ugh. At 33 it seems like I’ve been down same road many times.
I go to see the doc when my sugars are bad. They adjust some things and I see immediate improvement. I get all stoked and on top of my sugars and do regular testing for a time…and they slowly it all fades away until I am doing 2, sometimes one test a day and 6 months later I’m back at the doc with garbage sugars again.
So how do you guys stay on top of it? Or do you? Is this a regular cycle that people are going through?
When i do more tests ie. 4-6 a day , my sugars are more consistent. And even if they aren’t, even if I’m doing tests and they are all over the map, I at least have data to bring to the doc’s.
I have a Doctors appointment later this morning and have 2 weeks of weak control to bring in to him and am kinda dreading it.
Having been Type 1 for 40 years, I’ve been all over the place with testing. When I was first diagnosed and for a number of years afterwards, the only way to test was by urinalysis, a particularly inconvenient and not very accurate measure. I seldom did it after the first year. When blood testing finally began testing more frequently. For the last ten years or so I’ve been testing a minimum of four times a day, once before each meal and once before bed. This works well for me as it is logical to test before a meal bolus. As I have now been on the pump for six years, most of the time I can trust it to calculate the bolus based on how many carbs I’m eating. Problem is, I’m not always accurate with that number. But I also test after meals sometimes if I think I might have been wrong about the carbs either way. Testing should quickly become a habit if you do something along these lines.
The best thing for me was to just get in a habit of always pulling out my meter before a meal, which means you always need to have it on you or nearby. I test before every meal and before bed, but I also have a CGM. If you have insurance that will cover the cost of a CGM (I have Dexcom G5), then I’d highly recommend it! It will test your BG every 5 minutes and send the data to a receiver or an app on your phone. Then, your doctor can download all the data when you get to your appointment, which is super helpful in spotting patterns and trends and then making the adjustments from there. My Dexcom also requires that I calibrate it with a BG meter test at least once every 12 hours, so that basically guarantees I’ll get 2 accurate tests in each day along with the (sometimes slightly less accurate) CGM readings every 5 mins. Good luck!
I’m new, 11 months into being t1d. I test before each meal and at bedtime. I also test before driving, during a gig with my band or if I’m feeling hypo.
I recommend getting the Dexcom g5 CGM and an insulin pump. Tandem T2:slim works with the G5 plus a new closed loop version is expected to be approved before long.) After the first 2 or 3 days, the Dexcom sensor is dead on accurate, and you only need to test 2x per day; it will remind you when it is time to test. I test 3 times, roughly 8 hours apart, just as a CYA, but I don’t really need 3 times.
The closed loop pump takes away a lot of the headaches of counting carbs and will get you within the desired range of about 90 to 110 almost all the time.
In addition, Fiasp insulin by Novo Nordisk was just passed by the FDA and may already be on the market. It is a super fast acting insulin that will work much better at pulling down the post-meal highs that plague diabetics and cause medical problems down the road.
The benefits of testing multiple times a day should be your most important reminder - better BG/A1c; feeling and looking better; less infections; etc…
I tend to test before and 2 hours after mealtimes as that is easiest for me to remember. I also test before getting in the car to drive (I am Type 1), working out or going out to parties or other events where my attention will be elsewhere.
If you already know that your sugars go out of control when you’re not being responsible about testing, then why would you “forget”? Mind you, I’ve been a Type 1 diabetic since the age of 12 and I refused to do finger-sticks for at least the first 5 years. So in the many years since then as I became an ADULT the importance of knowing my actual BG number got me over that hump.
Basically you have to be of the mind that YOU are in control of your health - you have to be the brains behind the pancreas that is either not working at all or not working very well to take control of your health. Get away from the mindset of yo-yo dieters who eat healthy & exercise to lose weight and then wonder why they gain it all back when they go back to what they were doing before they switched to doing everything healthy.
Keep the importance of well-controlled BG in mind: It is IMPORTANT not to damage your kidneys; it’s IMPORTANT to not damage the nerves in your feet or the tiny blood vessels in your eyes (I actually had this problem for a while until I got my A1c down). It’s IMPORTANT that you take care of your heart - it’s all related.
Sorry to be blunt but this is the same way I talk to a friend of mine - it’s for the good of your long-term health.
I’m the same way! Every time I forget, I don’t run and test either. I just sit there and think oh well…
I’m also too lazy to drag my meter around with me. I leave it in my room most of the time and walk right past it.
I’m not going to claim to know what you’re going through, but I understand the difficulty of maintaining vigilance in managing self care (read 3 back surgeries). I’m dad to a newly diagnosed 11 year old, and an intensive care nurse, so I literally deal with diabetes around the clock, and I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep those sugars under control. Your life, and quality of life, depend on your diligence and perseverance.
I strongly recommend the Dexcom CGM and working up to a pump. The CGM alone will keep you in the loop one what’s happening with your body, and with just 2-3 calibrations a day.
Testing is wothless if it doesn’t have a purpose. Find a meter you like. Test before you eat, before you drive & before bed. I keep monitors by my bed, in my desk at work, in my workout bag & in my purse so it’s easier.
Hello!
I’ve definitely struggled myself with testing consistently. I’m going to echo what everyone else is saying and tell you the best method is to test before every meal and bedtime. I used to test only before every meal and would wake up with crazy high blood sugars because I didn’t fix my sugars with insulin.
Now, I test at least four times a day, and my blood sugars are much more stable. Good luck!