How to Correctly Address a Low Blood Sugar:
- Respond to CGM alarm or low blood sugar symptoms.
- Test blood sugar.
- Eat 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates.
- Wait 15 minutes and test blood sugar again.
- If blood sugar is in-range, eat a protein-filled snack. If not, repeat steps until blood sugar rises.
How to NOT Correct a Low Blood Sugar:
- Remove itchy CGM site and resolve to put on a new one in the morning rather than stay up 2 hours to calibrate and more than likely be awoken all night to false readings.
- Wake up at midnight, drenched in sweat, heart pounding out of my chest, legs refusing to move.
- Stumble to bathroom to test blood sugar: 42 mg/dL.
- Decide that wiping sweat off of entire body is more important than getting to the kitchen for juice.
- Shuffle to the kitchen and turn on the light.
- Fill a glass full with mango juice and suck it down in 2 seconds.
- Decide that one glass isn't enough and suck down another.
- Eat about 3 handful of M&Ms.
- Eat 10 pepperoni slices (I have no idea on this one, but I was on low brain so . . . yeah).
- Drink a glass of milk.
- Finish off a bag of dried apricots of which there were about 20 (I think) left.
- Eat a few more M&Ms.
- Walk back to the bathroom to wipe sweat off of hair.
- Fall back in bed to a slightly awoken spouse, "You OK?" he asked. "Yeah, I just ate about half the kitchen. I hope you didn't want any mango juice."
- Decide that the low was extremely over-corrected, but don't care and just want to go to sleep.
- Wake up to a fasting blood sugar of 316 mg/dL and curse at diabetes.
Late night lows are the hardest to NOT over treat in my opinion. Totally been there.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds soooo familiar! :)
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAH I literally laughed so hard because I can't tell you how MANY times I have done this. It's not fair when we are asleep because I feel like my brain only half works. Feeling low sucks and it's so nice to know I'm not the only one.
ReplyDeleteThis is so funny and sooooo true! It has happened to me so many times that I now have a space on my kitchen island for a specified amount of goodies. I have trained my self to leave the wrappers and all evidence of what I ate, so I could see in the morning why my bgs are so high!
ReplyDeleteSo, so, so true...sorry it happened to you! I would guess it's rather amazing to see the lowbrain in action--I go on a quest through the kitchen and might start w/ a small 4 oz. cup of juice, sure. Wait 2 seconds, then the "that's not working fast enough and omg I'm hungry and low! FIND FOOD!" kicks off in my brain and I start shoveling in whatever--I've done the pepperoni thing too!
ReplyDeleteUm Sarah? Where are you? See... I'm not the only one! Thanks Holly! (And I hope you came down).
ReplyDeleteI see your point Victoria :) I guess with us D mommas we are aware of the low and can treat as we were taught. S just does what I say so she doesn't have think about what and how much to eat. We don't feel the low and want to just cram food until we feel better. Holly, thank you for enlightening us D parents on how you feel during a low and at night for that matter. I hope your daytime numbers were better.
ReplyDeleteSarah
Mango, pepperoni, M&Ms and milk? Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis seriously belongs in any "So, you've got diabetes... Now learn this stuff" beginners' info packet.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I laughed out loud because I have totally been there and done that. That feeling is so awful and you just want to sleep!
ReplyDelete