Type 1 Writes - Diabetes Blog
  • About Me
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Speaking and Writing

Bolus

Post Pizza Lows

October 20, 2016 by Frank 3 Comments

I had Pizza for dinner on Sunday night. Coincidentally, it was a meal identical to the one I’d eaten for dinner the Sunday prior.

giphy (1)

Pizza is one of those foods that I could simply eat and eat and eat, and easily lose count of how many slices I’ve had. I’ve been playing around with extended boluses on my pump a lot lately. Although I was extremely tempted to eat more, I behaved and stuck with two slices to keep my experiment on par with the pizza I ate the weekend prior.

Last Sunday, I had estimated 30g of carbs per slice, and gave a 30/70 split bolus extended over 4 hours. I went low on the tail end of the bolus, which carried through into the night and left me hypo again after midnight.

This week, I went for 25g of carbs per slice, and gave a 40/60 split over 3 hours. Levels were smooth sailing through the first two hours of the bolus. By the time I entered my third hour, insulin for 40 of the 50g of carbs had been delivered. Levels were still steady, and I had an inkling that I needed to cancel the remainder of that bolus.

Intuition proved right, and I was bordering on hypo territory within an hour of cancelling the bolus. By some strange miracle I managed not to over treat my hypo, and ended up at a perfect 5.9 mmol by bedtime.

By 1.37am, I found myself slightly hypo at 3.8. Being uber cautious not to over treat once again, I ate 5 skittles. When I woke up at 5.45am, my blood sugar was 3.4. I honestly don’t know what I felt more guilty for – running low for more than four hours or for sleeping over it.

You know how some people with diabetes say that certain foods just aren’t worth the effort? I’m starting to think that Pizza might be mine.

When I want to eat a donut, I can simply back up the math with a pre-bolus and avoid the skyrocketing levels.

But with Pizza, the effort is full on.

The low defies logic. I’m struggling to understand how I could end up so low. I find it impossible to believe a slice of pizza had fewer than 20g of carbs in it. I’m doubtful I need to spread out my extended bolus for longer than 4 hours. No matter how many different variations of extended boluses that I try, I always seem to end up low on the tail end.

Then there’s the night spent warding off lows. It’s been a while since I’ve had a night like that one. Sure, I still wake myself through the night to check my blood sugar levels. Some nights small correction doses are needed. But I normally go back to sleep and wake up in range by morning without even remembering anything. Nights where I wake up sweaty and shaking are a rarity these days. Yet an extended insulin bolus that runs much closer to my bedtime than normal, was enough to bring me back to the days of Lantus lows.

I never thought I’d say it, but maybe the day has come that Pizza is not so bolus-worthy anymore.

Like This Post? Share It!

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in: Diabetes and Food, Hypos Tagged: Bolus, Extended Bolus, Food, Hypos, Pizza

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Frank. Welcome to my blog about life with type 1 diabetes.

RECEIVE NEW POSTS BY E-MAIL

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

Type 1 Writes

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Tweets by FrankSita

RECENT COMMENTS

  • Tony Sangster on Fifteenth lap around the sun.
  • Review: The First Year on Control IQ – Type 1 Writes - Wellness Wealth Craft on A Review of Dexcom G6
  • infofeb9155d4f6 on Holi-daze
  • infofeb9155d4f6 on Holi-daze
  • infofeb9155d4f6 on Review: The First Year on Control IQ

THE ARCHIVES

  • May 2025 (1)
  • January 2024 (1)
  • January 2023 (1)
  • April 2021 (2)
  • February 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (6)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • November 2020 (2)
  • October 2020 (3)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (4)
  • July 2020 (9)
  • June 2020 (6)
  • May 2020 (7)
  • April 2020 (6)
  • March 2020 (3)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (8)
  • December 2019 (6)
  • November 2019 (7)
  • October 2019 (6)
  • September 2019 (6)
  • August 2019 (10)
  • July 2019 (6)
  • June 2019 (7)
  • May 2019 (7)
  • April 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (3)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (7)
  • November 2018 (9)
  • October 2018 (10)
  • September 2018 (10)
  • August 2018 (12)
  • July 2018 (12)
  • June 2018 (10)
  • May 2018 (10)
  • April 2018 (11)
  • March 2018 (6)
  • February 2018 (10)
  • January 2018 (10)
  • December 2017 (10)
  • November 2017 (10)
  • October 2017 (5)
  • September 2017 (10)
  • August 2017 (13)
  • July 2017 (13)
  • June 2017 (6)
  • May 2017 (13)
  • April 2017 (8)
  • March 2017 (11)
  • February 2017 (8)
  • January 2017 (10)
  • December 2016 (6)
  • November 2016 (11)
  • October 2016 (8)
  • September 2016 (9)
  • August 2016 (14)
  • July 2016 (14)
  • June 2016 (14)
  • May 2016 (21)
  • April 2016 (17)
  • March 2016 (14)
  • February 2016 (16)
  • January 2016 (16)
  • December 2015 (13)
  • November 2015 (17)
  • October 2015 (19)
  • September 2015 (19)
  • August 2015 (18)
  • July 2015 (20)
  • June 2015 (18)
  • May 2015 (14)
  • April 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (1)

CATEGORIES

  • Continuous Glucose Monitors (17)
  • Dealing with Diabetes (112)
  • Diabetes Advocacy (88)
  • Diabetes and Emotions (38)
  • Diabetes and Food (58)
  • Diabetes and Foot Care (1)
  • Diabetes and Healthcare Professionals (51)
  • Diabetes and the Festive Season (17)
  • Diabetes and the Online Community (64)
  • Diabetes and Travel (41)
  • Diabetes at Work (11)
  • Diabetes Blog Week (15)
  • Diabetes Burnout (25)
  • Diabetes Gear (8)
  • Diabetes Musings (316)
  • Diabetes Tech (55)
  • Diagnosis (25)
  • Glucose Monitoring (21)
  • Hypos (22)
  • Insulin Pumps (81)
  • Multiple Daily Injections (35)
  • Peer Support (24)
  • Physical Activity (5)
  • Studying With Diabetes (1)
  • T1 Talk (3)
  • Talking About Diabetes (2)

Copyright © 2025 Type 1 Writes - Diabetes Blog.

Lifestyle WordPress Theme by themehit.com

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: