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Worries and anxiety about high blood sugars

Daisycoo said:
It’s not an easy disease to live with, @Natalie123 I got to the point of rage against the betes and decided “today” was the day I was going to live it, it was not going to live me”
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Thanks Daisy, that's really kind. I love the way you decided to not let it control you, that's a really good way to think about it.
 
Natalie123 said:
Thank @Inka I don't know to be honest, I do have better TIR with the HCL but that's probably because my mental health was awful over the last few years so I haven't really made much effort with my diabetes. I saw getting my new pump as a fresh start and an opportunity to start making an effort. I think I could probably do much better now but I can't be sure! I just wish I could intervene when the pump is giving me more insulin than I need and I can see a hypo coming or it's not giving me very much but I know from experience that it's going to go high soon.
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See, that would drive me mad - the pump giving what I know to be too much/too little insulin. Is there any way you can pause the HCL for X weeks and experiment running things by yourself? At least that would give you a chance to see if you could do better, and even if you couldn’t, it would help you make an informed choice.
 
Inka said:
See, that would drive me mad - the pump giving what I know to be too much/too little insulin. Is there any way you can pause the HCL for X weeks and experiment running things by yourself? At least that would give you a chance to see if you could do better, and even if you couldn’t, it would help you make an informed choice.
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Quite possibly. I'm considering leaving in on overnight and turning it off during the day but I don't know if I'm brave enough to do it without speaking to the hospital first.
 
Natalie123 said:
Quite possibly. I'm considering leaving in on overnight and turning it off during the day but I don't know if I'm brave enough to do it without speaking to the hospital first.
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TBH, if you had the right basal rates overnight, a pump by itself with no loop would be fine. Unless there’s something different like illness, my blood sugar pootles along overnight in pretty much a straight line - because my basals are right, including tiny amounts early in the night, then increases to deal with DP. I don’t know if you have hourly basals in your pump already? And - apologies - I can’t remember if you’ve used a pump before you got this one?
 
I think the thing you might have to be careful of with coming out of HCL is not to be too quick to react to CGM readings as they tend to exaggerate things when your levels are rising or dropping and it is very easy to see a 6.5 with a vertical downward arrow and panic thinking you are going to be hypo any minute when your Blood Glucose levels may already be levelling out but the CGM is still extrapolating to show a fast drop. That can prompt you to take carbs when you don't need to and end up high because you were never really 6.5 with a downward arrow. Similarly with levels rising rapidly and the CGM over extrapolating and making it look higher than you actually are and going higher, so it is easy to be tempted to jab a correction and then end up coming down too far because you over corrected. So you end up chasing your levels on a roller coaster, whereas if you gave it 30-40 mins longer you might see that it wasn't nearly as bad as it suggested earlier and you may not need to do anything at all.
 
rebrascora said:
I think the thing you might have to be careful of with coming out of HCL is not to be too quick to react to CGM readings as they tend to exaggerate things when your levels are rising or dropping and it is very easy to see a 6.5 with a vertical downward arrow and panic thinking you are going to be hypo any minute when your Blood Glucose levels may already be levelling out but the CGM is still extrapolating to show a fast drop. That can prompt you to take carbs when you don't need to and end up high because you were never really 6.5 with a downward arrow. Similarly with levels rising rapidly and the CGM over extrapolating and making it look higher than you actually are and going higher, so it is easy to be tempted to jab a correction and then end up coming down too far because you over corrected. So you end up chasing your levels on a roller coaster, whereas if you gave it 30-40 mins longer you might see that it wasn't nearly as bad as it suggested earlier and you may not need to do anything at all.
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This is why I ignore the arrows and look at the graphs.
I find the arrows worse than useless - they can be misleading.
 
Natalie123 said:
Thanks Daisy, that's really kind. I love the way you decided to not let it control you, that's a really good way to think about it.
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From what I’ve gathered from T1D it’s finding what works for you. Whether it’s MDI or a pump. It’s all down to you and your body. There is no right or wrong.
I stuck with the pump, pretty much raging at it until I kinda figured it out/learned the hard way to let it work for me as I have a busy lifestyle/always on the move. Literally can not sit still.
I chose the Omnipod as I have a fear of catching tubing while moving around and having to lift others in the caring I do.
Don’t get me wrong sometimes diabetes still wins and it is annoyingly frustrating but try to not let it rule.
It was my DSN that reminded me “you have to live with it, it can’t live you”. Took a while for that to sink in but one day it did and I went for it… determination is strong in my fam
If you need to get upset, cry it out, scream from the rooftops, get angry at it or just rant it out, do it!!
 
Daisycoo said:
If you need to get upset, cry it out, scream from the rooftops, get angry at it or just rant it out, do it!!
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That's exactly what any of use should feel comfortable doing - being able to just have a flipping rant whenever we happen to need one - and the really great thing about forums - in the main the people who'll read our rant, empathise! May not have had exactly the same frustration(s) - but whatever 'Type' we are, summat will frustrate us!
 
PS according to Partha, apparently I'm a legend. (Thought - more likely a Leg End, perhaps?) Fine. That don't cure it though!
 
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