Stress and Diabetes

The past 2 weeks have been super stressful, feeling like I've been stretched at every limb.  Multiple projects at work combined with house renovations going on at home has me searching for a hole to crawl in to avoid them all.  It literally feels like I have a ball of wires strapped around my neck, and the wires have choked me to point I can barely breathe.  Monday was really bad because I was searching for a boarding kennel for the pups for a trip out of town this weekend.  They've never been boarded before, so I was stressing out about trying to find the best one in town. 

And thanks to the tornadoes that came through in April, we've had the joy of getting our roof replaced and some drywall redone.  For both of these events, I was at home "supervising" the contractors (re: I hid in the guest bedroom with my Nook) while listening to the banging and sawing on all sides.  Then, when I would come out of my escape, I would see the house in a mess.  Nothing stresses me out more than strangers causing a mess in my house.  NOTHING!  After the drywall contractors left, Trey and I had to leave for a movie date (Harry Potter, DH2) so I couldn't immediately start cleaning up like I wanted to. 

I started noticing the stress in my numbers when I was waking up in the 170s.  I knew I had 2 options:  increase my basal or try to reduce my stress level.  I can tell when I get really stressed because I become physically exhausted.  And it hasn't helped that I haven't been able to work out as much with everything going on the work/home fronts.  I was able to make my softball game last night, and even though we lost, I could instantly feel some relief from all the stress.  My numbers felt the relief, too, because I cruised in the 70s overnight.

Unfortunately, the stress isn't over yet.  Between the trip this weekend, family visiting next weekend, and trying to stay above water at work, I need a game plan.  I've decided that I am going to workout on my new Total Gym first thing when I get home, regardless of how much I just want to plop on the couch and not move a muscle.  I need to clean the house.  I need to get the carpets cleaned.  I need to make sure we have enough towels for 8 people being in my house all at once.  However, I first need to take care of me, and that includes taking care of my diabetes.  But I also need to take care of my mental health. 

The correlation between diabetes and depression is too strong to ignore.  I feel so much better when I can strap on my earbuds and jam out to P!NK while busting it out on the elliptical.  I can feel the tangled ball on my neck begin to loosen and I feel like I can handle things better than before.  I just need to keep in mind that this season of stress is only temporary and my beach vacation is only 5 weeks away.  I need to staple that vacation pamphlet to my forehead. 

Send Me to the Stratosphere

Diabetes is tricky.  ("Duh," you say.)  The math itself is complicated enough to make this gal who has a bachelor's degree in physics and a minor in mathematics bang her head against the wall.  It's non-linear and seemingly has no formula solution.  Nothing is more frustrating!

Such is the case when I forgot to program Arnold for my extended bolus for pizza this weekend.  I must have had my ratios wrong or something, because the first hour after I ate I was chugging juice to keep from going low.  So I decided to forgo the extended square bolus following the initial bolus because I kept going low.  And when I tested before bed at 103 mg/dL, I thought I was set.  I was only missing 1.0 units from my original bolus, no big deal. 

Uh uh.

I woke up at 4 AM with Constance blaring at me, dry mouth, and a slight headache.  She said I was 335 mg/dL and a test confirmed I was 300 mg/dL.  My correction bolus was a little over 3 units of insulin!

How in the world does 1 unit missed equal 3 units for correction?!  It boggles my mind!  Is it like going into orbit away from the force of gravity?  The further away you are from the central force, the less effect it has.  Thus, sending you into a momentum of climbing higher and higher into the stratosphere.  That's my engineering/physics mind trying to figure this out.

Has anyone else noticed this?  Diabetes can get so out of control in a hurry.  Just goes to show how important that initial bolus (before eating) is to keeping a nice streamline on my numbers.   The fact that we can maintain numbers the way we do with a body that wants to live in the stratosphere goes to show how awesome we diabetics are!