Bloodsugar, why you gotta be like this?

I hate making a big deal about my diabetes. Hell, I hate even acknowledging it. But now at 2am, I feel the need.

Tonight I had a bowl of instant mac & cheese. 55g carbs. My bloodsugar was a little high at the time, 160, so I dosed 5 units instead of the 3 that should have worked.

At 10:30, I checked my bloodsugar and found a surprising 215. Shit.

Dose 5 units. 2 should have worked, but it seems like my old ratio of 1 per every 50 over has been failing lately.

1 hour later, I check again, expecting something nice and pleasant around 100. No, it's 271. It's gone up. A lot. So I raged bolused. A "bolus" is any injection of fast acting insulin in order to bring down blood sugar quickly, as opposed to a basal dose which is slow acting and provides a base level of insulin in the system. And the rage part, well that's obvious. I had given more than I should have earlier and saw reverse effects.

So I shot up with another 8 units. 4 should have done. Take that fucker.

But you see, the night isn't done yet.

While I was home for Christmas I had a surprising extreme low in which I didn't feel any of the usual symptoms, so I have to be more careful now. My body might not always clue me in. So I set an alarm for 1:30 to check my bloodsugar.

And what do you know, at 1:30, it was down to 45. Typically I should get the sweats and shakes at around 50, and I feel right as rain.

That didn't last long though.

I hate when normal healthy people complain because their bloodsugar is low. They might feel weak, or light headed possibly, but I would put $100 on it that their sugar is above 60, in the perfectly healthy range.

You do not know low bloodsugar.
You do not know the graving for carbs. Any carbs. Chips. Candy. Pop. Avoid fat, it slows the absorption. You feel like you haven't eaten in 2 weeks. Even if you just had a 2,000 calorie meal an hour ago.
You don't know the trembling hands and full body sweat.

So it's 2:15am and I'm sitting here, up since 1:30, drenched in sweat, trembling, chugging 16 oz of pepsi and eating tortilla chips like crazy. About 10x the carbs I need to fix the problem, which means I actually need another shot now so I don't end up near or above 300 again.

Put test strip in meter.
Prick finger.
apply blood.
125mg/dL. Good, coming back up.
Get out syring.
draw 4 units of air.
inject air into insulin bottle to balance pressure.
draw 4 units of insulin.
insert needle into tummy.
inject.
Wrap up blog entry.
Go to sleep.
Check bloodsugar in the morning.

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Update. 7:30am.
Do you believe in coincidences? I'm not sure I do. Either it's a coincidence that my bloodsugar was 303 this morning, or the diabetes gods are somehow mocking me. Clearly I need to learn to control the carb cravings during a low.

For 5 hours, my bloodsugar must have been in the 300-400 range. Anything above roughly 140 is basically corrosive to your system. My eyes, nerves, heart, kidney, were all soaking in a nice sugar acid bath overnight.

By the way, when I was diagnosed with diabetes, my fasting bloodsugar was 300, just to put things in perspective.

Anyway, I'm done with this story. I only wrote it for me, to acknowledge the problems I do face, and quit living in denial.

Oh well. 9 units and 2 hours later, and it's back around a healthy 90. Of course, 4 units should have done it. I'm afraid to eat now. It might mess it all up again.