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If you’re a person with T1D, after having multiple highs and lows over the course of a day, how affected do you most often feel – physically and emotionally – once your blood glucose levels are stable?
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I deny the fundamental premise. So called glucose “stability” [sic. leveling off, a sustained “horizontal line” of BG readings over some period] guarantees NO positive outcome physically or emotionally. It is called a DIS-EASE for very specific reason(s). Such event(s) must always be expected.
I second this answer! Thanks for putting it so succinctly Jeff.
Yes! When I saw the question, I thought; STABILITY??? What’s that? Guess I’m having a bad morning!
Depends on how extreme the highs and lows are. A high in the 200s from a bolus undershoot is well tolerated and an easy bounce back. But highs 300+ from interrupted insulin delivery and with ketone spilling wear me out and sometimes require a big injection, a big glass of water and an hour lay down. Severe lows requiring assistance are physically exhausting and sometimes followed by persistent headache and highs. Swinging days are not fun, but I mostly power through them. Overall, I feel like my T1D has made me tougher than the average non diabetic person. I rarely take a sick day. I guess I’ve gotten used to feeling somewhat lousy, so when I do, I don’t let it stop me. 😋
Yes. It depends on how extreme the highs and lows are, how long they last and what I am trying to do at the time.
Being both hypo- and hyper-unaware, I do not feel highs or lows. I could be 40 or 400 and not feel a thing. So when I’m back in range, I feel the same.
Hey Jim, Explore the B.G.A.T. (Blood Glucose Awareness Training) Programs. Started by a guy named Dr. Cox out of UVA. Think his first name was Daniel (???). Developed in the late 90’s and was being evolved in lots of D centers. Joslin had (has?) one. Many other centers too. They literally retrain us to notice the nuances and subtleties which we’ve become too accustomed which cause all of us trouble. But the basic premise as I understand it used to be 72 hours with zero lows and they can help us re-recognize em. Probably evolved since then, but that as I recall was the original idea. Take a look been a while since I’ve checked, but it did still exist and had been double blind validated pretty recently and was good approach.
I am usually in range and get annoyed with myself if I go high. Sometimes I miscalculate carbs. I correct right away. Kind of OCD. Like to have a steady BS under 120.
I mean, I don’t have the same kind of roller-coaster days as back on the old R/NPH MDI regimen. When something like that does occur it can leave me pretty wiped out. I think especially with severe lows, where your adrenal system goes into overdrive, there’s a kind of hormonal hangover that lasts a while. But it’s very rare nowadays, what with CGM and a decent smart pump.
Yes, exactly!
Indeed we are so much better off these days than back in the early 1960s when I was diagnosed. The dark ages of diabetes care was pretty scary back then. However, even today, the journey of recovery from severe low BG wipeout is a pretty intense physical, emotional, and mental experience as one comes back into equilibrium.
Mostly I will feel fine and can get back to whatever I am doing. If I have had a very low low I sometimes feel hung over for a bit.
Whatever repercussions I might have after a high or low blood sugar are nearly always of the mental, not physical, kind. These are barely worth mentioning because they nearly always reflect my mental disappointment in not controlling my blood sugar better. Much as I wish I didn’t have to be saddled with a pump, life is so much better with one, that I feel rather dumb and ungrateful to complain. It’s a small price to pay for good health. (not always true for the price of all the “equipment.”) I’ve been on Medicare for years, so have been able to manage. When I was first diagnosed in 1954, insulin was $10 a vial, and syringes were glass and reusable. And we could file of the burrs on old needles! Progress isn’t always a smooth, straight road…..
I was diagnosed in 1951 at the age of 6 and vividly remember my father removing the burrs from stainless steel needles.
1952 for me and I used the vial until it was empty…. Highs,lows, it is all just part of life… things happen… I just move on….
After having multiple highs and lows over the course of a day, I’m exhausted. I answered “somewhat”, but could have answered “a little” or “a lot.” The affect could vary, depending upon the circumstances of the highs and lows. I usually do home maintenance and yard work, which is very draining. I also do physical workouts most days. Most days, I have to stop to recover from a low Blood glucose (BG) before I get back to work. Afterward, I feel drained. I can tell that I don’t have the energy that I had when I started out.
I do physical activity every day too and I find that exercise affects my blood sugar most of all. Some days I can handle it perfectly and other days not. It doesn’t help that my blood sugar doesn’t always act the same after exercise. Sometimes I go up, sometimes down and when I am lucky, it stays level. I just have to keep an eye on my cgm to see how my blood sugar is going to act.
Anita S
With my exercise, which usually involves running, riding a bike or an eliptical in the gym, I have found that eating protein before I exercise helps maintain my blood glucose. I have more recently taken to using protein powders.
A take minutes
since being on Tandem Control IQ and even basal IQ no real problem
When I was younger, I snapped back pretty quickly—depending upon how low I went. Now that I’m 61, I am wiped out. Luckily, my CGM/pump never let me go that low.
They needed the time factor in these questions. SOMETIMES I feel affected… not at all / a little / somewhat. At different times I am affected differently.
The more often my blood sugar dips or rises out of range, the longer I take to recover. “Roller coaster” days leave me exhausted.
Why isn’t there an answer option for those of us who maintain stable blood glucose? Dr. Bernstein tells how to do it, and it works!
After an occasional roller coaster day, I feel fine physically but so frustrated and discouraged that I couldn’t control all the timing of factors – timing of insulin absorption and digestion of food.
I agree.
I feel “normal” at most about 1/10th of the time, but it’s only partly due to fluctuating blood glucose levels which are really pretty “stable.” In fact getting diagnosed & taking insulin and doing weight-lifting actually helped me feel in control of my life at the age of 15 back in 1959. It’s not just insulin levels that control oxytocin levels at my old age; it’s facing mortality, feeling isolated, the decline of testosterone, loneliness, tendencies toward being judgemental and to catastrophize. And don’t forget the contradictions of living in a puritanical capitalistic society where I’m constantly told buying something will make me happy and until I buy it or consume it I am incomplete, inadequate.
YES!!!!
It all depends on the number and extent of the hyper and hypos. I no longer experience symptoms, so am dependent on my CGM to alert me. Tandem CIQ does an admirable job of keeping my glucose levels stable during sleep with a not so consistent result the rest of the day. I just celebrated my 77th birthday. Highs are far less an issue than the frequent lows. I don’t recover from lows as quickly as I used to, sometimes needing a brief rest before continuing my activity…but it definitely varies depending on the circumstances.
Happy birthday Janis 🎂. Celebrate and do a cartwheel. No, maybe not
I’m in my fifties now and have had a heart attack so it has made it harder for me to recover.
The question is not worded well… you meant ‘negatively affected’ (by the text of the questions). I do NOT feel negatively affected once back in range. My life with brittle T1D is a constant rollercoaster of highs and lows and THAT negatively affects me. I breathe a huge sigh of relief once I’m back in range and BGs are stable! LOL!