New HB1aC

In early September I am happy to report that my hb1ac was down to 173! It's getting better but boy does it seems like it's slow :( Well, I shouldn't complain. I am really doing much better on letting go of the sweets and nighttime snacking. Another good thing for me has been to stay active. Activity really does a number on the high numbers we struggle with. I have stopped skipping breakfast for the most part. More later friends :)

Recent Hb1ac.. I am pleased!

Happy to report that my last hb1ac was 7.4 down from the whopping 8.7. I had hoped for it to be lower but I see now that this is just going to take more time. I'm not beating myself up too much over it not being lower. I had lost some weight and found that I was taking too much basal. Now my settings are as follows:

• 12:00 am-1:30 am-.55
• 1:30 - 5:00 am- .60
• 5:00 am- 1:30 pm-.50
• 1:30 pm-4:30 pm-52.5

I've been satisfied with this new Animas ping pump and meter. It's getting the job done. I find I still don't use the food menu carb counter feature but plan on it in the future. My endocrinologist suggested I should lower my basal rate at my last appointment. As I said I had lost weight but another reason to lower my basals were due to the fact that I was not taking in enough bolus insulin. My ratios were totally off. Started a new job and found I was running around skipping lunch every once in a while. Until I get used to this job I can count on it being up and down I guess. Let's see, what else to report..I have almost denied myself pizza altogether. I know I could use my bolus setting for a square and could maybe have pizza but right now it just isn't worth the hassle. I think only once in the past month have I had pizza and I stopped myself at one slice. Before this I would have maybe 4 or 5 and that carb load was really too much for me. I took my bolus all at once, I would go low. I scattered it about over 6 hours like I have been told to do and I would still be 300+ come morning time. Another thing to report is I am getting much better at pacing myself when it comes to activity and am suffering less lows now.

Coffee and Carbs

Ok, so I have a confession. Most of the time when I have coffee I do NOT take insulin for it. Sometimes I use coffee mate with my coffee and don't take insulin for it either. I don't cover those carbs because I figured that since the creamer is only 2-4 carbs, it won't make a significant rise on my sugar levels. This morning I had around 3 cups of coffee and noticed my blood sugar had risen by 80 points. Time to re-evaluate this warped thinking. Black coffee is not supposed to raise sugar levels for the most part or so this is what I had always been told by various diabetes educators. I suppose every diabetic is different and I am living proof of this fact. I'm going to start covering the carbs for a cup of coffee when I use creamer and do a little experiment on how much of a rise happens with black coffee. I'll get back to this post with the results :)

Basals, Activity and Water...oh my!

For the past few months I've struggled with higher numbers and only recently I'm beginning to think this had to do with my basal rate being too high. I could go to bed with a reading of 100 and wake without having eaten anything to a whopping 300. Another thing, the past few days I've been way more active than usual and had been suffering numerous lows so I set my rate back to .55 per hour starting late last night. Today my numbers were so excellent I can hardly believe it :) I've tried to think of everything I can that would help me get a handle on my numbers and have tighter control. One thing is drinking more water. I get busy and forget about water intake like many do. Now I'm convinced it isn't one thing I've done different the past few days, but 3 and they would be:

• basal adjustments
• increased activity
  
• increased water intake.

Short on Test Strips......Again

I use an overwhelming amount of glucose test strips each month. I have insurance yet I always manage to run out before I can get my script renewed each month. I'm forced to pay out of pocket for a box every month. I had been buying one touch ultra brand (my main meter brand), but a few times resorted to buying the much less expensive Reli-on (Wal-mart brand). Lately I've heard many stories from fellow diabetics who live this way. Being in fear of running low on test strips is a constant discussion on diabetes forums. I almost feel guilty at times when I go to pick up my strips because many times it hasn't even been the full 30 days before I need to get my strips refilled. I ask the lady at the pharmacy if they can run it and see if insurance will pay it or is it too soon to get refilled. If it's too soon, then I have to pay for more on my dime. What gets me is the high expense for these little things. It must not cost much to produce them so why are they so high? Around 55.00 for 50 One Touch Ultra vs. around 23.00 for the cheaper reli-on brand. Recently I decided to shop around so I went in a small mom and pop pharmacy to see if they had any alternatives. They had some meter called the Tru-Track. Meter was very cheap and the strips were right around the same price as Wal-Mart reli-on. My problem with these as well as the reli on is they are not pc-compatible. There is no cable hook up with them to download/upload my numbers and that's a problem. My endocrinologist takes my One Touch Meter and downloads my test results every time I go in for an appointment. She would not like it if I was to hand her a reli on meter which has no capability to download my averages/results/basal patterns and so on.

Even though I have been able so far to buy the brand name strips, I know soon something's gotta give and I am going to have to find a way to

• test less or
  
• start buying the less expensive brand

This is one major reason I was interested in the CGMS system. But if I go that route, the sensors will maybe be paid by insurance but I'm pretty sure I would be responsible for 20 % of the cost. I need to ask about how much the sensors would cost me. It seems to be so hard to test less so I don't think that is a viable option for me. I'm on the pump and must check at least 10 times a day.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS)

I wonder if the continuous glucose monitoring system would help me get a better handle on my numbers and overall health. I am a member of TU diabetes and there is much discussion going on over there about CGMS. I do have quite a bit of lows and highs. My numbers seem to swing back and forth quite often. Just like this morning, I went to bed at 128 and woke with 304. I hadn't eaten anything and just when I was beginning to think the dawn phenomenon had reared it's ugly head, I found out my infusion set had a air bubble in it. Changed that out and around an hour later I was at 210. My numbers have been pretty good today and I'm so glad. I am not sure my insurance would cover CGMS, I am going to talk about how it would benefit me when I see my Endo next month. There is the dexcom, navigator and another brand of CGMS that I can't recall right now. There are 2 issues that might keep me from getting one of these neat little gadgets:

• Seems that many have seen discrepancies in their numbers . The CGMS may read 80 and the glucose monitor they have might read 140. Calibration must be done but I wonder if I would get a "low" alert in the middle of the night when I truly wasn't low.
• Being on the pump now, I really don't like the idea of getting hooked up to another gadget :) If it would help me tremendously that would be a moot issue though.
  

Holidays are Torture on my Averages

With the holidays came lots of good food. Why does this always happen to me? Because I have no self-control? That would be it. I made candy for Christmas for my non-diabetic friends and family members and sampled too much of my own creation. I think that my average according to my ping meter is around 165 for the 3 month. It's a little better at 157 for the past month. I try not to beat myself up too much. I don't want to be too discouraged about falling off the wagon during the Holidays or else I might lose heart and give up the fight and that's not gonna happen. Well what else do I have to report? Oh yes, I still love the ping! I recently received my updated meter that Animas sent out. There was a software problem in the earlier meter remotes in which one might get the wrong amount of insulin if bolus was given via the meter. I don't use the food database that much. I still have yet to put in my favorites but I will get around to it soon. The other thing I need to do is get some of those tunes for my pump. And the scratching issue with the pump bugs me. I strongly urge everyone to get a cover for their pump and be very careful bumping into things. It seems this pump gets scratched up much easier than my old minimed paradigm did.