Sleeping Through Lows

I don’t get a full night’s sleep. Ever. 

  

It comes with the territory, really. Diabetes doesn’t play nice during the day, so why would it at night? Every time I wake up in the night, I immediately take stock of my body. Am I dizzy? Are my extremities numb? Those are a couple of my sleepy-brain low blood sugar symptoms. 

In all honesty, I should be waking up more in the middle of the night. Not because of a low blood sugar, but rather to check my blood sugar. 

Night checks are one of the best ways to lower your A1C. It doesn’t make sense to ignore your bg overnight. After all, you spend 16 hours awake, bending end over end to make sure you’re within range, and then just disregard it for 8 hours? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. 

Its easy to think “My blood sugar is fine through the night or else I’d wake up more often!” But that is simply not true. According to this article the average diabetic doesn’t wake up to 75% of their low blood sugars. That is scary! Yet I know it’s true, because even when I have the Dexcom screaming in my ear for 3 hours straight, I often times don’t wake up. 

I’m currently on a CGM break, which I usually do every couple of months, so I’m flying blind every day, unaware of highs and lows unless I’m frequently testing or manage to feel one when it gets really bad. Two nights in a row, I’ve woken up in the mid-50s. 

  
The CGM technology is so wonderful for helping keep track of yourself overnight, but I really need to put in more effort to make my overnight numbers better if I want to reach my A1C goals. 

Back At It

I took a slightly involuntary break from my CGM. In the middle of September, my Enlite serter got doused in Root Beer and wouldn’t insert correctly anymore. So I took a break, and then it became an extended break, and then I finally got around to ordering a new serter and it came today.

So, for the past month, my BGs probably haven’t been all that great. But sometimes, you need a mental health break. I still tested my sugar, still corrected for highs, still bolused appropriately for everything I ate, didn’t go crazy with bad meals… however I didn’t work nearly as hard to stay within my perfect narrow range.

It was a nice break of sorts, but it’s time to be back at it. So I’m attached to two devices once again rather than one.

In other news, we shot our last session of the year, so I’m in full-on editing mode. Maybe I’ll share some awkward behind-the-scenes photos as I come across them in editing.

Accountability 9/19/14

It’s been a crazy month so far. Ever since we returned from California, everything has been GO GO GO! We’ve shot two weddings and a maternity session so far this month, with another wedding tomorrow and one more next week. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

A brief illness combined with the GO GO GO has meant for some crazy blood sugars. I haven’t been on the CGM since the 11th (well, midday on the 12th) until today because I just needed a break, both mentally and physically, which is why I don’t have a graph for that week.

This report shows my sugar trends for the past eight weeks. Can I just say how happy I am to see that my average BG reading on my finger sticks and on my CGM are within 5 points of each other? And also that 140-145!!! If this is true, then my A1C is roughly 6.5 – 6.7 which is amazing because my target A1C is 7.0!

Be expecting more posts soon once things slow down a little bit. 😉 I have some exciting reviews coming up and lots more photos of my adventures!

Accountability 8/15/14

Last week was great.

This week was terrible.

Partially due to completely incorrect sensor readings (showing 300 when I’m 190, or 50 when I’m 80). And partially other factors. Bad weeks happen, but I’m still pretty proud of myself. My average BG is right around 140, which is awesome!

I need to get in and actually get my A1C officially checked, but I just don’t want to. I haaaaaaaate getting my blood drawn… But if my average is really between 140-160 then that would mean my A1C is somewhere between 6.5 and 7.2. When I was on injections (and actually DOING the injections like I was supposed to, which is a story for another post) I pulled a 7.5 A1C, so anything better than a 7.5 is success in my book.

Accountability 7/29/14

I am SO EXCITED. My sensor average was 131 for the week. Amazing! That’s the best average I’ve had since being diagnosed. Of course, today I’m riding hard on the diabetes roller-coaster with a few rage boluses, but I am so happy with the past week that it makes everything better. Plus I set a new record on my sensor… 12.5 days! Woohoo!

Accountability

Part of the reason I started this blog was to keep myself accountable. I set a goal range of 85-175 with the intention of staying within that range as much as humanly possible while still living a happy, healthy life.

Here are my sensor readings over the past 3 weeks.