Being T1 Diabetic & Low Blood Sugar

I am also T1, as are several of my MFP friends. I know it sucks, and it was interesting getting a balance of sugars in relation to exercise, eating right, etc. For a while it was my excuse not to change, now I realize I can't let anything get in the way of being healthy. Good luck in your journey!

I can totally identify...I'm a T2 Diabetic (recently taken off my meds by the doctor because of my 70lb weight loss). Holy cow, when that blood sugar bottoms out...bad things start to happen. And you're right...you cannot shove enough food in fast enough. For me the magic window of stable blood sugar is 90-110. Anything lower than 85 and I start slurring my speech and can't form a complete sentence. Above 115-ish and I get dots in my vision...yeah, it's awesome. Thankfully though, I've been pretty lucky with it since being taken off the meds...but I feel your pain!!! Congrats on the weight loss!

Sure you get ravenous, your body is demanding to have your sugar levels brought up. And there are worse choices than snickers...at least the peanuts provide you with some protein

I am also T1, as are several of my MFP friends. I know it sucks, and it was interesting getting a balance of sugars in relation to exercise, eating right, etc. For a while it was my excuse not to change, now I realize I can't let anything get in the way of being healthy. Good luck in your journey!

Oh I soooo know what you mean about balancing exercise--I have to completely disconnect my pump just to walk my dogs or I end up all low sugar stupid. lol I have a friend who tries to talk me into doing Zumba with her but I am way too afraid--something high-energy/high-aerobic will for sure send me into a coma. I'm convinced. lol but not.

I thought the same thing about Zumba, but then I tried it and loved it! Never had a low during, sometimes after but I got some advice from my trainer that really helped me, he told me not to eat an hour before exercise, and it was like a light bulb went off, if i eat an hour before it's enough time for me to digest a snack before a workout, and not too far before that i will be running low. I also learned to adjust how much insulin i take before a workout to accommodate for what i'm about to burn.

I can totally relate to wanting to eat everything in sight during a severe low! That's why i've gotten rid of all unhealthy snacks so that they are no longer a temptation for me. (yeah, i definitely don't reach for the glucose tablets, i want some real sugar! LOL!)

I can also relate to another user who mentioned that they don't even feel hungry when they eat, they're just eating to keep from falling low, been there, done that; the good news is your body will get used to a regular routine and will actually feel hungry when it's time to eat! keep up the good work!

P.S. feel free to add me. Us T1's gotta stick together! it's always encouraging to know that there is someone else out there who can relate to what you're going through

I can relate all too well with the ravenous "shove anything edible in my line of vision down my throat" thing. Nothing passes my mind but SUGAR NEED SUGAR until I can feel my body again. I've been T1 since I was 3 years old, and had my fair share of extreme lows (and crazy insane highs) in the 17 years, and there's nothing worse than that jittery sunken stomach low feeling. Once I woke up in the middle of the night LOW (the meter actually read LOW) and felt myself blacking out while I was in bed and couldn't get up. My phone was next to me and somehow(I still don't know how) I managed to call my mom in the next room and she saved me.

When you guys work out, do you find that there's a delayed reaction time with the blood sugars? It's been happening often to me lately, where I'll exercise in the morning, be fine during the day, and then come 6ish I'll go low, drink OJ, 2 hours later go low again. Like today, I had a great workout in the morning, covered up to my lunch snack (but not for the peanut butter, just for the bagel) and then at dinner I was 132 and didn't take insulin (I never cover for veggies or whatever). At 6 I felt low, and was 61. Had the yogurt, went up to 97. Usually for 30+ uncovered carbs like that, I'd go even higher an hour after eating them, but around 7:30 I felt low again, was 54. Had the orange and the OJ, fine until 9ish: 52! WTF?! I stopped logging at this point and had real carbs (a bagel) and some more OJ, but now I'm scared to go to sleep for a few hours until I'm sure my blood sugar's up, hence why I'm killing time here. Anyone have any insight?

I can relate all too well with the ravenous "shove anything edible in my line of vision down my throat" thing. Nothing passes my mind but SUGAR NEED SUGAR until I can feel my body again. I've been T1 since I was 3 years old, and had my fair share of extreme lows (and crazy insane highs) in the 17 years, and there's nothing worse than that jittery sunken stomach low feeling. Once I woke up in the middle of the night LOW (the meter actually read LOW) and felt myself blacking out while I was in bed and couldn't get up. My phone was next to me and somehow(I still don't know how) I managed to call my mom in the next room and she saved me.

When you guys work out, do you find that there's a delayed reaction time with the blood sugars? It's been happening often to me lately, where I'll exercise in the morning, be fine during the day, and then come 6ish I'll go low, drink OJ, 2 hours later go low again. Like today, I had a great workout in the morning, covered up to my lunch snack (but not for the peanut butter, just for the bagel) and then at dinner I was 132 and didn't take insulin (I never cover for veggies or whatever). At 6 I felt low, and was 61. Had the yogurt, went up to 97. Usually for 30+ uncovered carbs like that, I'd go even higher an hour after eating them, but around 7:30 I felt low again, was 54. Had the orange and the OJ, fine until 9ish: 52! WTF?! I stopped logging at this point and had real carbs (a bagel) and some more OJ, but now I'm scared to go to sleep for a few hours until I'm sure my blood sugar's up, hence why I'm killing time here. Anyone have any insight?

if you find insight on the delayed low's, i'd love to be enlightened too! i have that happen. sometimes when i do something new to exercise or off my typical schedule, my body seems to rebel by waiting 4-6 hours to drop randomly, when i'm not expecting it. /

Im also Diabetic, this Aug will be 24yrs. I know what you mean about getting low blood sugar. I'll be doing good all day on calories, then BAM my sugars drop and I start pigging out to get it back up! It sucks!! There are also times when Im not hungry, but I know I have to eat so my sugars don't drop. I have the pump also, I got it back in 2001 and it's helped out alot, especially with all 4 pregnancies! But sometimes it's a pain in the butt, I often find myself running out of spots to insert the infusion set!

You mean you don't grab a handful of chalky glucose tabs to bring it back up instead of a candy bar? For shame! :laugh: I just told someone it's almost like you're having an out of body experience while you're shoving the food in and then you come to when your sugars start to stabilize and look down to see the crumbs all over and think... what the?... who did that? Awful. What kind of pump are you on? I have the Minimed and love it (never ever thought I'd say those words!).

bahaha i love that example of how you feel when you're low. i've come to, sitting on the kitchen floor in front of my fridge & having scarfed way more than i needed without meaning to. when you're really low, there isn't the thought process of only eating a certain number of carbs & getting in some protein to keep us higher. hate it.

Is anyone on the Animas Ping? I'm on that and actually have liked it so far. It's expensive to be on but is competely helpful. Yes I do want to throw it across the room at times but all in all, I am glad to be on it. Ask me that about 2 years ago and I would have a totally different repsonse for you.