Do you ever guessimate on your readings?
If you run out of strips (and are a fool like me and wait to the last minute to go to Walmart and find out they are out on the shelves and you forgot the Pharmacy closed earlier on Sundays!) do you ever guessimate your readings in your book (well if you write them down like I do)?
I ran out of strips yesterday (Walmart ran out too and I went to 3 different ones - they never are out!) and so I missed 4 readings yesterday and two today.
Today, I finally realized I had disk of 10 strips from a free Breeze two that I didn't use so I will now use those for today until I can get more of the Walmart ones. (I wasn't about to pay double price for the strips for my old meter!)
I ate low carb meals that I knew would not spike me so I can guessimate what my readings are for the meals I ate.
I have learned my lesson - never wait to the last minute to get your strips esp. on a Sunday evening when the Pharmacy is closed - if you get the Walmart ones! Hehe!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on -
Hmmm... For me, not really... if I run out of strips, I just run out of strips. lol It's not an exam, or something that I'm going to be graded on... I just try to eat with some sense, until I can get strips...
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Permalink Reply by KimKat on -
Yeah, I know it isn't an exam. But I hate seeing those missing readings in my nice full log book. :) hehe.
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Permalink Reply by Zoe on -
Nope, I never run out. I mail order mine and am very compulsive about ordering them well before they run out. Sometimes I forget or am busy and don't do a reading when I usually do, or do it late. When I first started this, I would estimate and write it in, but then I decided there was little point to that. If it's late I just wait until the next testing time and leave it blank. I don't actually show my logs to anyone, but just use them for my own benefit to see patterns and make changes as necessary. Besides which "guesstimating" would be assuming things are always predictable with our blood sugar..::::sound of a buzzer::: Not!
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Permalink Reply by KimKat on
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Hi Zoe,
Good point! It is not always predcitable I know this. But mine has some pretty set patterns (at least right now it does) Don't you bring in your log to your doctor? I know many do and I wonder what the doctor says about blank spaces or those that have the download ones - don't missing numbers throw off the graphs and charts some people do?
Yeah, I have missed readings before because i was busy doing something and than realized how late it was - do this more often than I would like to admit. I have to get a watch where the timer works on it - the sound on mine died out!
I guess for me. I have many times where I will test around a certain number (say 75) and I eat same exact thing (breakfast is a good example). and two hours later 90% of the time I will end in the high 90s. I guess that is what I am was getting at by "guessimating" the reading like if you run out of supplies or even forget to test. I will look at the same breakfast test I did the day before and it is many times identical so I will guessimate.
I also like to put my readings in Excel and I do averages - so leaving a cell blank will throw off the averages. So I guess it is more for me - I hate leaving things uncompleted (can you tell? I guess i like to keep records). So for me, if I know my breakfast normally leaves me at high 90s - I guess I don't have a problem with filling in my blank spot with a guessimate. Not my fault Walmart ran out of strips! :)
True. There will be times when when it might be different - for me it is only if have stress or adrenaline rush around that time which will make my number higher. I can kinda of tell too - I will feel more tired.
Also, considering the fact that our meters aren't always right - whos to say that a little guessimate isn't pretty close to what you might have sometimes?
Of course I am a T2 - I know the T1s don't have much predicatable with their numbers at all.
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Permalink Reply by Zoe on
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Wow, that IS predictable! I feel lucky because my numbers aren't all over the place, and generally chug along with no super wide variations, but nothing like that kind of consistency! And every once in awhile they make no sense at all! As for the doctor...nope, I don't bring my logbook to doctor appointments. When I first got on insulin and was trying to figure it all out I brought my book. But the guidance I was given by that doctor who continued to think of me as a type 2 was not very useful, and the endo I saw next was only a bit more useful as she did confirm what I had figured out on my own: My correct diagnosis as Type 1. The endo was no help at all in I:C ratios and I figured that out on my own with help from this and another board. Now I have moved and have a doctor who I like and who acknowledges my diagnosis and my statement that all I need is prescriptions. I'm sure if I needed help he could offer it or refer me to an endo, but I don't really need any help currently. Since I've seen him I've split my basal dose and raised it by four points and my I:C ratios have changed a bit as well. So, nope, I have no reason to share my logbook and basically the numbers I record are just for my own information, nobody else/s.
When you explain how steady your numbers are, I can better understand the desire to make it all neat and tidy by putting in the likely number!
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Gilbert on -
Usually when i run out of strips it's not a huge problem. I know what i start to feel low below 60 and i start to feel high above 160, so i know that if i feel normal that my sugar is in a pretty tight range... i overbolus for about 5 carbs at meals though, just in case i am a bit high it'll bring it on down, but it's not enough to drive me into a serious low.
But when i DID log (i don't anymore. PDM does that for me ;) i would do that.
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Permalink Reply by Cathy Jacobson on -
I don't guesstimate, I just don't even try to take the reading. I know what I've eaten, and I stick to my parameters of carbs very carefully.....I guess I do exactly what you did, keep track and hope that you are doing the right thing. Can you get a spare bunch of strips, just in case. I've put 10 away for emergencies like this....and then replace them everytime I get new ones so that they don't get outdated.
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Permalink Reply by KimKat on
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He he, I try to do this - but of course I always figure "Oh I got those 10 extra strips - so I got plenty. I can wait to go until tomorrow or the next day." I am so bad at that. Than I will forget to replace them and later go" What happen to the extra strips I had?" I will totally forgot that I used them and go nuts trying to remember where I put them. Funny because I have a great memory about everything else but that sort of stuff. :)
I try to buy two boxes when I go if I have the money but I don't always have enough for two.
I did get my strips today though. I just have to make sure I go when the Pharmacy is open just in case the shelf is not stocked (which it still was not today and they had a bunch of them behind the Pharmacy counter). I am also planning to buy the other type of Walmart meter which uses a different type of strips (bigger I guess) but they are the same price for the 50 ct. They seem to stock more of those on the shelves than my kind. Plus they come in other boxes sizes too. This way I can have a cheap back up in case mine are not available.
They do this on purpose - make sure only certain strips find one kind of meter to drive us crazy! It seems they could make them generic for use in all kinds of meters but they do it to make money I am sure. Makes things inconvenient.
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Permalink Reply by Kathyann on -
My readings aren't always what I think they will be so can't guesstimate them very well. I'm lucky, I always have enough strips thru my insurance.
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Permalink Reply by KimKat on
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thanks guys for your responses!
I guess I am not the only crazy person who tries to do this.
I think maybe it is because I am new. Trying to get my log look all filled or something. :) I am sure one day I wont care anymore (wait, hmmm, no I will probably still do it but just for my benefit - I just hate those blank spots - that is just the way I am - haha! who am I kidding right?)
Alan, I probably wouldn't guessimate my next 10 since I don't know what I am going to eat (expect at breakfast). But if I was to run out before my 2 hour test and tested before - if I am eating a familiar meal I can guess what range I will get afterwards.
My waking BG is a good example I almost always wake up in the high 70s but yes, I will wake up in the low 70s and low 80s but even if I accidentally eat a higher carb dinner (I eat later) and I end up towards 130 (going up from a lower number like an 80) my BG will still go back to thosen 70s in the morning. I keep expecting it to be higher because I went to bed higher but it normally isn.'t. Does sleep stablize your BG for some people?
Pre-Menustral I will often have slightly higher readings because they will start that way.
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