You know how sometimes, no matter how hard you seem to try and how much work you put into making sure that you get everything as close as humanly possible to perfect, your levels are still a nightmare?
At various times since I’ve been a diabetic, I find that my levels seem to get a mind of their own and go totally haywire with complete disregard to the amount of effort that I put in.
I’m a fairly active sort of person so I don’t have endless time at my fingertips (pun intended) to be able to test incessantly but I always make sure that I carb count everything that I can when it’s possible by weighing it on scales (I don’t trust average servings) and being as attentive as possible to alcohol, exercise and so on. That said, despite all this, sometimes I just don’t seem to be able to get it right.
It makes me wonder:
- How many hypos does a normal, average Joe/Jane diabetic have in a week
- If you had to choose between having highs or lows, what would you choose? And why?
- Where do you draw the line between having great control and having a life that isn’t ruled by the regimen of testing, counting and juggling? That must be a real challenge for parents of T1 kids right?
My diabetes nurse has told me several times that I should be having no more than 1-2 hypos a week on a pump which sounds simultaneously idyllic and totally unachievable. Or, is it?
Like I said, these things come in waves and right now, everything is going super well but…there are those times that I don’t seem to be able to not go low or high. Personally, I’d rather be lower because it doesn’t inflict the same long-term health damage as being high, it’s easier and faster to fix and it doesn’t make me feel so sick overall but how do you guys do it and what is normal for adults? At what point do we say that we are doing good enough?
According to Aaron Kowalski (which isn’t a pseudonym I promise – he is actually research director of the Artificial Pancreas Project at JDRF which Nic talked about in her post ‘A New artificial pancreas in the making‘):
“Even the most sophisticated people with diabetes only spend 30 percent of the time in their blood sugar range, and it’s often much less than that.”
I would love to know what he defines as the ideal range but it does raise the questions for me…where is the ground between what’s ideal and what’s realistic?
- Aaron
P.S. For those of you know know I’m a twin, the title has nothing to do with that!
Posted in Community, Hypos & Hypers, Slice of Life
Tagged as Highs, Hypos
This post has 7 comments so far. Add yours here, or trackback from your own site.
7 comments have been made on this post
Penny wrote
Glad to hear others have this problem. I don’t want to be high, the clinic don’t want me low.
I probably go low pretty much every day.
Highs not as much but still many.
And like today lunch was high 16 not sure why – increased the amount of insulin i had – mid afternoon 19.
?????????????
Drives me up the wall and again makes me think how do parents manage
Karen wrote
I’m having heaps of lows at the moment, at least 1 a day. I don’t seem to feel it so much when I’m high, unless I’m really high (above 20) and luckily that isn’t happening too much lately.
The lows in the middle of the night are the worst! Thankfully I seem to have got that sussed for the moment (I’ll probably have jinxed myself by saying that!) There was a while there that I was going low basically every night, which drove me crazy!
Logically I know that being high is worse in the long run than being low, but being low is horrible, I get awful headaches and feel terrible for ages afterwards.
I had a really really bad HBa1C of 9, so I’m trying hard to get things back into control now. Previously I might have tested twice a day and just guestimated how much insulin I needed. Now I’m learning about carbohydrate counting (its hard work!) and testing about 8 times a day. I really hope my next HBa1C is a bit better than 9! It feels like I’m thinking about my diabetes constantly compared to how I used to be.
Aaron wrote
You guys are doing an amazing job by the sounds of things!
Penny you are definitely not alone in having hypos and feeling guilty when all you’re trying to do is keep everyone happy and yourself healthy
Karen, I know EXACTLY how you feel. The main reason I went on a pump was because I was having a hypo EVERY night without fail and no re-jiggling of doses or timings or anything my endo and I tried over 12 months worked. As for the HbA1c – the highest I had (that was documented) was 12% from memory so I wouldn’t be too worried. It sounds like you are making a huge effort to make it better and that’s the point isn’t is, really. I’m sure you will see an improvement but even if you don’t, the intent is there and THAT is the important bit! Carb counting gets heaps easier cos you tend to eat the same sorts of stuff and after a short period you just learn what is in things. Plus it does work so it’s satisfying makes you want to keep doing it!
Good luck guys and let me know how you get on
Nic wrote
1-2 hypos a week, I bloody wish! (I reckon I’d be a lot slimmer if I could keep it to this). The only time I really managed that was in my previous life where I never really worried much about hypos because I ran my BGs high all the time – easy! (fast track to lots of complications though, gah).
I reckon I have at least five hypos a week, at least.
helana wrote
I just love this blog!! Nic is was not that long ago that I did the whole run high thing and had very few hypos!! But yes the threat of complications and an HBAIC of between 9-10 has made me sit up and take notice and now I have gone the other way and i’m having a hypo a day at Present not much fun though. But now that I am keeping my BGs lower I feel the symptoms of a high!! Karen you sound just like me! Well done on the carb counting, i’m a bit slack but trying. So good to read every ones comments
Ali wrote
Helana I know what you mean about feeling the symptoms of a high earlier once you start getting the HBA1Cs down. I used to feel fine and dandy at 15 and not really start to feel too ick until I started creeping up to the 20’s. !2 was my idea of a “good” score and I started to feel like I was low at 6. Nowadays I feel high at 10 and don’t get nearly as much warning that my levels are dropping.
Like others I drop under 4 at least once or twice a day and under 3 at least 4 or 5 times a week.
Does anyone know if theres been any research in to the long-term effects of too many hypos?
Alison wrote
I have read that fluctuations are as bad for your health as highs but they’re often missed as you can still get a good HBA1C. I would think small fluctuations would be fine.
I’ve been told to try and not have so many hypos as the occasional bad hypo could cause brain damage. That scared me, but I still have quite a few especially when trying to get good control.