Some days everything makes sense. You wake up high because of what you had for dinner the night before, or it was the late night snack, or you wake up low because of what you didn’t eat, or you wake up 95 thinking you have finally figured it out. But some days just don’t make any sense at all. Yesterday was one of those days.
The day before (Wednesday) was a little crazy. I spent most of it at the children’s hospital with my son because his doctor feared appendicitis. It wasn’t. I got home at 10:00pm after not eating all day, had a salad with lentils and went to sleep at around 1:00am. Expectedly, I woke up tired and in great need of coffee. I didn’t check my blood sugar until after my second cup (I drink it black these days), just before grabbing a quick salad for brunch and was surprised to see that I was 172. I took a three units thinking it would cover the salad and bring me down to normal. Once again I was wrong. At 1:30pm I was a surprising 180. I took three more units and ate some quinoa and salad. At 4:30 I was 201. Since I was home and very tired from the lack of sleep and the BS I decided to try to sleep a little. I slept for an hour and woke up feeling drunk. I decided to go for a run. Because if insulin isn’t going to bring my blood sugar down, running will!
I often feel like running is like a restart button. No matter how I feel before and during the run I always feel better after, unless I’m really getting sick. I got ready to go, checked my BS, and was happy to see I was 120. Finally. This seemed like a good start since it had been five hours since my last bolus of insulin.
I headed out for a 7.5 mile progressing run (increasing my pace every 1 ¼ mile). I felt good and light and was happy with my pace. After 2 miles I started to feel kind of light headed as if it wasn’t me running. I was still at a good pace (my Garmin Forerunner 305 tells me all I need to know) and my heart rate was great too. So I decided to check my BS to see at was up. It wasn’t up. In fact, it was down, way down – 52. I quickly ate a date (I find they work better than glucose tablets and- note to Emily: they don’t melt). Then I ate two halva snacks (28 grams of carb) and took a minute to rest. I decided to continue. A very good decision since the rest of the run was just as good as the beginning.
When I got home my BS was fine, totally normal. Thank god for running.
How can I even try to understand the BS thing? Is it insulin resistance?
Oh My! Thank goodness you had the forerunner. My forerunner 305 has been a lifesaver for me. I noticed the price has gone down since I purchased mine here and I recommend all diabetics get one. Keep running Michael!
I realize I only have seven months of experience to speak from, but I must tell you that I have had plenty of super crazy blood sugar days already. Is there a magical class we can take that reveals the answers to questions on why things sometimes deviate so far from the norm? And you’re the second person to tell me about these dates… I’ll have to give them a try. Hope tomorrow is a back to “normal” for you… :)
It is so hard to know sometimes… i’m on the pump, so sometimes if i haven’t changed my site, the insulin is not absorbing well. But you’re on injections i believe? I just went out for a run to try and bring my sugars down this afternoon, and they kept going higher! Now I am dropping. I try to have a short memory for the frustrating days!
I do find using a CGM once in a while has given me some insight into how my sugar can spike at odd times.