Not Always Consistent

The past few days I’ve not Ben getting much of anything done; I’ve irritated my back somehow and haven’t been very active in any aspect. I’m having a tough time even concentrating to work on Sunday’s lesson. So, I thought I’d burn a few minutes this afternoon with an attempt, hopefully not a terrible one, at a post.

This past Sunday I had another “event” as I was teaching a lesson on the parable of the wheat and the tares. About 15 minutes into the lesson I began to fell off- sweaty, “cotton” mouth-thirsty, a bit disoriented, and having trouble speaking clearly. I remembered these symptoms being on a fact sheet my FNP gave me pointing toward hyperglycemia, high BG. I the past I’ve had hypoglycemic, low BG, episodes and they always have similar symptoms: shakiness, cold sweats, and at times a slightly nauseous feeling. I assumed I was having a hyperglycemic event and pushed on.

That day we had an appreciation dinner for our pastor after church. I also forgot my meter at home that day. This meant I couldn’t check my BG to be sure of the cause, or check it at all, for several hours. I ate safety at the dinner, avoiding many carbs with extra vigilance.

I posed the question on the diabetes support form I’ve become a member of, along with more details of the day, food I’d had, etcetera, hoping to get some experienced advice from the group. And the folks there didn’t disappoint!

What I knew, that without the meter to test, it was impossible to say for sure the cause of what happened was confirmed. But I also learned that hypoglycemic incidents can have the same symptoms as hyperglycemic ones and the majority of the “veterans” thought I was experiencing a low, not high, event. This really surprised me, especially since my past experience didn’t align with that – or did it?

After thinking long and hard about it, I realized the last time I’d had a low the symptoms were almost exactly the same as the ones I had this past Sunday. It seems that depending on a number of factors, there aren’t necessarily any constant in how one will feel during a low; you might feel one way one time and very differently the next. This unwelcome news is very unpleasant for me to learn; I was hoping “experience” would help me to predict what might be happening to my body, but that’s not the case. I can learn how foods effect me and mostly count on that, but it ends there pretty much.

At least I know now that for a type 2 diabetic lows are much more common than highs and I should be safe and treat anomalies as lows if I have no way to test. And nearly as important, maybe more so really, it was reinforced how important taking that meter with me is. It’s a shame that I can’t store an extra meter and strips in the truck (like I do with a package of glucose tabs and peanut butter packet) so I don’t have to be concerned with forgetting it. But the meter and strips, especially the strips, aren’t made to withstand the fluctuations of being left inside a vehicle for any amount of time. I reckon that the more time I “log” as a T2 the apt I’ll be to forget my essentials behind when I’m on the road.

Little Victories

There have been many changes in the past several weeks to my life, as you know. Some of them have been huge changes and others smaller ones. I had what I call a “little victory” Tuesday and wanted to share it.

As my diabetes began to effect my body, unchecked for so many months, I began to have lots of side effects that I thought were normal for one reason or another. One of these was my vision worsening. Not too long ago I had to buy stronger reading glasses, figuring that age was taking its toll on my eyes. In August after I was diagnosed I realized that the disease not age were causing this vision trouble; it was much worse than just needing stronger readers by that point, too. I hoped that as I took control of the situation my vision, and other symptoms, would get better, maybe even return to “normal”. Tuesday I was able to buy another new pair of reading glasses – in the old strength I used to use!

Sometimes we overlook the small things, like this one. But they add up to enormous achievements when stop and savor all the little victories- and sometimes that’s just the thing we need to keep us going. God is good and He provides just what we need, just when we need it; we only need to notice His blessings when they come so we can appreciate them and thank Him.

What’s There to Worry About?

Well, despite my worry, my appointment went great today! And I am doing a lot more than my medical team is used to seeing; they were really impressed with my research, logged information (diet, BG, exercise, etcetera) and especially the changes I’ve made and progress I’ve made.

My initial A1C two months ago was 14.3 (I’m a little foggy on that but it’s close); today it was – after only 60 days – 6.5!! I was really hoping to be 7 or less and I made it. I’ve “officially” by their scales lost 13 pounds, too; mine says 15 lol. And that’s intentional weight loss, unlike the 40-ish pounds I lost previously because of uncontrolled diabetes. They were very impressed how I researched the meds, looked at my own charts and data and realized Glyburide was a problem for me, not a help. And they seemed pretty amazed when I expla Alan_S and Jenny’s “test, test, test” concept to keep my BG in check all the time, or as much as I’ve been able so far; I test mostly 1 and 2 hours after meals to see how foods and things are working with my body and medicines, not, now, being as concerned with what the pre-meal number is.

My FBG has been a little high I thought since I eliminated the Glyburide; it’s usually 90-101. But she thought that was excellent. In fact, she thought my body has begun to heal and right itself remarkably well. Not to minimize my effort, having great resources to learn from and a loving, supportive family has been huge in this, but ultimately the success comes from the Designer of this body; without God’s help I’d be a worse mess than I am – in many ways!

So I reckon my anxiety was all for naught- and I’m sure glad if that! I go back for total blood panel, A1C, and a new-to-me test 24-hour protein right before Christmas. That ought to help motivate me to stay strong during the holidays!

Anxious Anticipation Today

I go in for my first real post-diagnosis doctor visit today and I’m a little nervous, though I’m not sure why. For whatever reason, I’m not having blood work today, which surprised me, so there’s no anxiety there. Well, I’ll probably have my A1C checked since that’s an in-office test, so maybe I am having some blood work done. I’m interested to see what my weight is on their scales, fully dressed, like I was last time, compared to what my scales say in my pajamas.

I’m not anxious about breaking the news that I stopped taking the Glyburide, not at all. I have all my data ready to show her; I’m taking my notebook and iPad rather than printing everything out. I can email her copies of anything she wants/needs in the office while I’m there.

While I know that my overall BG is much better, for some reason I’m a little anxious about what she is going to think. My gut tells me that she’s going to be happy, maybe even impressed with the changes and improvements I’ve made, but for some reason I have a nagging kind of dread about being wrong about that.

I finally remembered to pick up whole, old fashioned oats yesterday; it’s the first time in a very long time I have made them. I remembered something about them pretty fast this morning: they boil over in the microwave in the bowls we have. So, I started the day with a big, sticky mess and lost “x” amount of the oatmeal. Lord, please don’t let this whole day go like that.

And the Beat Goes On

This is turning out to be a tough week, and it has barely gotten started. I brought it on myself though I suppose so I oughtn’t complain.

Saturday was a busy day, though I can’t recall what we did. I do remember that I was up and about more than usual, so I burned more calories than usual; you’d think that would be a good thing but as events combined it really wasn’t.

Sunday started out as usual – bustling along trying to get ready for church, my wife, grandson and myself, and not be late; this seems to be a normal Sunday for us every other week. On the drive to church I began to feel odd: out of balance, kind of like things were moving very fast, and disoriented. I told my wife I needed to pull over and let her drive, which I did – in a stranger’s driveway.

As she took over, pointing the truck back toward home, I quickly ate three glucose tabs, figuring that my sugar must have dropped. She suggested we go to McDonald’s and get something to eat and I agreed; I needed some protein.

When we got home I check my BG and it was 128, not very high for three glucose tabs I thought. After eating my eggs, sausage and a hash brown I check it again: down to 90 already. I had crashed and was on the way to another had I not gotten the protein in me.

After thinking about it, I’d not eaten much Saturday and in my Sunday morning rush has only had a small bowl of oatmeal, sugar free of course, for breakfast before we left. All these things, including the extra exercise, had piled up on me and caused a nasty drop in my BG level. But this time it had come without the shakes and cold sweats that I normally get as it happens so I was caught unaware of what was going on.

I tried to get my BG levels evened out all day, without much success. And then I made a very poor choice: since my BG was whacked out low I thought having pizza for dinner would work out okay. That was a bad thought!

Now I’ve spent the last two days trying to get it back down again. Both days I’ve been over 100 fasting in the mornings and have been “foggy” which I absolutely hate. Another example of how events can easily pile up to make a mess and then be further worsened by our own poor choices, which reminds me of a Scripture:

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬ KJV)

Yup, of my own stupidity, not keeping a close eye on things and making good decisions, I have made myself all but miserable the last few days. Will it be the last time I do that? Probably not. But just maybe I’ll learn something from this and do it less
frequently.

One Week Experiment Results

My one week of no Glyburide has concluded and it is with happiness I report the results are good. I experienced no abnormally low readings all week, one high that I should’ve anticipated, and felt much better overall. I plan to take my charts with me to my next doctors visit and explain my test, results and the reasons I’m dropping the medication. I doubt there will be anything positive she can illuminate me with to change my mind but I will listen.

The only downside to the week was feeling so much better and having extra energy I’m not used to having that I over did it on two days this week, making the following two days non-productive. But that’s a good problem to have to relearn to live with compared to nearly passing out from just showering, for example!

You can compare this week’s chart to the one I posted last week to really see the dramatic difference.