Intentional Avoidance | A Consequence of Hypoglycemia.
I still feel the residual effects of those recurring overnight lows as a result of taking too much Lantus before going to bed. The unwanted repetition eventually reached a tipping point and I started splitting my dose. With a newly established balance between morning and overnight, Lantus was no longer something worth writing home about. Or, I guess, blogging about. But I’ve noticed something over the past few weeks that’s worth noting. Granted, it’s a brief note, but let’s not argue over semantics.
There have been handful of nights where my blood glucose was steady but below 90 mg/dL. Rather than take my Lantus and potentially deal with another overnight low, I skip that night’s injection.
I suppose this is where I should remind you that I’m not a medical professional, nor should this or any other blog post constitute any kind of medical advice. Clearly, I don’t know what I’m doing.
There are a few alternatives to doing nothing that I’m aware of but haven’t figured out how to approach: 1. modify the Lantus dose. Right now I’m splitting 15/15 across two injections. There’s also this thing where I enjoy completely emptying my Lantus pens. 15 units each injection yields a nice, round number when all is said and done. Not the most sound logic, but like I said – not a medical professional.
Or I could 2. try to get to a more manageable pre-sleep blood glucose level. This is probably more complicated than I would prefer, so I’ll skip that one for now.
The result of skipping my Lantus is clear by the time I arrive at work. A slow and steady blood glucose climb over a three-hour period shows on my Dexcom display. I gather this is what the “experts” call Dawn Phenomenon, but I ask, is it still a phenomenon if you know what it is and when it’s coming?
The other curious bit about this intentional insulin avoidance is that minor corrections have almost no impact. Typically a 2 unit Humalog correction is enough to bring a 180 mg/dL down to at least 120, but not if I skip my Lantus.
Moral of the story? I hate diabetes.