Brain waves

I love my brain. It enables me to think. It enables me to analyze. It enables me to solve problems. It enables me to do my job. But sometimes it gets a little (or a lot) out of hand and just doesn't know when to stop. I've often looked for a switch, but can't seem to find one. Riding my bike helps. Pedaling doesn't make my brain stop, but the thoughts do get clearer which is good.

What can I do? I know, I know it's part of my personality... Or is that just part of the cause? Type 1 gaming by nature requires constant attention where you're always trying to predict where the sugar level is at and where it's going. Even with a finger prick blood glucose test, it just gives you a now picture which will no longer be valid if you wait another 15 minutes. It's 24/7, with no vacations ever, not even during the night. It's the last thing I think about before my head hits the pillow and the first thing in my mind the second I wake up. I even think about it in my sleep. I was in the middle of one of my dreams last night about talking to Adele's teacher's aid about out of control sugars when Adele's pump alarm went off (it actually went off twice, once around 1 am and again at 6:40 am). Both times she was low... And still sound asleep.

Apparently knowledge is power. I agree with that but often my research sends my brain into a frenzy. It makes me second guess what I'm doing or get down on myself when I don't seem to be doing it as well as someone else.

Should we move towards a higher protein / low carb diet to help control blood sugar?

Should we look at the glycemic index of food more?

Should we try to establish a stricter daily routine?

How can we get Adele's A1C as low as some and do these players have too many dangerous lows?

What can we do now to help avoid complications later?

With the holidays coming up, how many treats are too much?

What about alternative medicine treatments like homeopathy and other more gentle and natural treatments?

And how did Halle Berry "cure" herself from Type 1 Diabetes? (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/DiabetesResource/story?id=3822870&page=1). OK this last one doesn't get me thinking. I just find it absurd given it's impossibility. Type 1 needs more celebrity advocates, but not ones that will make stupid claims that only confuse non-players and just add to the confusion between Type 1 and Type 2.

The last few days of Type 1 gaming have been quite "wavy"...

Monday, December 7th

7:00 am -> 7.5 before breakfast
10:10 am -> 6.8
10:45 am -> 4.6 (not low... yet. Adele ate a Fruit to Go to avoid low before lunch)
11:45 am -> 6.1 before lunch (low avoided)
1:10 pm -> 3.6 (low, drank a juice)
2:30 pm -> 9.7 (juice was too much, gave 0.2 units insulin to bring sugar back down)
3:45 pm -> 13.9 (too high, gave another 0.3 units insulin)
5:00 pm -> 9.6 before supper (going down)
6:30 pm -> 4.7 (going down too fast, ate her bedtime snack early)
9:10 pm -> 10.1 (too high, gave 0.5 units insulin)
11:00 pm -> 7.1 (turned pump off for 1 hour to avoid low)

Tuesday, December 8th

1:00 am -> 5.3 (turned pump off for 1 hour to bring sugar up a bit and avoid low - cgm sensor was not working so no alarm if she goes low)
7:00 am -> 9.4 before breakfast (a bit high, shouldn't have turned off pump last night)
9:45 am -> 7.7
10:50 am -> 6.7
11:55 am -> 9.5 before lunch (too high)
1:50 pm -> 12.8 (too high, gave 0.4 units insulin)
2:30 pm -> 17.3 (way too high and climbing, gave another 0.4 units insulin before getting on the school bus)
3:00 pm -> 16.5 (still way too high)
5:00 pm -> 15.7 (it just won't seem to come down!)
8:30 pm -> 11.2 (still too high)
11:00 pm -> 5.2 (finally coming down, hopefully not too much)

Wednesday, December 9th

1:00 am -> 3.4 (CGM sensor low alarm woke me up, ate 5 gummies, pump off for 1 hour)
3:00 am -> 7.2
6:40 am -> 3.2 (CGM sensor low alarm woke me up again, Adele wanted a bagel for breakfast instead of her usual cereal and blueberries which made for a LARGE insulin bolus of 2.4 units, will this be too much?)
9:40 am -> 3.7 (yup, it was too much, drank juice and ate Dex 4 glucose tablet)
10:10 am -> 4.8 (going up now, ate snack, no insulin bolus)
10:50 am -> 6.4 (climbing, gave 0.4 units insulin to prevent sugar from climbing too much, breakfast bolus is no longer active)
11:45 am -> 11.0 (too high)
1:25 pm -> 4.3 (dropping fast, she won't make it to daycare without sugar, drank another juice before getting on the school bus)
2:45 pm -> 5.9

So, what caused these fluctuations? 1 - Nervousness for a school Christmas concert, 2 - A different breakfast with over 4 times the total grams of carbs than her usual, 3 - Type 1 Diabetes, sometimes it's just like that... For us anyway.

If you have answers to any (or all) of the questions above, please please please let me know!