I'm a little out of it

I had been going strong since 5 am, going over to a friend's house and cleaning it in preparation for the game. We didn't wind up having it, because a bout of insomnia meant he really needed to sleep, and it's just as well, because I would have been totally useless. As it was, I went home around 2:30 pm and could barely walk home from the bus stop, I was so sleepy. I got home around 3:40, ate a couple of cheese sandwiches, and went right to bed by 4:30 pm. I set my alarm for 9 pm. About 8:45 my friend called to make sure I was alright. He'd had a dream that I had died and had tried to call a couple of times and couldn't reach me. I had woken up shortly before he called but was still groggy and wasn't making a lot of sense on the phone. I think my blood sugar was a little wonky, because I feel better now that I've eaten again. It doesn't go low very often, but it may have this time. Also, I feel a little overheated from being in bed. My allergies are bothering me, too. So I don't feel particularly great at the moment.

Speaking of blood sugar, I was at work the other day and after lunch felt very bad, very tired, thirsty, and my eyes were blurring. I checked my blood sugar and it was 407, the highest I've ever tested. I'd forgotten to take my meds that morning and had had a baked potato and some cottage cheese for lunch. I guess I need to cut out the starchy vegetables. It was a little scary. I mean, there have been several times I've tested in the 300s without eating a thing, but still. There's something called the sunrise effect or dawn phenomenon that makes you release cortisol at night to keep your blood sugar up while you sleep. That's perfectly normal for someone who isn't diabetic, but for a diabetic it means the blood sugar is elevated beyond normal levels in the morning, before breakfast. There's also something called the Somogyi effect that is a rebound from mid-nighttime low blood sugar. My afternoon blood sugars (before supper) tend to be pretty normal. But the mornings are a problem, and lunch makes it worse, and eating protein and sensibly doesn't seem to really help a great deal, but it does help a little.

I'm on four diabetes medications, and although I don't always eat as I should, I've been doing better without any improvement. I really think I may wind up on insulin soon, and that has a whole other set of issues to it. I wonder if another injectable drug, called Byetta, might be an option. My stepfather swears by it, and he's done very well on it. Interesting fact: Byetta (Exenatide) 'is a synthetic version of exendin-4, a naturally-occurring hormone that was first isolated from the saliva of the lizard known as a Gila monster.' So some diabetics owe their lives to a poisonous lizard. :)