Sweet and Sour- The Type 1 Diabetes Rollercoaster

Sometimes you can do everything right, and diabetes just throws you a curve ball. Why? Because that's what it does. I carb count everything, do the right amount of fingerprick checks, insulin doses- you name it I do it. I'm on top of this diabetes thing, and it was fairly smooth sailing. But that's not how diabetes plays. For the past week my levels have been rising way above the 4-7 target. I was struggling to get a level under 13 let alone 7. I've been up in the 20s for no good reason, taking double the amount of insulin I usually do, but nothing worked. There's not a nice way to say it, high blood sugar makes you feel like crap- beyond crap, crappiest crap to ever exist kind of crap. You're thirsty and nauseous and tired and grumpy and not even bothered to move because that would involve effort. They stayed up despite correction after correction,18+ and not budging on Monday night. In a last ditch attempt to avoid a hospital stay I got up again and ag...

Everyone deals with things in different ways, because they’re completely different people. Like other people, diabetics are the same. From what I’ve seen there are four broad categories that people drift in and out of when faced with a diagnosis of chronic illness (this is not definitive, it is simply my musings). They apply not only to diabetes, but any event and it's difficult to fit into one entirely because our responses change daily. - Over-analysers * These diabetics seem to be rare, but I was absolutely one of them when I was diagnosed! They are so consumed by monitoring their diabetes that they take way too many tests a day. They check their level, analyse it, worry about what it will be in two hours and spend that two hours thinking about it. The over-analysers may have brilliant control over their condition, but they’re missing the point of managing it well: TO LIVE. It’s important that these individuals socialise and don’t refuse to do things because it may br...

This post was supposed to be a rant to end all rants, however, I'm too tired for that and will write it on Sunday. For now, this is what diabetes is like on a bad day. I'm sick, I'm tired, my diabetes educator won't get back to me and my blood sugars are wreaking havoc. For the past few weeks as you can see in one of my last posts  I've had some diabetes drama. High blood sugars all the time kind of drama. Yesterday really was a diabetes rollercoaster, my levels starting moderately high in the morning, crashing down in the afternoon and going all the way up to 21 by night (guess who got up at 3am again). I've talked about how lows feel before, but high blood sugars are terrible. - You're tired - You're thirsty - You feel really sick - Energy? What is energy? - Pins and needles - Dizziness - You blog about how crappy high blood sugars are to distract yourself from the crappy high blood sugars - As shown above, you lose all logical thought I...

I present you the disaster that was last night/early this morning and prompted me to return home and sleep for a solid hour 6pm: Dinner was a bit of disaster, so we had to go and get McDonalds. I calculated approximately 80 grams of carbs for my meal, taking a huge amount of insulin to cover it. 7pm: Blood sugar- 9.5. This was a little low considering the amount of carbs I'd just had. Due to my fear of the dreaded hypo, I decided that I should have a juice box- 30 grams of carbohydrate. However I'm really clever and completely forgot the delayed effect McDonalds has on blood sugar, shooting it sky high a few hours after eating. Now I had anoher 30 grams on board, with no insulin to cover it. 9pm: Feeling pretty sick, but pass it off as being tired from the past few weeks of exams. 10pm: Blood sugar- 24.5 (normal range is 4-7). At this point I was pretty concerned, checking for Ketones (acidic substances that the body produces when there is no source of glucose, meaning...

Dear Diabetes, I think we need to sort out a few things, because you really haven't been behaving yourself lately. I've made you a comprehensive list of my concerns and would like a reply and action to be taken as soon as possible. 1) Stop with the high blood sugar levels in exams. Just stop it. It's not nice, I don't like it. Whoever gave you the idea that blood sugars of 15-17 were ok during exams is an idiot, because it's just not. You've been here for going on four years, you know better. 2) Now onto the fake low blood sugars. No diabetes, I'm not low when my blood sugar is 7, stop over reacting. Not being able to treat symptoms of a low is terrible... because I'm not actually low. Seriously, I'd love to eat stacks of jellybeans and chocolate, really, but you're going to have to deal with having more insulin when I do. 3) Ok, I understand that you and pizza don't get along, really at 25 grams a slice I don't blame you. But PLE...

'Out damned spot!' A pretty iconic line in the Shakespearean play Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth experiences night walking and paranoia, washing her hands of unseen blood in her sleep. Now whilst I may not be as murderous as Lady Macbeth, I can understand her issue with having blood on your hands. I promise, whilst it may look as though I've been moonlighting as a hit-woman with my blood-stained hands, this isn't the case. What happened is some more pump mayhem, well cannula mayhem to be exact.It's gross, it's rare and it's terrible- it's called a 'gusher'. I was treated to one of these Lady Macbeth moments a night ago as I changed my insulin set. Usually, pulling out the cannula isn't an issue, it's like ripping off a band-aid. But this time, it was intense. After taking off the sticky white cannula, I was treated to what a stream of blood that wouldn't stop. Once I got past the whole 'AAH I'M HEMORRHAGING' bit, I was ...

Hypo's are no fun, they're the kid that comes to your birthday party, eats all the cake, teases the other kids and leaves without so much as a how do you do. Which in kid speak translates to hypos are evil and will never be invited to your birthday party again. They feel awful, everything spins, you feel nauseous, extra dizzy and if you're still conscious, panicky. You turn pale, you sweat and your eyes glaze over. Not a lot of fun huh? Well, I haven't had a hypo in a few months, which is very strange for a diabetic. But it's got to the point where I'm afraid of having one, that maybe it will happen when I'm asleep and I won't wake up (yeah my brain is such a drama queen, but it is a possibility). So as a result I've been dialling back my insulin at night, you know, just in case this kid comes to the party during the night and knocks over a few chairs. But that leaves me with high blood sugars all day, ranging from 10 to 20 (so much for between 4 and...

Right now, things aren't easy. I have three exams in one day, my hsc, temp work, my driving hours/test and my diabetes to manage. And on the diabetes front, I'm not doing so well. For months now I've been having sharp pain in my nerves that comes and go's, but lately it's been getting worse. As many of you know, neuropathy is a complication of diabetes, but normally one that sets in after years of having the disease and from instability in blood sugars. Prior to my 8.7 A1c, my levels had been brilliant, which makes it seem unlikely to be neuropathy. But that's the thing, diabetes complications are scary, because they can affect almost any diabetic, even at a young age and for no particular reason. So, now I have to  have a nerve conductor study, which is apparently rather painful but will assess what's going on. Assessing the entire situation, it's unlikely to be diabetic neuropathy, but this just serves as a reminder of what could happen when I'm ...

well I went to see my endo today (endocrinologist, a doctor specialising in the care of diabetes and other hormone related disorders). As usual, he was brilliant sorting out everything and helping me immensely in aiding the daily plight of managing blood sugars and insulin dosages. But this time, well the stress has got to me and my HbA1c (the three month average of my blood glucose, was the highest it's ever been. We aim to have it below 7% and usually I'm well under, but this time was different- 8.7. Now for a lot of people, this is a great A1c, but being the perfectionist I am, it's a bit of a let down, but maybe a sign to slow it down with the stress. I take six hsc subjects, each intensive and demanding it its own right and whilst I am aiming for a high ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) to get into my desired course at uni, it might be time to ease off a little and focus on myself, rather than school school school. So yes, my A1c isn't somethi...

So I've had a shocker of a day, thanks to a mishap in one of my exams. This time, it wasn't because of a high or low blood sugar, but because of a lack of communication, issues with diabetic provisions for exams and quite frankly, sheer stupidity. I'm not going into the ins and outs of the situation, but there's going to be a lot of paperwork :P It's times like this where I think how much easier everything would be if I didn't have diabetes. All of the hassle and the bother the school has to go do, plus double the bother I have to deal with when they get things wrong is insane. It's almost like you're a burden on the school, it's all too hard. It'd be nice to have something easy, to be a normal student sitting a normal exam with normal teen pressures during the hsc. But enough of the whinging, diabetes has given me a lot (maybe not quite a much as it has taken) but still, I'm a better person.  But like any normal person,...

On to day 3 and to quote bittersweetdiabetes.com ' Today we’re going to share our most memorable diabetes day. You can take this anywhere.... your or your loved one's diagnosis, a bad low, a bad high, a big success, any day that you’d like to share.' My most memorable diabetes day? There's so many, but I guess the most memorable is probably the saddest and the most difficult, the day of my diagnosis. We received a phone call in the early hours of the morning of May 5th 2010 from pathology, telling us that my blood sugar was WAY out of range at 40mmol/L. However, instead of directing us to the emergency department asap, we were told to wait until morning and not to wake me. Looking back on that, it's a bit of a miracle I made it through the night. The sense of fear I felt, you can't really explain. I spent the morning questioning what I could've done wrong to have diabetes (after some googling of symptoms it was my first guess). I thought I had ty...

What’s a hypo you ask? Hypoglycaemia is when blood sugar levels drop below 4mmol/L. My definition? The source of some pretty intense stories! Hypos are funny little critters, they sneak up on you. Maybe you had too much insulin, maybe you didn’t eat enough carbs, maybe you spent a little too long on that exercise bike (hah who am I kidding, I barely exercise), or maybe just maybe for no reason at all, your levels drop. But then what happens? DISCLAIMER: In all seriousness, hypo’s can cause death. I’m lucky enough to have some fantastic friends that have quite literally saved my life again and again. If you ever do see someone with these symptoms, offer them something sweet to drink like coke or sweetened fruit juice (only if they’re conscious) and seek medical attention. Well, it varies for everyone, but for me, well I’m a ball of fun when my levels of circulating sugar drop and stop reaching my brain. Common symptoms include paleness, dizziness, fruity smelling breath, d...