Do you know what I hate?

Well, to be honest, I hate a lot of things about this disease, but something in particular - when you look at what you're going to be eating, count the carbs, and dose accordingly. Then, halfway through the meal, you get full, and don't want to eat any more, but know that if you don't ingest the carbs you planned for, you're going to crash later. So you keep eating, and wonder, how is this healthy again?

Also, eating out is a pain in the tuckus. You can get some nutritional info on-line for chains, or ask them for it, but it is also very clear that nutritional info varies from restaurant to restaurant, depending on the chef, and these meals that have carb counts in the 100 grams or more? HO-LEE COW. Do any of you really eat those, and just take a lot of insulin? I mean, I've heard that's OK to do, but really?

We don't eat out a ton, anyway, so it's not really a big deal, but being out of town for 2 weeks for a study tends to increase your restaurant attendance (especially when you're being reimbursed for the meal).

Also, I hate scorpions. Not diabetes related, I know, but I still hate them.

Boring Numbers, But Good News Nevertheless (I think)

Well, I don't think there's any question about whether or not I got the drug, although hey, the placebo effect is pretty strong, so what do I know?

Anyway, the Monday and Tuesday after I got home, I had a few nighttime lows, (60s) having to munch the Starbursts multiple times a night. While tasty, it's not really the best idea in the world.

My endo, who has become very parental towards me (I'm so PROUD of you for doing this!) took me down to 12 units of Lantus and switched me back to a morning dose. The endo in UT put me on a night time dose of 13 (I was originally on a morning dose of 14. Boring numbers much?).
This means I had two days (a couple of weeks apart) without Lantus at all, (and not adjusting my Novolog dose) while I made the change, and both of those days my sugars were completely fine. So I think my pancreas is still functioning a tad.

My endo is super paranoid about night time lows and likes his patients to have a morning dose of Lantus, so if you go low, you're awake for it. The other guy (who was a TALKER, holy cow) likes night time doses so when it wears off, it's not shortly after a meal or a snack and your sugars won't spike. Both valid arguments, I suppose.

So, while I'm certainly not off the insulin, the dosage is lower, and I'm starting to have a lot of pre-meals in the 70s, which I NEVER had before. My pre-meals were good before, though, usually in the 90s.

I have another blood draw this week, which I have to go up to UT for, which I think is kind of silly, since they just draw blood and then send it off to Macrogenics. Um, hi? We have needles and post offices in AZ. But hey, you want to keep paying for plane tickets, I'm OK with it....

I Don't Want to be too Optimistic Here, but...

Blood sugar before bed:106. I took 13 units of Lantus. (I used to be on 14, the endo in UT switched me to 13 and changed me to a nighttime dose, to alleviate the post breakfast highs I was having.)

Woke up at 2 a.m. disoriented and shaky, checked my sugars. 77. I know, not super low, but I seem to react to anything below 80. I think it was on its way down, too. So I ate a Starburst and went back to sleep. Morning blood sugar: 77 again. I usually wake up in the 90s or 100s.

I know this is not conclusive evidence yet by any means, but I am cautiously optimistic that this means the drug is working. If it was working, I would be seeing lows right around now (3-4 days after infusion stopped) they said, so I am watching everything carefully to see if I have to back off the insulin dosage, or possibly (dare I say it?) go off it altogether. I see my own endo tomorrow a.m., so I will be chatting with him about how exactly to back off the insulin (the Lantus? the Novolog? Both? Slowly or cold turkey?). In the meantime, I am carrying lots of candy.

Keep your fingers crossed....

One Week Down, One to Go

I'm tired. I want to go home. I miss my children. I can't believe how long two weeks is! I thought it would fly by, but instead, plod...plod....plod...

Anyhooo--boring side effects noticed - severe fatigue the first couple of days, rash on arm, possibly due to the picc line and not the drug, and general malaise if they don't give me ibuprofen and benadryl beforehand (which they typically d0.) In general, not too bad.

Carry on.