Day Three on Insulin-not going so well

Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
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Registered: 03-25-2003
Day Three on Insulin-not going so well
15
Thu, 03-04-2004 - 10:58pm

I thought I would report in on my adventure with insulin. First off please excuse my typing if it is worse than usual. In a minute you will understand why.


I got the insulin and the syringes on Monday and I was instructed to give myself 10 units sometime between 9 and 10 PM. Drew up the insulin and looked at the syringe for a long time. Hubby asked if I wanted him to give it to me but I refused. Finally gave myself the injection. The little short needle was certainly much nicer than what we used to use. The Lantus stung a little but really wasn't too bad. Blood sugar was 120 so I didn't have a snack.


Day one got up with a fierce headache which didn't stop until I ate a larger than usual lunch. Blood sugar was 122 when I got up. It was 104 when I got home so postponed going to exercises until after dinner. Shot didn't hurt at all tonight.


Day two: Blood sugar was 115. Felt much better. Had my usual breakfast of cereal and skim milk and a tbsp of peanut butter. Went to exercises on the way home. When I got home my BS was 79. Ate my dinner with a small potato. BS at bedtime was 102 so I had a snack-1 1/2 bread exchanges and 1/2 fat. Once again the insulin stung but it really wasn't too bad.


Day three: BS was 94 this morning. Had my usual breakfast. Had 1/2 turkey sandwich and a green salad from my favorite restaurant for lucnh. Didn't really feel very good and finally at 3:30 felt like I had to go home but I was waiting for someone to come for some information. Didn't want to eat my glucerna bar because I needed to check my BS and I didn't have my meter with me. Drove home cautiously. BS was 65. Had peanut butter and crackers and some mineral water to drink. Called the CDE and starting tomorrow I am to only 1/2 of my Amaryl. I may be responding too well to the Lantus and allowing the Amaryl to work better. There is also a chance that I will need to be dropped from the study because of the hypoglycemia. So at this point I am still feeling the effects of the hypoglycemia.


Tomorrow I go to class and I need to deal with all of this plus a full day of lectures. I probably should stay home but I am really looking forward to the class. I will take my meter with me to make sure I am okay to drive 1 1/2 hours through commute traffic home. I may go and see my sister and drive home after dinner.


Nothing is ever easy for diabetic is it!

Mary Frances


cl-maryfrances40

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Avatar for happyscrapper40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 03-07-2004 - 8:24pm
well you are WINNING because you are TRYING!! Think of the millions with diabetes who have given up trying to manage their disease b/c they think it is too hard. You are our inspiration too! I have been trying harder to manage mine this last week b/c I have been reading about your struggles. I had been under a LOT of stress last weekend b/c of our standardized testing starting at school last Tuesday. Sunday and Monday my a.m. bs was 189 and 182, and my nighttime post dinner was in the 130's. I felt crappy, and had ate very little that weekend, and been terribly weepy and depressed. Made an appt. for the dr. on Monday, and got one for Thurs. afternoon, b/c of my schedule that week. Of course, bs on Tues. Weds. was normal, and on Thurs. am bs was 105. Felt great at the appt. time - they took my bs, about 3 1/2 hrs. after lunch it was 94. My PA (first time I have seen him since he left for Afghanistan in Dec. 02) looked thru my chart and log for the last few months to see how I had been doing while he was gone and while his different partners had been treating me. He said the high bs on Sunday and Monday appeared to be blips on the radar screen and may be b/c of hormonal & stress. I told him I had been having terrible hot flashes about 4 am on a regular basis that were waking me up, and I am fully menopausal since quitting my hormone replacement in October. He is going to have a Cpeptide run with my Ha1c on Thursday morning and a couple other new blood tests along with my usual battery of tests. He thinks my meds. might need changing too, but he said he would talk more about those after the tests, since I am a few weeks overdue on the Ha1c and he wants the new info. first.



I am TRYING harder to get this thing together. I got a much needed lecture about exercise from him :) and I am starting walking with a friend tomorrow again. It is so hard to get motivated about exercise in the winter.

I am trying more to get the eating plan together too. The metformin is a godsend- I never knew I could ever stand the sound of my growling stomach before- not that I think it had ever had the opportunity to growl! I hardly think about food, and when I come home in the afternoons now I don't empty the cupboard of carbohydrates. We went out to eat today to celebrate my mom's birthday, and I ordered a buffalo chicken salad instead of the chicken pasta I normally would of chosen before. I did eat a roll with garlic butter that they brought before dinner, but b/c it was taking them way too long to bring the food and I was feeling shaky, since all I had for breakfast was grapes b/c we were going out to lunch and I didn't want to eat too much.

Keeping the mind focused and together is the key to this all isn't it???

Avatar for happyscrapper40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 03-07-2004 - 8:32pm
My youngest dd gave me a tiny cat in the hat backpack for Christmas. Not knowing what to use it for, I put the extra meter and strips I got from my class in December in it with the free samples of glucose tabs. I usually carry a couple packs of cheese crackers in there too. I also got a guide for fast food at my class that I put in there. It won't hold much more! Now when I go out somewhere, I put the backpack in the car. I don't necessarily take it in with me everywhere I go, like work, since I could always send a coworker for the bag if I couldn't go get it. If we are going to be far from the car, I wear it. I don't have hypo. episodes, but sometimes I need the crackers b/c I get the shakes. Michele H.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-10-2003
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 12:32am
Mary Frances I cant remember what meter you said you use. Seems like it wasnt the freestyle. Am tempted to suggest you might want to check into getting one of the freestyle flash meters. It is really tiny, and the case for it it quite little, takes up a LOT less room, especially if you dont need to carry the instruction and log book. Since the meter saves 200 readings, you really do NOT need to. Seems like I also remember one of the other brands also has come out with a quite small sized meter. It might be useful to get one of the small Light meters even if you just use it as a backup "travel" meter.

I have been using the flash since November and so far am happy with it. I admit, i do carry some alcohol wipes, cuz when i test at my desk its just not convenient to go running to the sink to wash up! But I confess i could easily get by with only a few of them i the kit. I also found a little pink needle container from walmart(its for i think yarn needles.) it was near where they had the extreme size needles..big eyed ones for yarn etc). Cost i think about $1 and if i decide to change the lancet, that will actually hold 2-3 needles in it, which i then put in my big container when i get home.

I also have to admit since I started having some times in the winter when i would be in a hurry to leave work, and go to Y to exercise, i would accidently leave the meter at work. Thats why I got the flash so my bigger first freestyle meter is at home. The only time my flash actually stays out of my purse is at work, because then i tend to leave it on the desk to remind me to test before I got to exercise, or to test post meal.

Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 12:12pm

Hi auntydoxzz,


I saw the Flash at my conference last week. It certainly is a tiny meter and it uses the smallest amount of blood of any meter on the market. It is not much larger than the old fashioned cigarette lighters. I was in the test group for the free style that you use at home. I liked that meter also.


My insurance company won't pay for the strips for other meters than AccuCheck. I like the AccuCheck Compact and don't like the Advantage, which is the meter that I have to use for the study. But the study is only supplying me with enough strips to test once per day so I am using my own meter for the other testing.


I just reordered my husband's and my strips. Because he has a doctor's order to test 4 times per day and I have one to test twice per day he gets many more strips than I do for the same price. He got four boxes for $25 and I got one box for $25. We are both using the same kind of meter and strips. Now that doesn't seem to be the least bit fair. But thank goodness we have insurance to cover some of these things.


Have a great day,

Mary Frances


cl-maryfrances40


Co-Cl Diabetes Board

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
Thu, 03-11-2004 - 4:17am
Michelle~

Thanks for the ideas for my "emergency kit". Really appreciate it!

:-)

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