That extra info from the new Libre 2-plus-Diabox CGM setup is already coming in very handy indeed!
(Besides "just" enjoying being able to glance at a screen whenever I like, without a very minor blood sacrifice being required to satisfy my curiosity about glucose levels.)
From my first full day using it, starting from roughly when I got up as reflected by those teeny spikes at the beginning:
Hmm, that is really not looking right! That huge mountain started rising up before I even got anything in besides the usual cup of coffee--which really does not seem to affect my blood sugar otherwise. 🤔 And the pre-breakfast insulin should have at least been on the verge of kicking in when it started climbing? The extra correction dose barely seemed to touch it after it skyrocketed up to a concerning point?
Seriously, WTF body?! 😒
Okay, wait! I know I've heard about something like this before, from other diabetics.
Dr. Edelman offers a solution for "Foot to Floor" phenomenon, which is a very common situation in people with diabetes who are on insulin, a
Why your blood sugar tends to rise in the morning and 4 simple strategies you can use to avoid high morning blood sugar.
But, I was up for at least an hour before my blood sugar started shooting up for no apparent reason? Idk, maybe that doesn't quite fit.
Still, it's worth cautiously trying a little insulin first thing tomorrow, just in case. If it drops too much, I have a good excuse to drink some of that fresh cider. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Erm, NOPE! Second verse...
INTERESTING to see that exactly the same thing happened again, if more than a little nerve wracking! Either one preemptive unit of insulin wasn't NEARLY enough, or that's not the right explanation or solution.
(Just barely avoided it dipping low after shooting an extra meal's worth of Novorapid then taking a short roll around the neighborhood, to try and bring that shit back down. Thanks again to keeping a close eye on the Diabox display, and grabbing a fast snack to keep ahead of it! 😃)
Anyway, at least the tentative little preemptive insulin dose didn't seem to make matters worse, or even bring my blood sugar down AT ALL like it normally would.
May well be worth trying to hit it much harder in advance next time, and see what happens? Again, worst case, I'll be guzzling something sugary or chomping down on candy for breakfast.
And there are still a few things to try if that still doesn't help.
And, success! After taking a usual breakfast-sized dose of Novorapid as soon as I got up.
By the time I was ready to try some breakfast, the levels had not budged in any direction--which I took as an encouraging sign. So, I said fuck it and dosed more insulin as usual before getting in something lower in carbs, trying to play it safe.
(Normally I would say to change only one variable at a time, but jfc. I really DID NOT want a repeat of yesterday's stress!)
Result: Just about the sort of "normal" meal response I would expect? Definitely nothing alarming today. 🎉🥳🎊
And I felt way less like hot exhausted garbage, trying to get some shit done around here before Night Owl Lunch. (Suppertime just recently, for the folks on more socially acceptable schedules.)
Even without the added stress of watching the runaway roller coaster in near realtime, that shit COULD NOT possibly be good for your system. And this is with keeping watch and correction dosing to try and bring it back down. Who knows how high it might have been regularly spiking without that? 😰
I had no reason to think that anything weird might even be going on there, and had slacked on the after meal testing tbqh. Didn't really want to poke myself more than like 4-5 times a day on the regular, unless there was something more obviously unusual happening. So, I fell into a bit of a routine, and had generally called checking before I ate good enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And I really doubt that's unusual.
TL;DR: It's looking remarkably like I've been dealing with some sneaky version of the fairly common "Foot-on-the-Floor" phenomenon with my blood sugar, for Glod only knows how long. And I might not have known about it for a long time if ever, had I not FINALLY gotten set up with CGM technology to help me keep a better eye on what my busted diabetic metabolism is doing.
I had been finger-stick testing for breakfast not long after I got up, and this particular wacky endocrine stunt has apparently been working on just enough of a time delay for me to miss it. Then, by a couple-few hours later when I'm thinking about eating and test again? It's been back to high-"normal" at worst, the vast majority of the time.
This is yet another illustration of why at least all T1 diabetics--or anyone relying on insulin to stay alive and even vaguely healthy--should have ready, affordable access to continuous glucose monitoring technology! Plus any other tools that might make keeping on top of the situation easier, safer, and actually doable.
(Not to mention other folks who might benefit from that, and other currently available medical aids/assistance.)
Currently stuck in my head, however inappropriately! 😅
