Different Shades of Grey

Lows aren't just a low. Each episode might have the same name but they are individual battles and a puzzle to be solved. I don’t always feel the same when I have low blood sugar. Each low has its different reasons and circumstances which means that, as much as try to remain calm, I often have different reactions.

It seems to depend on a couple of main factors:

1. The last time I ate
2. What I last ate
3. The last time I took medication
4. What I’ve been doing in the last hour to 24 hours

A couple days ago I felt funny at the gym, but only slightly. I thought this was because its so cold in there during summer that I often feel like I’ve got cold sweats the minute I stand still. When I hopped in the car I was 3.5. I took three jellybeans and drove home, had dinner and was fine. The whole time I felt completely in control and neutral. My BG rose to 5.8. I hadn’t had short acting insulin for eight hours and had eaten 1CP an hour before going to the gym.

Last night before bed I was 4, but I’d just had a very small mango yogurt smoothie (about 1.5CP). I thought my blood sugar would go up and I proceeded to get ready for bed. Within 15 minutes I was 2.4. The first four jellybeans seemed to take an eternity to kick in. I felt absolutely horrible, like I was sitting on the edge of life. The minutes passed by so slowly and every time I checked my level it was still 2.5. Subsequently I began to panic resulting in the consumption of way too much sugar and a horrible morning reading today. That day I had eaten a lot more than I usually do, which means that I injected a lot more. I think by the time I took a shot for dinner, my body already had enough and I was, in a sense, double dosing as the peak periods of effectiveness for each shot were beginning to overlap.

Other lows I get ravenous, nauseous, or overheated. Sometimes I just need someone to talk to me untill it passes: any ol’ conversation topic will do. And just like every other diabetic, the moment I’m fine, I dissect the situation to understand the how and why. What could I have done better or what did I miss?