low blood sugar and other updates

[gayathri]

I woke up this morning at 4 30 am out of a sound sleep feeling awful. I got up to pee, and then realized I was shakey. Went downstairs and checked my blood sugar. 60. yea. really. 60. that's low for me.

I drank a whole 2 glasses of orange juice and made a protein shake with soymilk and drank all of that and stopped feeling shakey and merely felt sick, so I went back to bed after checking that yes, indeed my blood sugar was moving upwards. Checked again around 7 am, and was a more normal 110. I was 106 before bed, but lowered my night time insulin dose and didnt eat a snack (wasnt hungry, didnt want to eat) -- I didnt lower my night insulin enough.

On one hand, its actually _good_ news. The issue with tighter blood sugar control is that you _can_ go low. On the other hand, its YUCKy, cause I feel awful. I did good on the rebound, getting just enough sugar and then enough fat/protein to raise my blood sugar and keep it up without bouncing around.

I did actually GO to the gym! :) I only did 30 minutes on the bicycle because EVERY SINGLE PRECOR was taken by people hogging 'em. :/
I got completely distracted by a tv show on how to do stunts, so it went quick.

Got to work at 930 am, so even that wasnt too bad. (after getting to the gym at 7:15)

Before lunch BG: 105. yay me! 

oh yea, and another 3 lbs lost this past week, GO ME! :)

This coming Friday was the end of my 6 week trail of going to the gym every work day. I've lost 15 lbs so far, gone down two jeans sizes, have a ton more endurance and am breathing better. The best news is getting my blood glucose under control, tho. I dont want to worsen any of the nerve damage I've already suffered to my feet (really minimal, but still...) or eyes (also really minimal, but I suspect I have a lot of years left on this planet and the smaller that number stays, the better)

 I'm going to extend it another 6 weeks to see if I can lose another 15 or 20 and have a goal of doing a motorcycle track day in August or September that means I have to 1. fit in my leathers (I'm almost there!) 2. have good enough leg strength and endurance to ride in the heat all day.

Comments

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

The good news is that you were fully aware of your hypoglycemia when you got down to 60. There's something called "hypoglycemia unawareness" in which you don't even notice that you're going low. For example, a colleague of mine (a type 2 diabetic on amaryl and metformin, no insulin) recently collapsed and had a seizure- he didn't feel it coming at all. Fortunately, he was in the middle of a meeting at work, so his coworkers called for an ambulance and got him to the ER immediately. He strained his back but didn't seem to do any serious damage to himself.

Did you go to the gym the evening before this incident? It's common for blood sugar to drop several hours after exercise. Combine this with the normal circadian cycle and exercising at night isn't such a good idea.

A couple of times lately I've been down in the 60's and 70's when I went to the gym after lunch and didn't check my blood sugar until just before dinner time. I knew I was running low, because I was starting to snap at the people (and cats) around me...

[lil-brown-bat.livejournal.com]

Following along with the above, I'm thinking you might want to pick up a copy of "Optimal Muscle Recovery" by...jeez...forget the name. Anyway. It talks a lot about what exercise does to blood sugar, the insulin response, etc. It's all about "normal" physiology, but I'm thinking that perhaps some of what he says post-exercise still applies: you're not getting insulin from your pancreas, but apart from that, a lot of the heightened this and lowered that probably has relevance.

[gayathri.livejournal.com]

hey, thanks for the recommendation, if its this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Optimal-Muscle-Recovery-Achieving-Performance/dp/0895298848

I'll order it right now.

[gayathri.livejournal.com]

yea, I know some folks dont have any warning, so I'm glad I woke up! Nope, I didnt exercise in the evening, been going in the mornings, but I also didnt eat very much the night before and didnt compensate enough with the insulin I took before bed.

(btw, do I know you?)

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I believe that you do (or did) know me- RPI class of 85, and then back for graduate school from 88-92. I was active in players and WRPI. We were certainly on a first name basis at one point. I believe that I knew you through some combination of players and APO folks (e.g. Tamar, Lauren, or Ruth.)

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

I found your livejournal through our mutual friend wren13

[gayathri.livejournal.com]

oh hey! Now I remember you. You have lost a lot of weight (congrats!)

I wish I'd taken that route a LOT FREAKIN' SOONER, but hey, its good now.

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

I didn't lose the weight until after I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It was the wakeup call that I needed. The big thing that I've learned is that for my metabolism the only way to keep the weight off is lots of regular exercise. Fortunately I'm at a point in my life and career where I can go to the gym every day.