20 Questions...

I got this from Queenie. Seemed interesting enough, I love this shit.
It also seemed appropriate for a Friday post. This weekend, close to 60 type 1 diabetics will descend upon the Ontario mid-north to take over for the weekend. It will be a couple days of D chaos, hilarity and a lot of beeping. Am I excited? hell yeah!


Here goes: (I can't get rid of those spaces to save my life. They are irritating me)


1.  What is one of your favorite ways to spend a Saturday?


A lot of coffee while lounging around. Some heavy sweat-inducing exercise be it running or cycling and spending time with my family if I can.


2.  List your top 3 favorite TV shows.


Greys Anatomy (to get my drama fix)
Glee (to get my comedic fix)
House (just cause I love it)


3.  Would you rather be in pictures or take them?


Take them. I love photographing people and I'm not very photogenic myself.


4.  Why do you blog?


I like to get involved in what's going on. I like to be a part of something big like the DOC. With how much I've learned from connecting and meeting other type 1's I felt maybe I had something to offer too.


5.  If you could have lunch with one person from your Twitter list, who would it be?


The Twitterverse is not for me.


6.  List a few of your favorite snacks.


Peanut butter off the spoon
Fruit of any kind
Potato chips (blushes with embarrassment)
Cheese


7.  Share five websites that you visit regularly.


Other than Email, Facebook and Blogger,


The Weather Network
Flickr
Some sort of news website


8.  Do you have a pet?  If so, what kind?


I have a dog, he is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie (we think) I brought him back from Taiwan. I miss him, he has been living at my parents house with his buddy since I am hardly ever home :(


9.  Which three material possessions would you struggle to live without?


Hmm... not including diabetes paraphernalia...

running shoes
coffee maker
bike


10.  What is your favorite drink?


Coffee. With lots of creamy cream.


11.  Do you enjoy cooking?


Yes, very much so. Just not when it's only me. Needless to say it's been a long time since I've cooked anything. I enjoy coming up with vegetarian and gluten-free ideas.


12.  Do you have children?


Nope but hopefully one day.


13.  What are your favorite hobbies?


Cycling and running. Photography, writing and spending time with friends.


14.  Would you consider yourself to be shy or outgoing?


I have always lived my life on the fence. I am mostly shy but if I'm comfortable I can be a royal pain in the ass and annoyingly so. 


15.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?


Just one thing? I wish I didn't struggle with anxiety and depression.


16.  Who is your favorite actor/actress?


Kevin Spacey, Matt Damon. Fucking amazing actors.


17.  What's the coolest thing you've done this week?

Nothing exciting that I can possibly think of. It's been a pretty bland week of routine. The other night, I went into Bulk Barn and didn't buy a single thing of junk. That's impressive.


18.  Do you live near your family or far from them?


I live near them. I'm a 20 minute drive from my parents and a 45 minute drive from my sister, bro-in-law and kids. I am very happy that we live close.


19.  List three of your talents.


Does the rate at which I consume peanut butter count as a talent?
I read people really well
I can type really REALLY fast

20.  What is your greatest attribute?


I am easy going so I get along with just about anybody and it takes a lot to piss me off.


Thanks for reading!

Logging for Rebels (By Sysy)

This post comes at a very interesting time.

I am NOT a logger. I have never logged for more then a few days. I am at the point right now where I really need to log blood sugars, exercise and food. I want to be serious about my diabetes and training. I need to figure out if I'm training smart and if my insulin regime needs tweaking. I need to see if I'm consuming too many or too few calories. I need to log miles in my shoes so I don't go and ruin my feet again. All of these reasons should be enough, but evidently they aren't in my stupid brain.

If I try, I last maybe a couple days. Katie, I lasted about 1.5 days on that app. I'm thoroughly disappointed in myself. I guess it just wasn't the right app for me.

I have tried all sorts of ways of convincing myself. Be it digitally on the computer or on my phone or by hand on a notepad/calendar/hand. You name it. I start and I think, "I'm never going to keep this up." low and behold I never do.

Right now as we speak I have like a month of workouts to log. All I have is the info from my Garmin at this point since I can't remember how many hours I slept 3 Wednesdays ago or what my blood sugar did.

I'm really pissed off at myself. I turned to someone I think is highly influential and inspirational. I asked Sysy who is like my diabetes guru for good management. She works hard and I look up to her. She wrote this guest post for me. Needless to say, I'm going to try AGAIN.

Read on.....

I know logging numbers is hard. I abhor it. I've often been a rebel when it comes to my diabetes. In fact, I wrote my mom an angst filled poem once in my early teens called, “Your Rebel Without A Cause”. In logging one’s diabetes numbers, the cause for rebellion is that it can be a most unpleasant chore. So I get it. If you get it, this post is for you.

My doctor doesn’t ask me to log my numbers because he knows I won’t do it so he just looks at my meter. For my benefit at home, since I am the one that changes all of my insulin needs (albeit, never drastically) I review my meter’s log each week and track trends.

Here is an idea for tracking trends if you really find it hard to log or are simply as stubborn as I am:

Get a calendar or use the one in your phone or gadget of choice (I’m a decade behind so I use the kitchen wall calendar). At the end of each day or two, grab your meter and make a note of which times of the day or night you were high and low. I am pretty general, for example: “Morning-high”, “3am-low”, “Afternoon-high”. I don’t write down when I’m in range because this info is assumed by it’s absence. I also completely skip days which I might have ruined with some sort of binge eating. In fact, sometimes a Monday or Wednesday here and there has just said “chocolate” on it. Nuff said. You see on those days, blood sugar data isn’t accurate because what threw our blood sugars was our atypical actions that day. And it’s ok. It happens. But I find that stressing over insulin changes for data like that just skews everything. Something else I’d make note of on the calendar if you’re a girl-pms time of the month. This definitely changes things and is worth keeping track of with a little red dot.

Now, at the end of each week, take a look at the last calendar week and look for similarities.

For example, do you have highs most mornings? If so, this is a trend. Are you low several times a week in the middle of the night? This is also a trend-and so on. This is what doctors do with your numbers. And nothing stops you from doing the same. If you feel uncomfortable adjusting your insulin, please consult your doctor. If you do adjust your insulin on your own, do it in small, safe increments and add a few blood sugar checks, especially for overnight changes.

My endo never gives me insulin recommendations. He brings my attention to trends he notices and asks me if I know what’s going on. If I don’t, this means I need to investigate. For example: My endo pointed out at my last visit that I was having higher highs. I was having the same number of highs as before, but they were higher. This lead me to think honestly about what I’ve been doing differently lately and by writing up a one week food journal I realized I was eating more carbs than usual. This lead me to reduce carbs again and get those highs down from around the 300 range to 200, which makes a big difference in the way I feel and makes the process of correcting much faster and simpler.

So ok, you get the idea. The key really is just to get creative and figure out some way to track trends while giving them enough time to prove themselves real and to learn what works and doesn’t work for you.

Good luck with logging, however and whenever you manage it!

The tip about not bothering to record blood sugars that are in range is simple but brilliant. That makes a huge difference. THANK YOU SYSY! And I've had a few of those "chocolate" days myself.

I have an idea for a Scully'ized app now.

A guest post on anxiety and depression

As many of you know I am among the many who struggle with depression and anxiety along with my diabetes. A lot (not all) is a symptom of diabetes. I blog about it from time to time and it has allowed me to connect with a few similar diabetics out there which has helped.

I was recently contacted by Ryan Rivera at Calm Clinic. and he offered to write me a guest post about coping with depression and anxiety as they relate to diabetes. There is a lot of useful information on his website which I had the opportunity to peruse through.

I just want to make ONE note so as not to confuse the D-folks alike out there. This guest post is addressed to diabetes in general and doesn't specify between which types. I found it to be useful information once I ignored the comments about diet and nutrition.

Please enjoy.

Tips to Reduce Diabetic Anxiety and Depression

Diabetes is a kind of disease that calls for major changes in the sufferer’s life if he or she intends to manage it well and live with the disease. When you have this disease, your life will surely turn upside-down. You will need to make a lot of changes and adjustments. Because of these, sufferers often fall into a pit of anxiety and depression.

But you don’t really need to fret and there’s no need to let it control your life. Yes, it may interrupt your workday and you will need to revamp your diet. And the daily checking of blood sugar levels and inspecting your feet during daily baths can be quite cumbersome. This disease can also be quite expensive as there are specialized medications such as insulin injections and diet requirement you need to comply to. But despite all these, life with diabetes doesn’t have to be all gloomy and scary. There are plenty of ways you can integrate these changes into your daily routine. Here are some tips to help you deal with it successfully.

Take It One Day at a Time

So you have diabetes, now what? Surely, when the doctor broke the news to you, wheels were turning in your head about what’s going to happen. You probably thought about stuff you heard from friends or family who have had the disease and it’s the negative things that you remember most. Now that’s not going to do you any good. You need to take things slowly and take it one day at a time. Ask your doctor about what you can do to live with it, and take it from there.  

Understand It

Before torturing yourself thinking about what your future could be and what’s going to happen to you now that you have the disease (this is the usual path to depression and anxiety), stop yourself and think. We are only fearful of something we do not fully understand. So the best approach here is to face your fear of the disease and its future implications on your life and learn everything there is to learn about it. Most especially, learn about the best ways that you can control it.

Look At The Bright Side

And when you’ve learned everything there is to learn about your disease, stop thinking of it as a disease! Sure, there are a lot of changes in your food intake, but hey, you don’t have to think of it as “restrictions” or “doctor’s orders”. Think of it as your chance to live a healthier lifestyle. You diet will usually contain healthy food anyway. And you will need to do daily exercises. If you are told to do daily insulin injections, think of it as your daily dose of supplements. The more that you don’t think about your condition as a disease, the less likely you are to sink into depression.

Take it as a challenge

According to studies, majority of people with diabetes get depressed and anxious because of the wrong outlook in life. Most people see it as a curse, a consequence for wrong choices and an unhealthy lifestyle in the past. But that shouldn’t be the case (because, really, most of it is hereditary). You should take it as a challenge and face it head on. Refuse to be defeated and find ways to control it.

Make It Your Responsibility

As they say, be responsible of your body. Take to heart the changes and adjustments you need to make in your life and make it your responsibility. Never rely on others to help you deal with the disease. After all, there will not be anyone else to blame but yourself if things go wrong. And you wouldn’t want to beat yourself up on it, too.  

Enjoy it

You may find this morbid, but you should enjoy your condition. Being diabetic is not all that bad; there are a lot of good things about it, too. The best way to cope with anxiety that stems from this disease is to enjoy it. Do you know that a low-glucose diet (the diet you’ll be adjusting to when you have this disease) can help you maintain your figure? That’s right. In fact, this is what most nutritionists suggest for people who want to lose weight and keep the weight off. See what I mean when I say enjoy your condition? People spend a lot of money just to be able to do this type of diet, while you are entitled to it because of your condition.

Be Aware

Once you’ve gotten the hang of living with this condition, be informed and be aware. Always look for information about your disease. Check with your community if there are groups or organizations that aim to give information and updates on the disease and keep yourself informed.

Control

Dealing with this disease the right way is to take control of your life. You don’t need to be always fearful and anxious when diagnosed with the disease. Don’t let it control your life. Remember how your diet, medication, and lifestyle needs to be always in check once you start living with the disease? That control is in your hands, that itself is your power over the disease and whatever depression and anxiety it brings.

Ryan Rivera is an anxiety survivor and was able to successfully deal with it through natural and alternative anxiety treatment methods. Learn more all about it at http://www.calmclinic.com/.

Insulin party that I wasn't invited to that ended with a beautiful run

Saturday morning. We got a couple centimetres of snow overnight. It was -16C (3F) with the wind chill. I had slept for only 5 hours as I am often only getting on a daily basis.

I woke up with some sickeningly high blood sugars. I was very confused. Everything was fine the day before and there was absolutely no reason for this high blood sugar.  I chalked it up to diabetes moodiness. One of those, "I can't explain this right now." type of situation. Correct, coffee, move on and hope for the best.  I was heading out to meet someone I had a blind date with earlier in the week.

Yeah, I laugh at it too. She's a girl and she's into running and cycling and stair climbing. In this city, stair climbing is like a sport of it's own! We were set up by my brother. No kidding.

We were meeting Saturday morning for a 19km run.

As I was getting dressed into my layers of cold weather running clothes I noticed my infusion set was having a party that I wasn't invited to. The party was happening on the outside of my body and I was like, "Dude, the insulin party happens INSIDE!".

Sigh. There are downfalls to every infusion set and this is not the first time I've had this happen with the Medtronic Silhouettes. I suspect this party had been going on since the night before. It's location was around the waistband of my pants (for a change). There's no telling how it got out, except that it was out - for a long time and I wasn't aware.

Last minute diabetes plans here. No temp basal rate. I had to eat something so I grabbed a 30g carb protein bar with full bolus to account for my body being dry of insulin for hours and the high. Hope and pray for the best.

We ran a long slow uphill for 9.5km along a fresh snowed trail. I had flashbacks to my summer vacation running on the beach every morning. Neither of us have used or have any interest in using Yak Tracks so don't even try to convince me. As my friend said, "I just run and hope I don't bail." Yeah, me too. My heart rate was skipping along the, "Any faster and I'm going to explode" line. I won't lie, I haven't been doing very much running in the past couple months. I have been dedicating most of my time to the bike. I feel they compliment each other at least.

A test on my meter confirmed that my BG was going in the right direction. At the half way point my meter threw a temper tantrum and would not function in the cold despite me putting a hand warmer with it. I ate a few blocks (frozen blocks takes a strong jaw!) and ran blind the rest of the time. Within a km of the end I could feel my BG dropping. I finished with a tolerable 3.8mmol/l (68mg/dl).

Best part? I didn't crap, not once! HOW? I have no idea. Maybe from the anxiety of running with a new and untainted person. I should back this up a bit, the best part was running with someone. Hands down!! But seriously, I warned her. I now send people the link to this post, instead of trying to explain it all over again.

I was an amazing run. The weather wasn't as cold as I thought it would. My blood sugar AND bowels behaved themselves much to my surprise. The long slow uphill was challenging in the snow but to accomplish a run like that feels very rewarding.

Our little mountain.

Update: Although my legs were sore from not running consistently in a long time, what was more sore was my peripheral muscles. The smaller muscles used to constantly keep my ass from falling while running in snow. Good for you!

Very Carefully, Tha'ts How.

One of the questions I get asked the most from non diabetics with regards to exercise is, "How do you do it?"

My first response is always, "Very carefully."

Which I then follow up with, "Trial and error."

Every diabetic knows that diabetes is entirely unpredictable with a zillion factors that ultimately effect the outcome. We also know that no two of us are alike. (Like a beautiful snowflake? *gag* ha). Basically what works for me, is highly unlikely to work for someone else.

This week I spent a bit of time trying to analyze some blood sugar outcomes. Since having to switch my workouts to the evenings again I've been struck with so many issues that I was happy to not have to deal with for awhile. My insulin sensitivity in the morning is absolute crap. I take 3 times more insulin in the morning than I do for the rest of the day. This means that I can easily work out without having to lower my insulin or make any special requirements. It's pretty awesome. Makes me feel like a normally functioning human being.

Three days in a row I did the exact same workout at the exact same time on my trainer at home.

Day one I set my temp basal for -70% 1.5 hours ahead. I went low mid-way and again at the end. I treated my low with only 10g of carbs because I knew if I had any more than that I would rebound. I set another temp rate at 160% for 3 hours as soon as I was done.  Later in the evening my blood sugar jumped up to an 18mmol/l (325mg/dl). I chased highs all night.

Day two I set my temp basal for -80% 1.5 hours ahead. I finished a bit higher than expected.  I then set another temp rate at 180% this time for 3 hours. I hit 16mmol/l (288mg/dl). I chased highs all night.

Day three I didn't want to do the same workout again but my desire to see some results trumped my boredom. I set my temp rate for -75% (in between the previous two days). My blood sugar stayed mostly steady during the ride and I finished with a perfect number. I immediately set a temp at 200% for 3 hous and at the same time bolused 2 units. I didn't chase highs all night :) I went to bed with normal blood sugar. 

What did I learn? Well first of all 3 days of the same trainer workout was snooze inducing. I almost went for a 4th except that I was afraid of it causing me to avoid the trainer. I learned also that as much as I want to be and as much as I don't want to disappoint my friends, I have to admit that I am not in love with Battlestar Galactica. In fact after 2 full seasons while on my trainer, I sort of want to throw the discs out the window. I tried guys... but it bores me to no end.

The biggest thing I learned?  I have a SERIOUS problem with post exercise highs. This frustrates me because I feel guilty when I am hungry after a workout because I know it will never end good. It also concerns me that my body requires SO MUCH insulin after supposedly working out. I mean, that much insulin means that there is glucose in my blood that needs to get into my body.  Glucose = calories that I just spent an hour burning off.

I know from experience that I can go very low and often during evening workouts because I am very insulin sensitive at that time. But whatever I'm doing right now just doesn't seem to be good enough.

I thought about trying to NOT use a lower pre exercise temp basal, or maybe half the reduction. I am really interested in trying some other way of managing this. I am wondering what would happen if I eat something an hour ahead and not set a lower temp basal rate. I question if the food would sustain the exercise and maybe I won't dump so much glycogen and end up with those evil post exercise highs?

Any thoughts?

Are there people out there that are able to maintain normal blood sugar before, during and after exercise?!

Funky Monkey Snacks!

Pre-post info:
Funky Monkey Snacks are gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, peanut and tree nut free and contain no added sugars, colours, flavours or preservatives. Funky Monkey Snacks are simply real fruit snacks, made using a proprietary freeze-drying process that creates fruit that crunches! while retaining nearly all of fruit's natural goodness.

When I was contacted and offered some samples of these I was like, HELLS YEAH! I love me some free samples. Especially of something that I can actually eat.

In one word, these snacks are: FANTASTIC!

I was sent 5 packets to try

Bananamon: Freeze-dried organic banana and cinnamon

JiveALime: Freeze-dried Pinaple and Lime Juice

Applemon: Freeze-dried apple and cinnamon

MangoOJ: Freeze-dried mango and orange juice

Pink Pineapple: Freeze-dried pineapple and guava

Also available:

Carnaval Mix: Freeze-dried organic banana, pineapple, apple and papaya

Purple Funk: Freeze-dried organic banana and acai

I received the 29g packages (they also have 12g size packages). I easily ate a whole package in one sitting. The larger packages claim to contain three of the four daily recommended servings of fruit. The carbs weren't difficult to manage at all. I didn't have any problems bolusing and managing. They average 25g carbs per 29g packet. The only thing I did wrong was not predicting I'd eat the whole thing. And I did, eat the whole thing.

This is truly a different kind of way to eat fruit. Sure there's dried fruit, dehydrated fruit and even some freeze dried fruit. Any of the freeze dried stuff I've had it pretty much disintegrates in your mouth because there's nothing left to it. Kind of like those nasty marshmallows in cereals. Funky Monkey is actually very VERY crunchy! Just like the package says! No false advertising here, and they all tasted really awesome!

Pink Pineapple

I loved the crunchy fruit. In fact I liked all the flavours.  The Pink Pineapple was probably my favourite. The Applemon was a hit with my family too. How can you not love apples and cinnamon?

My brother being a good sport (even though he didn't know yet that he wouldn't like this flavour)

Bananamon

The ones who tried the Bananamon weren't too keen on it. I, on the other hand, liked the banana ones. They weren't as good as the others but I still.. um.. helped finish off the bag.

My niece having a go at the Applemon.

She totally loved them.

If you go to the Funky Monkey website it lists a bunch of stores that carry them. I've never seen them up here in Canada but I'm going to have a look around. When I can't find them (because that's always what happens) I'm definitely ordering online. 

Dang those companies that make such good products that leave me scouring this lame province for them forever more.

Disclaimer:

Funky Monkey Snacks sent me these samples free of charge in exchange for a review

January 12 of 12

See sidebar for other 12 of 12's.

I haven't done this the past two months. The 12th of November and the 12th of December were particularly nucking futs days. But here I am.. at it again!

1. The only important thing first thing in the morning.

2. I was sick all week with the worst cold I think I've EVER had. I took two days off work. Tissues and hand sanitizer on my desk were necessary.

3.  I LOVE CHIPS. I love chips because I used to love crackers and then I went gluten free and was not impressed with my new cracker selection. Potato chips soon took over. I found this while I was out on my lunch break. I ate them the next day and they were quite tasty.

4. Driving home from work. Listening to a little CBC radio. That's my Niagara Falls Marathon medal which should probably come down now. 

5.  It was a very cold and very wet commute home. Traffic really sucked.

6. I wrote my last blog post about "The Book of Better"

7.  Dinner.  I hate eating dinner so this isn't really a meal. I LOVE grapefruit in a serious way. I sit there and peel it all apart segment by segment. I'm not sure if I'm in love with the fruit or the action more. 

8.  Site change night. The last time I was at the pharmacy they fucked up my order and gave me pen cartridge refills. I've been on the pump for over 3 years, wtf? I couldn't be bothered to take it all back.

9.  I had great intentions to get on my trainer in the morning. I set all my stuff aside. But when my alarm went off at 4:30am the next day I woke up and still felt like a giant pile of poo.

10.  Hot water bottle. I have quite possibly the coldest feet on the planet when I go to bed. They just simply don't warm up. I adore my fleecy covered hot water bottle.

11. I know, everybody is telling me I need to take my Christmas lights down but I love them so much!

12.  End it on a stupid note? Um, yeah! After 4 days of the worst cold ever my nose was pretty red and scratchy. You can't see it in this picture, however after I took the picture I laughed so hard I had to share it.

The Book of Better

Life with diabetes can't be perfect, make it better.

There is a boatload of truth in that one sentence alone.

Yeah I know, I'm really behind here.
I received this book to read and review a couple months ago like a large portion of the DOC. I read it on the plane ride to Tucson last month and have been... well... procrastinating... obviously!

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. I read it cover to cover and enjoyed almost all aspects of it. I am not a huge reader of these kinds of books because they are usually laid out in a much more boring stale format. I own a few diabetes books that put me to sleep. Too stringent with a side of finger wagging.

This book is the complete opposite. Although a lot of the points are the same as the stale books, but I read it all, without falling asleep and I enjoyed it. What can I say, I love me some iconography and creative presentation. I am drawn to creativity. I think I spent more time staring at the cute little pictures. But really, this book holds a lot of good information on how to be BETTER and how not to be so damn hard on ourselves. It holds a lot of good values and emphasis on how we can't be perfect but any little bit is better than nothing.

It's a great philosophy to accept  into life with diabetes. And this book drilled it in over and over.

More than even the eye candy and graphics, the language in which it was written was super duper. I was a bit disappointed that there was no swear words but I imagined them there for myself. I know not everybody wants to read curse words. But seriously, it was more like a REAL person WITH diabetes wrote this from personal experience. Want to know why? Because that's the truth! The author, Chuck Eichten is design director at Nike Inc. and he has diabetes. I will be honest, just knowing that he is the design director at Nike was enough for me to want to read this book. I do have a love for sports equipment and clothing and thought this guy must be for real. The book is really written through the eyes of someone who exudes creativity and fun. Someone who is real. Someone who fully admits to fucking up a lot and learning from his diabetes kerfuffles.

HOWEVER, I won't be the first one to admit that his obsession with insulin pumps goes a bit too far. There's a whole huge chapter on how great the pump is and how every single diabetic on the face of the planet should have one or else they are failing as diabetics. I got it, the message came through bright and clear. I also hovered over that chapter without letting it effect me. I've said this to a few shooter uppers (aka MDI folks) over the past few years, "If I could make my diabetes work the way you do on shots, I wouldn't even think twice about it. I'd throw the pump out the window." There is a certain freedom that comes from not being tethered. The pump, for me, is a constant reminder. My days on MDI were so much more free. The shitty part? My diabetes suffered hardcore on shots. I struggled for 6 years until I was able to obtain a pump. I'd never go back (permanently) to shots. The point is, there are folks out there who do wonderfully on shots. Ahem, Sysy! Better than I could ever do on a pump.

So Chucks opinion is biased and not entirely accurate. The insulin pump is NOT better for everybody.

Some folks also found the text and background colours to be difficult to read. It was certainly a bit awkward but for a short cute book, it didn't bother me at all. To each his own.

There was so much in this book that would take me forever and a day to review each chapter. The chapter on food though? Hit home pretty hard with me.

"Every bite of food you take affects your diabetes. Every bite you don't take affects your diabetes. Every bite tips the balance or helps restore it. Every bite. All the time. No matter what."

And people wonder why I have such bad food issues.

Any way, I really loved this book! Please read it if you get a chance!

Three Rivers Press
I received this book at no charge in exchange for a review.

Sick and a bit twisted

Last night was a long night.
I've caught a flu/cold and I can't really tell which it is. It's a bit of both. My weapons of choice to get sleep and ease a few of the symptoms is Neo Citran and NyQuil.

I thought the best way to attack a long night of sick would be to run my blood sugars a bit higher. I don't have a lot of problems with high BG's when I'm sick like most people do. In fact my BG tends to stay even keel for some reason.

I am always afraid of over the counter drugs that knock me the fuck out. I fear that I won't wake up to a low until it's really bad. See folks, I don't have a CGM full-time since it costs me way too much money out of pocket. Sometimes I set alarms in the middle of the night but normally I don't.

What was I saying? There was a point to this post.

DRUGS... why do they not have to have the nutritional info on the packages? Last night in the middle of the night I was drinking Neo Citran and taking Nyquil. It never occurred to me what is in the stuff. I was up so much during the night that I was able to watch my blood sugar react. The NyQuil did quite the number on me.

So Now, the morning after is when I have half a brain to look it up on the internet. So for the record, Neo Citran has 20g of carbs and one serving (can you really call it a serving?) of NyQuil has almost 20g also.  Um.. yeah, 20 grams of uncovered carbs is enough to push me over the edge. Last night I had 3 packages of Neo Citran and one of NyQuil.  40g of carbs? OOOooo EEeeee..  Yup.

But I know now. Shouldn't they put that info right on the package? I don't think I need to resort to the internet for it.

I posted this video a long time ago but I feel the need to post it again:

NyQuil, NyQuil, NyQuil we love you, you giant fucking "Q"!

Sweating with sugar

Diabetes, you bitch, you make no sense!

Yet, sometimes things can actually work out. Usually by mistake.

Friday night:

I went for a run after work. Since switching jobs I've had to pretty much re-teach my body to exercise in the evening again. I OH SO LOVED it in the morning. I ran my usual 11km route. It was odd and eerie because it was 6pm at night and of course because it's winter it's dark. I am used to that route at 6am when it is also... dark. My memory kept thinking it was morning but my body knew it was evening. It was like a twilight zone run. Very strange. 'Betes wise though, I set a -70% temp basal 1.5hours ahead of time. Midpoint in the run I was down to 3.6mmol/l (65mg/dl) so I had 2 little packages of honey. Near the end of the run I tested again and I was still at 3.6 which leads me to believe I ran practically the whole thing slightly low. I remembered why I loved the morning so much, because I don't have to do ANYTHING with my basal rates. Friday night, even though I finished the run low, I still bolused 1.5units of insulin AND set a +60% temp basal for 3 hours.

Saturday morning:

It's been awhile since I've gone to the Saturday morning spin class. I woke up at what I thought I remembered waking up to get there. I was waiting for the woman to put out the sign in sheet and when she wasn't I asked where it was and I was informed that I was an hour early. Oops. What's a person to do at the gym an hour early for spin class? work out some more I guess! But there was a problem. I didn't set a temp basal because it was early enough in the morning that I wouldn't need one. Except now, it's an hour later PLUS I will be putting an extra hour in before class. Luckily I ate a banana before I left the house and my BG was quite high. I spent some time on weights (which I absolutely hate doing) and quickly moved on and hopped on the elliptical for 45mins. By the time spin class started my BG had gone down quite a bit. I could have disconnected my pump all together but that never ends pretty with me. By the first interval break I chomped down a packet of rockets. Second interval, the other packet of rockets. When I got home I was low yet still set my +60% TBR. I'm glad I didn't go low during class but I had to keep a close eye on it. The rockets held me at bay nicely. Despite my utter dislike for consuming candy calories while working out. So frustrating.

Sunday afternoon:

Outside ride and I was looking forward to it! I did my usual. -70% TBR 1.5hours ahead. It was 4pm when I started and I was only planning to go out for an hour or so. I was on a very flat route so I practiced some high effort, high rpm consistent riding. I went out as far as I could in 30 minutes. The sun was setting fast and there were a couple parts of me that were just bitterly cold. I stopped to check my BG before heading straight back while trying to beat my time. 3.4mmol/l (61mg/dl). Are you kidding me?! I said "Fuck, no way" as I proceeded to swallow back a packet of fruit chews. Back on the bike to go back. Guess how I finished...? Low again. Yup. AND again, set my +60%TBR for 3 hours.

I would like to add that I really seriously froze my bum and thighs off. I'm not loving the bitter cold rides, especially alone.

So one would think after hundreds of workouts I'd have most of this figured out right? Not even fucking close. Every day is still a giant trial and error learning process. I feel like I need to put new blood sugar management plans into action for exercise. The hardest part is the time of day. Early morning (before 8am) I have one set of plans. Then plans for mid morning, different plans for afternoon, late afternoon and evening. As well as different management for running versus cycling.

I wish I came with an instruction manual.