So I live in Texas and am not used to cold weather, and well lately it has been extremely cold! I think the cold may be causing me to have lower numbers. I feel low all time even when i'm not and i have been dropping ridiculously fast. I was diagnosed about 8 mths ago so i'm pretty sure i'm also still honeymooning which is probably not helping with these lows. My problem is that i have to eat a lot more to correct these lows and i'm gaining weight. I've gained about 15 pounds since i was diagnosed. I haven't been able to exercise either because even if i do precarb before, i go low during or after and just have to eat more to correct it which makes it seem pointless. I've already lowered my lantus dose but it hasn't helped much. I don't know what else to do! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :)
Cold usually raises my blood sugar. My un-professional opinion is that you're still honeymooning. You may need to drop your Lantus even more. Are you taking any short acting insulin at meals? If so, this many need to be cut too.
Are you eating more each day than before you were diagnosed? If so, the only solution to avoid gaining weight is to avoid the lows so you don't have to eat to cover them. If you're eating about the same but still gaining weight, it's probably that you're finally absorbing all the calories you're eating. When blood sugar is high, you just flush those calories out. Sounds like a cool weight loss trick, but it's brutal to your body and will make you feel terrible long term.
I live in Minne-snow-ta, and I have to deal with the weather fluctuations every year as well. I notice a change in my insulin needs from summer to winter. You'll just have to do your best to adjust dosages to your needs.
Temperature affects my bg. I go low in heat but I have a friend that goes high in heat so it definatley could be the cold affecting your bg. I didn't have a honeymoon stage, though, so I don't know how that would affect your bg. I also gained 15 pounds after I was diagnosed but once I got my sugars steadied out my weight steadied out too. My advice would be to focus on your bg and once you feel you've got a good handle on your numbers then focus on your weight.
Also, you can try lower calorie things when you go low. Sometimes instead of juice, which is 100 calories a box, I have an unsweetened apple sauce (my fave is mixed/country berry), which is only 50 calories. I also noticed that the Dex 4 glucose tabs I use are really low calorie. And they all work quickly.
Do you take fast acting insulin before meals? If so don't take any with the meal you eat before you exercise. You may still find you go low but not as bad so you won't need to have as much to correct it.
I'm totally with you on the cold weather causing low blood sugar. I'm pretty sure that heat also drops mine, which has made taking showers a little difficult in the past. Can you schedule your exercise times around when you would normally eat and not cover some of the food you're eating with insulin? I don't know if you're exercising outside, but maybe you could try exercising in a warmer place? Hopefully you can figure out a solution...exercise + lows is so frustrating!
Thanks for the advice! This has just been pretty frustrating. I am currently taking fast acting insulin before meals so i'll probably lower the amount i'm taking or just not take any insulin for breakfast because I usually work out around 5:30 am. Hopefully that will prevent the mid-morning lows? But yeah i guess it makes sense that running outside probably isn't the best idea right now. I also recently found out that i will be starting on the pump Feb. 24 so maybe that will help with the random lows i'm having through out the day as well. Thanks again for the support!
When I correct my son's lows, we used to use glucose tabs but found out that for whatever reason it was not raising his glucose like it used to. He was eating 10 to 15 tabs and not even going anywhere when he retested. We talked to the doctor and he said that he could drink some juice. This has been working great so far! Before any physical activity he will either have a fruit snack or drink 8oz of fruit punch (which is about 25 carbs). Talk to your doctor maybe this could work for you too that way you don't have to consume so many extra calories.