In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2) by SIGNYM

Boy... That felt weird.

I'm glad I decided to take a blood test right now. I haven't gotten around to cooking dinner yet and all of the sudden I just started feeling strange. Not exactly light headed, but maybe a little flush and anxious.

My first reading in the 70's. I just got a 75mg/dL.

From what I hear, that's not a bad number to have and I'm surprised I felt strange off of it. Maybe I'm sensitive to having my sugar that low since I've just been having it so high all the time for who knows how many months?

Anyhow, I grabbed 3 of the Frosted Mini Wheats and ate them real quick and almost immediately felt back to normal.

I haven't eaten since I had a bowl of cereal for lunch. That and a banana, and what was left of the lefovers I was sent home with last night were all I ate today, so yeah... Probably ate less today than I've normally been eating by a bit and less than I ate yesterday by quite a bit.

Not that I don't feel like eating. I'm certainly hungry right now. I was just in the middle of something and hadn't gotten around to cooking yet.

Dinner is cooking now.

I think I'd better get some sweets to have on hand and/or get some of those glucose pills. The Nutritionist said I didn't have to worry about shock/coma yet with numbers as high as I have them all the time, but the next day I had readings in the 80's and now we're in the 70's. Things move quick sometimes I guess.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 1:42 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

It must be a relief to see a number in the 70s. I don't know if it's the insulin shot, the oral meds, or you own insulin .. or all three... but now you know SOMEthing is working!

The trick after this will be figuring out how to keep your insulin and sugar balanced so that your blood sugar stays a nice steady 80-140, or thereabouts.

Just dont let it get too low... when blood sugar goes down brain function deteriorates too, and adrenaline goes up. Most people in hypoglycemic crisis aren't even aware that they're in trouble.

We used to keep orange juice on-hand for the OA who'd go dangerously low. Table sugar works OK too. Most of the time we could persuade her to drink a small carton of juice, and she would be back to normal in 20 minutes or so. When she was very belligerent we'd have to call 911. But if we hadn't been there, she would have been toast.

Hey, if your dad wants to get you anything, how about a medic alert bracelet? Everyone who's on insulin should have one!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 9:57 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
It must be a relief to see a number in the 70s. I don't know if it's the insulin shot, the oral meds, or you own insulin .. or all three... but now you know SOMEthing is working!

The trick after this will be figuring out how to keep your insulin and sugar balanced so that your blood sugar stays a nice steady 80-140, or thereabouts.

Yeah... I'm going to have to be talking to people about this next week. Who knows? Maybe I have been down to 70's and 80's during mid-day for a while now but didn't know it because I don't test regularly with my very limited supplies.

I didn't test last night after I ate, but I woke up this morning to 379mg/dL. My weight is 150.2. I got up twice to pee last night before finally waking up for the day.

Quote:
Just dont let it get too low... when blood sugar goes down brain function deteriorates too, and adrenaline goes up. Most people in hypoglycemic crisis aren't even aware that they're in trouble.

We used to keep orange juice on-hand for the OA who'd go dangerously low. Table sugar works OK too. Most of the time we could persuade her to drink a small carton of juice, and she would be back to normal in 20 minutes or so. When she was very belligerent we'd have to call 911. But if we hadn't been there, she would have been toast.

I have to have something on hand that I won't just EAT or DRINK just because they're here.

That's why I have to get those glucose chewables and tiny drinks to have lying around. No way I'm just going to open those up and snack on them.

Quote:
Hey, if your dad wants to get you anything, how about a medic alert bracelet? Everyone who's on insulin should have one!

Probably not a bad idea when I'm living alone. At least I'm a lot more social than I was back in the drinking days, but I think it would take at least 24 hours of me not returning somebody's phone calls for them to get worried enough to think about trekking out here. My old man got worried a few days ago when I didn't answer 2 of his calls in about 5 hours (I was napping), but I told him not to do that to himself and only start worrying if he hasn't heard from me in a full day.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 1:44 PM

Medical alert is a good idea JACK.

I've been wearing a medical alert necklace for years. Mine says epilpsey even though the doctors now call my condition a "seizure disorder". Words don't change what happens when I have one.

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 1:45 PM

Sunday and I have to check my email later as I sent the whole package off to the lady helping me. Need to see if she has gone over it then I can find five minutes or so through a busy week to get it off to the publisher.

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 2:15 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

By now, SIX, I'm sure you're tired pf people yammering at you about diabetes, so I promise to stop posting about it for a while ... after this one!!!

As I posted, the trick is to keep your insulin and sugar balanced, so that your blood sugar doesn't go jinking around from 70(-) to 400(+).

There are several inputs to this "program":

your insulin shot
your own insulin production
your oral insulin meds
your food intake
your stress levels

YOUR SHOT
Since you're on a very long-lasting form of insulin and you inject yourself once a day, I'll assume that this "background" insulin is more-or-less steady-state: doesn't vary more than X to X/2. I think you can remove this from the equation

YOUR OWN INSULIN
I don't know how much insulin you're producing, but insulin release can vary wildly from hour to hour. Usually it motors along, releasing a "background" amount that keeps things humming, but there are a few things that will cause insulin to surge:

* High blood sugar: like, after your eat something sugary

* The taste of something sweet: Even artificial sweetener will prompt insulin release. As long as your "sweet" sensors are tickled your body doesn't know the difference.

* The "taste" of something sweet in your duodenum: which is just below your stomach. We aren't aware if it, but we do have "sweet" sensors in our upper intestine and it does tell our pancreas about what the stomach has digested.(There is an experimental procedure being investigated now to fix those sensors.)

YOUR ORAL MEDICATION

* Metformin acts in a number of ways, primarily on the liver to stop making more suagr, and also on peripheral cells by making your insulin more effective but (unless you're on extended release) reaches a peak in 1-3 hours https://study.com/academy/lesson/metformin-mechanism-of-action-pharmac
okinetics.html

* Glipizide prompts your pancreass to make more insulin: various forms (micronized, extended release) have different peak times but regular glipizide peaks 2-4 hours after taking dose, and lasts less than 24 hours in the bloodstream. It only works if you're making your own insulin.

(If you want to know more about the specific medication that you're taking, search for the medication + peak + duration)

YOUR FOOD INTAKE

This is the biggest factor that YOU can adjust. what you want to do is keep YOUR food intake more steady-state, and take your meds timed with your meals to keep your blood sugar normal. (BTW, everyone's blood suagr goes up after a meal.)

Some foods "dump" sugar into your system RIGHT AWAY and cause HUGE spikes in sugar loading. These include SIMPLE SUGARS. Bananas and sugared cereal, sweetened yogurt, mashed potatoes, fruit juices are a NO-NO! Banana AND Frosted Mini Wheats?? NOT A GOOD CHOICE.

Why don't you just down a couple of tablespoons of sugar and drink and OJ be done with it? My only reaction to that breakfast is horror.

AVOID:
Sugars - plain sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup - and anything that is sugared
Sugars in solution like fruit juices
Mashed-up, fiberfree and easily dissolved sugars and starches- freshy mashed potatoes, white rice, bread, bananas, etc

Now, what CAN you eat?
well, beans, for one. Beans not only release their own starches over time, they slow down the digestion of more-accessible starches like rice, corn, corn chips and tortillas (flour or corn). For hubby, most days, I throw a can of beans with liquid into the mwave with a handful of corn chips or a half-can of corn, or nothing, salt and pepper and/or salsa or a spoonful of chili seasoning or bits of ham or a generous handful of shredded cheese. Some days I splurge with eggs and toast (but those are NOT good days for sugar! Two slices of toast shows up the next morning as +30 sugar.)

Oatmeal (or, if you want to go exotic, oat bran). Not "quick oats" bc, again, they dissolve too easily. Thick-rolled or (if you don't mind the cooking) steel cut. I go with thick-rolled, and toss THAT into the mwave with some water and zap it for two minutes, add ground flax or chia seed, and milk. Tasty, satisfying, nutritious, easy?? YOU BET!

Believe it or not, COLD cooked potatoes, reheated, with eggs on the side. Get yourself an el cheapo nonstick pan, add sausage, and you can make yourself a restaurant-worthy bfast

Meat of all kind. Around here, pork loin chops are super-cheap (but hard to cook bc theyre so lean like chix and turkey breast), ground turkey, chuck roast (needs a long cooking time but, my oh my, what flavor!)... whatever is on sale that's easy to fix.

Cheese. Around here, on sale, bulk shredded cheese is $3.50/lb. Feel like topping beans, or vegetables, or meat, with cheese?

Vegetables (except freshly-cooked potatoes)- whatever you like.

ONE fruit a day, but not a "tropical" fruit (banana, pineapple, papaya, mango are high suagr) and probably not grapes (also high sugar) Berries are the best and frozen berries are available year-round, melons are low in sugar, peaches and nectarines, also see if you tolerate apples, pears, cherries, plums whch are on the higher end of the sugar scale. Yanno, as they come in season they're cheap.

Nuts. I know they're hellaciously expensive, but peanuts and peanut butter )mad with peanuts, not crisco) might be an option.

Sample dinner: ground beef, vegetable mix cooked with canola oil, a half cup of cooked brown rice and a half cup of canned beans.

EAT MORE OFTEN and time your meds to your meals. EAT after you've taken your meds and shot and try to make yur meals more evenly sized. You're going to have to be more like Brenda

YOUR STRESS LEVELS
Stress makes blood sugar go up. It can be anxiety and/or depression (like you're probably experiencing now) or physical stress like cold, illness, or high-intensity exercise. Breathe deeply once in a while! It makes everything better!

WHY YOUR BLOOD SUGAR MIGHT BE HIGH IN THE MORNING
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/dawn-phenomenon-or-somogyi-effect
Either way, its a mismatch between med timing and sugar timing. If you titrate your meds to your AM sugar, your shot may bo too high. I think you should try to manage your AM sugar by examining what you eat in the evening and when. Also, checking your blood suagr at stupid o'clock might generate useful info. An implant would prolly realy help with that.

Chin up! SI, SE PUEDE! (yes, you can)

OK, I'll shut up now!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 4:19 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Well, I got a lot done. I finally dusted and vacuumed most of the house, which I haven't done for weeks (months?). It was awful and I felt bad just looking at it.
Today I'm taking dear daughter out to do something fun.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 4:59 PM

Don't apologize Sigs. I appreciate your information.

Had my aunt over today and helped her with a lot of stuff on the computer. We decided to get that out of the way before lunch and all of the sudden it was 2:45PM and we hadn't even ordered yet.

Just then, I told her "you're going to get to see me test my blood sugar". I was feeling it again, just like last night. When I told her what was going on she said "oh yeah, you look ghost white".

I told her, I bet I'm 73.

I was 69mg/dL.

I ate a banana and that didn't do it. I ended up drinking half a Pepsi and then I was fine. Feel great after lunch.

My new life is going to get weird.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 9:50 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

My new life is going to get weird.

Going to get weird? Ten years ago your life was weird. From May 3, 2013 9:35 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Wow!

So 44% of the population is with me on overthrowing the government?

Is that more or is that less than who was supportive of it when we all hated GWB?

http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=54715&mid=93482
2#934822

Storymark responded: “Way to prove your illiteracy, genius. That's 44% of republicans, dipshit, not all citizens. And republicans are only 42% of the country... And yes, Niki, boozy the clown here makes three that dumb.”

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 10:23 PM

They probably both died suddenly from Covid jabs.

And I'm flattered you went through 10 years of my post history to find something I posted almost exactly 10 years ago to the day. I've gone through post histories here myself and I know how much work that was for you to do on this website, Second.

The answer is still no... I will not go out on a date with you.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, April 30, 2023 11:32 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
They probably both died suddenly from Covid jabs.

And I'm flattered you went through 10 years of my post history to find something I posted almost exactly 10 years ago to the day. I've gone through post histories here myself and I know how much work that was for you to do on this website, Second.

The answer is still no... I will not go out on a date with you.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Niki2 wrote this about 6ix, ten years ago, but he didn’t understand and only got worse:

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Mmm, thanx Mark. "bitter, stupid, nonsense", it fits him to a T. But you forgot "self-centered"; unless he's changed, all I USED to read of what he put up was bitching and moaning about his life, how he used to be so much better off, stuff about women I've gratefully managed to forget, etc., etc. I never saw him put up anything valid or any actual Real World Event, but maybe that's changed.

Six, Master of the Self-Centered, Bitter, Stupid Nonsense. He's a riot...

What set Niki2 to hating 6ix? Maybe this that he wrote about himself, ten years ago:

Quote:
I still disagreed with 70% of the liberal talking points, but I was more concerned with all of the egregious raping of individual rights that were taking place at the time than who was killing their baby.

Hell... to this day, I support your right to kill your unborn baby. I support your right to bury the last known seed to your family linage deep within a male buttox.

I just have two favors to ask.....

The first is from our Government....... Stay the fuck out of our business.

The second is from our Baby-Killing, Prostate Massaging Liberal Front, or BKPMLF for short.... Don't ask, don't tell...

By the way, Tucker Carlson has the same act as 6ix, but Tucker is more subtle and nuanced (per Tucker: Abortion as ‘Child Sacrifice’). Tucker got fired for that act in his final speech:
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/04/24/include-country-your-prayers-tu
cker-carlson-reminds-heritage-foundation-50th-anniversary-gala/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, May 1, 2023 12:23 AM

Keep your diarrhea out of the garden. You've already got a thousand other threads you've mucked up. You're on ignore in here again.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 4:56 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Keep your diarrhea out of the garden. You've already got a thousand other threads you've mucked up. You're on ignore in here again.

6ix, unlike you, most angry white trash Trump voters, bar Tucker Carlson, don't keep a public diary of their daily disordered thinking on fireflyfans.net. Kudos for having ten years of mental breakdown that is also well-written. If you would fictionalize it by not making it first person, you could sell stories to be published.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, May 1, 2023 9:08 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

well, we went out to a small amusement park in Anaheim, it's a very kid-friendy place and not too big, Costly, tho! Maybe about /3 the price of Disneyland.Good thing dear daughter doesn't care for Disneyland! She;s making plans already to go the Knotts Berry Farm when it turns into Knott's Scary Farm for October/ Halloween.

Still want to see if we can catch some of that superbloom, but by looking at what's growing by the freeways, what's REALLY taken off around here is wild mustard (invasive) and foxtail grass (native, but boring to look at)

The other thing I noticed going up around here is restaurant food. We don't eat out very often, and every time we go I'm shocked by how much more expensive it is than the last time.

Poor kid took the dog out for her potty break when we got home, tripped and fell while running and went SPLAT! She skinned one leg from her knee to about 1/3 of the way down and roughed up her other knee, heels of her hands, and insteps and got dust on her chin and nose. Fortunately only one area broke the skin, This is the worst thing thats happened to her in a long time so she was fussing over it quite a bit. Fortunately I have a lot of no-stick gauze, antibiotic ointment and paper tape. I'll keep and eye on it.

Well, all-in-all an eventful day, and certainly not boring!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Monday, May 1, 2023 9:23 AM

Glad she's alright Sigs.

I'm trying to picture the place you went to. My only frame of reference is Six Flags Great America or Santa's Village.

Santa's Village is like a permanent Carnival, with all of the rides you'd ever find at one and maybe just a little bit more, where Six Flags has some of those for the kids and mostly roller coasters.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 9:27 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Keep your diarrhea out of the garden. You've already got a thousand other threads you've mucked up. You're on ignore in here again.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

SIX, don't for a moment think that SECOND is a normal human being or has an ounce of humanity in there somewhere just waiting to express itself. He isn't, and there isn't.

I don't know what made SECOND the way he is. Maybe he was born that way. But unlike the ideologically-driven deluded poor fucks on the board, SECOND loves to cause pain. Having supervised over 100 people in my day I've worked with all kinds of mental twitches - ADHD, ODD, OCD, self-hating gays, mild bipolars, addicted and alcholics, anger-addicted... you name it. SECOND isn't that, and can'tbe understood or dealt with in normal terms. He's, in a word, evil. He despises everyone and loves causing pain and death. Don't expect anything else.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Monday, May 1, 2023 10:04 AM

I got 319mg/dL this morning, with a weigh-in at 152.2lbs.

We really don't have enough data points yet since I didn't start testing in earnest (or as in earnest as I can with my limited testing supplies on hand) until I saw the Nutritionist, but I think I'm not only seeing those good numbers mid-day but I'm trending lower in the mornings as well.

Here's the morning readings that I've taken:

April 21st: 390mg/dL (18 units insulin after this reading)
April 24th: 478mg/dL & 498mg/dL (21 units insulin after this reading)
April 27th: 313mg/dL (24 units insulin after this reading)
April 28th: 349mg/dL (24 units insulin)
April 29th: 401mg/dL (24 units insulin)
April 30th: 379mg/dL (24 units insulin)
May 1st: 319mg/dL (24 units insulin)

Obviously something is happening at night and/or right in the morning when I wake up. It's not as though I'm eating Frosted Mini Wheats all day long into the night (I'm finished with them now and won't be buying them again). What probably will make this difficult too is that I don't have a constant sleep/wake schedule and it's really hard for me to put that much structure on how I live my life. Some days I take naps and some days I don't. When I get more active doing things that need to be done I won't be taking any naps and I'll be tired enough to get to sleep around the same time every night again.

I don't have the meter or notes outside of my morning readings right next to me, but I've had quite a few during the day that were in the 500's before. (But again, a reading in the 500's hasn't happened recently even when I did gorge on the Frosted cereal).

On April 28th I got my first reading under 100 when I got 80 and 82 back to back after mowing the lawn and having a late lunch. The very next night I had a late dinner and got my first 75 before I ate. Yesterday afternoon I got my first 69 when we had a late lunch.

AFAIK, even without using the monitor I've never had any readings that low before the 28th because unlike when I'm running as high as even the 540's I don't "feel" that in my body, but boy do I know when I'm getting to 80 or lower. It is possible that I was getting quite low at any point where it had been quite a few hours since I last ate (maybe under 150 or something), but I know for sure I would have known if I was getting that far under 100 before the 28th.

Maybe not incidentally, the 28th was when I first upped my insulin from 21 units to 24 units. I have no real way of verifying this was the cause though since I was only testing in the morning every 3 days until I saw the Nutritionist on the 25th. Both the Nutritionist and her partner now have told me over the phone they believe this could be good news and that my liver is still producing insulin.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 12:57 PM

Out for my walk soon and get some things done. Need to stop at my library and see how to download a zip file that was done on a Mac. The lady helping me did that. And I need to see what corrections she has done.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 2:34 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I got 319mg/dL this morning, with a weigh-in at 152.2lbs.

We really don't have enough data points yet since I didn't start testing in earnest (or as in earnest as I can with my limited testing supplies on hand) until I saw the Nutritionist, but I think I'm not only seeing those good numbers mid-day but I'm trending lower in the mornings as well.

Here's the morning readings that I've taken:

April 21st: 390mg/dL (18 units insulin after this reading)
April 24th: 478mg/dL & 498mg/dL (21 units insulin after this reading)
April 27th: 313mg/dL (24 units insulin after this reading)
April 28th: 349mg/dL (24 units insulin)
April 29th: 401mg/dL (24 units insulin)
April 30th: 379mg/dL (24 units insulin)
May 1st: 319mg/dL (24 units insulin)

Obviously something is happening at night and/or right in the morning when I wake up. It's not as though I'm eating Frosted Mini Wheats all day long into the night (I'm finished with them now and won't be buying them again). What probably will make this difficult too is that I don't have a constant sleep/wake schedule and it's really hard for me to put that much structure on how I live my life.

How well and how long you sleep and when you wake up makes a difference. But it is what it is. People can TRY to be more consistent about sleeping and waking but sometimes just not possible.

Quote:
On April 28th I got my first reading under 100 when I got 80 and 82 back to back after mowing the lawn and having a late lunch. The very next night I had a late dinner and got my first 75 before I ate. Yesterday afternoon I got my first 69 when we had a late lunch.
This really belongs in Dr Endo or Diabetician's lap. As you know, there is such a thing as too low. You shouldn't have to rescue yourself with sugar. But I believe your readings are now in the range for an implant?
I think you're keeping a food log?

Quote:
Maybe not incidentally, the 28th was when I first upped my insulin from 21 units to 24 units. I have no real way of verifying this was the cause though since I was only testing in the morning every 3 days until I saw the Nutritionist on the 25th. Both the Nutritionist and her partner now have told me over the phone they believe this could be good news and that my liver is still producing insulin.
Er ... pancreas. But, yes, good news indeed!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Monday, May 1, 2023 5:20 PM

Back from my walk and supper is cooking. Managed to get a small piece of pork tenderloin and I have some brussel sprouts and potatoes along with a can of V8 juice.

And I even managed to download the zip file the lady helping me sent me. By myself.

So, yay! me. I did talk to my local library tech today but again they are no help. But I've got it done. So I am happy. Next thing is to send it off to the publisher.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 5:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
How well and how long you sleep and when you wake up makes a difference. But it is what it is. People can TRY to be more consistent about sleeping and waking but sometimes just not possible.

I've had Insomnia since I was 5 years old. The ONLY cure for it in my life has been to eat my ass off before I go to sleep. Now that I can't do that anymore, Insomnia it is.

Quote:
This really belongs in Dr Endo or Diabetician's lap. As you know, there is such a thing as too low.

No. I don't know that. They've been telling me that is when you slip into a diabetic coma. I also witnessed a guy go into seizures when he couldn't get his glucose tablets in time too. I just had another instance today where I felt it again and I checked and I was 75 before I ate. 2 hours later I was 214.

Quote:
You shouldn't have to rescue yourself with sugar. But I believe your readings are now in the range for an implant?

Yes.

Quote:
I think you're keeping a food log?

No. And there's no way I'm ever going to take the time to do that either. I've only marked down when I gorged.

Quote:
Er ... pancreas. But, yes, good news indeed!

Yeah. That's what I meant.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 7:54 PM

So I was considering picking up chromium since I looked online and it's over the counter.

But they do warn that if you have kidney or liver disease that you shouldn't be taking it.

I'd like to think that I don't have either of those problems, but until we get an affirmative on that I'm not going to start taking that on my own.

I'm going to head up to the grocery store tonight and REALLY try to remember to pick up some oatmeal and some cinnamon. I'm going late when it's pretty dead in there so I can spend a bit more time walking around and checking things out and seeing if I find anything else that might help with my new diet. ALDI is not the place to be stopping and reading all the nutritional info on stuff during the middle of the day.

I'm not buying much of anything today, but just a bit to start off with to see how I like it and if it helps. I can go to the big box store and buy some stuff in bulk the next time I'm there.

Oh... FYI, if I didn't mention it above, I probably ate just as much Cheerios today as I ate of the Frosted Mini Wheats back when my sugar was low the first day.

Obviously, I'm still eating far too much of that and need to find better filler to suppliment it with, but instead of spiking up over 400mg/dL 2 hours later like I did on the Frosted Mini Wheats, I only spiked to 214. Still not good, but that is useful information going forward. Cheerios can still be in my diet with skim milk, but in lesser quantities. I should be able to iron things like that out when I get my doctor to write me a scrip for those implant monitor things and don't have to worry about burning up test strips anymore.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, May 1, 2023 11:25 PM

The rain arrived at around 6pm and everything is wet out. Have to see if it hangs around tomorrow.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 10:03 AM

I didn't take a blood test last night when it was happening, but at around 8:00PM I knew the level was low again. But then I ate and everything was normal.

Woke up to 445mg/dL again this morning though. :(

Weight was exactly the same as yesterday though at 152.2.

I don't have a food log, but I can at least tell him that even though I've been trying to do better at spreading my food out through the day, at least 50% of my daily food intake happens before I sleep at night still. I know I need to do better, but that's already a huge change from 100% of my daily food intake happening within a 4 hour window before I go to sleep at night.

I'll figure this out. I just need to get the doctor to do some real tests instead of just trying to change my meds. We need to figure out what type I have. If I've got type I then I'm on all the wrong meds right now, and half of them are just a waste all together. I don't know enough about LADA to say if I'd need different drugs or not, if that were the diagnosis.

We still don't even know if my pancreas is even producing any insulin.

No insulin left in the pen this morning, so I'll just be taking my oral meds and we'll see what happens at Dr. Endo's office.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 1:13 PM

Out , out in a bit. Need a refill on my seizure meds.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 2:48 PM

Good news and bad news all around.

While wearing the exact same clothes I had on both at the Hospital and Dr. Endo, I weighed in at 147lbs. Today at Dr. Endo on the same scale I was 156!

Blood pressure not as low as 2 weeks ago, but still way down from the Hospital visit, which itself wasn't high enough for the Dr. there to prescribe blood pressure meds (although he said that once we get this figured out I'll probably be on them anyhow as a diabetic to protect my eyes and organs).

Heart rate way down. It was 127bpm at the hospital and 120bpm at Dr. Endo 2 weeks ago. Today it was 96. Still high, yes, but even when I was healthy I'd regularly get high 80's to low 90's.

Bad news is he's pretty sure it's Type I or LADA. Good news that comes with that is I can throw my pills away because we don't need them anymore. Bad news is I'm going to be taking 3-4 shots of insulin per day, probably for the rest of my life.

Scrips are written for the insulin and the Continuous Monitor. My new life is taking X amount of the long lasting insulin in the morning, every morning, and then testing my blood sugar before meals and jabbing myself with a different amount immediately before eating depending on what my reading before the meal was.

Scrip was written for blood work and he says we're going to find out about my pancreas now. I'm going to bring the blood work scrip to my primary when I see him late next week and hopefully get that done right there on the same day. The follow up visit with Doc Endo isn't for over a month anyhow, and even though he didn't say anything about it I figure he'd probably want to see that done after I was on my new med routine instead of driving right up there today and getting it done.

I'd love to just call it a day right now since he did give me a new sample pen of long lasting and I did get my insulin for the day, but I'll have to pick up those scrips later today. He said if I wanted to, I could come into the office on Thursday to have somebody there show me how to install the implant, but I think after watching the video I can just do it on my own.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 5:39 PM

Back in from my errands on a bright sunny day. Seizure meds all filled and everything else done. Sitting down now.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 8:28 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Good news and bad news all around.

While wearing the exact same clothes I had on both at the Hospital and Dr. Endo, I weighed in at 147lbs. Today at Dr. Endo on the same scale I was 156!

Blood pressure not as low as 2 weeks ago, but still way down from the Hospital visit, which itself wasn't high enough for the Dr. there to prescribe blood pressure meds (although he said that once we get this figured out I'll probably be on them anyhow as a diabetic to protect my eyes and organs).

Heart rate way down. It was 127bpm at the hospital and 120bpm at Dr. Endo 2 weeks ago. Today it was 96. Still high, yes, but even when I was healthy I'd regularly get high 80's to low 90's.

Bad news is he's pretty sure it's Type I or LADA. Good news that comes with that is I can throw my pills away because we don't need them anymore. Bad news is I'm going to be taking 3-4 shots of insulin per day, probably for the rest of my life.

Scrips are written for the insulin and the Continuous Monitor. My new life is taking X amount of the long lasting insulin in the morning, every morning, and then testing my blood sugar before meals and jabbing myself with a different amount immediately before eating depending on what my reading before the meal was.

And also how much carbs you intend to eat. This also means you're going to be eating smaller meals, more often.
Sorry to say but you're going to have to pay a LOT more attention to your eating schedule and the quality and quantity of food than you're used to. Probably more expensive too. No more cheap "filler" food. It's going to be a big change and a lot more restriction. Sorry!

Quote:
Scrip was written for blood work and he says we're going to find out about my pancreas now. I'm going to bring the blood work scrip to my primary when I see him late next week and hopefully get that done right there on the same day. The follow up visit with Doc Endo isn't for over a month anyhow, and even though he didn't say anything about it I figure he'd probably want to see that done after I was on my new med routine instead of driving right up there today and getting it done.
I wonder what tests he's ordering. They usually don't measure insulin in the bloodstream AFAIK, and the only other tests would be for enzymes that indicate pancreatitis. So....??

Quote:
I'd love to just call it a day right now since he did give me a new sample pen of long lasting and I did get my insulin for the day, but I'll have to pick up those scrips later today. He said if I wanted to, I could come into the office on Thursday to have somebody there show me how to install the implant, but I think after watching the video I can just do it on my own.

Ooohh... what kind of implant is that?? Do tell!

AFA insomnia... everyone in our house has had serious problems sleeping. For me, it was chronic sinusitis that kept me from sleeping bc I couldn't breathe. Sinus surgery fixed that- mostly. For hubby, he was on a "jag" and his brain just wouldn't shut down. It took heavy-duty sedative to knock him out and get him out of his jag. Dear daughter's brain damage is probably the cause of her sleep problems, we haven't found an answer for that yet but we've tried a lot of things. Next might be a weighted blanket bc she can't stop todding and turning. So everyone's issues and fixes are different.

The usual advice is-

Stop drinking coffee by 3-4PM. (The half-life of caffeine is about 6 hours. If you have "X" amount of caffiene at 3OM, it will still be "X/2" by 9OM)

Make sure your bedroom is cool, quiet, and dark and that your mattress is comfortable

Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time

Don't be looking at a screen (phone, monitor, display) at least a hour before bed

Have a pre-bedtime routine and do something relaxing before bed

Don't use your bed for watching TV, being on social media, etc bc then you associate bed with staying awake.

Consult with a doctor if none of this works. You may need medical intervention.

I hope this helps!

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023 10:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And also how much carbs you intend to eat. This also means you're going to be eating smaller meals, more often.

Yeah. He gave me two docs. The first one he wants me to follow until I have my follow up with the Nutritionist. Mine is the "dummy" one where he just wants me using X amount of units depending on what my sugar level is at before eating. The "advanced" one is going to be carb counting and adjusting based off of that. I think I can figure out the advanced way on my own before I see her in two weeks.

I don't think it means I'm going to have to eat more than 3 meals per day. I'll just up the insulin based off of what I'm going to be eating.

Quote:
Sorry to say but you're going to have to pay a LOT more attention to your eating schedule and the quality and quantity of food than you're used to.

For a while. Eventually I won't have to think about it. Remember, I do have the great benefit of being fine with only about 10 or 15 food items in my life. Once I figure out what the new ones will be, I should be able to sleepwalk through this.

Quote:
Probably more expensive too. No more cheap "filler" food. It's going to be a big change and a lot more restriction. Sorry!

What's not to love about more meat... Except for the prices.

Quote:
I wonder what tests he's ordering. They usually don't measure insulin in the bloodstream AFAIK, and the only other tests would be for enzymes that indicate pancreatitis. So....??

I dunno. Just a bunch of gobbledygook to me. I'll let him figure that one out.

Quote:
Ooohh... what kind of implant is that?? Do tell!

It's the 15 day testing thing. My days of pricking my finger and doing test strips are over. I got the sensor kit that means I can do easy on the fly glucose readings any time of the day with my tablet.

Eventually once we figure everything out, I'll be getting a continuous monitor that will monitor my levels 24/7 and pump me with insulin as needed. He told me that diabetes treatment has come a long way since the old days and once I'm all dialed in it won't be too bad.

Sounds to me like I'm going to have a robotic external pancreas.

Quote:
AFA insomnia... everyone in our house has had serious problems sleeping. For me, it was chronic sinusitis that kept me from sleeping bc I couldn't breathe. Sinus surgery fixed that- mostly. For hubby, he was on a "jag" and his brain just wouldn't shut down. It took heavy-duty sedative to knock him out and get him out of his jag. Dear daughter's brain damage is probably the cause of her sleep problems, we haven't found an answer for that yet but we've tried a lot of things. Next might be a weighted blanket bc she can't stop todding and turning. So everyone's issues and fixes are different.

For me, it's like your husband. My insomnia started after my parents divorced. Most nights I just can't stop THINKING. Eating a ton of food fixed that, but I can't use that crutch anymore.

Quote:
The usual advice is-

Stop drinking coffee by 3-4PM. (The half-life of caffeine is about 6 hours. If you have "X" amount of caffiene at 3OM, it will still be "X/2" by 9OM)

I had insomnia for 15 years before I started drinking coffee. I'm practically immune to the stuff at this point. I'm sure cutting back will help though.

Quote:
Make sure your bedroom is cool, quiet, and dark and that your mattress is comfortable

I sleep on a futon in my livingroom and fall asleep watching YouTube.

Quote:
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time

I don't even imagine I could do this unless I get a full time job that requires it of me.

Did I ever mention that I suffer from poor impulse control?

Quote:
Don't be looking at a screen (phone, monitor, display) at least a hour before bed

See above.

Quote:
Have a pre-bedtime routine and do something relaxing before bed

Don't use your bed for watching TV, being on social media, etc bc then you associate bed with staying awake.

Consult with a doctor if none of this works. You may need medical intervention.

I hope this helps!

I'll worry about that after we get all this diet stuff figured out. I can't change everything in my life all at once.

Right now I'm just happy that I'm gaining weight back, not peeing every 45 minutes when I'm trying to sleep at night and not drinking 3 gallons of liquid per day.

Add to that the fact that I'm working out and obviously putting back muscle already, I'm eating healthier and I'm taking vitamins daily and this little setback is actually making me do a lot of things right for my body that I've been wanting to do for 2 decades.

Did I mention that I was 9 lbs heavier than my visit 2 weeks ago???

I'm just around back to the weight that I was at when people started telling me I looked skinny and I don't look like I have AIDS anymore.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 12:27 AM

Phone call a while ago and I may have a pick up game of mah jong tomorrow afternoon. Lady that called me isn't sure so I will head over to the senior's centre around 1pm and see what is what.

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 12:57 PM

Out for my walk and possible afternoon mah jong in a bit.

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 1:01 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Best of luck at mahjong, BRENDA! I know the tiles don't always go your way, but I hope they do this week.

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 4:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Best of luck at mahjong, BRENDA! I know the tiles don't always go your way, but I hope they do this week.

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

I was cancelled for mah jong today as another lady decided to play and with only one table of four. No need for me. So I am home early and now I should really do something about my book.

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 11:08 PM

Mammogram appointment at 8:15 in the morning, then mah jong after that. So I will be out earlier than usual.

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 11:25 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Mammogram appointment at 8:15 in the morning, then mah jong after that. So I will be out earlier than usual.

Good luck on that too.

Early AM apt for me to (finally) have my infusion port removed. It's an under-the-skin port that feeds to a large vein that goes directly to the heart.
The large volume of blood dilutes the chemo agents and keeps them from corroding the veins, as would happen if they used a typical catheter in the arm

Anyway, that's gonna be gone.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Wednesday, May 3, 2023 11:40 PM

You're getting parts removed and I'm getting parts added eventually, Sigs. I guess we can't be cyborgs together!

I FINALLY got some real info from the Nutritionist today. She's so freakin' cool.

I was completely honest with her that I dicked around bad last night, and didn't take my rapid acting insulin while eating poorly, so I woke up this morning with my higest reading in a long time at 549mg/dL.

Since I'm on my new long-active stuff at 20 units without any pills, I decided to skip breakfast and do a reading around 1:00PM and I was still 360. So according to the "dummy" sliding scale, I just took 10 units of the rapid acting before eating a small bowl of cheerios with skim milk, a small banana and a handful of peanuts for lunch. 2 hours later i was 210mg/dL.

So she told me how the new system works. My TARGET is 120mg/dL. For every 40 above 120 that I am, I'm to use 1 unit of insulin before my meal. And for every 8 grams of carbs that aren't fiber in the meal I'm eating, I'm to use another unit of insulin. I am not to round up on this for the danger of going too low on my sugar.

So I'm going to eat a late dinner with only 1 cup of brown rice (which would be roughly 40 grams of carbs after you remove the fiber carbs). She told me not to add any insulin for the vegetables and burger patties (and chicken breasts later if I'm still hungry).

The goal tonight is to be under 200 and I'll work my way down. Those math figures are just a rule of thumb and since we don't know if my pancreas is producing any insulin or not right now, I may have to adjust up or down on the units of insulin going forward. Don't want to take too much until I know.

ETA: I think I did pretty good. I tested at 92mg/dL before I ate, so I used 4 units of insulin. (5 for the 40 grams of rice minus 1 for being 28mg/dL lower than my target 120).

90 minutes after eating I'm 160mg/dL.

Not sure what goes on overnight and if it will get too low. Still going to have a few chicken breasts before I go to bed, I think. Didn't eat as much today as I usually do and I need the calories.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 10:26 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Hey SIX, sounds like you got effective help.

Just keep in touch, m'kay?

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 10:50 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Hey SIX, sounds like you got effective help.

Just keep in touch, m'kay?

Yeah. She's great. Her whole office staff of 3 is great. Too bad I can't say that for everybody outside of her office.

I will.

My results this morning were... disappointing.

I thought with my 160 reading around 90 minutes after I had my shot and ate that I would be worried about possibly dipping too low overnight. Those worries were gone the second I tested.

301mg/dL when I woke up this morning!!!!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

I did have those two chicken breasts before I went to bed that I said I was going to have, but they shouldn't have done that!

On the plus side though...

I slept until the 9:00AM on my alarm. I NEVER sleep until that alarm goes off, even on nights when I'm having a really hard time getting to sleep, because I'll have to get up to pee between 6:30 and 8:30 and then I just stay up when it's that late. At first I thought I didn't get up last night, but I do have a vague recollection of getting up once to pee. But even though I did pee when I got up, that's not what woke me up a second time like usual. I don't recall when I actually went to sleep, so not sure how many hours I got. Dammit.

Weight is 151.2. I'm not surprised that it was lower than the last 3-4 days because I ate less yesterday. My last morning weigh in below 150 was April 28th at 149.2, which was the only day since April 23rd that I weighed in lower than 150. Weight is keeping pretty steady.

Also, although that 301 reading is high and way above my target, it IS the lowest morning reading I've ever had by 12, and certainly better than the 549 I had yesterday morning.

I'm going to shoot the Nutritionist an email today and tell her what happened and see what she has to say about it.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 4:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Mammogram appointment at 8:15 in the morning, then mah jong after that. So I will be out earlier than usual.
Good luck on that too.

Early AM apt for me to (finally) have my infusion port removed. It's an under-the-skin port that feeds to a large vein that goes directly to the heart.
The large volume of blood dilutes the chemo agents and keeps them from corroding the veins, as would happen if they used a typical catheter in the arm

Anyway, that's gonna be gone.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Mammogram went fine and in 2 weeks I will have the results.

Good luck on getting that thing out of you SIG. I bet it will be a huge relief.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 4:52 PM

Back from mammogram and mah jong.

Both went okay. I managed 3rd place at mah jong this morning so that was pretty good. And my mammogram appointment went pretty fast too.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 6:25 PM

Wow. I have WAY more control over this situation now with the continuous monitor implant system.

I hadn't eaten anything this morning because I wanted to get that set up first, and I'm running so low on test strips I wanted to do a prick test in tandem with the new unit and see how they matched up.

Sadly, it's not a super fast process setting it up, and I'm going to have to find a good time to do that in the future. Every time I change the sensor it takes the unit a few minutes to pair up with it and about 2 hours to "warm up"... whatever that means.

So I didn't test or eat until after 2:00PM when it said it was ready. Immediately it gave me an alarm because I was above 200mg/dL. Even with the Long-Lasting shot this morning I was still 230, down from 301 at 9:00AM.

I did a prick test and to my astonishment it was EXACTLY 230mg/dL at the same time.

I did my math for the existing sugar reading and the carbs I was going to eat for lunch and came up with 12 units of Rapid-Acting. It was a slow crawl down and even spiked back up over 200 shortly after I ate, but I'm down to 155mg/dL at the moment, which is around 2.5 hours after I ate.

I think, perhaps, our math isn't right and I should probably be taking a bit more insulin... But I don't know if that's for the existing high level of sugar, the carbs I'm going to eat or both.

I was 110 over TARGET (2.75 units of insulin), and I figured 71 grams of carbs (8.875 units of insulin) [A small banana, 2 cups of Cheerios, and 1/2 cup of peanuts]. Unfortunately, after I'd already taken the shot I realized that skim milk has carbs, so I actually had about 5 more grams of carbs than I'd planned for, so it should have been 9.5 units.

Even still... I took 12 units, which was rounding UP. With the skim milk, it would have been 12.25, and since you need to use full units it was really incidental. My nutritionist told me to round down, but after last night I figured I'd start rounding up.

I'll have to play with it for now and see what works best for me. Maybe instead of dividing the blood sugar over target by 40 I should divide it by 35, or instead of dividing the carbs I'm going to eat by 8 I should divide it by 7.

I'm going to keep with the numbers the doc gave me for a few days and see if it levels out before I go making any changes. Who knows? I did just get taken off of oral meds that I was on for almost 3 weeks and that could be jacking things up with my body too.

In any event, this monitor system is awesome. It auto-updates my current sugar level every 5 minutes and keeps all of that info stored in memory. It also allows me to enter in my own information like how many units of insulin I'm using before meals vs. how many carbs I'm eating at the meal, and lets me enter in when I'm working out and all sorts of other stuff I haven't even looked into yet.

I think it should be enough to almost make this fun for me at least long enough to have memorized how much insulin I need for the foods I eat regularly where I don't have to really give it much thought anymore.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 8:10 PM

Well...

No. It would not be a good idea to fiddle with the insulin math... at least not now.

Just 10 minutes after I wrote that last message I dropped from 155 to 130. After that, I was talking to my aunt on the phone and noticed that it was just dropping bit by bit every 5 minute update. By the time it was at 96 she told me I should eat something and I said not yet. It hit 90 and I was still good. But then all of the sudden I felt the low feeling coming on and told her that I had to let her go and get something to eat. I was down to 85.

Without a great amount of new stuff on hand and my educational classes still almost 2 weeks away, I just measured out another 1/2 cup of unsalted peanuts (12 grams of carbs) and a few minutes later I was feeling normal again and back up to 93. We'll have to see how that looks later.

Geez... Is this my new life? Constant swings up and down? I thought there would be some regularity added to my life with the insulin. Hopefully now that I can monitor this and I know what I'm doing I can avoid any of the 300-500 numbers entirely and without them popping up maybe my system can better regulate these numbers without them going all over the map. I really don't want to feel that low blood sugar feeling even once per day, and I'm kind of surprised that I get it when I'm in the 80's and not when I'm below 70.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 9:33 PM

That seems to have done the trick........ But for how long?

I rose up to around 110 and hung there for a while after eating 1/2 cup of peanuts, but last reading just a few minutes ago was 95.

Like I said before, I hope once I get my numbers in a much smaller and safer range that things stabilize a bit, but I also wonder if perhaps my long-acting insulin shot is possibly at too high of a dose for when I'm using the rapid-acting shots correctly to balance out my carb intake?

I love this freakin' meter. It's so cool being able to read these stats on the fly and I can't wait to go over the data after I've got a few weeks of using it under my belt.

Makes me wonder how the hell I was even doing the last three weeks in the dark now that there is so much more data available to me. Even though I don't have a cell phone, it might be worth looking into buying a cheap used one just to get the app on it. It would allow for me to have much more data on the fly than the receiver shows and would probably be valuable for doctors visits in particular. I already have it on my computer and it's really cool what you can see there as opposed to the very limited functionality of the receiver.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 11:35 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

That meter sounds really useful! Does it come with an alarm? Maybe so you don't have to watch it, but it'll beep for you when your reading goes too low (which is immediately dangerous) or too high (which does damage, but mostly in the long run).

Just OOC did your nutritionist give you an acceptable range? Like, from 80-200, or something like that? Bc one thing I know, everybody's blood sugar goes up and down... we're just not aware of it!

BTW that feeling is called hypoglycemia, which is what BRENDA tries to avoid. It's happened to me too, on occasion - friggin uncomfortable! What I was told (a long time ago) was that it's not necessarily how low your blood sugar is, but how fast it's falling. People can get down to 50-60 (not recommended!) without knowing if their blood sugar kind of creeps down instead of diving down.

Anyway, way cool, SIX! I'm impressed with the new technology! Maybe my sis' neighbor would take his blood sugar more seriously if he could see it spike up like it does.
:thumbsup:

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 11:48 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mammogram and mah jong.

Both went okay. I managed 3rd place at mah jong this morning so that was pretty good. And my mammogram appointment went pretty fast too.

Nice that things went well, BRENDA! BTW, if you wait on tenterhooks thru the whole two weeks until you get mammo results, my experience is it's not necessary. Bad news travels much faster than good. The radiologist sends up a flare, the report goes to the top of the pile and gets hand-carried to the next responsible person, and you will get a phone call. So if you haven't heard anything in about five working days, I think it's safe to relax.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Thursday, May 4, 2023 11:55 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Port is out and except for the ungodly hour (got up at 5 AM to get to admissions by 7) things went well. In fact, the removal was so fast that the versed and fentanyl didn't start working until they were all done! Fortunately the local anesthetic worked fabulously. I started to feel a little woozy just as the surgeon was walking away, and had a nice snooze in recovery, which I thought was kind of funny bc recovery is where you're supposed to wake up.

I had an afternoon nap, tho, to make up for lost sleep.

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

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Friday, May 5, 2023 12:45 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
That meter sounds really useful! Does it come with an alarm? Maybe so you don't have to watch it, but it'll beep for you when your reading goes too low (which is immediately dangerous) or too high (which does damage, but mostly in the long run).

Yup! It's got two alarms. One for when you go too high and when you go too low. There's three, actually. I believe the factory set one that you can't change is 55mg/dL. I have my low at 80 and my high at 200. I'm going to change the low to 90 or 95 though because before I hit 80 I already know my blood sugar is low because my body tells me that it is.

Quote:
Just OOC did your nutritionist give you an acceptable range? Like, from 80-200, or something like that? Bc one thing I know, everybody's blood sugar goes up and down... we're just not aware of it!

She did not. The meter's software automatically does though for all of its charting and graphing. I believe their threshold is 70 on the low and for sure it's 180 on the high end of the acceptable range.

Before I ate tonight and about 20 minutes after I had spent 30% above 180 and 70% of the day within the acceptable range. (More on that later).

Quote:
BTW that feeling is called hypoglycemia, which is what BRENDA tries to avoid. It's happened to me too, on occasion - friggin uncomfortable! What I was told (a long time ago) was that it's not necessarily how low your blood sugar is, but how fast it's falling. People can get down to 50-60 (not recommended!) without knowing if their blood sugar kind of creeps down instead of diving down.

Right. Not a cool feeling. I'm extremely sensitive to it right now, which is probably a good thing. It appears that it does go down rather quickly when it's happening. It was probably only 15 minutes when I went from 110 to 85 and felt it.

Quote:
Anyway, way cool, SIX! I'm impressed with the new technology! Maybe my sis' neighbor would take his blood sugar more seriously if he could see it spike up like it does.
:thumbsup:

Yeah. Tell her about it. They have a few of these things on the market today. Mine would actually pair up with the automatic insulin pump should I chose to go that route one day.

Anyway... It seems that I pretty much nailed my insulin for my lunch, but dinner is a different beast. I think my brown rice has a lot more carbs in it than people think brown rice has or something. I'm spiking hard right now. 1 1/2 cups should have been in the area of 60 grams of carbs, but about an hour after I ate I'm hitting 200mg/dL again, and I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up at 300 or higher in the morning if I don't take another shot.

I'm not going to take another shot, but I've got to do more research on this and see what the hell is happening when I eat dinner and why I'm getting so high even though my units for what I'm eating are (or should be) right.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, May 5, 2023 12:47 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Port is out and except for the ungodly hour (got up at 5 AM to get to admissions by 7) things went well. In fact, the removal was so fast that the versed and fentanyl didn't start working until they were all done! Fortunately the local anesthetic worked fabulously. I started to feel a little woozy just as the surgeon was walking away, and had a nice snooze in recovery, which I thought was kind of funny bc recovery is where you're supposed to wake up.

I had an afternoon nap, tho, to make up for lost sleep.

That thing looked ghastly. I bet you're happy to have it out!

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, May 5, 2023 2:06 AM