managing blood glucose levels
in the real world

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.

Reality Check 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!
> Cycling - while all other exercise sends me down!
> Caffeine - it's a stimulant
> Exercise - adrenalin!
> Sleep deprivation
> Hot weather
> Colds and flus
> Eating pasta
> Special K
> 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. <