not smart enough to have diabetes?
after 5 years i still haven't got 'my' diabetes figured out....i still go high and low every single day. my A1c is 8.7....i wake up either high or low....rarely 'good'.
i started logging EVERYTHING a few months ago thinking that would help me make some sense of it all.....nope. still high, low....rarely inbetween.
normally i am considered intelligent....lol and i UNDERSTAND whats supposed to be happening, its just never at all what i expect.
im trying to get on the pump, but....will i be able to do it....
anyone else just not get 'their' diabetes?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jen on
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It was impossible to "get" my diabetes until I got the pump. My basal rates vary throughout the day and with Lantus not meeting those needs it was impossible not to go high and low constantly.
Not that my control is perfect now, but being on the right insulin regimen and making sure your basal rates and other settigns are accurate makes a huge difference.
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Permalink Reply by boedica on -
im hoping that a couple of months worth of logs will be enough for them to figure it all out for me...there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to my numbers. and i swear somedays a garden salad will send me through the roof like i just ate a whole cake or something.
i think that the pump will work out better for me than trying to keep doing this. its frustrating knowing im not an unintelligent woman, but really feeling like one!
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Permalink Reply by Leo2 on -
I'm glad you're getting a pump. Keeping records so you can see trends at different parts of the day will be important to setting basals. We're with you, keep us informed! So glad you're logging everything.
Sometimes in logging it helps to log more ways than one. I do both a notebook with time, test, food & grams (I guess as everyone does), then short acting amount, AND a chart so I can view longer term trends more easily.
I test an hour after a meal when there is any food I haven't got down pat so that I can follow up with some more insulin if needed - and i know what one gram should raise me and what one unit will take me down, and I keep track of how much is on board. Keep working at it. A pump will help lots!
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Permalink Reply by Jag1 on -
You're certainly not alone. My A1c's run in the 7's after 35 years of having T1 but there is a lot of BG bouncing around that is getting averaged out, and I'm doing what you're doing - exhaustive logging - in hopes of tightening control to improve on that. I'm on my own in doing the analysis however. The first thing the logging did was help me figure out the correct basal dose (using split dose of Lantus) and I've been very happy with that. Bolus prediction is still giving me trouble, but I'm working on it.
What are you logging? Are you keeping track of carb/protein/fat for each meal (with a kitchen scale); of your BG before and 3 or more hours after each meal; and all insulin injections including corrections? Also ketone level when you go high (I just added this - I bought my first bottle of ketone strips a couple weeks ago after 35 years of having T1!) It took me a while to figure what I needed to log, but I've found that I need all this data (which is a lot!!). I hate logging - I much prefer to just judge by eye, eat and correct if needed (which has been my technique for all these years). But I'm hoping that the logging will pay off and I'll be able to lighten up on the logging once it makes more sense. I think (hope) I'm getting close.
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Permalink Reply by boedica on
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ive been charting every hour BG, carbs, basals, boluses, corrections, actually what it is im eating and amounts, and where i am with my cycle.
i hooked up with a CGM for a few day....lol.....the dawn phenomenon is weird. like i woke up and ate a high carb meal at 4am!
i think after the cgm and super tight logging we'll figure out what i need in a pump......i hope.
i DO need to get a scale....but, i eat mostly beans and tofu and eggs for my protein, so those are all pretty easy to figure out, and most everything else is a measure, not a weight.
thanks for not laughing at me for being so damned confused after 5 years! its so frustrating, and i haven't had the 'best' guidance these years....
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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on -
All that data is useless unless we know what to do with it.
Do you have any books to help you? Pumping Insulin or Think Like a Pancreas? Start with one of them and work on fixing one thing at a time. One thing at a time.
Getting a pump is not going to fix anything just by getting it. We need to learn how to use it effectively - how much basal, when to bolus, when not to bolus, how much to bolus. In other words, don't rely on the pump to give you control. We have to TAKE control, examine the data critically and fix ONE thing at a time.
For instance, one thing that helped me get off the roller coaster of highs and lows was learning that bringing down a high too quickly (say from 250 to 80 within two hours) can result in a 'rebound' in which your liver starts pumping out glucogen because it feels you dropping so fast. Brining the highs down a little more slowly evened out the bumps. Now I'm on to the next thing - avoiding lows during long runs.
You're not too dumb. Diabetes is just crafty and erratic. The bastard.
Good luck,
Terry
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Permalink Reply by boedica on
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....the library didn't have either book readilly available, but i requested 'think like a pancreas' from another site....
i might check out amazon or half.com and purchase it...
this cgm is always way off from my meter readings....is that normal?
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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on
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Yes, that is normal. Don't worry too much about the CGM matching the meter number. Synchronize them when prompted but don't keep synchronizing just to make them match.
Use the CGM to spot trends - are you going up, down or staying level. If up or down, how fast? Compare the chart of your CGM values with your other data to the effects of different foods or events. For instance, you ingested so many carbs and took so much insulin at lunch time. What does the CGM show in terms of how your BG reacted - up, down, fast, slow, no reaction? If you went up fast then leveled out quickly you probably bolused correctly. If you went up and kept going up, you probably underestimated the carbs, but you might have had a fatty meal, in which case you should have used an extended bolus. Did your GCM show you dropping fast? You over corrected.
It's a constant balancing act. Like riding a bucking bronco all day long.
Keep trying. If you ever get it perfect let us know and we'll all envy you. :)
Terry
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Permalink Reply by Gary on -
When are people going to realize that there are too many factors involved to "get it right". Normal glucose should not be in the same sentence as Diabetes. Yeah sometimes it can run ok and or fairly consistent and then all of a sudden hours, days, weeks of haywire. Without a cure or a cloosed loop system it will never be right despite the grueling efforts. If I had a penny every time my sugar went below 70 or above 125 I'd be a multi-millionare ten times over.
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Permalink Reply by Terry Keelan on
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So the point is . . . ? If you mean there's not that 'one thing' that will make everything work together, I see your point. Otherwise,
People are NEVER going to stop trying to 'get it right' no matter how many factors are thrown into the mix. They just won't. Because the alternatives are to just throw things at it and pray for the best or to give up all hope.
No thanks. If I 'get it right' for a day, or for a week. I"m happy. When it goes wrong try something else until I 'get it right.'
Just because we're not going to reach perfection is no reason to give up trying. I look at it like a game of golf. You hit a beautiful drive off the first tee, make a difficult approach shot, then three putt the hole. On the next hole you shank your drive but save par with a nice approach and a good putt. But you don't quit the game. You keep trying different things until you string together three or four perfect shots on a hole and then try to repeat it.
Terry
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