Type 1 Teaser Question

Here's one for you.

When I recently felt very low I tested my blood sugar and, sure enough, it was 52.  So, I did the right Type 1 thing and ate a couple of pieces of chocolate candy as a snack to raise my blood sugar.  (I believe they were M&M's.)  Fifteen minutes later I didn't feel much better so I tested again to find out if I should eat a few more pieces of chocolate.  5-4-3-2-1 and to my surprise my blood sugar was 439!  Humm...

What do you think I should have done next?  What the heck was going on?

(Looking for the first correct answer.)

 

hmm..

 

my guess would be to use control solution on the strips to make sure everything was okay. then wash your hands and recheck again. if your blood sugar really is that high, correct and recheck.

Oh you're good C!

Yous said it:  "Wash your hands.."  If anyone hasn't had this experience, try testing with just the tiniest invisible drop of candy (or any other sugar) on the finger you're using and see what happens.  The sugar content of candy is much greater than that of the sugar in your blood... even when you're sky high.  Even diet soda or sugar-free jello on your fingers will cause a false high reading.  I remember once testing a drop of diet coke out of curiosity, only to find out that it produces a reading in the mid-400's.  (I never tested regular Coke.)  The lesson:  Always wash you hands (or at least the finger you're using) before testing.  The reason for this is not so much to avoid germs and bacteria,  but to prevent a faulty reading.

i'm a genius. it's because i'm awesome.

To me, it sounds like your body released its own glucose to help battle a low. Chocolate, while packed with sugar, is still a slow-acting carbohydrate, so for it to start working that quickly doesn't really make sense. So, if it is not a body-induced high blood sugar, then you were probably rebounding. But, at the same time, M&M's have a habit of melting in your hands, and with a low blood sugar, sweating can occur, thus causing the M&M to bleed all over you. Ultimately, there are many different things that could have happened here. In any situation though, proceed with caution. Ha! Um, wash your hands, and recheck after another fifteen minutes. Do not risk doing more insulin on such an inconsistent reading. If the reading is still high after that, I would say do half the normal amount of insulin you would do for a blood sugar like that, and continue checking until things are back to a stable range.

Well, that was indecisive, wasn't it?

Haha, of course, I answer after the answer has been given. I feel a bit like an ass now.

[quote user="C"]

i'm a genius. it's because i'm awesome.

[/quote]

You're a genius because you're awesome -OR- you're awesome because you're a genius?

All that matters is that a positive, unwavering and well-founded self-esteem is so important
to success and happiness in life.  (It took me years to develop self-esteem and a positive
self-image.)  You're a genius, you're awesome and you know it!  Yes!

 

 

 

haha. thanks paul! i usually fake it, but you can only fake it so long before you start to believe it :o)

[quote user="Joshua Reed"]

Haha, of course, I answer after the answer has been given. I feel a bit like an ass now.

[/quote]

Ah!  But you got the correct answer!  This really did happen to me and I was puzzled
for a minute.  I thought it was worth mentioning because not knowing this could be
disastrous.  What if I decided to give myself a bolus to bring down the high reading
when I was actually low?

 

[quote user="C"]

haha. thanks paul! i usually fake it, but you can only fake it so long before you start to believe it :o)

[/quote]

AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) uses this popular catchphrase for doubting new members: "Fake it 'til you make it."

 

sadly, i already knew that. because i've been there. (that's where i got it)

Yep...Been there...Done that.

I tested "HI" after refilling a tube of glucose tabs one afternoon last year.

Washed my hands----> 138.

sounds like you might want check those strips... they might be bad. 

So Paul what we learned from you is that while we may have thought you were a genius, you too are at the same level as the rest of us humans. I would have guessed what C did as well. But in truth in the low state you were I am glad to here that you were logical enough to realize that this was wrong and you should wash your hands and recheck. Some people might have just corrected and moved on...

It's kind of amazing that in 40 years with Type 1, I never recall having had this experience of an obviously false high reading before.  So I guess in combination with the hypoglycemic confusion I was perplexed at first.  I should also mention that I grew up in a time when most people weren't as conscientious about washing their hands as we are today.  This experience, however, made me wonder how often and how much food-contaminated hands affected my readings to a less obvious extent in the past.

On the subject of washing hands, I want to share this funny and clever email a contemporary friend of mine sent me recently. I apologize if you've seen it already.  Otherwise... enjoy!

 

Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 5:04 PM
Subject: No matter what our kids

 No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,
 WE ARE AWESOME !!!!
OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF !!!!

 

 
To Those of  Us  Born 
1930 - 1979

 
At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno. If you don't read anything else, please
read what he said.

 
Very well stated, Mr. Leno..

 
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's,
60's and 70's!!

 
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

 

 
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

 
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered
with bright colored lead-base paints.

 

 
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes,
we had baseball caps
not helmets on our heads.

 
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

 

 
Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

 
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

  

 
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

  

 
We ate cupcakes made with Lard, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank  FLAV-OR- AID made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight.   WHY?

 
Because we were always outside playing....that's why!

 
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on..
No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY.

 
  We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride them down the hill,
only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem

 
  We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's,
no surround-sound or CD's,
no cell phones,
no personal computers,
no Internet and no chat rooms.

 
   
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

 
   
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. 

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

 
We ate worms and mud pies
made from dirt, and
the worms did not live in us forever.

  

 
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
  
 

 
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

 

 

 
 Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn
to deal with disappointment.

 
Imagine that!! 

 

 
 The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! 

 

 
These generations have produced some of the best
risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

 
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. What can kids today do besides push buttons.

 
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

 

 
If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! 

 
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

 

 
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

 

 

 
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

 
~ 
The quote of the month is by
Jay Leno:

 
'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' 

 

 
For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this. 

 

 
For the rest of us...pass this on.

[quote user="Paul Glantzman"]

[quote user="Joshua Reed"]

Haha, of course, I answer after the answer has been given. I feel a bit like an ass now.

[/quote]

Ah!  But you got the correct answer!  This really did happen to me and I was puzzled
for a minute.  I thought it was worth mentioning because not knowing this could be
disastrous.  What if I decided to give myself a bolus to bring down the high reading
when I was actually low?

 

[/quote]

Paul,

Correcting lows with chocolate isn't a good idea because of what Josh said. With the fat etc..You should always use glucose or another fast acting carbohydrate.

I have taken a correction in the middle of a low blood sugar when I have over corrected and went on a total binge.

everyone knows their own body, how it will react to food, and how to correct a low blood sugar. with all of paul's diabetes experience, i'm sure he's capable of deciding whether or not chocolate is a good way to treat his low.

Thank you C.  I very rarely eat chocolate, although I've heard it's quite good for you (and should probably eat more of it, especially since I don't drink any alcoholic beverages, such as wine, anymore).  The cocoa beans contain anti-oxidants which have been proven to be especially beneficial to people with high risk factors for cardiovascular disease.  This, unfortunately, means ALL people with Type 1 diabetes.  Here's just one of the many references to the health benefits of chocolate on the internet:

[View:http://www.hersheys.com/nutrition-professionals/chocolate/chocolate-health-nutrition/health.aspx:700:700]

[quote user="Paul Glantzman"]

Thank you C.  I very rarely eat chocolate, although I've heard it's quite good for you (and should probably eat more of it, especially since I don't drink any alcoholic beverages, such as wine, anymore).  The cocoa beans contain anti-oxidants which have been proven to be especially beneficial to people with high risk factors for cardiovascular disease.  This, unfortunately, means ALL people with Type 1 diabetes.  Here's just one of the many references to the health benefits of chocolate on the internet:

[View:http://www.hersheys.com/nutrition-professionals/chocolate/chocolate-health-nutrition/health.aspx:700:700]

[/quote]

I <3 Dark Chocolate!!! If I get Chocolate that is over 85% Cocoa, it does not even really affect my BG.  I love Scharffenberger 88% Cocoa!  Also when it is that rich, a little goes a long way!