Insulin Reactions
Jerry,
Boy your getting an update on my daughter Theresa sooner then I would be writing about anything out of the ordinary happening. Yesterday morning, Theresa woke up with higher blood sugar of about 300, so she got 8NPH, and 5 Humalog which brought her down to what she should be. She had breakfast at 8:30 after her shot, a snack at school at 10pm, and low and behold at noon for lunch, she was trying to be responsible since she knew her sugar was high that morning, and the little devil decided not to eat but a rabbits nibble of her lunch (she said a juice, and a little bit of spagetti, as we let her buy her lunch at school which I very RARELY do)… so when she got to the daycare provider (who also happens to be diabetic, and has been since she was my daughters age) at 3 pm. She was 42!!!! forty two! So the daycare provider gave her a snack, and when we got her home at 6 she was about 175. I fed them a light dinner, and headed off to the store, leaving her here with my
husband, he gave her a shot of 8nph, and 5 humalog again same as he had in the morning without thinking…. oh my god… i got home ready to give my girls (i have 3, 2 besides theresa their bedtime snacks, and theresa was already out….. which made me very suspicious. So I was like hunny, how much insulin did you give her, and when he told me I went bolistic. I went in my daughters room, and tried to wake her … IMPOSSIBLE, I lifted her up and she kept going right back down.. so I picked her up and put her in my lap facing me, and started talking to her, and tested her blood sugar… she was 61, this was about 9:30 pm…. I knew she would drop way too low if I didnt act fast as she doesnt get up for school till about 7am. So I actually almost used a Gluagon ER Kit for the first time, but when she saw that she freaked out.. she went into that hysteria phase that cannot be stopped, and thats when I knew she wasnt gonna eat or drink, I had to take control. It was so hard
since I hadnt ever done this, but saw nurses have to do it to her in the hospital when she was first diagnosed, but I had to hold her down, and ram a tube of glucose gel down her throat. I thought she was going to gag on it, but I got her to swallow it all. It took her 30 minutes laying on the floor in my room, to calm down and go back to sleep. And when I was trying to calm her, she used her heartwrenching line on me.. “mommy i dont wanna be diabetic anymore… I just want to be dead” I broke right out in tears… I cried so long and hard, that i have a sore throat today from it. I feel so bad for her, at times I wish there was some way that she could possibly know how much I love her, and how lucky I feel to still have her in my life, she is my miracle, my angel, and god blessed me with her. Well when she got up this morning at 7, after this whole episode last night, can you believe that she was 47! forty seven… still low, I guess had I not gave her the gel she would
have been in a coma, so I had her eat a bowl of cereal to get her # up…. I kept her out of school today so I could more closely monitor her. I gave her a light lunch and a light dinner, and she has been running 2-300’s all day. It was cold today, perhaps she caught something. But Jerry this is the biggest up and down roller coaster of #’s I have seen with her in soooooo long. The last entire month up until 3 days ago, she was stable, and on the same average… now it’s like the diabetes has come to attack her again. I tell her if she can keep it undr control, it will help it go away. But she is starting to hate me for it, cause no matter how hard she tries sometimes, it just doesnt help her. 
I’m glad after her last dr appt, where her hba1c was up slighty I decided to get her back in 7 weeks rather then 12. So she will go back the end of October. I called her Nurse frantic in the middle of the night last night after this happened, so she stopped by to see us today in
the afternoon, which was great support. I will probably call and try to get her in to be soon sooner.. if not by the endo, at least by an on call. Any support from those of you who have dealt with this disease much longer then I would be greatly appreciated. As I said my daycare provider is diabetic, and I listen and pick up as much as I can from her, but it is always good to get as many aspects of this as you can from whoever is willing to share. Every day I wish I could take the diabetes away from her and give it to myself, I know I cant, but I still wish it. I even wonder if I gave her diabetes somehow by eating ice creme or drinking a soda while I was pregnant. I know it sounds totally silly, but noone in my family has this, and now my baby is dealing with it. I hope to get her in a camp they are having near me around christmas time for 3 days, the only one near us till next spring. I hope she can meet other kids with this, and understand how un-alone she is in this. She
is a fighter, but her spirits starting to shatter, and I cant let that happen.
I hope everyone in the group is well, as well as your familes. Take care and thanks for allowing me the opportunity to have a place to share, with people who understand and care. I appreciate it more then any of you could know 
Angela (mom of theresa)
July 16th, 2003 at 9:30 pm
Hi, Angela,
Wow, that’s rough. I know I’ve been through similar things, and it is
devastating is so many ways. I think you did great. You’re doing
great.
But I want to say a couple of things about that glucagel.
First, a tube of gel is only about 15 grams of carbohydrate. It’s
generally just enough fast-acting calories to bring a diabetic out of
hypoglycemia. But it’s not always sufficient to solve the problem. In
this case, you knew that the cause of the reaction was all of that
insulin in her system, so you should have seen to it that she got
more to eat.
Second, glucose can be absorbed from glucagel through the membranes
of the mouth. You should consider whether you are more likely to keep
the gel in her if you squirt it down her throat or just into the side
of her mouth, between her teeth and her cheek. If you can slip it
into her mouth without disturbing her, and she’s not going to spit it
out, that could be better.
But if that wouldn’t work, you may have done the best thing by making
sure she swallowed it. You mentioned you thought she might gag,
though.
I have a couple of suggestions for all insulin reactions. If you’re
sure she’s low, treat the reaction first, then test as soon as you
can. Then, in half an hour or so, check again. See how much her
glucose has risen. If you gave her something fast-acting and she’s
still low, give her some more. If she’s not low, but, as in this
case, you know she’s got a lot more insulin in her, feed her
something.
I think you’re right about camp. It would be great for her.
This is so tough. I was 15 when I was diagnosed, and even though I
understood it much better than Theresa can, it was a source of
conflict between me and my parents, who only wanted to help.
Good luck,
Jerry
July 17th, 2003 at 11:00 am
Hi Angela …. I have a 7 year old son with type 1 diabetes. His levels ahve been as low as 2.1(37.8 mg/dl )and at his diagnosis it was 34 (612 mg/dl).
Nicolas has had a few really low ones But I have never had to use the glucogen kit as yet. I check him in the morning for breakfast .. then again at 3.10 pm when i pick him up then between 5-6 pm for dinner . Then round 7:30 -8pm for bed . I also check him when i go to bed usually round 10pm -midnight.I can only guess what you must have been feeling when you couldnt wake your daughter. I get scared when i go to wake Nicolas at night to go to the toilet and he takes a wee bit to wake up . He cries sometimes saying why do I have to have diabetes Mum it sucks. I hate it. We have cried together and I have cried for a long time asking myself the same question .. and I know this is going to sound terrible .. but I tell him that I am glad he has diabetes and not another sickness that isnt controllable or that he is so lucky that he hasnt got the illness the little boy in hospital across from him had where he couldnt talk or feed himself .. he sat there dribbling like a wee baby
Thanx for letting me talk to you 
Hugs n take care 
Good luck :))
.. I cried for ages that night thanking the lord he didnt have what that young boy had. I know that it is self centred but i am glad he doesnt have it .. and if he had to get an illness he got diabetes. It is hard some days dam hard .. but then i remember it must be harder on Nicolas for he is the one truly living with this illness. My Specialist told me to ease up on Nicolas a bit and let him have a few treats I was so rigid on his eating to the point that Nicolas wa hiding food because he didnt want to eat the stuff i was feeding him all the time .. so now i have eased up and he is eating better and that makes me happy and him . I too fear for what the illness diabetes will bring my son when he is older .. I hate to think of those days ahead .. maybe jsut maybe by the grace of god there will be a cure by then.. There is no one else in my family with type 1. My father was diagnosed with type 2 in Jan last year 2 months before Nicolas was.. tho at the time we didnt know
this. The specialist explained it to me this way .. when Nicolas was conceived we both gave him the get diabetes gene .. instead of one giving him the get it and one giving him the dont get it .. tht wa the easiest he could give it to me .. i thought I did this to my child in some way because i am an older mum .. i was 36 when i gave birth to Nicolas.. But he set me right i want too blame it is jsut one of those things. Nicolas is a bundle of energy and love .. he is the light of so many lives .. He says when he is older he will invent a cure for diabetes .. and you know maybe he will
Leanne mum of Nic aged 7 .