Low and Alone
Diabetes can be really scary sometimes, and it's pretty terrifying to think that one day I'm going to have to live on my own with it.
The other night I was babysitting my little cousins, which went really smoothly! They were wonderful and all tucked in asleep. So I was left alone, about 20-30mins from home and my blood sugar decided to have a field day.
I went low suddenly, I'd been high all day so it feels worse when it drops dramatically. It was 3.6, so I went and had some juice, I'd only thought to bring two. I checked again shortly after, and it was 3.3. My juices have around 30grams of carbs in them, you only need 15 to treat a low. Basically, I'd had double treatment, and my level had dropped instead of risen. This kept happening through the night, I couldn't get my levels up for any sustained period of time. I tried everything, milk, banana bread, jelly beans, anything except my last juice which was for an overnight low if I had one.
I fiddled with some settings on my insulin pump and set it so I'd be given less insulin for a few hours which finally worked. I woke up every hour to check my level through the night, finally getting to sleep at 3 and waking 3 hours later.
That has never happened to me before, normally my issue is I can't get high levels down, not low levels up. When you're low, you can't think clearly, so I was absolutely terrified the entire time, and thought pacing was a good idea (pro tip: SIT DOWN WALKING WILL MAKE IT LOWER. Also, walking when dizzy is never good).
It's normally not an issue for me really, I have a low I treat it. Done. Now I'm sitting around working out what the hell happens if I pass out.
So I call my dad.
Because that's what dads are for.
And he's pretty awesome. He sat on the phone with me while I waited for my level to come back up, dealing with incoherent mumbling whispers and tears. When it finally did he had me text him at 3 in the morning to make sure it was ok. He set his alarm and waited for my text, replying so I knew he had got it.
What did I learn from this?
- Apparently sugar doesn't always fix a hypo... that's news to me!
- I'm going to need to get an alert dog or something for when I'm older and move out
- Sleep deprivation makes you sick the next day
- I don't need to be afraid of my diabetes, but I need to respect that it is in fact life threatening at times. I forget that sometimes.
- Parents are the most amazing thing, I need to thank them more often.
The other night I was babysitting my little cousins, which went really smoothly! They were wonderful and all tucked in asleep. So I was left alone, about 20-30mins from home and my blood sugar decided to have a field day.
I went low suddenly, I'd been high all day so it feels worse when it drops dramatically. It was 3.6, so I went and had some juice, I'd only thought to bring two. I checked again shortly after, and it was 3.3. My juices have around 30grams of carbs in them, you only need 15 to treat a low. Basically, I'd had double treatment, and my level had dropped instead of risen. This kept happening through the night, I couldn't get my levels up for any sustained period of time. I tried everything, milk, banana bread, jelly beans, anything except my last juice which was for an overnight low if I had one.
I fiddled with some settings on my insulin pump and set it so I'd be given less insulin for a few hours which finally worked. I woke up every hour to check my level through the night, finally getting to sleep at 3 and waking 3 hours later.
That has never happened to me before, normally my issue is I can't get high levels down, not low levels up. When you're low, you can't think clearly, so I was absolutely terrified the entire time, and thought pacing was a good idea (pro tip: SIT DOWN WALKING WILL MAKE IT LOWER. Also, walking when dizzy is never good).
It's normally not an issue for me really, I have a low I treat it. Done. Now I'm sitting around working out what the hell happens if I pass out.
So I call my dad.
Because that's what dads are for.
And he's pretty awesome. He sat on the phone with me while I waited for my level to come back up, dealing with incoherent mumbling whispers and tears. When it finally did he had me text him at 3 in the morning to make sure it was ok. He set his alarm and waited for my text, replying so I knew he had got it.
What did I learn from this?
- Apparently sugar doesn't always fix a hypo... that's news to me!
- I'm going to need to get an alert dog or something for when I'm older and move out
- Sleep deprivation makes you sick the next day
- I don't need to be afraid of my diabetes, but I need to respect that it is in fact life threatening at times. I forget that sometimes.
- Parents are the most amazing thing, I need to thank them more often.
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