This one's going to be low on humor, but I need to explain WHY a new blog became necessary in my mind.
As far as I know, there are two kinds of Type 2 diabetes. Either the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin or an individual's body can no longer properly process the insulin they DO have. The latter's what's happened to me. I've always taken a lot of insulin because I was insulin resistant. In recent years, I've had to take more... and more... and more. There are 300 units in a single insulin pen, and I can go through one pen every day. I've had to start skipping meals once a day to make sure this doesn't happen.
Another recent development has been the addition of a CGM, or Continuous Glucose Monitor. I still have to check my glucose manually, as sometimes the CGM can be off, but it helps me track where my sugar has been and where it's going. Yes, there's an arrow that tells me if my glucose is trending up or down! It's exciting stuff.
A single sheet of paper would no longer be enough to track a month of my glucose readings. I needed room to note the date, the time, the glucometer reading, the CGM reading, and any comments I might have. And trust me, there were notes already showing up on the old single sheets of paper. The time had come to purchase a notebook dedicated to my diabetes management.
The result was a mess. I was starting to wonder how I'd managed a 6.8 on my last Hgb A1c. (I'll discuss A1c's another time. Suffice to say it measures a diabetic's recent control.) I'll use my readings from yesterday, 7 October 2023, as an example.
- 8:00 - Meter: 342. CGM: 374. Calibrated the CGM to align more closely to the meter. Took 80 units of Novalog. Skipped breakfast completely.
- 12:45 - Meter: 321. CGM: 277. Calibrated the CGM. Took ANOTHER 80 units of Novalog! Ate lunch.
- 7:30 - Late dinner. Meter: 247. CGM: 263. Calibrated the CGM. Took 72 units of Novalog! Had dinner.
- 9:10 - CGM read 312 and indicated I was trending upward. I felt like I was spiking. Took another 20 units of Novalog.
- 11:30 - Meter: 319. CGM: 311. CGM calibration wasn't necessary. Took 40 units of Novalog and skipped my evening snack.
- Somewhere around 3:00 - CGM read 150. Went back to sleep.
In a single day, I took 292 units of insulin. My average glucose for the day was 315 when rounded out. If we based my A1c on a single day, it would have been 11.0! I did no cheating whatsoever. No little treats at all! Just a lot of insulin and two skipped meals. It was absurd!
I need a greater understanding of Type 2 diabetes so I can understand where I'm at in my diabetic journey. I've started a medication to hopefully make my body more receptive to the insulin I'm taking.
There was a little humor when I shared the news that I had both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. A friend commented, "Clearly when you do something, you go all-in. That's your superpower." Yeah, pretty much.
So here we are, at the end of my second post, and I need a picture. This looks like a job for... SUPER SQUIRREL!
I was going to go through a mimicry of the whole opening of the 1952 Adventures of Superman, but it was getting extra silly for me. "It's a bird!" Well, yeah, it could be a bird. I said it was in the trees. And mistaking a squirrel and a frisbee probably isn't a thing.
See you folks next week.
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