Sick Day
Today I'm at home in bed. I've already slept for most of the morning.Cold? Flu? Stomach bug? Nope, this time (for a change) it's really due to diabetes.
I ate a relatively carb free meal last night. When I woke up at 1 AM with my mouth like sawdust thinks immediately didn't feel right. My blood glucose was 301 mg/dL. So I dutifully bolused, adding an extra 15% to the dose because correcting those super highs definitely takes more insulin. I even used a Super Bolus to move some of my basal delivery forward. Drank about 20 ounces of water and went back to sleep.
Woke up again around 4 AM. Mouth still sandy. Blood glucose had dropped to 258. Clearly all was not right with my insulin delivery. So I took a correction shot using an insulin, ripped out my infusion set and replaced it. And added some additional units of insulin. Having my Dexcom gives me more freedom to slightly overdose because it will wake me (or my wife) if I go too low. And downed another 16 ounces or so of water.
Woke to the alarm at 6:15. Tested and it was...246. What's going on?? At this stage I'd taken almost half my normal daily dose between the hours of 1 AM and 4:15 AM. Looked at my new infusion set and it had blood in it. So ripped that one out and replaced it. And drank more water.
Note: Drinking a lot of water when my blood sugar is high is something I learned many years ago. It helps your body reduce the sugar concentration in your bloodstream and it eases the strain on your kidneys of taking the sugar out of your system. Plus high blood sugars give you cotton/sawdust/sandy mouth and you just need water. But don't stop at just one glass.
Looking at my Dexcom, my blood sugar had been above 240 since before midnight (sometimes a lot above). I felt lousy. So replaced my infusion set again and overdosed slightly again and went back to bed.
No breakfast, high blood sugars and feeling exhausted definitely put me on the candidate list for a sick day. I managed to sleep from 9:30 till noon and feel a lot better. Having blood sugars under 150 is priceless.
Moral of the story. Sometimes diabetes just wears you down. Now if I hadn't been using an insulin pump I might have been better off in this case. But this kind of stuff only happens may once every two years or so. So I'll take it over constant shots.
Labels: Dexcom, infusion set, insulin pump, sickday
posted by Bernard @ 2:40 PM
13 Comments:
Looks like we both had rough night! But I had to be at work because I'm taking too much time off for all my drs. appts. And I felt fine, just tired. meh. Hope you're feeling better!
Sometimes this stuff just happens & you just have to ride it out. Hope tomorrow is a better day for you.
Bernard, both you and I have had db for over 30 years. Have you noticed that as you get older, and have had db for longer, that you just can't tolerate high bg anymore.
I would swear that when I was in my 20's I ran around high for weeks at a time (pushing 300) and had a ton of energy.
Now, if I get much into the 200's I feel absolutely terrible.
I think it might just be an aging body being unable to cope with the imbalance............
Sorry to hear you had a lousy BG night... hope you're feeling much, much better!
Take care.
Bernard,
Sorry to hear about your wicked bloodsugars, yuck.
I soooo agree with Kathy on the aging. I believe for most of my diabetic life I was high, before meters were used and I could tolerate it much easier, now anything but normal, just makes me, well yucky.
Karen and Kathy
I was hoping that the reason it felt so lousy is that I'm more often in the normal range. But you may have a point. Maybe I'm just getting old. :-)
Well that was my other thought, that our body is now used to better numbers and we fell yucky when we are anything but in the normal range.
I like that thought better too. :)
I hope you start feeling better soon pal. Take care.
Bernard hope you're feeling better today - might just be the change in seasons, was up in Boston yesterday for busienss and it got cold in New England quick!
I am SO late in commenting, but better late than never.... Bernard, oh this sounds so horrible! I am sure you are better now - thank goodness. I think back on the times my pump hasn't worked properly. TERRIBLE - JUST TERRIBLE! We are SO dependent on these little machines. One cannot help but feel protective love for them. HUH - you put your word verification back in - WHY?
Hi Bernard,
Thanks for sharing. You said this kind of thing happens maybe once every two years?
I guess I am not controlling my db as good as I thought. I have this problem maybe once a month. For me though, I think once I am high for so many hours it just takes a butt load of insulin to get me back down. I guess it is a resistance thing for me.
Please tell me more about your dexcom, does it talk with your pump as well?
Bernard,
I felt exhausted just reading this post. Makes me realize how much work the pump can be. I'm late to this post, so I am sure that you are feeling better and more rested by now. I hope so!
Bummer. I can totally relate. I was so tired this afternoon (still jetlagging) and when I snoozed for a nap my bg was 115, but when I woke up, 3 hours later my bg was 341. WTF! 341? I knew it was odd I'd doze for so long on a sunny afternoon and feel like crap upon waking. I don't know why my bg was so high as I'm on shots, but far as I can figure out it may be due to my Lantus running out a little early, as I've had to readjust my Lantus dose since I take it at night, but with a 13 hour time difference I had to adjust it. I dunno. I just hate the feeling. I didn't need to call in for a sick day b/c today is a holiday in Taiwan, but I hate to "use" my day off for high blood glucose, y'know?
Here's to a happier more in balance tomorrow. :)
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