Shorty Got Low Low Low

Day 2 of Diabetes Blog Week! There are now over 100 blogs participating! Karen, you totally rock for putting this together.

So for day 2 we are asked to write about how we treat a low:

Day 2 – Making the low go. Tell us about your favorite way to treat a low. Juice? Glucose tabs? Secret candy stash? What’s your favorite thing to indulge in when you are low? What do you find brings your blood sugar up fast without spiking it too high?

The first thing you should know about me and lows is that I absolutely despise being low. I spent most of my adolescence doing everything in my power not to go low even running higher on purpose. So not healthy, I know. I would treat anything under 80mg/dL even if my dexcom showed that I was hanging steady.  Just. Don't. Go. Low. That was my mantra for a long time. All the years that I lived alone freaked me out about lows overnight. Plus, when I was diagnosed the doctor scared my parents so much about lows that my mom has admitted to me that she liked to run me a little higher so I would go low. All this has since changed. Well, not the fact that I despise lows. I still do. A lot.

I've always treated lows with OJ. I remember getting so sick of OJ as a kid so my parents mixed the OJ with soda water to make a "fun" orange soda for me as a special treat when I was low.  They also used to give me smarties but eww gross no! I would eat the big BD glucose tabs when I had to but preferred candy (mentos) more than anything.

Since college I always have juice in the house. If there is no juice I'll have some soda (sprite is so much better than coke or pepsi those are just too sweet.). The problem with drinking sprite is that I always went high afterwards.

Now that I'm working really hard to tighten my control those dreaded and despised lows are much more common and frequent. I'm learning how to treat them better so that I don't rebound and end up high. Steve prides himself in no longer handing me a huge glass of juice when I'm low like he used to. Now he measures it out and calmly and lovingly reminds me to wait and see if my numbers come back up.

As a child I would get low in the middle of the night and just attack the fridge eating everything in sight. Whatever to make feeling low go away.  Do not come between a low me and my food! I might just eat you too! Luckily I'm learning how to keep the low hunger in check. My absolute all-time favorite is a banana with peanut butter. Nowadays I drink my little bit of juice or eat my tropical fruit or butterscotch glucose tabs and wait at least 15 minutes to test again.


I've tried explaining how a low feels like for me to Steve. He gets the hunger and shakeyness but in many ways bad lows feels like falling and not knowing if you are ever going to land. Maybe that is just me.

Taking Diabetes on the Road

Update on Dexcom: Despite sitting in a bag of rice for 26 hours the receiver has not dried out. I'm going to call Dexcom and order a replacement receiver. I miss it too much! I woke up feeling fine and tested to learn I was 63. Dex would have alarmed and woken me up!

Last week Steve had Friday off so we decided to go on a last minute road trip. We planned to be gone just one night so I didn't have to pack as many  diabetes supplies as I did for Vegas.

We packed up the car and headed down I-95 South on our way to Charlottesville, VA.

The drive was fun, but long since we decided to explore and take back roads. Once we got to Charlottesville we needed to walk around. We walked around the downtown mall and then drove around the town trying to find a hotel. Once we found one we had an amazing dinner and came back to the hotel to watch movies.

On Saturday we woke up early (for us) got some fresh fruit from Whole Foods for breakfast and drove over to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. We walked around the gardens for a bit before our tour started.

Halfway through the tour of Jefferson's house I started to sweat like crazy. Then I started to get a little dizzy. I pulled out my dexcom and saw I was in the 70s with the arrow pointed straight down. UGH. I disconnected my pump and hoped the tour would be over soon. There was no food or drink allowed during the tour. Luckily the tour was almost finished and as I stepped outside I fumbled around and downed I don't know how many glucose tabs. Several minutes later Steve and I were able to get away from the group I tested and I was in the 60s. I must have been super low if I was only in the 60s after  bunch of glucose tabs!

 Once I was ok Steve and I got on the shuttle bus down to our car and we drove over to Michie's Tavern for lunch and a tour of the tavern. Next we headed over to Ash Lawn, James Monroe's house for a tour.

After the tour we went to Kluge's Winery to taste some wine and cheese. We split a flight of wine which was a good thing since we had a 2 1/2 hour drive home.

It was a fantastic weekend and even better since we had Sunday at home to run errands and relax. The only time the big D was an issue was my low at Monticello. I love road trips!

Diabetes meet Vegas

As I mentioned in this post Steve and I were off on a long weekend trip for his 30th birthday. I surprised him with a trip to Vegas where my best friend S and her husband J were meeting us. All of us, except for Steve had never been.

We got there around 10pm Vegas time which was 1am for us. First thing we did after checking in was go to Margaritaville for a late dinner and margaritas. I opted for a Pomegranate Margarita and bolused. I ended up running high the rest of the night. Didn't have another margarita the rest of the time I was there. And I love margaritas!

I was prepared for lots of walking but boy oh boy was it tough on my feet but awesome on my numbers! We ate a lot but it didn't adversely affect my numbers which I was so happy about.

I had one of those I can't believe I'm doing this moments when I got low as Steve and I walked through Casino Royal. They have $1 margaritas so Steve went in to get one. As he was paying I felt like I was dropping, fast, so I checked out my Dexcom and low and behold I had a downward arrow and I was already low.  We were walking to the food court in the back of the casino but I needed something quick.

I grabbed Steve's margarita and took a few sips. Yes, I used a margarita to help raise my blood sugar. Not my finest moment but whatever, it worked. Especially since Steve was in the process of grabbing me some food and juice.

It was a great trip! I'm so glad we went despite my sore feet and blisters.

What crazy things have you done to raise your blood sugar during a low?