Riding the Coaster

When you look at my fasting blood sugars over the past couple of weeks, you really get a feeling that you’re riding a roller coaster. I seem to do okay for a few days, and then BAM! my sugar is down near the floor again. Well, for me it is, anyway.

From what I’ve gathered on one of the Diabetes forums I visit, my low fasting numbers are actually pretty good. They should tell that to my body that gets all shaky when I’m below 90 each morning. It’s always fun trying to stumble down the stairs before breakfast. I’m guessing my body hasn’t had sugar this low in a while, so it’s still trying to adapt. Once my body gets the hang of things I have no doubt that I’ll be back to feeling normal. Or once I get adjusted, my body will throw me a big curve ball. Either way…

Since I’ve gotten back into my pre-/post-meal checks again, it’s been curious to look at how the numbers have been changing. As an analytics guy, I love seeing how my own data looks on a graph:

Today I clearly spiked right after lunch and really spiked after dinner. I guess it wasn’t a good day to eat at Subway and Panera… The Subway for lunch (a six inch spicy Italian with spinach and red onion) wasn’t too bad, all things considered, since it only upped my sugar by 80 points. My cream of chicken and wild rice soup from Panera with 8oz of milk, on the other hand, more than doubled my values. Oops.

I’m curious to see what my fasting will be in the morning…

Daily Summary

Today was marred by my inability to get a good blood sample. When I was in the hospital and taking my own blood sugars, it was easy enough for me to prick any of my fingers (except my pinkie) and get enough blood. For some reason now I’m having one hell of a time getting a good droplet.

After I do my finger stick, the blood, rather than staying as a nice little droplet, starts to spread over the contours of my finger. I put the test strip against it and the blood slooooowly gets to the sensor. And then it dies with an error. Stupid blood.

I’ve resorted to using one side of one or two fingers, but damn it’s starting to hurt. If I don’t figure this out soon, I’m going to lose the tip of my finger

My stomach was also hurting when I got home today and when I was sitting in a parent meeting after lunch. I’m pretty sure it has to do with my Metformin, but it doesn’t make it any less unpleasant. It’s a sensation of wanting to throw up, but I’m really not that interested in doing it. To be fair, the last time I threw up I went to the ER and was diagnosed with diabetes. You can understand my hesitation.

Today’s Numbers