Swing Low

Morning blood sugar: 4.8
Episodes of LBS today: 1 :( This happened at 2am
"C' mood today: Good! Poor guy has a nasty cough all of a sudden but still smiling!
Donations today: 2 (a big one too, yippee!)
Clean eating menu for tonight: A "Macgiver dinner" this is a name I got from a co-worker, it is where you make something by randomly grabbing items from your cupboard...our dinner tonight will likely involve rice, kidney beans and maybe canned tuna? Hmm, not sure:)

Not feeling so hot today. It seems these days every second person I meet is unwell with a cold or flu or a combination of the two. I am fortunate to not be in this category but I am suffering today from something I like to call a "low blood sugar hangover". I woke at 2am feeling dizzy and uncoordinated. How does one feel uncoordinated in bed? Well I went to roll over and felt as though each of my limbs weighed 100 lbs. Suddenly a rush of anxiety came over me, "I think I'm low" I thought, my second thought was, "Amy, get up! Go test your blood!" So I made my way through the fog to the kitchen...sure enough 3.7 was the reading (anything under 4 is considered low) so thankfully I was low and dropping fast but caught it in time to act on it. Quickly downed some orange juice because my husband had yet again eaten the jelly beans I keep on hand. I love Jeff but he is a jelly bean addict. I need to find something for LBS that he doesn't eat up!

When I was first placed on insulin I think my biggest fear was having LBS in the middle of the night. Growing up, I can remember my mom having a couple of episodes in the middle of the night where she was so low that my dad couldn't get her to swallow anything. When this happens paramedics have to be called to give an injection of glycogen (I think it is glycogen, might be something else, anyways it is a fast acting substance that raises your blood sugar). One time the first responders were firemen...you can imagine my mom's surprise when she came around to 3 firemen standing in her bedroom!  This only happened 2 or 3 times that I can remember in my childhood but it was pretty frightening. So you can imagine when I took my first nighttime dose of insulin what was running through my head. What makes things worse is that I have heard that the longer you have been a type 1, often your symptoms of LBS become different. Instead of getting the shakes and sweats your symptoms would simply be mental confusion-that isn't exactly something you are going to clue into at 2am! Currently I am thankful that I am aware enough to identify these episodes especially through the fog of sleep, but it remains a very scary experience.

I made my way back to bed around 2:15 am. Unfortunately I was woken up again at 5:45am. This time it was "C' and not low blood sugar; if I have to pick a thing to wake up for I am going to pick him and not a medical emergency for myself! But I have to say I was feeling pretty grouchy by this time, especially when "C' decided he didn't want to go back to sleep. Thankfully this rarely happens in our house, as my son can mostly be counted on to sleep until at least 6:30, and also thankfully I have a husband who is a morning person so he took "C' downstairs to play!

I rolled out of bed at 7:45 with a "hangover". No I didn't have anything to drink last night, I can assure you. This was the aftermath of the little 2am episode I had (grumble, grumble). For whatever reason, sometimes it can take a long time to feel better after having LBS, and today is one of those days. I have a headache, feel tired, and feel a bit off kilter (like a hangover!). I still managed to do a little workout (30 minutes on the elliptical) but I can tell you I wasn't feelin' it today! :( So I slogged through and made it.

All I can say is I am looking forward to tomorrow, a new day. Here is hoping for no LBS in the night and no hangover tomorrow!