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Just take insulin!
If the above advice is all you need to get back into equilibrium after a high blood sugar, then your body is much more obliging than mine. A "High", or "hyperglycemia" for the armchair endocrinologists out there, has less significant short-term effects than going low, but for me a high is harder to recover from. Doing the following when I go high helps me get back to my normal range while avoiding too many dose corrections and limiting my blood sugar's volatility.
Do a blood test as soon as you think your BGL might be high
Since going high usually isn't quite as obvious as being low, it is easy to ignore the warning signs and delay doing a test. (If you need a refresher of the warning signs, they include: excessive thirst, frequent urination, dry-mouth, a metallic taste in your mouth, and fatigue) I have found that if I catch a high early on, it is easier to correct and I have shorter, less severe side-effects.
Correct with an insulin dose ASAP
Sure, you most likely aren't going to have a major medical situation if you don't correct your BGL immediately. But the longer you are high, the greater the negative impact on your kidneys, circulation, and eyesight.
Drink a big glass of water
This is such a simple thing to do, and yet over the years I've noticed that it helps *a lot*. Hyperglycemia is exacerbated by dehydration, which in English translates into "drinking this water will help your blood sugar drop." Also, you're probably thirsty anyways, so enjoy.
Test an hour later, and correct again if you haven't reached your target
If you test before this point, your short-acting insulin may still be taking effect, and it is easy to over-correct. After an hour, test, and take more insulin if you're still above your desired BGL. Plus, this test will show your endocrinologist that not only are you back in range, but you are taking good control of your diabetes.
Taking these steps will help you get your blood sugar back to where you want it to be quickly, easily, and safely. You'll be feeling better sooner, your organs will sustain less long-term damage, and both you and your Endo can sleep easy.
If the above advice is all you need to get back into equilibrium after a high blood sugar, then your body is much more obliging than mine. A "High", or "hyperglycemia" for the armchair endocrinologists out there, has less significant short-term effects than going low, but for me a high is harder to recover from. Doing the following when I go high helps me get back to my normal range while avoiding too many dose corrections and limiting my blood sugar's volatility.
Do a blood test as soon as you think your BGL might be high
Since going high usually isn't quite as obvious as being low, it is easy to ignore the warning signs and delay doing a test. (If you need a refresher of the warning signs, they include: excessive thirst, frequent urination, dry-mouth, a metallic taste in your mouth, and fatigue) I have found that if I catch a high early on, it is easier to correct and I have shorter, less severe side-effects.
Correct with an insulin dose ASAP
Sure, you most likely aren't going to have a major medical situation if you don't correct your BGL immediately. But the longer you are high, the greater the negative impact on your kidneys, circulation, and eyesight.
Drink a big glass of water
This is such a simple thing to do, and yet over the years I've noticed that it helps *a lot*. Hyperglycemia is exacerbated by dehydration, which in English translates into "drinking this water will help your blood sugar drop." Also, you're probably thirsty anyways, so enjoy.
Test an hour later, and correct again if you haven't reached your target
If you test before this point, your short-acting insulin may still be taking effect, and it is easy to over-correct. After an hour, test, and take more insulin if you're still above your desired BGL. Plus, this test will show your endocrinologist that not only are you back in range, but you are taking good control of your diabetes.
Taking these steps will help you get your blood sugar back to where you want it to be quickly, easily, and safely. You'll be feeling better sooner, your organs will sustain less long-term damage, and both you and your Endo can sleep easy.
When transitioning to an insulin pump from injections, by far the most foreign concept is that of a cord connecting something in your pocket to something that is inside you. After a couple of days, the strangeness went away and now there are even times where I couldn't tell you which side of my body my site is. However, there are sinister forces working against the beautiful pairing of person and pump, and foremost among these is the doorknob. The first question a lot of people ask about the infusion set is, "Does it hurt when you take it out? What if it gets ripped out?" After taking a moment to let the wave of sarcasm inside me subside (No, there's a tube inside of me, and even though most people complain about taking off A BANDAID, it feels great when the tube gets torn out!) I tell them that it hurts surprisingly little.
If you're not on the pump, or if you're on the pump but have never had a site accidentally come out, you should know that it hurts surprisingly little. It's definitely not comfortable, but is only slightly more uncomfortable than the aforementioned bandaid. The most painful part, of course, is that now you have to put a new site in. I've probably had a site pulled out six or seven times in the roughly two years I've been on the pump. Every time except for one has been because of a doorknob.
This is the situation that I want you to avoid, because it has happened way too many times to me: It's the middle of the night, you have to pee, and you stumble to the bathroom half-asleep. You have no idea where your feet are stepping, let alone where your pump cable is. And as you step through the doorway, you feel a tug on your hip and see your pump cable hanging from the doorknob. This is one of the times where syringe-users have it easier. In this situation, pump-users, I want you to shake your head a little, blink your eyes a couple of times, and wake up just a bit before walking to the bathroom. Sure, it will take you roughly 74 milliseconds longer to fall asleep once you're cozy back in bed, but this is far better than having to wake up all the way so you can insert a brand new site.
Doorknobs are evil. They are simple and overlooked, and they are jealous of your smart, cherished pump. They will lurk on their doors, trying their hardest to look innocent, but give them one teensy inch of looped pump cable and they will exact their jealous vengeance. It has been six months and counting since my last "doorknob incident", so maybe I've learned my lesson; hopefully now that you're warned you can avoid such incidents of doorknob rage altogether.
With Halloween falling in the middle of the week, I ended up having a quieter night than usual, staying at home and handing out candy to the local trick-or-treaters. While this meant lower alcohol consumption and complete control over my food intake, it was still hard to figure out how to dose insulin for the different types of candy I was eating. Here's some of the Halloween lessons I've learned over the years:
Round carb amounts for easy memorization: I looked at the wrappers of the candy I thought I would eat, and remembered a rough carbohydrate total for each. For example, there's a little under 9g of carbs per "Fun Size" snickers bar. 9g is not significantly different from 10g (0.17 units of insulin for my ratio) and it's easier to remember 10, so I just remember 10. This seems insignificant until you are figuring out a dose for 5 "Fun Size" snickers, 2 Reese's cups, ten pieces of kandy korn, and two Kit-Kat bars.
Test about every hour if eating a lot: This makes it easy to catch mistakes before they multiply. If you forgot to count a couple pieces of candy, or underestimated how many ounces of punch you drank, you'll find out soon and be able to correct. Otherwise, one mistake early in the night means you've just spent five hours at 350, even though you dosed correctly the rest of the night.
If you're pumping, don't bolus too often: This is especially tempting if you are a new pumper. Although it seems very attractive to take a bolus for 6g every time you eat 5 pieces of kandy korn, you will most likely end up overcorrecting. Instead, keep a rough tally of what you eat and bolus every 10-15 minutes.
And as always, try to remember to do a test before you fall asleep. We're not perfect, and despite following these tips I was still 274 at bedtime. A quick correction dose saved me from 8 hours of being high.
Round carb amounts for easy memorization: I looked at the wrappers of the candy I thought I would eat, and remembered a rough carbohydrate total for each. For example, there's a little under 9g of carbs per "Fun Size" snickers bar. 9g is not significantly different from 10g (0.17 units of insulin for my ratio) and it's easier to remember 10, so I just remember 10. This seems insignificant until you are figuring out a dose for 5 "Fun Size" snickers, 2 Reese's cups, ten pieces of kandy korn, and two Kit-Kat bars.
Test about every hour if eating a lot: This makes it easy to catch mistakes before they multiply. If you forgot to count a couple pieces of candy, or underestimated how many ounces of punch you drank, you'll find out soon and be able to correct. Otherwise, one mistake early in the night means you've just spent five hours at 350, even though you dosed correctly the rest of the night.
If you're pumping, don't bolus too often: This is especially tempting if you are a new pumper. Although it seems very attractive to take a bolus for 6g every time you eat 5 pieces of kandy korn, you will most likely end up overcorrecting. Instead, keep a rough tally of what you eat and bolus every 10-15 minutes.
And as always, try to remember to do a test before you fall asleep. We're not perfect, and despite following these tips I was still 274 at bedtime. A quick correction dose saved me from 8 hours of being high.