Overnight Basal Testing Makes For A Tired Pussycat

Anna's Blog
By: FatCatAnna

The Roller Coaster Ride of Diabetes! Whoo! Whoo!

I am a Type 1 diabetic diagnosed back in the early 60's as a child. I am living in Montreal, Canada and enjoy scribbling about diabetes from time to time. I’ve had my ups / downs just like any person would experience with going through life - diabetic or not. My motto in life? Diabetes does not control me – I control it!!

You can find more posts/discussions at my Facebook page called "The Roller Coaster Ride of Diabetes" and also on Twitter under the name of FatCatAnna. Feel free to follow me at both places or send me a private message!

<< July 2013 >>

	Blog Entries
The joys of having Bowie my CGMS – Chapter 1 - Sep 02 Okay, for those of you who have never read my #dblogs before, I give names to all my little gizmos that I use for controlling my diabetes. What we have today, ... more
In a slump and scared - Jul 21 It’s rare for me to compose a #dblog that is not all “chirpy chirpy” … I think the last time I did one that was kind of down was at Diabetes1.org ... more
Surviving the Holocaust with Type 1 diabetes - Mar 27 " To the best of my knowledge, I am the only diabetic who survived years of imprisonment in German concentration camps. This is my story " The above words ... more
Sugar and Your Health - Mar 06 The other day I emptied out a 4 kg (about 10 lbs) of white sugar that I had dated a year ago when I opened it. I use white sugar purely for cooking (I make my own ... more
Eating from the ground - Yuca Fries - Feb 20 I am home now from a working holiday, in the Bahamas and Miami. Despite the weather being abit cooler then normal (they only get 2 weeks of winter - we were there in ... more

Posted: Jul 7, 2013 12:28	0 Comments.
Overnight Basal Testing Makes For A Tired Pussycat

Image of high 5 cat from reallyfunnypictures.co.uk

I had attempted an overnight basal test on Friday - but that was a failure with going low (3.2/57) - but last night - with having tweaked basal rates abit was SUCCESSFUL!! I went to bed at 6.2/112 and woke up to 5.4/97. During the night around 5 AM I had gone to 4.2/75 - but according to Gary Scheiner's book 'Think Like a Pancreas' - he says staying within a 1.7/30 up/down range from your original starting BG (blood sugar) - I was in the good zone.

I have to admit - I'd like to be abit higher overnight with my BG - more in the 6-7/108-126- - so will tweak basals eventually - but am so looking forward to having a solid sleep tonight - as last few nights have been very broken with getting up every hour.

I guess this would be where a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) would come in handy - I know of some US health centers loaning them out to patients - but when I asked my endo about whether this was possible here in Montreal - he said no. Anyway, the good "old fashioned" way of testing with the blood meter went well.

So much more precise than the urine testing in my earlier days of diabets control as I'm sure many of you will agree on!

Curious - how often do you test your basal rates (pumper or MDI)? I have to admit - I blog about it "how to do it" - but have never really done a full night one before until having had difficulties the past month with low BG's since starting back on the pump after my break from George Michael.

I know that due to not having a Certified Diabetic Educator (CDE) or endocrinologist (endo) to show/tell me how to do these sort of tests - I've pretty well had to go with what I read in books that others have recommended within the DOC (diabeties online community). I have to admit - this time I was using Gary Scheiner's book I mentioned above instead of the John Walsh book - 'Pumping Insulin'. I actually found Gary's book abit easier to understand - he writes more from the heart with being a Type 1 diabetic (T1D) like myself - and a pumper as well. Both books though are very good - so they have many dog earred pages!

Picture courtesy of Fiction Writers Review

Picture courtesy of Fiction Writers Review

There's a few more tests I'm going to be doing over the next few months - to get more use out of my pumps programming (e.g. I have a feeling due to my sensitivity to my insulin - that perhaps my carb ratio is set too low - there are tests in both books that talk you thru' how to perform this). The pump as some people think doesn't mean you'll have better control of your diabetes if you DON'T use it properly. The same applies to multiple dosage injections (MDI). You are the brains behind these devices we use - they can only help - if you know how to use them - along with help from your health care team (provided they are up on all the latest and greatest).

I know some of you may think it's dangerous for me to be doing this on my own - but sadly - not all of us have the resources / services available to us - and this is the only route we can go. I would LOVE to be able to have a CDE or endo that understood the fine tuning of the pump - but alas - I've not lucked in as of yet. A few years ago my GP had referred me to an endo here in Montreal that does research in the diabetes field and works with pump patients. Sadly, when I saw her (Dr. Natasha Garfield) - she told me that my A1C of 5.9% at the time was dangerouosly low if she was to take me on as a patient. I had hoped due to her having a team of CDE's trained in the pump area - that I'd be able to go to them for help when I needed it. So, I walked away with my tail inbetween my legs and carried on the way I always do.

The Cat that Walked by Himself - by Rudyard Kipling

The Cat That Walked By Himself - by Rudyard Kipling - picture courtesy of -http://www.mainlesson.com

So, this is why I do my own thing - and again - some of you maybe in the same boat as I am. So far though, I seem to be on the right track - despite the little roller coaster ride from time to time that we all have with this disease!

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