Alyssa's Journey with Type 1 Diabetes





An outlet, a diary of sorts, a place for thoughts, a place to connect,
an expression of feelings about Juvenile Diabetes......



Friday, February 10, 2012

Diabetes is Ugly

Diabetes has been showing its ugliness.....The last few weeks have been a roller coaster for Alyssa's diabetes.  The week before last, I got a call from school 4 out of 5 days saying that Alyssa's glucose levels were high....300 + every morning at around 8:30a.  She eats breakfast at 6:30a and gets 2 injections (regular insulin and then a long lasting insulin).  So, her sugar should have been within normal range 2 hours later?  Over that weekend, her levels were great!  Last Monday, I decided to up her regular insulin .5 units (a very little) and I got a call at 8:30a saying her sugar was low. ughhh...so on Tuesday, I backed down the dose....8:30 ~another call and low!!  Wednesday and Thursday, the same thing.  Weekend was pretty good, a few highs but in the low 200's and likely because she snacked a little more.  This Monday morning, a call at 10:00.... sugar was 59! Lowered insulin from her normal dose and Tuesday no call!  Thought we were in the clear! Wednesday was an early release day, so I kept her home from school because it would mean she would have to eat lunch at 10:45a, which throws her whole schedule off.  Levels were great!  Yesterday, call at 10a, sugar 300!  What the heck!!  Today (Friday) same thing!  I swear, I'm losing it!  What is insane is that these extreme lows and highs are effects of a minute amount of insulin!  The picture below (on the left) is the actual syringe scale.  She gets 1 unit for every 25 grams of carbs, usually 2 1/2 units.  So,as you can see, 1/2 u is a tiny amount. 

Those of you who know me and Alyssa know that I am borderline obsessed with managing her diabetes.  I measure EVERYTHING she eats and have learned to adjust for her activity levels.  Thank God we have a great Endocrinologist!  I know I've called and emailed her 10+ times.  Finding that perfect dose has been a challenge and unfortunately what worked one day, has not been working the next!

I'm at the point I think there is another culprit besides the pancreas. I know stress can elevate glucose levels. The blood sugar of type 1 diabetics can increase when they’re stressed because of the production of stress hormones. In most people, these hormones help improve the body’s stress response because the liver releases more glucose for additional energy. For diabetics, however, this extra glucose can result in a dangerously high blood sugar level.  My husband was in the Middle East for 2 weeks, and I know she missed him.  I tried to keep as much from her as possible, but she knew that he was in dangerous areas at times.  Now that he's home, I'm hoping things get back to normal and that her glucose levels balance.
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7 comments:

  1. JoanneApril 4, 2012 at 11:04 AM

    Hi... just found your blog, so I'm reading through some of your older posts. One thought about the highs 2 hours after; has your endo talked to you about the post-breakfast spike? Pretty much everyone with t1 goes through it, but there are ways to combat it. Most t1s are insulin-resistant in the morning, and that's why the big spike. One way is to pre-bolus your daughter by up to 30 minutes, depending on her number at breakfast. You could start at 15 minutes and see how it affects her number and go from there.

    Another thing that I notice with my daughter on school days, is that she goes higher post-breakfast on those days, so I'll bolus her for 35g of carbs, but only give her 30g. That has been working great for us. Now, of course we're on a pump, so that's easy to do. If you're obsessed with managing numbers, a pump is wonderful!

    Sorry for the long comment... just a thought!

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  2. UnknownApril 4, 2012 at 11:49 AM

    Joanne,
    You know, the endo never has mentioned that and honestly was not even an issue until around the time of this post. Honeymoon period maybe? And what you wrote makes total sense. She is not on the pump yet, but I have increased her morning dose a little and that has seemed to help. My struggle now is convincing her to try the pump :-/ I know it would make life soooo much easier! No apologies needed, I appreciate any advice I can get!

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  3. JoanneApril 4, 2012 at 12:52 PM

    We were onMDI for 3 1/2 years and only started pumping when Elise gave us the green light. It really needs to be their choice, in my opinion. Does your daughter know anyone on the pump? It really has made our life so much easier. My daughter, who is 4, can pretty much bolus herself, with me watching that she enters the right numbers, of course! We use the Omnipod and really like that it has no tubing.

    Where do you live? Are you connected with any other t1 families?

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  4. UnknownApril 4, 2012 at 4:18 PM

    We're in NC. There are two other children in my daughter's school that are T1, neither use a pump. I've also been working a little with JDRF in hopes to expose Alyssa to other T1 kids and looking for a local diabetes camp for this summer. I do agree that the pump should be her choice. She was diagnosed 16 months ago, so im hoping she'll give me the sign soon. I try to provide as much info as I can, but I'm sure it's fear of the unknown.

    So, your daughter was a baby when she was diagnosed? Wow! You must have been beside yourself! It is amazing that she is so independent at such a young age.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownApril 4, 2012 at 4:21 PM

    We're in NC. There are two other children in my daughter's school that are T1, neither use a pump. I've also been working a little with JDRF in hopes to expose Alyssa to other T1 kids and looking for a local diabetes camp for this summer. I do agree that the pump should be her choice. She was diagnosed 16 months ago, so im hoping she'll give me the sign soon. I try to provide as much info as I can, but I'm sure it's fear of the unknown.

    So, your daughter was a baby when she was diagnosed? Wow! You must have been beside yourself! It is amazing that she is so independent at such a young age.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JoanneApril 4, 2012 at 6:45 PM

      Eise had just turned 1 when she was diagnosed. In fact, we had to shut down her birthday party to take her to the hospital. It was awful. We've come a long way since then.

      I've heard nothing but wonderful things about the camps. It will be awhile before Elise is old enough to attend, but I think it will be great when she does.

      Good luck and if you ever have any questions, you can always email me through my blog... there's a contact me link on my "about me" page.

      Delete
  6. UnknownApril 5, 2012 at 11:33 AM

    Thanks Joanne, I'm sure I will!

    ReplyDelete

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