We'll break it to you now, so you're not too shocked in a few months. Living with diabetes is an art, not a science. Once your honeymoon wears off, and your body's producing no insulin at all, you will become abruptly aware that the equation for diabetes can be more complicated than exercise + food + insulin = blood glucose level. There are a lot of other factors which can weigh into the equation.

The Type 1 Diabetes Network recently asked for information on what can affect everyone's blood sugar levels, and here are some interesting and varied answers:

the uppers:

• what makes some people's blood sugars rise?
  
  Stress
  Corticosteroids (drugs)
  Crazy days/nights (where you forget or ignore insulin)
  Going to see a band I really love, no matter how much I dance/mosh/skank/act like a tool!
  Gelati - you know, the creamy one!
  Anything that gets the adrenalin going - even a tense, scary, exciting movie!  
  Caffeine - it's a stimulant
  Exercise - adrenalin!
  Sleep deprivation
  Hot weather
  Colds and flus
  Eating pasta
  Hormone changes - a week before my period, my blood sugars soar, then drop when my period comes.

the downers:

• things that make some people's blood sugars drop
  
  Yoga
  Eating pasta
  Cold weather
  Hot weather (sometimes 2 or 3 hypos per day)
  Prolonged physical work causes delayed hypo
  Timing of insulin injection in relation to the GI of associated food
  Eating vegetable stir fry for dinner
  Sex makes me low, but only if it's a double session!
  Getting my period.

The conclusion: Every body's different!

As you'll see, pasta was listed by two different people as having the opposite effect! But we hope this list of things from others with diabetes will help you identify factors in your own case which might be the cause of a mysteriously high or low blood sugar level.