Last night at about 11:15 pm I flicked the bedroom light back on to test. Kim asked what's up and I said, it feels like the room is spinning so I thought I should test. The meter flashed a "51" so I went to my stash of
clif builder bars and began to munch away. That prompted Kim to ask "don't you get tired of eating?"
She's not the first person to ask this question and
certainly won't be the last but it is one of the most frustrating things about diabetes. Not the question, the fact that sometimes you just can't eat enough to keep glucose levels high enough. Her second question, "well isn't there something else you could do besides eat?" Was also a very valid question and brings up a huge
dilemma. I told Kim, I
could turn off the basal rate in my insulin pump and hope that my blood sugar rebounds in 30 to 60 minutes but the downside risk with that is huge. At 51, if there is still insulin on board even with a 0% basal rate one's blood sugar level could continue to fall to very dangerous levels (which makes me question the ideology behind the new minimed pump). So in that I have always found the best thing to do when faced with a low is to eat.
Of course I have other options besides
clif bars of any variety but have found the blend of protein, carbohydrates and organic goodness is a great healthy way to fight lows or eat in general - I swear I have to be one of
clif bar's largest non-corporate consumers. I place a $125 to $250 order through drugstore.com about once a month. I'm not a huge fan of glucose tabs as I don't really like sugary things and gels do some interesting things to my
gi tract, fine when you live alone but when your girlfriend is already sick of living with a zoo animal one has to try and keep those things to a minimum.
So to answer the question - yes I get sick of eating but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
She's not the first person to ask this question and certainly won't be the last but it is one of the most frustrating things about diabetes. Not the question, the fact that sometimes you just can't eat enough to keep glucose levels high enough. Her second question, "well isn't there something else you could do besides eat?" Was also a very valid question and brings up a huge dilemma. I told Kim, I could turn off the basal rate in my insulin pump and hope that my blood sugar rebounds in 30 to 60 minutes but the downside risk with that is huge. At 51, if there is still insulin on board even with a 0% basal rate one's blood sugar level could continue to fall to very dangerous levels (which makes me question the ideology behind the new minimed pump). So in that I have always found the best thing to do when faced with a low is to eat.
Of course I have other options besides clif bars of any variety but have found the blend of protein, carbohydrates and organic goodness is a great healthy way to fight lows or eat in general - I swear I have to be one of clif bar's largest non-corporate consumers. I place a $125 to $250 order through drugstore.com about once a month. I'm not a huge fan of glucose tabs as I don't really like sugary things and gels do some interesting things to my gi tract, fine when you live alone but when your girlfriend is already sick of living with a zoo animal one has to try and keep those things to a minimum.
So to answer the question - yes I get sick of eating but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.