Approaching 24 hours with the Dexcom

The Dexcom was waiting outside the door when I got home last night, a day early. So I opened it up, reviewed the getting start process, plugged the receiver in to charge, and went about dinner and #DSMA. After #DSMA, it was time.

I'd worn a Dexcom for about 10 days a month earlier, in a trial through my CDE. (Note, sometimes I call her an Endo, sometimes a doctor, sometimes CDE. I don't really know. I don't really care. She does everything I need and is generally awesome.) I read the process of sensor insertion about half a dozen times and started. It must have taken 15 or 20 minutes to get it in OK. Getting the needle in went ok. Removing the insertion mechanism took some work. Getting that collar up as high as can be HURT. The entire sensor lifted up towards the middle and there was some blood clearly visible. But I did manage to remove the mechanism, and settle the sensor down closer to my skin. The pain was much more severe than when my doctor did it. I suspect that's just the learning curve, because she also did it much faster than I was able.

It was nearly time for bed once calibration was complete. But around 4AM, my wife woke me up because the Dexcom woke her up. (It had been going off for pushing an hour by then.) It was a 48. Confirmed and it really was low, so grabbed some sugar from the nightstand and went back to sleep. When I woke up for real three hours later, the screen looked like ____/----/`````. It said 140-something, but my meter said 104. But over the course of the morning, I had a stubborn but mild high that just didn't want to go away. In retrospect, I wonder if it really was closer to 140.

And now we're at lunch. I had a slice of pizza and salad. Started a square wave 10 minutes or so before eating, so had a slow descent and was in the high 90s while eating. But an hour later, I was still creaping up, past 150. Small correction and kept climbing. Repeat. Repeat. I managed the arrest it by 175 a half hour agp, so the Dexcom adverted a high. I'm flat or slowly descending at 166.

I can't know how I'll feel in 6 months, but for now, I love seeing this kind of information. Probably check the silly thing every 10 minutes. My immediate goal with the Dexcom is just to tighten the ranges. My A1c is pretty good (Labwork likes to warn me that with an A1c around 5.8, I'm at risk of developing Diabetes: HAH!) but it's only that good because I have far too many lows. If I can go from 60 being an every day occurrence to, say, once a week, and make the corresponding cuts on the high end, I ought to be able to hold an A1c in the high fives or low sixes, but hold that much more safely. It'll be the Dexcom's credit if that happens.

Today the Dexcom adverted a high

Today was Applebee's Wednesday, that fabled day the developer group goes to Applebee's for lunch. And I got a bacon cheeseburger; one of the about three dishes I get there. I too often spend a few hours in the early afternoon around 200 after.

Getting back from lunch, blood sugar was about 130 and slowly increasing. But 40 minutes later, or so, it was accelerating towards 150. So I corrected. That slowed, but did not stop, the assault on my blood sugar. An hour later, it was accelerating towards 170, and I threw more Insulin on the fire. That stopped it and turned it around. I'm presently falling, quicker than I'd like, but a couple glucose tabs in 20 minutes and I'll be right as rain.

170 two hours after eating is nothing wonderful. But without the Dexcom, I'd be more like 210 or 220 right now, and those numbers are much harder to correct than a 170.

Continuous Monitor

Today, my endocrinologist set me up on a loaner Dexcom 7.

I've had a CGMS before; a Medtronic that linked to my pump. That was 2 years ago. Suffered a number of problems with it: it wasn't accurate, it hurt terrible going in, and the adhesive on it would quickly expire. I tried it several times over a two year span but eventually frustration got the better of it.

So as of now, the D7 has been jacked in for about 9 hours, and feeding data for a couple fewer.

To start with, insertion pain was much reduced. It's still nothing that I'd say feels good, but it's less painful than my pump and far better than the previous CGMS. As accuracy goes, it's better but still not great. Right around 100-120, it's pretty accurate, but highs and lows seem to be greatly exaggerated. A 140 this afternoon showed as 180. An 80 before dinner was flashing a low that bounced around the low 50s. But so far I haven't seen it report a high as a low, or been wildly off base. Too soon to call adhesive good, but it's better.

One thing I didn't expect, and admittedly is easily resolvable, is that the belt loops on my pants are quickly being used up. Pump takes one, D7 takes one, and in some cases, my regular meter takes one. Think I'd be more willing to stick the D7 in my pocket if it weren't a loaner.

For the last half hour, D7 says I'm in the low 70s. I had a moderate-high carb dinner of a meatball sandwich and a cup of fruit. According to the CGM, I never broke 150. Meter say 85: 77 vs 85, pretty good!