Thursday, June 10, 2010

When is water not really water?

When I go to a restaurant and they have a self-serve pop station, I always let the water run for a good 5 seconds before I fill up Elise's cup. I actually appreciate it a lot more when they have a stand-alone water faucet.

But the other day, Fred and I were out with Elise when she said she was thirsty. We realized we had both forgotten to bring her water, so since we were in the car, we elected to get her some water from a drive-thru.

We got her a small water and she began to drink. The girl really must have been thirsty because she drank over half of it and then said, "it tastes like juice!"

Fred and I looked at each other in horror and I grabbed the cup to take a sip. Water... but with a suspiciously orange-y aftertaste. I opened to cup and saw the water had a very slight orange tint to it. We decided that it shouldn't have been enough to do anything drastic to Elise's BG.

We checked her BG a few minutes later and found it was 93. Since it was bedtime, we headed home and proceeded to give her her bedtime snack.

Elise was having trouble settling down and falling asleep, which is usually a sure sign we're having a BG problem. We checked her (about 2 hours post-snack), and she was 250. With a bedtime BG of 93, she's usually at about 150 by 2 hours post-snack.

To make a long story short, we had a horrible night last night, watching her BG rise with each check. We kept hoping her bedtime insulin would take effect, but it never seemed to help. So at 4:00 am, with a BG of 440 and .6 ketones, we gave her a correction. She woke up at a nice 88 this morning and has been between 85 and 129 all day so far.

Do I know with absolute certainty that the "water" had everything to do with this? No. But I would say I'm about 95% sure:

-Elise's overnight numbers have been pretty good. Last week we lowered her bedtime NPH by 1/2 a unit, and we were debating on lowering it again after a few nights of having to give her a few extra carbs during the night to keep her from falling to low.

-She's not sick... no ketones today, and she's back to her normal, happy self, with great BG numbers.

-She had the same snack she has every night. We gave her a few grams of carbs (7) more, only because of the previously mentioned lows that had been happening. And 7g of carbs will raise her by about 50, so I don't think that was responsible for the huge BG jump.

Why do I bore you with this story? Because although I don't know for sure that the water was the culprit, you can bet that I'll never take the chance again. I don't know why they run the water line through the same dispenser that all those sugary drinks come out of, but don't you think it would be a grand idea for ALL restaurants to have a stand-alone water faucet?

10 comments:

  1. Wow! We're so new at this.....I never even thought about that.

    Making mental note right now!

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  2. I have gotten into the habit of doing a "BG" check on all of Zane's drinks when we are out. I never trust that diet is really diet, or water is really water.

    At least you knew it was the "water" causing the problem and you don't need to adjust based on those BG's!

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  3. I am sorry that had to happen especially at night! We have had that problem too.
    All you can do is your best!!! lesson learned.
    xoxox

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  4. Ya, I don't think we can ever REALLY trust those machines. I especially hate when the boys get an occasional diet pepsi when we are out and it tastes like Dr. Pepper. :( Glad things seem to be back to "normal."

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  5. That is awful!!! I am always checking my girls drinks before I let them have a sip, we have had some waiters give them regular when we have asked for diet...but water, I have never even thought of that.

    I am in agreement with you...they need stand alone water faucets for sure!

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  6. Yes I think all restaraunts should have stand alone water faucets . amen . also always remember to check your kids drink and make sure that they are diet and not regular . that has happened so many times to me as well . thanks to the other poster as well . Im glad all is back to normal with Ms . Elise.

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  7. I don't get it either. Why not have one just for water? Sorry you had a rough night but sounds like you are rockin' the numbers! Yay you!

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  8. I NEVER even thought about that. Thank you for posting this. I will be way more careful now. I have been concerned every time we go to restaurant and T orders a diet pop. We always check it first. One more thing to add to the checklist.

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  9. I always ask my husband "Are you sure that's diet?" on the rare occasion that we get her soda.

    I'm not good at tasting the difference.

    Glad you caught it.

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