No Patterns, No reason?

[kel4han]

Have you seen no patterns, no reasons sometimes? My 7yr old for the last 3 weeks has had many lows, which I pay to ending her growth spurt. She isnt eating much. Some of her night-time basals were reduced slightly. She has had many higher numbers during the day than is typical for her.

We log EVERYTHING, I have yet to find any pattern, or any reason. Does this just happen with no explanation? It is just killing me to look over days and weeks of numbers and not see anything I can really change!

[JediSurfer]

You can only do your best. And you appear to be giving it your all. Its a tough one, Diabetes doesn't seem to follow and scientific standards and is more often than not completely mind boggling.

Just keep doing what you can. Its all you can do.

[Penny]

She must be so little at 7. At that time in life, they are starving one minute and then full after a few bites. You sure have a difficult job caring for your little one, but it seems you are doing all the right things.

[HiImDan]

Last night I tested and was 140 six hours after I last ate or took insulin, this morning I tested and was 495. I do everything possible to control blood sugar and there's time I'm still out of control.

[HollyB]

YES! I hate when that happens.

About a month ago Aaron started going low all over the place. Same diet, same routine. Eventually he was taking 10+ units a day less than he was back in June and his number looked pretty decent. Now it's all going up again, but like you say, no clear pattern. If he's low before lunch 2 mornings out of the week, and high 3, it's pretty hard to know what to change!

[xMenace]

TS Noel is heading this way. I suspect it's sucked what little moisture was left in Arizona away. Moisture changes are known to cause un-explained lows. I read it once in Time Magazine. Honest!

[RobiJo]

We log EVERYTHING, I have yet to find any pattern, or any reason. Does this just happen with no explanation? It is just killing me to look over days and weeks of numbers and not see anything I can really change!

How do you log it? I find scatter plots of a time period (say 2 weeks) to be much more beneficial. I find it easier to locate trends this way than by looking at individual numbers. I see what time a day I need to test more and when I start to climb/fall. IMO looking at the actual readings by day is too distracting and I try to think of why it was what it was rather than to see if its a trend.

Then again if you see no pattern...it could just be the nature of the beast.

[kel4han]

I use a spiral notebook, logging every check (about 12 a day) what was eaten, activity, moods, everything. Then I go back and highlight highs or lows and transfer those to an index card to see patterns for different times of day, example:

Monday Wednesday Thursday
7am 133 7am 148 7am 162
10am 58 10am 186 10am 168

I can spot the changes needed so easily this way but man, I am just seeing Nothing that makes sense. So frustrating.

[JJM335]

How do you log it? I find scatter plots of a time period (say 2 weeks) to be much more beneficial. I find it easier to locate trends this way than by looking at individual numbers. I see what time a day I need to test more and when I start to climb/fall. .

Can I second that? My meter software program allows me to plot the data as "modal day" or "modal week". Modal day plots all the data for a set period (I find 2 weeks to be ideal) by time of day only. If you have a pattern it is immediately obvious because most of the points follow a trend. Even if you have the usual collection of unexplained highs or lows these appear as outliers and are easy to ignore. Modal week does the same only for each day so it works better with about 4 weeks data. You can easily see weekday vs weekend differences.

If there is no pattern the dots just appear as a random scatter.

Joel

[HollyB]

Wow, that sounds really useful. (adds in usual rant about needing software for macs...)

[JJM335]

Wow, that sounds really useful. (adds in usual rant about needing software for macs...)

Winglucofacts Pro v3 - for use with and comes free with any Bayer or Ascensia meter (+ free cable). AFAIK it's not compatible with MAC-OS, but don't all recent Macs have a Windows emulator mode?

I use a Breeze 2 meter, which is a bit big and clunky, but holds a disc which is good for 10 tests, so you don't have to carry strips around with you. Here's the link:

Ascensia® WinGLUCOFACTS® Pro (http://winglucofactspro.com/index.asp)

Joel

[TwoGo]

Kel4han,
There are adjustments or changes you can make to your 7-year-old's insulin regimen. Lower basals, or boluses, or both (if physician and/or CDE give OK). Patterns can be hard to spot for someone who eats same thing day after day, but harder still for an active, growing 7-year-old. Don't lose heart. Your systematic recording of info will pay off down the line, knock wood. You might consider graphing BG numbers. Trends might be easier to see after awhile.

[Charmed7]

My son is 8, and one of the (missed) patterns was "Gym Day" He has a weird rotation, so instead of gym always on Monday, the next week it's on Wednesday, then Friday, then Tuesday etc. So I checked his afternoon lows with his gym schedule and there it was. Sometimes I obsess over his food, I forget to look at the activity levels for the day.

Just a thought. (Sorry if already mentioned, there were quite a few posts for me to read thru lol)

Charmed