The best metaphor I have heard that has helped me understand how our body works / diabetes is that our ability to manage our sugar levels is a bit like running both the heat and air conditioning in the house at the same time.

Think of hormones produced in the pancreas like the air conditioner and hormones produced in the liver like the heater.

Normally our body runs both at the same time so that it can adjust things incrementally in small amounts. However if the pancreas production of insulin begins to decrease or insulin resistance is a problem than the heat (blood sugar rises)

If on the other hand we have more insulin in our blood than it needs than the house temperature gets too cold/low. And the heat needs to be turned up.

For people with Type 2 in early stages - Its mainly a problem of insulin resistance, later as that air conditioner runs to hard it wears out and is less effective complicating things. Often this is the point where someone transitions from oral meds and/or slow acting insulin to a fast acting insulin.

For a type 1 diabetic its like having the heat running in your house on a hot day with a busted air conditioner. You need the meds to compensate but it can be easy to overcompensate.

The metaphor isnt perfect but it works for me.

The big thing is test your sugars, stay consistant with diet, excercise, and meds. Avoid injesting large amounts of sugar or refined carbohydrates in a single meal or at all. So that your body can manage things by making small adjustments. Its when things swing in one direction too fast that bodies or medications mechanisms for swinging them back in the opposite direction tend to over correct and cause the inverse of the initial problem.

There are a tremendous number of things that can influence blood chemistry from illness, to food, to stress, excercise, sleep etc. And everybodies body works slightly differently based on age, sex, lifestyle, weight, genetics, etc.

Monitor and make changes over time, discard what doesnt work, keep what does. Accept that even the worlds best self managing diabetics have bad days, shake it off and keep going.