First day of trip – no job, no insulin

Posted on July 27, 2017July 27, 2017 by sugarv5bg

Well, I don’t really know what to Well, I don’t really know make of this. The day after my last day in the office, I set out on a trip with the family. This is the first time I’ve gone on a trip without the obligations of job hanging over my head. Today, I have no one looking to me to do something. While I haven’t indulged in any high carb feed-fests, my natural insulin response has kept my levels within normal levels after eating. Then my recovery is pretty quick.

Anyway, I’m not complaining. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over time.

First day of trip - no job, no insulin — My family and I took a long international overnight flight with in-flight meal service. This is usually a recipe for blood sugar spikes. It doesn’t appear to be the case for me today. Maybe the lifting of job-related stress is improving my blood sugar control?

Stress reduction improves insulin response

Posted on July 22, 2017 by sugarv5bg

The 21st was my second to last day of work, and I can feel the coming peace. I bolused my typical amounts at lunch and dinner, but my response was stronger than I expected. I opted to forego the overnight 8hr insulin. Happily my overnight level stayed level.

Blood glucose response to insulin is stronger and steady overnight without insulin when stress levels drop. — Higher insulin response correlates with less stress.

A quick swim drops sugar levels

Posted on July 18, 2017 by sugarv5bg

A quick swim dropped my blood sugar by 100 points.

I bolused before lunch, but ended up eating more onion rings than the insulin could accommodate. After lunch my blood glucose level climbed slowly to 180. Rather than blousing more insulin, I decided to take a quick swim. With 20 laps in a small pool, my levels dropped from 180 to 80! It was a great way to minimize ping-ponging between too little and too much insulin. With the excess sugar out of my blood, my body tends to find its own level back at around 120, probably by drawing from my glycogen stores.

Stress reduction steadies blood sugar levels

Posted on July 6, 2017July 15, 2017 by sugarv5bg

The holiday week of July 4 showed a remarkable studying of my blood sugar levels. Late in the week prior I decided to give notice and resign from my company. Deciding and then doing so lifted a heavy weight for my shoulders. Over the holiday week I also slept as late as I wanted. What I saw in my blood sugar numbers was startling. Granted, I was enjoying a decent come out to the activity, but my pancreatic function appeared to respond well as well. Here’s a glimpse a couple days after the fourth on July 6. This was an insulin-free day.

My CGM data for July 6 showing quick recovery and steady overnight levels. — Uncharacteristic BG control without insulin on July 6, 2017.

Later in the week of July 3 I had some fairly stressful follow up to my resignation that I needed to attend to. My blood sugar response on those days is more typical. I guess that’s not a surprise.