Sometimes, though, a low comes along that just plain stinks. Yesterday I was feeling fine, until suddenly I felt like my vision was getting dark. It’s hard to describe, I didn’t see spots or anything, it just seemed like everything wasn’t as bright as it had been. I looked at my CGM, which was holding steady in the 90s. When the weird vision thing continued, I decided to test.
I was sure that couldn’t be right. So I tested again. (Oh, and don’t mind my meter bling. I did that at the JDRF booth at the Friends for Life expo hall. My other meter has a turtle. It makes me happy!)
That was all the confirmation I needed to grab my “extreme low” treatment of choice, a big spoon of chocolate frosting. As I ate it, my CGM “low predicted'” alert blares - which tells me I must have dropped pretty darn fast.
These “out of nowhere” lows that are so very low are pretty scary. I can’t think of any good reason for that low - no new site, no time on the treadmill, nothing. And I hated hearing the fear in Pete’s voice when I told him about it over the phone - fear because he was away on business and wouldn’t be back until today. I also hated that I spent the night feeling like crap and fighting to bring down a high caused by over-treating or my body spilling glucose . . . . or probably a combination of both.
Honestly, I don’t know how to end this post. Lows can be scary. Lows can spring up out of nowhere. But lows happen. We do our best to avoid them, we treat them when they pop up, we try not to let them scare us too much, and we carry on. Just another day with diabetes.
I feel your lows! My day is very similar to the one you had yesterday! I'm glad your OK and I'm sending you all type of HUGS!
ReplyDeleteMy heart skipped a beat when I saw those numbers. Hope you came up fast and with no rebound.
ReplyDeleteJ uses frosting too when he's super low. He says his teeth hurt to chew.
Blech to lows, hugs to you!
You have no idea (okay, maybe SOME idea) how much I appreciate this post. You're not be alone in the fright, anger, and frustration that comes with lows. I'm right there with you.
ReplyDeleteScary indeed! I'm glad you were ok. I'm usually ok with lows too but those are a whole different ballgame.
ReplyDeleteI hate those kinds of lows!
ReplyDeleteThose are the worst lows! Especially when you have no idea what was causing them. We had a bad heat wave last week, and it had me running super low the whole week! I felt like all I was doing was eating! Chocolate frosting is a good idea, too, I'll have to log that one away for use another day! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, to see that on the meter has to just be so scary. My son's never gone into the 20s, but the 30s were disgusting enough!
ReplyDeleteAnd to think I freak out when I hit the 50's! My father had a 43 this week for no reason at all, and though I don't think it scared him, it certainly scared me!
ReplyDeleteLows like that scare me to no end. My extreme low treatment of choice is a juice box-that's when I get under 65. I've never seen a number below 54, so I don't know what I would do if I hit the 30's...probably drink two juice boxes?
Also, very scary that your CGM didn't pick up on that! I hope you don't get any more scary lows, at least not for a very long while!
Oh Karen. I'm so glad you were able to treat it by yourself though.
ReplyDeleteLove your bling and the fact that it makes you happy!
SO SCARY, I think I'd flip a lid if I saw that number on my son's meter. One weird thing...our nurse told us for an extreme low, to not have actual "frosting", but gel frosting (in the little tubes) instead b/c actual frosting has more fat and actually takes longer to raise your BG. I'm assuming that is not the case for you since it worked great, but just a thought I thought I'd pass on just in case. Good luck and thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGood grief Karen!
ReplyDeleteGlad you fixed it but - I think I'd faint.
Urgh, I totally relate to you! It feels like total poo. Same thing happened to me today, actually. I was cycling, happy in the 140's, then suddenly a 15 appeared! I had glucogel in my backpack, then glucose tabs and chocolate. Not. Fun.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're better!
Your meter makes me happy too. I'm so glad you were able to treat that low ---- scary!
ReplyDeleteHow scary that the CGM said you were in the 90's, when it was really SO low. Very glad you thought to test when you did.
ReplyDeleteI love the meter bling...whatever makes life with D happier is a really awesome thing, that of course, includes chocolate frosting.
So glad the frosting did the trick!
ReplyDeleteNumbers like that are not fun to see, can't imagine what they feel like!
Ugh. Out of the blue lows like this scare me, but your meter totally makes me happy. So glad you were able to treat your low and come on back up.
ReplyDeleteyikes-glad you were able to treat/correct it quickly. Numbers are that flip me completely off the deep end.
ReplyDelete