New to this platform… diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic 9 years ago (adult onset), as of recent I’m finding it more and more frustrating to manage, I wear a Dexcom G6 Omnipod Dash pump, the alerts in red on the Dex Com are absolutely frightening & send me into automatic panic mode then I tend to overcorrect the low, put a new sensor on yesterday I fell low hours after inserting it then checked with a meter and there was about a 100+ point difference in readings (I am aware it can take 24 hrs. to be comparable to a meter reading), so I overcorrected for no reason (moving forward will always check with meter for extreme lows/highs) The constant worry & anxiety of this disease has me stressed to the max recently, of course family is very supportive but unless you have this disease people just don’t get it. I’m driving myself crazy here and just looking for other type 1’s to talk to who get this & understand the pure FRUSTRATION and ANXIETY !
Hi @Cyn22 and welcome to the forum. Those alerts are a mixed blessing - I get you. If you’re getting frequent alerts that may be a sign you need to review your basal rates and/or carb ratios. I recently made some changes that have been very helpful - I still get them but they are less frequent.
How long have you been on your CGM? It’s common for new users to feel overwhelmed with the data - and it’s tempting to look at the numbers frequently. A doctor told me to look at mine only every so many hours (unless I felt symptomatic or got an alert), and I had to train myself but eventually it worked. If you get rising arrows try not to panic - that’s one time you should look again sooner and see what they’re doing - they may level out; and . keep in mind if you have insulin on board it may not have “hit” yet but will with patience.
Hi Cyndi,
It makes a lot of sense why you are experiencing such high levels of anxiety- being able to see the trend in which your blood sugar is moving is helpful AND terrifying at the same time. Coupled with the fact that low blood sugars exhibit physical signs and symptoms of anxiety- like fast pacing heart rate, sweaty, and lack on concentration. It’s a scary feeling and anxiety-provoking.
Something that I have found helpful is setting a timer for 10-15 minutes when I’m low and then doing a finger stick check (dexcom readings are beyond so it may read lower than what your finger stick reads). I also try my best to stay out of the kitchen or that is when I find myself eating anything and everything I can get my hands on. Additionally- I will repeat to myself “every blood sugar has either come up or down down every time” to help quite some of the chaos my head is experiencing.
hi @Cyn22 welcome to Type 1 nation! adding to the great advice above, a CGM measures interstitial fluid, not blood sugar. The readings - when your blood sugar is changing very fast - will be “delayed” usually around 20 minutes.
so if I get a low alarm on my Dexcom, and lets say double-arrows down, my blood sugar is likely lower than the CGM thinks. So I correct by eating sugar (I think glucose is the fastest) and my sugar starts to rise in about 10-15 minutes, but while it is rising, the Dexcom will say that I am lower than I really am.
When I have rapidly changing blood sugars I go by my finger stick, not the G6 and the 2 won’t agree until about 20 minutes of a flat arrow →
Also, the very first day I am on G6, the Dexcom often reads lower than my actual blood sugar., which is a calibration issue. After that first day the G6 reads very close to finger stick +/-10%, as long as I have a flat arrow → I hope this helps.
as far as anxiety, please tell your doctor to rule out adrenaline issues (can be diabetes related), but we all get why it can be scary, and if it’s just that it does go away eventually. cheers and good luck!
@Cyn22 Welcome Cyndi to the JDRF TypeOneNation Forum! Your first “wish” has been answered [I’m bragging} by visiting this Forum and finding that you are not alone and that there are supportive people here who will hear you, understand much of your frustration, and be supportive as best they can by offering suggestions from what “diabetes experience” has taught them. I have used the Dexcom G6 successfully for a few years [also the G5] but I haven’t yet tried an OmniPod.
I’ll respond now to a couple of areas you listed and more later if you wish; @Joe already posted much of what came to mind when I read your post. First, I’m suggesting that you let yourself relax - easier said than done - and to just use the information that you get from your G6 [intelligently] an to not overreact. Honestly, it took me about 50 years living with diabetes for me to learn to accept and relax. The Dexcom “Alarms & Alerts”, except for critical low, can all be set by the user. I have many of my Alerts silenced preferring to receive the Message only from my integrated t-Slim Pump. Making this adjustment has saved me from overreacting.
Second, always show care when making a correction insulin bolus, which I’m certain that you do. For anyone who has read the “FDA Approval Letter” for the G6 [April 2018, page 2], in it “approval to be used for insulin dosing” it was stated that no insulin dose should be calculated based on observation of at least three (3) consecutive G6 readings. Final determination when deciding if you need a correction dose of insulin is how you are feeling - for me, this is second nature having lived with diabetes for 30 years before a digital glucose meter was available.
You are very fortunate to have a supportive family - I did too, with 6 siblings - and hopefully at least one of your family has a pretty good knowledge of your diabetes, especially the effort that you exert to maintain a good balance. My wife of well over a half century is my strongest supporter even when she doesn’t know the finer points of diabetes management; her strongest assist when she notices my frustration is to tell me “you are trying and something didn’t go as expected, so JUST relax and move forward”. Or something like that, knowing that there are many factors about diabetes that can not be managed or controlled. Positive thinking helps me.