I use a Medtronic Paradigm pump and micromanaging is my blessing and my curse. There’s nothing wrong with being on top of blood sugars. I test at least 10-15 times a day since I don’t have a CGM I want to know whether blood sugars are going up or down, but the problematic side of micromanaging is not necessarily testing too much, but acting on every reading and giving insulin too soon, before a previous bolus has had time to work. It’s called “stacking” and causes unstable blood sugars. When the insulin finally works I plummet, then later of course, my blood sugars shoot up because highs almost always follow lows.

Humalog has a 2-3 hour life. I’m impatient. The last several months have been stressful so my blood sugars are tending to run high. I hate highs more than I hate lows but I hate the rollercoaster experience of instability even more which has finally caused me to begin using mindfulness and nonviolent communication practices to deal with the impatience and anger in the face of high readings. When I experience highs, I feel angry and despondent; I feel I’ve failed but most especially, I fear the looming specter of complications.

I’m using a log again. I bought an app called Frog Log where I can see a history of boluses, food, exercise and blood sugars in log and graph formats. I’m also focused more on making basal adjustments. I used to lean heavily toward managing blood sugars with boluses, but I’m upping my basal rates and lowering bolus ratios so that insulin comes more equally from both sources.

Ways to cultivate patience in the next post. Be well!