Diabetes

January 15, 2019 – 10:11 am

I may not look like it today, but I have to admit that I used to be obsessive about a lot of things in my life. I mean obsessive.

Whether it was something I was trying to master for work, or while I was competing in an athletic endeavor (something I still do occasionally), I was pretty intense in trying to perfect everything I did, and criticizing myself endlessly when things didn’t go my way.

Part of the reason for that is probably the fact that I’m at the tail end of the baby boomer generation, the group of kids who all grew up being told we could be the greatest at anything we tried, as long as we beat the other guy doing it.

But then, a funny thing happened. Diabetes happened.

Diabetes is not egalitarian. It doesn’t care how hard you work at it, and it certainly doesn’t care how much you care about being healthy. It’s ready to disappoint you when you least expect it… middle of the night, on your weekend away, right at the beginning of that big presentation at work.

Even when I obsess over everything having to do with my blood sugar, sometimes diabetes won’t cooperate anyway. I can be “compliant” as hell, but the numbers won’t always reflect it. And there’s nothing I can do about that.

That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned about living with diabetes for almost 28 years. There are no absolutes. No guarantees. Nothing is certain, except that tomorrow, I’ll still be living with diabetes, and I will still be a slave to my numbers.

Diabetes has taught me not to trade in absolutes. It’s taught me that there are no perfect days. It’s taught me that if I work harder today, I’ll still have to work harder tomorrow. And the next day. There are no rest breaks.

It hasn’t been easy. My brain is hard-wired to find a solution and implement that solution whenever possible. But through age, experience, or a combination of the two, the synapses of my brain are being re-wired to look for solutions, work on those solutions, and sometimes be okay with a less than satisfactory result.

Of course, being a slave to my numbers means I have a better chance at diabetes success from day to day. At the same time, I’ve also learned that at any given moment, I may have to remind myself that I’m just doing the best I can.

And that’s good enough.

By StephenS | Tagged , | Comments (4)