Test, Bolus, eat, repeat

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Good morning everyone and Merry Christmas to all my blog readers and friends.  I hope you have a fantastic Christmas ahead of you filled with some delicious food and great blood sugar control!

Because I am working the dreaded night shift over Christmas mine was last weekend.  My boyfriend and I went up to Sydney and had lunch with my family.  I am a big fan of the traditional European sort of Christmas but that doesn’t usually happen here.  In the past we have occasionally had the big turkey and roast vegetables which are delicious but sometimes it is just too hot for these crazy Australian Christmas’.  At the temperatures we are having at the moment I can think of nothing worse than my mum and I in the kitchen with the hot oven on.  This year we headed out to the Cottage Point Inn where we had lunch and shared some wine.

At this time of year people are known to over eat somewhat and that is totally allowed.  As a type-1 diabetic I don’t really restrict myself from doing the same I just ensure that I keep a close monitor on my blood sugar levels over this time and do my best to make sure they remain in a good range.  There may be a few correction doses but what is the harm in that?

There most certainly were a few correction doses for my Christmas lunch last weekend.  I don’t know what it is with slow meals, but my diabetes really doesn’t appreciate them.  Prior to lunch my blood sugar levels were fine.

1128 – 8.1 mmols/L.

We had a small morsel of cold soup as a taster to begin with and I shared a bottle of sparkling wine with the table, I had one piece of bread and did a duel bolus of 7 units of insulin.  4 units instantaneously and 3 units over the next half hour and depending on what I had I was going to eat I would do additional boluses on top.  For entree I had “Pan Seared Sea Scallops, Sweet Corn Powder, Purée, Boudin Noir, Pancetta” which would presumably have some carbs in it; at this point I was happy with my original duel bolus and left it at that.

1256 – 11.8 mmols/L

A little bit frustrated because I thought I was doing alright.  Clearly the duel bolus and I had not come to an agreement just yet.  This was my first time actually using it in what I thought was its functional capacity. Although perhaps I needed a bigger dose over a longer time period? Or maybe I should have just gone with my trusty square wave or bolus only but I was super keen to take duel for a spin.

1325 – 13.5 mmols/L

For main course we shared a lovely bottle of South African Pinot Noir with the table and my man and I shared our meals of “Clover Valley Lamb Rump, Pea Puree, Sweetbreads, Pea Panna Cotta, Sugar Snaps and Buttermilk Dressing” and “Pan Roast Storm Bay Atlantic Salmon, Zucchini, Smokey Eggplant, Harissa, Couscous Pearls and Labna” respectively, we also had delicious Dauphine Potatoes which I was not going to deny myself.  I estimated that my main meal was about 40 carbs so I did an extra bolus of 6 units considering my blood sugar reading, food already consumed and my 3 units of duel bolus.

1342 – 12.8 mmols/L

Happy my blood sugar was going down I decided to only have a bite of my boyfriend’s dessert, it was tasty and literally only a bite.  I also decided that I could afford a coffee because, surprise surprise, with my high blood sugar levels I was feeling a little bit weary.  I know that technically a coffee is not really going to help but I figured it was worth a shot and I wanted something a little bit desserty to round out my meal.  I did 1.6 units of insulin.

1350 – 14.2 mmols/L

Clearly another bad decision.  Blood sugar is up again.  Despite knowing that this is probably more a carb counting thing and a not knowing what is in anything that is served to you when at a restaurant I am still determined that it is about the slow meal aspect of it all.  I have had similar problems with tapas food despite doing what I think/possibly know are the correct carb amounts for each of the things I had eaten.  Has anyone else had these problems with slow meals?

1358 – 12.7 mmols/L

I tested again because I thought the previous blood sugar being so high was a bit weird.  Victory! Blood sugar level is not 14.2! Small victories are my saviour, I was just happy that I wasn’t continuing to go up because I didn’t really want to do any more insulin!  Blood sugar coming down again, thank god for that!

1541 – 4.8 mmols/L

No active insulin on board so I suspended my pump for an hour just to ensure I would go no lower considering all the mighty doses of insulin I had had with my lunch.

I don’t know if everyone’s Christmas’ will be as up and down as this but I hope that you all get to eat some delicious food and that you get to be with family and/or friends and that your blood sugar levels at least stabilise shortly after the frivolities of Christmas day!  Don’t be too hard on yourself if you have some crazy readings, just test, bolus, eat, repeat until you get it right! Good luck!