[gobbly2100]

Ok basicaly I have started working in a job that means I am doing lots of lifting and moving about work so I already guessed that there would be diet/insulin changes and that is fine bu recently I dunno if this is to do with all the work am doing but I am starting to have lows where when I eat and then test again the BG can be even lower after eating 15 carbs and waiting 15 minutes before testing again.

It is getting scary because the other day I had a low and to get me up again I had the following

- 1 pint of milkshake
- Packet of crisps
- wagon wheel chocolate bar
- 2 Twiz chocolate bars
- 2 biscuits

When I tested after about 20 minutes my BG was 9.2 and after all that am kinda thinking "WTF"

Now, I have been home all day and just getting ready for bed to find my BG at 4.2 so I eat a wagon wheel chocolate (Jammie One) and test 15 minutes later to find I am only 4.4 so I can't go to bed that low and I take 2 twix chhocolates again and test a little after to find am 4.4.

What is going on, am really getting scared now, am worried that I could have some kind of strange condition or something

If anyone can help me fairly fast that would be great.

[JediSkipdogg]

Personally, the 15 minutes to me is ****. I have that problem 100% of the time where food doesn't do anything. I would eat what you think you need and then test in 30 minutes. Try that next time and see what happens.

Another thing to keep in mind is don't eat chocolate. Your best bet is to drink a sugar high drink. Chocolate is loaded with fat and therefore makes it take even longer for it to digest and an effect to be noticed.

Heck, all that food you at to run 9.2 I'm surprised you didn't run higher. You really loaded on there.

[Gary_W]

Hi Gobbly,

The fat in the milkshake can really slow down the absorbtion of everything else you ate with it. As all the rest of the stuff you ate to treat the hypo also had a fairly high fat content (chocolate, biscuits, crisps) then it's not too surprising that your numbers didn't make sense. Whilst your BG was 'only' 9 after 20 mins, I would take a bet that you would have been in double figures at the hour mark and stayed there for a while unless you corrected.

As far as treating hypos goes, I used to eat the same kind of stuff as you. Glucose tablets are far, far quicker than any of the above, and it is really easy to just have 15g of carbs as they don't taste so good. It's rare for me to use anything else these days as they do exactly what is needed and no more.

If you are going low all the time at the moment, it also sounds like you have too much insulin floating around and are having to feed it. Again, I own that particular t-shirt

Do some searching on here regarding setting your basal rate. Personally, I can go to bed with a BG of 4.5 and frequently do. I may just be lucky, but I know that my basal rate is correct and that I can wake up at the same BG as I go to bed at. Before my basal was right, I would eat biscuits etc before bed if my BG was below a 7! It was the only way to avoid a night hypo. If I am 7 now before bed I do a correction shot, so it's a bit of a different ethos.

You will also find that, with all the extra lifting you're doing, you'll need to either eat more or inject less; you are burning it off and hence have too much insulin.

Good luck

Gary

[gobbly2100]

Well that low lasted something like 45 minutes before I was stable and able to feel good again, I have never had such serious issues with keeping my levels up but dam that was something else.

Where does all that sugar and stuff go then? I know it has alot of fat in but the sugar feels like it just vanishes in my blood lol that would be good sometimes

[JediSkipdogg]

Originally Posted by gobbly2100

Where does all that sugar and stuff go then? I know it has alot of fat in but the sugar feels like it just vanishes in my blood lol that would be good sometimes

If the low is due from exercise then the sugar goes towards rebuilding the strength in the muscles. The muscles are still working even after you stop and therefore are still pulling more glucose for some time. Unfortunately, it's really hard to say how long because it can depend on the kind of work being done.

[gobbly2100]

Well I recently got my blood sugars almost spot on but now I started this really active job of loads of walking, running up and down stairs, sweeping, lifting boxes up and down stairs and more I kinda am totaly losing control.

Lows followed by highs when I finaly get home.

I got my diabetes tweaked perfect for a job sat at a PC but this excersize stuff with the muscles needing glucose and such just makes things so much more complicated and hard to know what is gonna happen.

The amount of work I do each day is so different it is not like I could adjust my insulin and such before hand.

The fact it is aerobic style work and weight lifting work am sure makes things again more complicated right?

Would you suggest I found a different job if possible?

[Funnygrl]

None of those carbs are SIMPLE carbs. Juice, soda, glucose tabs, fruit. That stuff is good for lows. Skip the chocolate.

[duck]

Gobbly, to expound on what Gary said about the milkshake--the sheer cold of it slows its absorption down (remember in chemistry and 'energy of activation'? Yeah, I hated that **** but remarkably it can be applied to real life). Also, it will slow down the absorption of other nutrients as well, so steer clear of it next time.

You never said how much insulin you are taken or WHEN you took it in relation to work. That can help us help you if we know.

There are a few things to consider/do: I agree with Jedi that 15 mins is BS. I have at times been low for an hour after treating and treating aggressively. It really depends on what caused the low. You may want to keep juice/soda etc., like funnygirl said, close. You'll probably want to cut the insulin you are taking, either the basal or the fast-acting or maybe both. TELL YOUR COWORKERS and boss that you have Type 1, and that initially you may need to "adjust" your insulin to the work environment (this is a toughy, I know). And I have noted in my life that the more acclimated I get to doing hard work like manual labor, the more efficient my body gets and the less insulin I need, the less sugar I need as well. Weird, eh?

[LancetChick]

Oh poor you...... I've had that totally out of control feeling, and it usually means too much insulin. Exercise will lower your overall basal needs, sometimes by a lot. What happens to me is that my first day of exercise my basal insulin needs to be reduced that night. Second day it needs an even further reduction, and the third day an even further one. From that point on it stays the same. Of course, this doesn't happen to everyone, but it's something to look out for. The new basal sensitivity to insulin doesn't last one day and then tomorrow is another day..... it's more of a reaction to just the fact that you're exercising, not how many hours you're putting in. For me, skipping a day of exercise doesn't make my basal needs suddenly go up, so I doubt that the inconsistency of your routine will be much of a problem if you set your new basal correctly (please say you're not still taking that mixed insulin!). You could react in a very different way, though, but this has been my experience.

[gobbly2100]

Am on Humalog Mix25, I am on mix because I don't want to be doing more than 2 injections a day and as I said I was in good control of my dibetes before this work so I don't fancy changing my insulin.

I am taking 50 units in the morning and 50 at night, if am high then I take some act rapid which was not too often but now things are just all over the place, before I used to eat a wagon wheel and blood would be so perfect and hold me there nicely.

I forgot to say that the milkshake was the last thing I had when I was running out of things to take so I dunno if that would make a difference as it was drunk after about 40 minutes into the low.

Also the other morning I woke up with a normal BG then had insulin and normal breakfast but had a low of 1.6 about 20 minutes after which NEVER happens so I dunno if this new routine is effecting me days after work because the previous day I did no work.

Am also not waking up when I go low until am seriously low, I used to wake up around 3.4 but now am waking up around 1.5 and stuff which I don't like.

Everyone is different I know and am really wondering if it would be better to get a new job.

[Gary_W]

Originally Posted by duck

Gobbly, to expound on what Gary said about the milkshake--the sheer cold of it slows its absorption down

Way cool. I am going to live on nothing but B+J's icecream from now on in. It's mostly fat which will please the low carb folks and the cold will slow down the carbs

Thanks for the info, Duck. It makes sense from a chemistry point of view, but the temperature of food is another thing I'd never considered...

[Gary_W]

Originally Posted by gobbly2100

Am on Humalog Mix25, I am on mix because I don't want to be doing more than 2 injections a day and as I said I was in good control of my dibetes before this work so I don't fancy changing my insulin.

I am taking 50 units in the morning and 50 at night, if am high then I take some act rapid which was not too often but now things are just all over the place, before I used to eat a wagon wheel and blood would be so perfect and hold me there nicely.

I forgot to say that the milkshake was the last thing I had when I was running out of things to take so I dunno if that would make a difference as it was drunk after about 40 minutes into the low.

Also the other morning I woke up with a normal BG then had insulin and normal breakfast but had a low of 1.6 about 20 minutes after which NEVER happens so I dunno if this new routine is effecting me days after work because the previous day I did no work.

Am also not waking up when I go low until am seriously low, I used to wake up around 3.4 but now am waking up around 1.5 and stuff which I don't like.

Everyone is different I know and am really wondering if it would be better to get a new job.

IMO, you'll be hard pushed to get decent control on 2 injections a day if you do the same thing day in day out. Putting hard work into the equation 5 days a week is going to make it impossible. Using that kind of insulin twice a day is really doing you no favours if you want to be free to live your life without being a complete slave to this illness. Change the insulin regime, not the job. It will be far better for your health long term and for your daily existance.

I was so needle phobic before I had this that I couldn't even watch someone else have an injection. That would be me passed out. I got over it when I realised that the alternative was feeling dire for the rest of my days...

[gobbly2100]

The thing is which really is getting to me is the fact that I had great control until this change in lifestyle, I had adjusted to just light exercise and sitting behind a PC or going out somewhere.

Everytime I do an injection I have this thing about wanting to only do it at peoples houses in a really clean enviroment an stuff, I am also slow with injections and only do them in my legs so it really would be a pain doing 4+ injections a day.

What kind of life would that be for me to do so many injections when it gets to me so bad?

[LancetChick]

Get a new job.

[JasonJayhawk]

Like Gary and LancetChick (and others) have said... chocolate is not intended for treating hypoglycemia.

It's loaded with fat. Fat takes time (hours!) to digest, and it even slows down the absorption of other foods.

You need to carry around dextrose/glucose around. It's absorbed very quickly -- in fact, it's absorbed into your bloodstream simply by placing it into your mouth via your salvilary glands!

Fatty stuff makes dosing difficult because the glucose peak occurs at some time later than when your fast-acting insulin hits. Thus, you'll have a low early on and a high hours later, unless you master the timing of when the glucose peak occurs with each food item.