Low blood sugar - late morning

[ej0820]

wow...I'm thinking the low blood sugar episodes I was having before are not so uncommon! 29 is SUPER SCARY! Gosh, you must have felt awful! Be careful though (I know you are, I'm just reminding you <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ), when my sugar dipped into the twenties, I ended up having a seizure because of it. Just keep a good eye on yourself. Do you have a medical alert bracelet? It's time you get one if you don't. I had one for a while but never wore it...then my sugar dropped, while I was driving, and I passed out. Police and paramedics had no idea I was diabetic until they took my sugar. Since then, I've NEVER taken my bracelet off, even since I've been off of insulin.

I just saw my endocrinologist last week. She was pretty baffled at my many lows and my being able to function well without insulin. Her theory is not that there's extra insulin being distributed (from shots or a random pancreas burst), but that the sensitivity to insulin has increased. She's thinking (and she's not for sure on this, like I said, I'm quite baffling) that there's been the same amount of insulin going through my body, but for some reason my body is now responding to it a lot quicker. I'm off of insulin because I'm suddenly responding better to my own insulin. That's classic of Type 2 diabetes, which I've always been told CFRD has both Type 1 and 2 qualities.

Go figure.
Take care of yourself, and like everyone is saying, keep food with you all the time! What I started doing was keeping a thing of glucose tabs in my car, purse, home, parents house, work, etc. Then, I also keep something like peanut butter crackers or pop tarts in my car just to eat after coming up from a low...or eat if I skipped out on a meal I shouldn't have.

 

[ej0820]

wow...I'm thinking the low blood sugar episodes I was having before are not so uncommon! 29 is SUPER SCARY! Gosh, you must have felt awful! Be careful though (I know you are, I'm just reminding you <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ), when my sugar dipped into the twenties, I ended up having a seizure because of it. Just keep a good eye on yourself. Do you have a medical alert bracelet? It's time you get one if you don't. I had one for a while but never wore it...then my sugar dropped, while I was driving, and I passed out. Police and paramedics had no idea I was diabetic until they took my sugar. Since then, I've NEVER taken my bracelet off, even since I've been off of insulin.
<br />
<br />I just saw my endocrinologist last week. She was pretty baffled at my many lows and my being able to function well without insulin. Her theory is not that there's extra insulin being distributed (from shots or a random pancreas burst), but that the sensitivity to insulin has increased. She's thinking (and she's not for sure on this, like I said, I'm quite baffling) that there's been the same amount of insulin going through my body, but for some reason my body is now responding to it a lot quicker. I'm off of insulin because I'm suddenly responding better to my own insulin. That's classic of Type 2 diabetes, which I've always been told CFRD has both Type 1 and 2 qualities.
<br />
<br />Go figure.
<br />Take care of yourself, and like everyone is saying, keep food with you all the time! What I started doing was keeping a thing of glucose tabs in my car, purse, home, parents house, work, etc. Then, I also keep something like peanut butter crackers or pop tarts in my car just to eat after coming up from a low...or eat if I skipped out on a meal I shouldn't have.

 

[AnD]

Has your endo scheduled you for an oral glucose tolerance test? I have the midmorning lows, and mine is worse 1) if I overdo my carbs in the morning vs. the amount of insulin I take - I know that sounds backwards, stay with me <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> ; 2) if I don't hydrate well during the morning and 3) if I am doing more physical activity than normal.

You need to check your blood sugar before you eat in the morning, one hour after you eat, and 2 hours after you eat. This will let you know if you are only having lows, or, if you are having highs 1 and 2 hours after you eat, and then crashing when the insulin that was meant for breakfast finally makes it out. Lows were my first symptom of CFRD, but I thought they were hypoglycemia, since my dad has it.
If I don't take enough insulin to cover my breakfast, then my pancreas tries to produce the rest, and crash, there I go. Even if I do take enough and drink enough water, and my bs are good post meal, I still have to have a snack 2 hours after breakfast, no way around it, I just don't crash as badly. I also have to snack mid afternoon.

If you are having numbers near the 200 range 1 hour after breakfast, or up to 175 2 hours after breakfast, it's time to do something, I'm afraid. On the plus side, I feel a lot better than I did now that I'm on the insulin (I tried the pills but they made the crashes even worse). It was a huge thing at first, now it's just another cf pain the butt thing to deal with. I hope you are "only" dealing with hypoglycemia, but you need to know which one it is. Let us know how it goes.

 

[AnD]

Has your endo scheduled you for an oral glucose tolerance test? I have the midmorning lows, and mine is worse 1) if I overdo my carbs in the morning vs. the amount of insulin I take - I know that sounds backwards, stay with me <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> ; 2) if I don't hydrate well during the morning and 3) if I am doing more physical activity than normal.

You need to check your blood sugar before you eat in the morning, one hour after you eat, and 2 hours after you eat. This will let you know if you are only having lows, or, if you are having highs 1 and 2 hours after you eat, and then crashing when the insulin that was meant for breakfast finally makes it out. Lows were my first symptom of CFRD, but I thought they were hypoglycemia, since my dad has it.
If I don't take enough insulin to cover my breakfast, then my pancreas tries to produce the rest, and crash, there I go. Even if I do take enough and drink enough water, and my bs are good post meal, I still have to have a snack 2 hours after breakfast, no way around it, I just don't crash as badly. I also have to snack mid afternoon.

If you are having numbers near the 200 range 1 hour after breakfast, or up to 175 2 hours after breakfast, it's time to do something, I'm afraid. On the plus side, I feel a lot better than I did now that I'm on the insulin (I tried the pills but they made the crashes even worse). It was a huge thing at first, now it's just another cf pain the butt thing to deal with. I hope you are "only" dealing with hypoglycemia, but you need to know which one it is. Let us know how it goes.

 

[AnD]

Has your endo scheduled you for an oral glucose tolerance test? I have the midmorning lows, and mine is worse 1) if I overdo my carbs in the morning vs. the amount of insulin I take - I know that sounds backwards, stay with me <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> ; 2) if I don't hydrate well during the morning and 3) if I am doing more physical activity than normal.
<br />
<br />You need to check your blood sugar before you eat in the morning, one hour after you eat, and 2 hours after you eat. This will let you know if you are only having lows, or, if you are having highs 1 and 2 hours after you eat, and then crashing when the insulin that was meant for breakfast finally makes it out. Lows were my first symptom of CFRD, but I thought they were hypoglycemia, since my dad has it.
<br />If I don't take enough insulin to cover my breakfast, then my pancreas tries to produce the rest, and crash, there I go. Even if I do take enough and drink enough water, and my bs are good post meal, I still have to have a snack 2 hours after breakfast, no way around it, I just don't crash as badly. I also have to snack mid afternoon.
<br />
<br />If you are having numbers near the 200 range 1 hour after breakfast, or up to 175 2 hours after breakfast, it's time to do something, I'm afraid. On the plus side, I feel a lot better than I did now that I'm on the insulin (I tried the pills but they made the crashes even worse). It was a huge thing at first, now it's just another cf pain the butt thing to deal with. I hope you are "only" dealing with hypoglycemia, but you need to know which one it is. Let us know how it goes.

 

[mamerth]

I completely agree with Andee. Staying hydrated is a must. Check your sugars... stay on top of them.

I am on a strict diet... 60 grams of carbs (whole grains and lots of fiber). I also eat snacks every two hours (30 grams of carbs) from the time I am up and until I go to bed. I have also taken all sugars out of my diet. My endo told me to never try to recover my sugars with candy. Orange juice and then a serving of protein to keep them from falling again. As soon as I feel my sugars starting to drop (if it is less then 2 hours after eating), I check my sugars and then correct it with the orange juice and peanuts. If it is 2 or more hours I eat a balanced snack.

Since I took sweets out of my diet my sugars have stabilized. When I break my no sugar diet my sugars go back to erratic. My endo says that once in a blue moon I can have a small piece of pie or a scoop of ice cream WITH my meals.. and ONLY with meals.

Counting carbs is hard work but so worth it. So is staying away from sugary foods. I know this isn't popular and a lot of people cover their sweets with insulin.

My sugars post meals (2 hours) are always under 150 and usually hover around 90-100. In the evenings when I am laying around watching tv with the family I can go 3 hours... this is the ONLY time of the day I can do this. Occasionally if I don't eat enough protein, fighting an infection, have a migraine my sugars can fall fast. I guess you can say I micro-manage my diabetes but as my Endo says it is a "balancing act".

The other by-product of this is I have started to loose the weight that I gained when I was diagnosed with diabetes. It is falling off 1 lb or so a month. SWEET!!!

 

[mamerth]

I completely agree with Andee. Staying hydrated is a must. Check your sugars... stay on top of them.

I am on a strict diet... 60 grams of carbs (whole grains and lots of fiber). I also eat snacks every two hours (30 grams of carbs) from the time I am up and until I go to bed. I have also taken all sugars out of my diet. My endo told me to never try to recover my sugars with candy. Orange juice and then a serving of protein to keep them from falling again. As soon as I feel my sugars starting to drop (if it is less then 2 hours after eating), I check my sugars and then correct it with the orange juice and peanuts. If it is 2 or more hours I eat a balanced snack.

Since I took sweets out of my diet my sugars have stabilized. When I break my no sugar diet my sugars go back to erratic. My endo says that once in a blue moon I can have a small piece of pie or a scoop of ice cream WITH my meals.. and ONLY with meals.

Counting carbs is hard work but so worth it. So is staying away from sugary foods. I know this isn't popular and a lot of people cover their sweets with insulin.

My sugars post meals (2 hours) are always under 150 and usually hover around 90-100. In the evenings when I am laying around watching tv with the family I can go 3 hours... this is the ONLY time of the day I can do this. Occasionally if I don't eat enough protein, fighting an infection, have a migraine my sugars can fall fast. I guess you can say I micro-manage my diabetes but as my Endo says it is a "balancing act".

The other by-product of this is I have started to loose the weight that I gained when I was diagnosed with diabetes. It is falling off 1 lb or so a month. SWEET!!!

 

[mamerth]

I completely agree with Andee. Staying hydrated is a must. Check your sugars... stay on top of them.
<br />
<br />I am on a strict diet... 60 grams of carbs (whole grains and lots of fiber). I also eat snacks every two hours (30 grams of carbs) from the time I am up and until I go to bed. I have also taken all sugars out of my diet. My endo told me to never try to recover my sugars with candy. Orange juice and then a serving of protein to keep them from falling again. As soon as I feel my sugars starting to drop (if it is less then 2 hours after eating), I check my sugars and then correct it with the orange juice and peanuts. If it is 2 or more hours I eat a balanced snack.
<br />
<br />Since I took sweets out of my diet my sugars have stabilized. When I break my no sugar diet my sugars go back to erratic. My endo says that once in a blue moon I can have a small piece of pie or a scoop of ice cream WITH my meals.. and ONLY with meals.
<br />
<br />Counting carbs is hard work but so worth it. So is staying away from sugary foods. I know this isn't popular and a lot of people cover their sweets with insulin.
<br />
<br />My sugars post meals (2 hours) are always under 150 and usually hover around 90-100. In the evenings when I am laying around watching tv with the family I can go 3 hours... this is the ONLY time of the day I can do this. Occasionally if I don't eat enough protein, fighting an infection, have a migraine my sugars can fall fast. I guess you can say I micro-manage my diabetes but as my Endo says it is a "balancing act".
<br />
<br />The other by-product of this is I have started to loose the weight that I gained when I was diagnosed with diabetes. It is falling off 1 lb or so a month. SWEET!!!

 

[rubyroselee]

Everyone,

Thanks for the advice. I am truly hoping this is not CFRD, but I'm sure my Endo will be helping me get things stabilized in the upcoming weeks when I go for my follow-up. I'm a little freaked out about the CFRD thing because I'm so bad with restrictions in my diet - I tend to eat whatever I want whenever I want. Plus I tend to over-analyze things, so I'll probably get really stressed out if I have to keep my sugars balanced. But I suppose it's just one of those things I'll have to deal with when/if it happens. I'm sure I'll be coming on here for lots of advice with that!

 

[rubyroselee]

Everyone,

Thanks for the advice. I am truly hoping this is not CFRD, but I'm sure my Endo will be helping me get things stabilized in the upcoming weeks when I go for my follow-up. I'm a little freaked out about the CFRD thing because I'm so bad with restrictions in my diet - I tend to eat whatever I want whenever I want. Plus I tend to over-analyze things, so I'll probably get really stressed out if I have to keep my sugars balanced. But I suppose it's just one of those things I'll have to deal with when/if it happens. I'm sure I'll be coming on here for lots of advice with that!

 

[rubyroselee]

Everyone,
<br />
<br />Thanks for the advice. I am truly hoping this is not CFRD, but I'm sure my Endo will be helping me get things stabilized in the upcoming weeks when I go for my follow-up. I'm a little freaked out about the CFRD thing because I'm so bad with restrictions in my diet - I tend to eat whatever I want whenever I want. Plus I tend to over-analyze things, so I'll probably get really stressed out if I have to keep my sugars balanced. But I suppose it's just one of those things I'll have to deal with when/if it happens. I'm sure I'll be coming on here for lots of advice with that!