Weather related lows?

Here's an interesting theory: very cold weather may cause low blood sugars.

 I have nothing scientific to back this up... just conversations with two local Type 1's, both of whom, like Rosie, experienced a lot of unexplained lows last week during Ohio's bitter cold weather.

It kind of makes sense to me.  After all, if Rosie is sky-high, we put her in a warm bath, and that helps bring her down.  So I suppose that it's not too far-fetched to think that cold might have the opposite affect.

I haven't researched this yet, I'm just thinking out loud.   Does anyone else experience a difference when there's a drastic change in temperature?

 

Low, low, low.

Last night was one of those nights.  Rosie went to bed low and stayed low all night.   We were both up a lot last night, and we're both tired and a little grumpy this morning.

We're out of juice, in both boxed and bottled form.  That never happens, but last night, it did.  So my treatment options were glucose tablets or fruit snacks.  I chose glucose.

When Rosie is really out of it, whether it's from the low or from being asleep, she fights.  She clamps her mouth shut and literally pushes me away when I try to get some sugar into her.  At one point she was keeping her arm held straight up in the air, for no apparent reason.  It strikes me as funny this morning, but in my sleep-deprived fog, it was just one more thing to contend with.  She was really out of it.   That hasn't happened for a couple of months now.

Temporary basals, several rounds of glucose, and lots of prayers got us through the night.

My new flavor of coffee (buttery caramel) is getting me through this morning.

I hope God understands why we didn't go to church this morning.   The idea of dragging us there to sit through mass just didn't seem feasible- Rosie and I are exhausted, and her little brother is always a challenge at mass anyway.   Resting quietly at home seemed like a better plan. 

Note to self:  buy juice on the way to work this evening.
 

Thankful for Zofran

The flu is bad enough.  The flu with Type I Diabetes is miserable.

Rosie didn't keep anything at all down for most of yesterday.  Not chicken broth, not Sprite, not water.  I finally called the endocrinologist's office to see if they had any suggestions.  I had run through my usual arsenol:  giving regular Sprite instead of Diet to get some carbs in her,  sips of broth, etc.    She was showing "trace" amounts of ketones and her numbers were good-- in the mid-100's all day-- but I was starting to worry about dehydration and increasing ketones.

Usually when I call, we get right through to the nurse or the nurses' voice mail, and they call back pretty quickly.  Yesterday, though, I was on hold for 15 minutes, and after speaking with the nurse, it took nearly an hour for her to speak with the endo and call me back.  She said that this area has really been hit hard with the flu bug and they were getting tons of calls for sick kids yesterday. 

At any rate, the endocrinologist prescribed some Zofran.  Zofran is one of the best drugs ever invented, in my humble opinion.   When I was pregnant with both kids I suffered from severe hyperemesis, and Zofran (plus Reglan in a pump that I wore 24/7) was the only thing that helped me.    So, anyways, I was thankful to hear that's what they wanted to try with Rosie. The plan was to try the Zofran and if she was still getting sick, to page the doctor last night and have Rosie admitted.

The Zofran is working.  Rosie sipped some broth, and later had a small bowl of chicken noodle soup last night.  This morning she's had some toast, and so far, so good.   Whew! 
 

Sick

Poor Rosie got up around 6am vomiting.  It was a rough night-- at bedtime she had one of those lows that just wouldn't go away.  50% temp basal + juice box + glucose tabs only got her up to 77.  Her Dex alarm was going off constantly.   Then she finally came up around 1am, and we both got a few hours of sleep before she starting feeling sick.  Ugh.

I never know how diabetes will affect a "normal" illness.  Generally, Rosie goes sky-high a day or two before she actually shows symptoms of an illness.  Last night, she was low- go figure.  This morning she's running high, but nothing scary- I think she hit 320 at the highest point so far.  (Not good, of course, but we tend to see at least one 400 when she's sick.) 

So, here we go again... just waiting to see what extra challenges diabetes will throw our way.