All the Questions…
When I was in the hospital I started a list of questions, I wanted answered before I went home. Some seem silly now but I was really worried about all of them at the time. Here they are, for your benefit, just to show you that it’s OK to ask ALL the questions… (I have also provided the answers I was given and discovered).
- Will coffee and tea effect my BG? No but the sweetener might.
- So I should be sticking to the Canada Food Guide as a basic reference for portion sizes? (Portion sizes vs feeling full). Yes, for me I needed to really start relearning portion sizes as I had been overeating for quite a few weeks.
- Does it matter when I exercise in relation to when I eat? Get into a normal routine with food and BG monitoring (even a day or two) before adding exercise. See what your food does with normal daily activities. When you start exercising you will need to do more BG testing and monitoring with possible carb intake during activities, depending on the amount and intensity of activity.
- Does it matter how close together a snack and a meal are? Yes. If they are too close it could spike your BG and make it seem like you are having a high when you are not.
- Should I be on a certain amount of calories per day? The nurse and dietitian at the clinic wanted me to start with doing carb consistency and not worry about calories.
- What if I sleep in and am then doing the breakfast dose of Humulin later than usual? Does that mean I have to take the supper dose later? Will this effect the next day? (I was on Humulin initially for long acting.) I tried to maintain a very regular schedule while I was on the Humulin as I was doing this injection twice a day, at regular intervals. Switching to Lantus was a lot more freeing for me.
- What if I want to go to bed early? How will this effect my last BG check and bedtime snack? Again, this question was based on the Humulin, as I was taking it twice a day and trying to stick to the same times each day.
- What is the lowest I should allow my BG to be at bedtime? I aim for around 10mmol. Be aware with this that your bedtime check is after the peak time of the last insulin dose, so you are not expecting a major drop overnight. That being said, drops can happen sometimes seemingly for no reason so if you’re in a phase of ups and downs set an alarm for the middle of the night to check. I have done that a few times.
Unmanageable Expectations…
I also was starting to design an exercise schedule when I was in the hospital, which I quickly found out was way beyond what I could manage. Don’t be afraid to give yourself time to get back on your feet. It basically took me 6-7 months to feel like I could handle regular exercise on top of work and household management stuff and there are still some days the exercise gets overlooked and I feel overloaded just managing my diabetes. I’ve stopped beating myself up about it – I know exercising makes my body feel good and I know it does wonders to help maintain healthy BG levels – but sometimes the rest of my life gets in the way and that’s OK.