Adventures With Glucagon

This weekend, we went to my family's annual reunion, which is held about 80 miles away from where we live.  We had a great time catching up with everyone, even though it passed by too quickly! My husband suggested we should get together twice a year instead of just once, which is an amazing statement to make of your in-laws =)

One thing that wasn't so much fun, though, was having the worst low I've ever experienced since my diagnosis. I don't know what it is about short weekends away and alcohol, but I tend to forget about the effect it has on my blood sugar. Back in April when we traveled a couple of hours for the annual benefit gala for the local branch of the JDRF, I uncharacteristically indulged in a couple of glasses of wine, only to find myself battling a low in the middle of the night that I was luckily able to fix with a granola bar and some of my husband's sweet tea. This time, it was two beers...normally, I only have one-if I even drink at all. Sometimes, depending on the source of alcohol, it even raises my blood sugar and I end up with a high to deal with.

Saturday night, though, all the factors that influence blood sugar must have come together and conspired against me (and any hope of sleeping), because when I went to bed, I was at 125. Luckily, I didn't give myself the correction I considered...sometimes if I'm in that range before bed, I wake up around 100 when I'd rather be closer to 80. Yes, I'm a perfectionist. Anyway, the baby and I went to bed and slept fine until my husband came in a couple of hours later after staying to visit a little longer with my family. When I woke up then, I knew I was low, so I got up to check my BS. It was in the low 40s, so I grabbed the granola bar I keep in my purse for such occasions and ate it. 15 minutes later, I was still in the 40s, so I added 16mg of glucose tablets to the mix. 15 minutes later, I was just over 50, and had no more sugar left in the hotel room. I knew I could call my parents to steal a snack from them (even though it was around 3:00 in the morning), but at that point I realized my BS wasn't coming up as quickly as it normally does, and that I better do something to ensure I would wake up in the morning. I've never had to use glucagon before, but I remembered reading a post over at Typical Type 1 in which Jacquie recounts her night with a little too much alcohol and having to resort to the dreaded emergency injection.

Figuring my only option at that point consisted of that little red box, I told my husband what I was going to do so he would watch out for me while I got everything ready. I knew theoretically how to use it (and the pictures are pretty self-explanatory), but I did a cursory glance of the instructions just to be on the safe side. Possible vomiting, nausea for up to 12 hours afterwards...perfect. But I figured that didn't compare to the mounting fear of a life-threatening low I was currently experiencing, so that was that. I mixed up the vial, drew it up, and injected it into my thigh. I waited around, re-read Jacquie's post about her glucagon experience on my iPhone, then noticed in the comments section something about it not working as well with alcohol in your system. Great. But since it worked for Jacquie, I hoped it would do the job. When I checked my BS a little while later, I was at 78, then high-80s, then around 115.  At that point, I felt comfortable enough with the fact that it was working to get some rest, but I set my alarm for an hour later to be on the safe side...I guess it goes without saying that I had a zero-basal rate set through all of this. When I woke up when my alarm went of an entirely too short of a time later, I was hovering in the 180s. A couple of hours later, I peaked at 196, and since I was going to have to get up an hour after that, I went ahead and started correcting the high. When I woke up (an hour later than I'd originally planned) I was back down to 156, and with another small correction I returned to 91 before breakfast. At least I never had any nausea or vomiting, and I didn't feel too bad following the injection.

After eating breakfast, though, I quickly noticed that my blood sugar wasn't rising like it should from the food, so I set another zero-basal and took a couple of glucose tablets to be on the safe side. At the post-prandial check, I was around 80, so I had a feeling I'd be battling a low for the rest of the day-and I was right. At lunchtime on the way home, I thought I under-shot my insulin enough to stay in the black, but that postprandial was pretty much the same as before...and ditto with supper.

I don't know what's going on with my body, but apparently I'm becoming more insulin sensitive, at least over the past couple of days anyway. I know that the Saturday night low was due to the alcohol, but I'm not sure why I've had trouble keeping my BS up long after the effects of the alcohol should have worn off. I also know it's not from weight change, because if anything I've gained a couple of pounds from the stress of working with a baby. Also, I've only had these consistent lows over the past few days...before that, my numbers were in the normal or slightly-higher-than-normal range. I've been checking my blood sugar even more often since then, just to be on the safe side and keep a good eye on them. The pump has been extremely useful throughout all of this too, because I always have the zero-basal rate option to use.

Bottom line, I'm extremely glad I had the glucagon with me, because I don't know what I'd have done without it. That moment is the reason I always carry one in my purse, because I always have it close by then. I went to the pharmacy yesterday and had my prescription refilled because I didnt want to tempt fate and be without it!

More than anything, this experience has shaken me to the core. It's the scariest d-related incident I've had since my diagnosis and one I hope I don't have to deal with again anytime soon. I'm terrified of what this disease is capable of, both from highs and lows. At least the highs don't put you in immediate danger, though, and they don't leave you shaken and fearful like a bad low does.

I got a jogging stroller so I can start running again in hopes of losing the baby weight, but the prospect of a low like this one happening again makes me realize how important the safety precautions for exercising while on insulin really are as well. I can't risk being unavailable, temporarily or permanently, to my daughter. It's incredibly frustrating, though, to want to lose weight so badly only to have so many d-related obstacles in the way. Lows require more sugar and prevent me from exercising, but at the same time, I feel like I need to be at my ideal weight again in order to be as healthy ad possible. At the same time, I'm not comfortable with allowing my blood sugars to run much higher than normal either. It's such a tough balancing act, and at this point I suppose all I can do is my best, and make sure to follow the insulin safety guidelines to a T.

All I know is that I hope I don't have to use that red box again anytime soon, but I'm extremely grateful to Jacquie and the rest of the DOC for sharing their stories. It's in moments like these when we'd be truly lost without having each other to relate to, someone else out there who's been through the same things-even if they're on the other side of the country! I mentioned in my last post that I started this blog mainly to deal with everything that comes with a T1 diagnosis, but I can only hope that I might also be able to help someone else through sharing my experiences as other DOC members have done for me!