Sugar Lows-OJ vs. Glucose Tablets
Hi everyone!
I had another sugar low incident last night. Not *severely* low, in fact only a little below what I think is considered the low end of normal (72) but it was weird cuz I had just eaten and if anything what I ate I thought might cause a high not a low. I ate hubby's home made chicken nuggets and they now make Checker's French Fries in the frozen section and I had a few of those not a bunch just a little "taste". But still I thought all that fried food (which I must stress I don't normally eat but hubby had made it for our daughter who is in a nothing but nuggets and fries phase right now lol) and it looked so good I had to have some- anyway I thought that would cause a high not a low if anything out of the norm. Anyway like I said I wasn't *severely* low but low enough that I was shaking badly, felt like I was going to throw up, felt kind of disconnected from myself, and sweating profusely, and my vision felt on the edge of going black though it never did.
Anyway normally I take a glucose tablet and then retest after about 15 minutes and usually end up having to take another when this happens. Sometimes I have to do it 3 times! But this time I decided to try OJ and I was up to 104 within minutes.
After the incident I tried to watch some TV (my guilty pleasure John and Kate Plus 8) but was so exhausted I couldn't keep my eyes open and had to go take a nap.
Anyway two questions- does anyone else get that tired after an incident like that? And also, what do most of you do? OJ or Glucose? It seems OJ might work better...
Ok one thing I'm sorry it's OT but it's *so* adorable I have to share it! Sorry I lied it will be two things. lol Anyway the other night my daughter held her piggy bank out to hubby and said "Piggy's hungry!" lol We were rolling! Also daddy tooth fairy better get on the stick cuz she lost a tooth about 3 days ago and dutifully put it under her pillow but daddy tooth fairy forgot to deliver some money! I tried to cover up for him (I don't have cash on me or I would have done it) by saying (some of you know my story about how she didn't live with us for two years and just came home again last year) that maybe the tooth fairy forgot she lives here again and went to the wrong house. But she was too smart for that! She said "But I lost other teeth since I came home and the tooth fairy gave me money here!" Oooops! lol Better get daddy tooth fairy on the stick! lol
Ok last thing... I was working 3rd shift two nights a week, had two varying nights off (well one was always Wednesday but the other one varied) and then work like 3-10 the rest of the week. Well the girl that shares the 3rd shift with me is in the hospital right now with possible cancer. :-( She has an inoperable lump on her lung and something else the size of a pumpkin on her chest near her heart. I'm very sad. I really like her. She has been very good to me, almost like a 2nd mom (mine's dead- almost 5 years ago now). She gave us 2 of our birds and also when our daughter was out of our care, hubby had to go out of town on Christmas so she gave me a bunch of food from Christmas dinner and also invited me to have Christmas at her house so I wouldn't be lonely but the jerks that had temp custody of our daughter pretending to be nice had invited me out to dinner. Anyway I said all that to lead up to now it has been proposed (which I love cuz with my other shift I *never* see our daughter during the school year cuz I have to go to work before she gets home from school and if daddy is doing his job she better be in bed when I get home (cuz I work till 10) So anyway with this stuff going on with the other day it was proposed I have Mondays and Tuesdays off and work 3rd shift the rest of the week. I said yes but my boss seemed to worry that's too much for me. I told her over the phone that I like that shift and also e-mailed her again to tell her I would prefer it for the reasons I just stated here. I have the most seniority so hopefully she will let me do it. It's a far less stressful shift! Plus I bring in my portable DVD player and watch Netflix between calls and if I run out of that, I read. Anyway so my thing is I am having such a *hard* time figuring out when to take what on 3rd shift. I am on 3 oral meds (none are for diabetes) that I am to take before I go to bed (well at night which I consider before bed)- one is for cholesterol, one is for high BP, and one is an anti-depressant. Then I am to take my insulin in the morning. But...Since night is day and day is night so to speak do I just take the oral meds before whenever I go to bed after a 3rd shift (I try to stay up till at least noon if I can so that I sleep later else I get up way too early if I go straight to bed after a 3rd shift and feel too draggy during my shift) and then take my insulin when I wake up even though that is late afternoon/early evening? I plan to ask my doctor at the next appointment unless anyone here (I thought I remembered a guy who said he loves my posts lol saying he works 3rds) works 3rds can tell me what they do.
Thanks as always for taking the time to read this and offer any help you can!
A low is considered anything 70 or below, so 72 is pretty darned low. You symptoms of sweating, nausea, shaking, and mixed-up vision, followed by just-having-to-go-to-sleep are all typical. In fact, a bad low can affect you for up to 24ish hours. Not only are they no fun, they can wipe you out and interfere with your life for a while.
It's hard to say why you got so low (and also, I can't remember what you take for meds, if any), but it wasn't a very large meal-- some chicken (presumably with a bit of breading) and a taste of FFs-- so not much food, and not great quality food; it was hardly a meal, more of a snackie.
Why are you only taking only one glucose tablet at a time? To treat a low, you should follow the 15-in-15 rule, 15 grams of carbs every 15 minutes (testing at each 15 min interval) until you're up over 100ish. And 15 grams of carbs is more like 3-4 of those tablets-- check the label and see.
OJ, on the other hand, is liquid carbs, the most readily digestible and fastest way to get glucose into your bloodstream. Milk or "real" (not diet) soda should work just as well. Just be sure not to drink more than about a half cup, because more might just put you too high, and you don't want to do that roller coaster thing.
OJ/milk/soda or glucose tablets, it makes no diff what you use. Just a matter of personal preference and what you have available. I personally think the tablets are less likely to give you a too-high rebound reaction; it's easy to drink too much of it when you're in the miserable throes of a low.
Judy D.
A low is considered anything 70 or below, so 72 is pretty darned low. You symptoms of sweating, nausea, shaking, and mixed-up vision, followed by just-having-to-go-to-sleep are all typical. In fact, a bad low can affect you for up to 24ish hours. Not only are they no fun, they can wipe you out and interfere with your life for a while.
It's hard to say why you got so low (and also, I can't remember what you take for meds, if any), but it wasn't a very large meal-- some chicken (presumably with a bit of breading) and a taste of FFs-- so not much food, and not great quality food; it was hardly a meal, more of a snackie.
Why are you only taking only one glucose tablet at a time? To treat a low, you should follow the 15-in-15 rule, 15 grams of carbs every 15 minutes (testing at each 15 min interval) until you're up over 100ish. And 15 grams of carbs is more like 3-4 of those tablets-- check the label and see.
OJ, on the other hand, is liquid carbs, the most readily digestible and fastest way to get glucose into your bloodstream. Milk or "real" (not diet) soda should work just as well. Just be sure not to drink more than about a half cup, because more might just put you too high, and you don't want to do that roller coaster thing.
OJ/milk/soda or glucose tablets, it makes no diff what you use. Just a matter of personal preference and what you have available. I personally think the tablets are less likely to give you a too-high rebound reaction; it's easy to drink too much of it when you're in the miserable throes of a low.
Judy D.
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