Adventures with insulin

Monday, February 25, 2013

Thanks for the all of the comments, emails, and phone calls regarding my whole insulin debacle.  The second night that I tried injecting, I had success and every time since then I have been able to do it with no issue.  I think that it must have been first time jitters or something.

I have found that my thigh is definitely better than anywhere else to inject and that my left thigh is easier for me to jab than my right.  It is hard to reach around my huge belly.  Now, I would love to tell you that it has been working like a charm, but in fact, it hasn't helped at all and it has even made my numbers marginally worse.  How the heck is this possible?

The first night that I actually got the subcutaneous full dose, I figured I was golden.  I ate exactly the same bedtime snack that I usually have (protein shake w/ almond milk, string cheese, 2 biscotti).  I shot up (sounds like I am a drug addict) around 10:45 PM.  I had my usual 3 full hours of sleep, followed by a pee break, then several 90 minute sleep/pee sessions until I had to get up at 5:30 AM for the funeral.

Upon waking, I tested myself...freaking 98.  WTF?!  This was my 3rd highest fasting reading EVER.  I was so pissed.  I rushed around and got ready and wolfed down my breakfast (2 pieces of low-carb whole grain toast w/ chunky PB, 1 oz low-fat cheese, 2 pieces organic chx sausage, water).  This same breakfast the day before had yielded me a blood sugar reading of 112 an hour after breakfast.  I have been alternating between the egg white omelet and this breakfast for the past few weeks, but on this morning, I didn't have time to make the omelet.

In the car, I tested my blood sugar one hour after breakfast and it was 147.  WTF?!  I thought insulin was supposed to help your readings and not harm them.  I was now even more pissed and frustrated.  As my husband and I were driving we discussed me calling the OB on-call.  I have never done that before, but decided that should be one of the benefits of me going there so I called and left a message.

About an hour later the OB on-call gave me a ring and we chatted about my numbers.  She agreed that the insulin didn't appear to be helping, but said she would like to see readings for a few more days before making the call on upping my dose.  Up my dose??  My numbers were better without the freaking insulin.  How sad. :(

I went the rest of the day with ok readings.  I packed a cooler with snacks and dinner.  We ended up having lunch at my sister's boyfriend's house who lived near the funeral home/church.  They were very accommodating to me by making grilled chicken and salad.  They also got some cheese pizza which looked and smelled amazing, so I had half of a slice without the end crust.  My readings after the hour were great.  I feel like this is a game.  Sort of like, "Press Your Luck".  "Big money, big money, no whammies".

The funeral itself was so sad.  It was so hard to see my relatives so upset.  There is still no cause of death, so there was no burial because they are still examining him.  The casket was made of wood that my cousin was going to use to make his own snowboard.  Everyone signed it.  The service was really awesome though and the church was so packed that there was standing room only and they were simulcasting in the reception hall.  Luckily my Aunt had saved a seat for me so I could sit.  I think I would have been really uncomfortable standing the whole service, especially since I had to pee the whole time.

We drove back home in bad weather.  I was white knuckle gripping my "oh shit" bar most of the time.  We saw several bad accidents and narrowly averted one.  I was so happy to be home after all of that.  A terribly exhausting day.

Since Saturday, my fasting numbers have not gotten better.  They are still in the mid to low 90s.  Today was 89.  I skipped the protein shake last night.  I called the nurse this morning and she told me to up my dose from 7 units to 10 units.  Sigh.  I have another appointment on Wednesday so if things are still not better, you can be sure they are going to hear about it.

On a more up-beat side note, I was really craving cookies last night so I G.oogled until I found a good recipe for low-carb peanut butter cookies that were not made with artificial sweetener.  I was overjoyed when I saw the "diabetic friendly" label!  I changed the recipe a bit in that I added less sugar, some vanilla extract, and butter.  I think mine probably had less carbs this way, but I still posted the nutrition info so you can get the idea.  My batch made 22 cookies.  I had two of them last night for my snack with some extra peanut butter on them.  YUM!!


Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Prep/Total Time: 20 min.
Yield: 24 Servings

Ingredients
•1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
•1/4 cup brown sugar (I did not pack it)
•1 egg
•1-1/4 cups oatmeal (I did not use the quick-cooking kind)
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1 tablespoon melted butter
•1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
•In a small bowl, cream peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg.  Add butter and vanilla. Add oats and baking soda to creamed mixture; mix well.
•Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets; flatten slightly. Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 dozen.

Nutritional Facts
1 cookie equals 67 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 9 mg cholesterol, 57 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat.

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6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Adventures with insulin”

  1. Ok, these cookies look amazing and I'm considering whipping up a batch with sun butter tonight! As for your readings - how miserably stressful. Sometimes I feel like doctors really don't have a clue how the body works and instead they just throw darts at the problem and wait until one of them beats it out of it. I hope things balance out soon so you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, and your rocking cookies :)

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  2. Sorry this all has to give you so much grief. How unbelievably frustrating. Hoping you will figure this out soon so that you can finally relax a little. But those cookies look amazing! I'm totally making some. :)

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  3. I was just diagnosed with GD and can't imagine having to do the insulin (fingers crossed) and am really impressed you're doing it. Stress can play a big part in blood sugar readings and I imagine that might have been the problem considering you were heading to a funeral. Hope you can get everything where the doctors want it soon. Thanks for the great looking cookie recipe!

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  4. Sending so many thoughts your way. The change in diet sounds like it is frustrating. I'm really glad you found that cookie recipe. It sound so good!! I'm also so sorry about the loss in your family. I will be thinking of all of you.

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  5. I'm so sorry the insulin isn't doing what it should be doing. I hope the doctor can come up with an answer soon.

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  6. I have no idea if this is helpful, and the situation is entirely different, but when I take Metformin I can't eat a low-carb diet or my body goes ape-shit crazy. I never used a monitor, so I don't know what my blood sugar was doing, but it was going crazy. I always assumed it was too low, but I don't know. Perhaps the pizza helped with the situation instead of it being a random occurrence. Hopefully the higher dose does the trick and you don't have to play guinea pig with your body!

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