I have the problem that my body reacts randomly to everything. When i exercise my blood sugar spikes instead of drops, unless I'm swimming. When i test less than 6 times a day my blood sugars go everywhere, but if i test 6 times or more they stay fairly level. Out of the soon to be 14 years I've been diabetic my lowest A1C was around 8.4 two months after starting the pump then it went back up. I have to test so much 6-10 times a day, that my hands are always frozen and after a week i can barely get enough blood for my tester, which is the BD paradigm link, one of the smallest amounts of blood needed out there. Anyone else have any, all, or some of these problems?
Kimberly,
I have pretty much the same problem when I exercise! My blood sugar (regardless of the level it is before I exercise) always seems to be much higher after a workout. However, about 7 hours later my blood sugar drops dramatically. In addition, since I started seriously exercising about a month ago, my blood sugars will sometimes drop two or three times during a three hour period. I'm getting a pump though (right not I take three shots of humalog and one shot of lantus a day), so hopefully I'll be able to get those sugars to stop dropping so much!
Some endos I have been to see blood sugar control as a science, but I like to think of it as more of an art (we can do everything according to the book, and our blood sugars are not what they should be).
So you are definitely not alone with the crazy blood sugars!
Christie
sometimes when i excercise, it gets higher and others, it drops. sometimes i`ll sit around reading, and it drops low 3 hours after ive eaten and was high before i ate. i dont understand it one bit.
Kimberly,
There can be so many factors here. YOu should really talk to your doctor or CDE to try and figure it out.
What exactly are you doing before you exercise? Do you eat dinner? do you turn down your basal before? or during? do you take off your pump for exercise? are you drinking plenty of water? If you aren't drinking water during exercise you can get exercise ketones do you check for that ? What is your number before you exercise during and after? Are you doing aerobics or weight training?
The Joslin Diabetes website has an article on Why Blood Sugars Raise After Exercise click that link. Maybe that can help.
[quote user="Gina"]
Kimberly,
There can be so many factors here. YOu should really talk to your doctor or CDE to try and figure it out.
What exactly are you doing before you exercise? Do you eat dinner? do you turn down your basal before? or during? do you take off your pump for exercise? are you drinking plenty of water? If you aren't drinking water during exercise you can get exercise ketones do you check for that ? What is your number before you exercise during and after? Are you doing aerobics or weight training?
The Joslin Diabetes website has an article on Why Blood Sugars Raise After Exercise click that link. Maybe that can help.
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Just to help clear things up, I have my BS in nutrition and am working toward getting my CDE. My doctors dont understand it either because there is no rhyme or reason. I can have a blood sugar of 110 before exercise and spike into the 300's after for no reason. I leave my pump on unless i swim. If im swimming i always go low. I eat dinner, my basals only get adjusted when i have patterns of highs or lows. Otherwise i dont change them for exercise. I drink more than enough water and check keytones. I never have them unless Im sick. the type of exercise makes no difference, except of course swimming, no matter what it will climb. Just like when i start topick up a pattern in my blood sugars and get ready to make a change, my blood sugars change before i can do anything to correct the problem. Like i noticed lately that i tend to raise between my 7 and 9 am tests, i saw this pattern for three days and then on the forht and fith days i dropped instead. my body just does its own thing for no reason.
Right now i have the problem that my left eyeball swells for no reason, and since december when i close my eye it hurts. My doctors cant figure out why because there is no apparent cause, so i have pain meds to help me sleep. Thats just an example of how my body does its own thing. I like to joke with my friends that my body hates me, and is trying to kill me...lol
You're definitely not the only one. After I went on the OmniPod in the fall of 2007 my blood sugars were the best they'd been in years. But sinse the beginning of this year, 2009, my sugars have gone completely out of wack. There is absolutely no rhythme nor reason to them and forget about trying to find a pattern. I've been looking for them for months haven't been able to find a single one. The only thing I can come close to calling a pattern is that during the week I run high all day long, the weekends are usually better, and whenever and whatever I seem to eat makes my sugar go high. This morning I was 123 had a poached egg with a little cheese and took a little insulin to bring my BS of 123 a lil closer to 100 during breakfast when I checked about 2 hours later I was 230. How the heck does that crap happen? I seem to be a complete mystery to my doctor as well.
If you don't mind, i would love to take a look at your numbers. I'm really good at noting little things that most people miss. even my Dr.'s. I also find it useful to include time, bs, carbs, bolus, basal and of course correcion & meal ratios.... but thats up to you. I'm always willing to try to help figure things out. I've been working on mine for the last month now and seem to get them down better now...but there are days that they do whatever they want.
My daughter (age 7, diagnosed at age 4) use to have this problem. Her numbers didn't seem to have any pattern to themat all. It turns out food allergies can cause this to happen. In my daughter's case, it was lactose intolerance (easily fixed by taking lactaid when she has milk products). I hope this helps.
I always say, The only thing consistant about diabetes is that it's inconsistant.
[quote user="smotto"]
My daughter (age 7, diagnosed at age 4) use to have this problem. Her numbers didn't seem to have any pattern to themat all. It turns out food allergies can cause this to happen. In my daughter's case, it was lactose intolerance (easily fixed by taking lactaid when she has milk products). I hope this helps.
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I have o food allergies, so thats not in my cards
I'm with Haidee, diabetes is a really unpredictable thing. The best thing to do is to work really closely with your doctors to try and get control of it all, it may mean different treatment methods, or diet changes, you know all of that. But it is defiantly worth getting tested for things that may be throwing your levels out, even though you don't have any diagnosed food allergies, it's still worth testing for things like celiac disease, as you may not even realise the damage it's causing (I knew someone who was 52 before they found out they had celiac disease!). Thyroid gland functioning and a list of other things can all have big impacts.
Although, you seem smart enough to realise all this stuff one your
own! If it remains an unknown puzzle (and your body continues trying to kill
itself! ;] ) the best you can do is work with what you've got. Staying on your
pump is probably the best option, as it's one of the easiest ways to correct
high levels. Being the age you are, your body is still going under changes and
if your lucky, things may start to settle down soon!
I hope you can get on top of things a bit better, but it sounds like your
trying hard, and that’s all your doctors can expect from you!
Good Luck!
I completely agree :)
I've decided that my Diabetes is just a puzzle that needs to be solved. I am type 1 (obviously) but I have a nice twist to mine, I am also insulin resistent. So the only thing consistent about my diabetes is that its completely inconsistant.
~Violet
I have to say that I am about ready to give up. All I do is check blood sugars, give insulin, and follow all of the rules. I do everything I am suppose to (except the occasional side track!) and there have been no results. I am constantly fighting hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and everything that goes along with both of them. I have had diabetes for 5 years now, and I don't know what to do. My doctor and I have tried everything - vials, pens, CGMs, and now I am on a trial pump. Even that doesn't seem to be working. I don't mean to sound discouraging - but I have been looking all over for someone who shares my frustrations too, so I am venting. I know some people with Juvenile Diabetes who don't have to work very hard at all to get their blood sugars under control. No matter what I do, nothing works. I sometimes randomly break down in tears because I feel so helpless. I feel like no one believes me when I tell them I am really doing what I am suppose to. Luckily, I have finally convinced my doctors of this, and since then they has been trying a lot harder to help me. She has lent me some CGMS and now a pump. Sorry I am not encouraging you, but I feel helpless like you.
Here Here. Its ok to not be supportive in this thread. Thats why i posted it, To find out if anyone else is as frustrated as I am. I dont want "its going to be fine" or "work with your Dr" type messages. Been there and done that. I totally get the frustration and crying. I just started the minimed 522 with sensor and so far that seems like it should help some. I went on the CGM's three times with my Doctors, to no real avail. Every single one shows that i spike above 400 while i sleep. No matter what we have tried we have yet to get rid of this spike, we have done higher basal rates and everything, those just causes me to go low. I was testing 6-10 times a day before starting on this (Ive been on it since 4/14/09) its hard to keep that up forever. My fingers would stop bleeding on me. Its very annoying. I would love to chat with you more either over the phone, email, or an instant messenger. I think we would have a lot in common and I may be able to try suggesting something that you may not have tried yet. My email is diabeticcowgirl@charter.net, and if you have any instant messengers let me know which and I can give you my ID's so we can chat.
I can relate to so much of what you have written. I too am on the pump. It does help but still my blood sugars are all over the place. When they are suppose to do one thing they do the opposite. My doctor is constantly trying to get the right balance. It can be frustrating and overwhelming. I think I am doing everything I am suppose to and then some other thing gets in the way.
Kimberly,
You sound like you have a stronger background in the scientific part of this than I do, but I did have a dr. explain that the increase in blood sugar after exercising is due to adrenaline. Similar to how stress will spike a BG, post exercising blood sugars will be really high and erratic. If I eat a little protein before, like some peanut butter crackers or something, it really helps to stabilize because the protein, as you know, breaks down a lot slower and is there to catch you as your levels come crashing down after exercising.
Hope that helps a little bit.
I've been a type 1 diabetic for 12 yrs and on an insulin pump for most of that time. I am consistently let down by my blood sugar readings. I feel as if I try to do the correct things and yet the response I get is seldom positive. It is difficult to remain upbeat and optimistic when your blood sugars are not consistent. I have recently been told by my healthcare team that I am a "patternless diabetic" and for some reason that makes me feel completely defeated. How am I suppose to continue to work on this when there are no patterns? The endocrinologists base everything on patterns. I am not sure how to cope with this. My mood often feels as up and down as my blood sugars.
Yikes!! I feel for you but know that after over 43 years with the disease I test an average of 6 times a day or more depending on how I am doing that day. I also am usually not stable in my blood sugars and can either spike or drop after exercising. I have been told that exercise can last 2-3 days from when you do it.
If there is a Diabetes Research Institute near you it may behoove you to contact an endocrinologist there who can work closely with you to try to help you out a bit more. I am working with an endocrinologist I grew up with and it takes time and effort to maintain a balance if there is any for a brittle person with diabetes. Hope that helps a bit!!
How are you sure that you don't have allergies? Are you relying on blood tests or reduction diets?
Lastly, how is your blood pressure doing? This is a crazy idea on my part, but I figure why not.... Try checking you blood pressure before, during, and after swimming. And measure it in a similar way versus other forms of land exercise. There is quite a lot of research suggesting that swimming has a lot of cardiovascular benefits. I would like to see if there is a difference in your blood pressure in these two circumstances.
I know how you feel I cant seem to keep my Blood sugar down these days.. You might want to try the sensor that hooks to your pump.. Its another sitck but you can at least see what your blood sugars are doing and know if they are about to spike or drop.. I have had the sensor for about 3 months now.. Its not too bad its just something else that you have to be hooked up too.. but the good thing is that after you figure out what your body is doing you can always take it off untill you notice the spiking again.. It has really helped me my A1C went from 13.9 down to 7.5. Just think about it....