When can we quit?

[JediSkipdogg]

Ok, so lately I've been all over the wall. I see my doc in 2 weeks and I'm sure I expect my A1C to be sky high (high 7s.) Lately here's what's been happening....

I've been working out. So before working out I test and try to be around 150. I eat a few carbs (enough to take me up to 200 at most if no action is taken) and then start working out. When I'm done working out, about 30-60 minutes later, I test, and generally find myself in the 300s. So I correct, still never figuring out how I ended up at that number since the carbs I ate could never do it alone. I generally work out in the evening, so I then go to bed. I wake up almost every morning then in the 30-40s. This has happened 5 times I think, but it's not guaranteed.

Then today, I wake up, test, I'm 165. I correct to 100 and then eat lunch. I give for the lunch, and get an occlusion alarm. I disconnect, try to prime, and realize it's in the tubing. So, change the tubing out. Regive the entire bolus amount. I test 90 minutes later, 420. There's no possible way for that. So just now I corrected again, curious to see what happens in another 90 minutes. If it's anything like a week ago.....

A week or two ago I was high. So I corrected, tested 60 minutes later, dropped like 20 (this is from a high 300s.) Corrected some more, tested another 60 minutes later, wow, now we've dropped another 20 or so. So, correct again figuring I had a high protein meal for lunch and I was fighting that. 60 minutes later, test, finally, we are at normal or close to it, no correction needed. I wait a bit longer watching a movie, ****, I feel low. Test, now it's time to combat lows. I'm around 50. Eat some cookies, wait 30 minutes, no change. Eat some more, wait 30 minutes, finally, normal.

I can't figure out what is up this summer but lately I've been all over the charts and now I no longer sense lows again. Part of it is I'm guestimating alot more, but that's because I have to. The restaurants I'm eating at to eat healthier don't have carb counts, so I've had a hard time figuring out the exact carb amounts.

Oh well, just ranting. Stupid diabetes.

[shiftzor]

What kind of exercise are you doing? Short bursts of cardio can raise your bg and lower your bg hours later. Has your I:C changed since you started working out? Might explain why the food you are eating is raising you higher than expected. I am just stabbing in the dark here. Test before, in the middle (every 30mins-1hour), immediately after exercise and 1-2 hours later that will tell you what is going on. Experimentation is your best bet; I guess you know that though. :D

[Dewey]

Sorry to hear you're going through a rough patch, Jedi. :( Seems like summer's the time for issues, no? I think it's probably due to multiple factors - people get out more, so they have a harder time calculating if/when info. isn't readily available, they do more exercise and the body may react differently after each workout (i.e. can cause high sugars one time or lows another, etc.). It sometimes seems like there's no happy medium.

I've often tried to find (& have found) nutritional info. for certain foods online (depending on the restaurant), as it seems easier to find online than in the restaurant itself. However, I know that this isn't always the case. Besides, it does little good to know the info. after the fact. I've found that the Cozmo food database helps with some carb info. (sometimes).

I know it's easier said, but just try to hang in there. Sometimes, I seriously think it would be good for you to try a CGMS of some sort (but you said they didn't work well for you, no?) to help track a trend or help catch things before they get too far one way or the other. It's not good to wake up (alone, especially) to lows or battle highs that can cause you to plummet the other way. The balancing act can get rough & annoying, because just when we think we figure out the "rules" of the game, they change! The only thing I've found useful & helpful (aside from the CGMS) is testing a lot...When my BG is high, I sometimes test every 15 to 25 minutes because I want to know where my BG is going (i.e. to see if the action I took is helping or not). Often, I find that it helps catch if a set's not working right, etc. That said, I realize that not everyone has the "luxury" of testing often. Believe me when I say I buy strips out of pocket to tie me over between prescription fills for that reason.

Sorry if I'm not more help, just kind of sharing the "rant" with you...Hope things get better for you soon.

[Gary_W]

The excercise I do (which is very little, don't shoot me!) is walking or mild cardio, so I hardly 'work out' and am therefore ill equipped to answer from experience.

But I'm pretty sure I've read that whilst aerobic excercise does indeed drop your BG, ANaerobic excercise (e.g. weight training) will actually cause your BG to go up. If this is the kind of thing you are doing and then working out, it could explain your problem. You are making the weight training high worse by having a snack before starting and then you are correcting. Is it possible that the weights will make you high short term and then the cardio will gradually bring it down due to liver depletion? Could you try skipping the snack then skipping the correction shot and seeing if A does indeed cancel B without your intervention? You never know...

Also, using cookies to treat a low is a bad idea IMO. Too slow and too nice, so you eat too many to get the desired effect. It means the hypo is prolonged and then you get a nice rebound high.

And yes, it is a stupid disease. One of the (many) bad bits is the fault finding when one aspect isn't working, as you change something and try again but you often don't know EXACTLY what causes or fixes a problem. We can only but do our best, but it is indeed very frustrating when it keeps biting you and you can't see why. Been there and worn that one on more times than I'd have liked.

Gary

[grace girl]

Can we just call it summer weirdness??? I know that's no answer, but I've been on some sort of nightmare roller coaster since around the first week of June and I can't make heads or tails of it. I keep thinking it's the heat (which is already oppressive down here) and I've been outside a lot, but still, getting a handle on it has been hard...harder than any other summer at least.
I hope someone can give you some help, or that things settle down for you one way or another.

[valc3]

I'm with the others. It definately is summer weirdness, this is followed by full moon weirdness. Have you tried working out and not having the extra carbs? Winter months I have to consume extra carbs before working out, summer I don't have that problem. Go figure.

[BlueSky]

I used to have a problem with blood sugar going very high during and after workouts, and I discovered that I was running out of insulin. Insulin requirements actually increase during exercise and the recovery period afterwards. Exercise also improves insulin sensitivity and raises the metabolic rate, and the effect lasts for about 36 hours after the exercise.

You have to balance all these effects. I found that exercising in the morning works best for me, I have breakfast which I cover with regular insulin beforehand, and I have a Novorapid bolus immediately after I finish the workout.

[Ailsa]

I used to have that problem when I played squash.
How I got around it was to take some diluted fruit juice with me & have a couple of mouthfuls at regular intervals, say every 10 minutes.
That worked quite well & of course you can adjust the concentration of the juice if you are getting too much/ not enough.
Was also handy if I got blitzed & the game ended up shorter than anticipated!