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

Hyperglycemia

One Messy Night.

June 29, 2018 by Frank 1 Comment

I was ready to go to bed.

As I watched my blood sugar slowly climb into the 10s, I gave a unit of insulin to correct. Thinking about the after effects of stacking my dinnertime insulin on top of a late afternoon coffee and one of Nonna’s biscotti, I set a temporary basal rate of 150% for 2 hours to help that insulin better do its job.

I set the alarm on my iPhone for 1am and switched off the lamp on my bedside. With a nagging feeling of doubt as I turned on my side, I fumbled for my pump in the dark and gave another unit.

DURN! DURN! DURN! DURN! 

I hastily fumbled for my phone to silence the shrieking alarm, before switching on my bedside lamp again. As I swiped my Libre reader, I was half expecting see blood sugars heading into low territory.

Instead, I was actually a pleasant 13.8.

I was in disbelief. However, I thought it could be plausible after having pasta for dinner. I reached for my insulin pump, and gave a rage bolus of 3 units.

ZZZZ! ZZZZ! ZZZZ! ZZZZ!

My rage clearly wasn’t enough to fuel the delivery of this bolus, which was stopped in its tracks by a very irritating occlusion alarm that was hissing and vibrating at me for attention.

I ripped the cap off my infusion site, which revealed a perfectly clear looking site. A poke and prod around the area showed no signs of any discomfort. I primed several units of insulin out of my pump line, watching it spill over the cannula and pool around the cap to satisfy my paranoia. I held my pump line up in the air and ran it through my fingers, watching it like a hawk for signs of air bubbles.

With my paranoia satisfied, I reattached the cap to my infusion site and delivered the remainder of the bolus that my pump had cut off. I set another temporary basal rate of 150% for the next two hours, setting my alarm for 3am.

When I stirred at 2.17am, feeling rather uncomfortable, my Libre reader revealed a reading of 17.7 and rising. I hastily grabbed my pump and went to deliver another rage bolus of 5 units.

ZZZZ! ZZZZ! ZZZZ! ZZZZ!

That hissing, vibrating occlusion alarm sounded once again, stopping my rage bolus in it’s tracks.

By this point, I was furious as I flung my bed covers away from me and was forced out of bed.

Finally, I ripped the infusion site away from my stomach. There was no kink in the cannula. There were no signs of blood, bruising or bleeding on my stomach where I’d placed the site. Everything looked fine, and I was convinced I had just wasted a perfectly good site.

After inserting a fresh infusion site, setting a temporary basal rate and delivering my third rage bolus of the night, I was finally able to close my eyes.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that I’d slept over my 6.25am alarm. I gulped down my coffee, showered, and hastily threw two pieces of frozen Pane Di Casa into my bag to toast at work.

I soldiered on, reminded of just how much responsibility rests on my shoulders every day.

Like This Post? Share It!

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in: Insulin Pumps Tagged: BGLs, Blood Sugars, Hyper, Hyperglycemia, Insulin, Insulin Pump, Occlusion

Diabetes at 3.14am

March 27, 2018 by Frank 2 Comments

I stirred in my sleep, registering the blaring red 3.14 on the clock radio beside my bed. Pulling my left arm out from under the covers, I fumbled around for the switch at the base of my bedside lamp. When my desk was finally illuminated in cosy warm white light, I heaved the remainder of my body up from the bed, reaching for my meter and test strips.

This certainly wasn’t the number that I was expecting to see, considering the full 2 unit correction that I had given prior to bedtime for a 10.7. (And in case you’re wondering, I’m only using the OneTouch Verio to deplete my final box of strips…)

I immediately ripped my pump away from it’s resting place inside my inner left pocket, and gave another full correction of 3.3 units for that very uncomfortable number. My frustration was only further fuelling my actions, as I set a 50% basal rate increase for the next two hours on my pump to ensure that this correction insulin did its job.

As I flicked off the lamp and rested my body back onto my bed, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I could feel the heat emulating from my pillow, and flipped it over to the cool side. My whole body felt stuffy, presumably a consequence of the higher blood sugar.

As I lay there, tossing and turning, my mind was quickly consumed with guilt.

I wasn’t happy that it had taken me this long into the night to finally stir in my sleep and check my damn blood sugar. I felt terrible for the fact that I had been sitting there, at that very uncomfortable level, for the better part of five hours. I felt frustration, because a mere two weeks ago I was super insulin sensitive and today I feel like I’m not getting enough.

Second guessing my prior decision in the darkness, I reached for my pump and lowered that 50% temporary basal rate to 30% before clipping it back inside my pants pocket.

Trying to purge those thoughts from my mind, I began thinking about all of the positive things that I am doing in managing my diabetes, reminding myself that numbers like those are isolated occurences nowadays.

If this had happened in the middle of the day, I’d have corrected the high without giving it a second thought. But laying there in the middle of the night with nothing else on my mind to worry about, was a completely different story.

By the time I woke up on a grey Sunday morning, last night’s occurrences felt like nothing more than a dream.

Like This Post? Share It!

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in: Diabetes and Emotions, Glucose Monitoring, Insulin Pumps Tagged: Bed, BGLs, Frustration, Guilt, Hyperglycemia, Hypers, Insulin, Insulin Pump, Night, Sleep

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

  • Merinda on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Marijke Duyvendak on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Scott K. Johnson on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Frank on New Year, New Blog Post.
  • Frank on New Year, New Blog Post.

THE ARCHIVES

  • 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 (314)
  • 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 © 2023 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: