Oct 03 2008
The Least Amusing Roller Coaster Ever
The past 24 hours have been an interesting ride, and I’m not talking about the Biden/Palin debate or the $700 billion bailout. It’s much more personal, red and sticky.
Since my diagnosis, my blood sugar has remained reasonably stable. I get a few spikes here and there and they concern me. Sometimes my blood sugar even stays high for a while. But last night, I was doing not much of anything, just shopping for groceries, and I bottomed out.
I’d been fine all night but suddenly, it was hard to concetrate. Then there was the mild headache. I was thinking many thoughts but not able to follow through on any of them. If I’d not had a list to go by, I don’t think I’d have been able to get through my shopping. I was going to have dinner when I headed home, but decided to grab a single serving chocolate milk to boost me up a hair.
When I got up this morning, after too little sleep and a reasonable dinner, I had a blood glucose of 120. This is about 10 or 12 points higher than it’s been lately. Then I had breakfast. By lunch, I was having the headache again. My blood sugar was only 90, well within normal limits, but I was back at the place I’d been about 12 hours before.
There are people who have it much worse than this and on a more frequent basis. It’s not that the number concern me all that much, it’s that it’s a hard shift to get used to. I’m diabetic, so I expect my blood sugar to be high now and again. The crashing is what I wasn’t prepared for, having to eat because I can’t think straight.
And what’s worse is that other than getting about an hour’s less sleep than usual, I did nothing all that different from the night before or the one before that.
I’ve heard other diabetics talk about the Diabetes Fairy, a capricious being that brings us our blood glucose readings from day to day. Sometimes she likes us, and sometimes she doesn’t.
Today, she gave me tickets to a roller coaster, which might be fun if I’d wanted to go on a ride, but is no fun if you just wake up and find yourself about to go over that first hump.
Can’t I just switch to the teacup ride again?
