I-Phone/Glucose Meter Combo?

According to a recent news article, Sanofi Aventis is prepping combination hardware/software to turn the iPhone into a blood glucose meter. I own an Iphone, but I have a hard time envisioning it to monitor my glucose levels. In the first place, without lugging around my meter I wouldn't know what to do with myself. In the second place, what would happen if in the middle of a blood check I get a text or call? No worries, I'm sure the masterminds at Apple will figure that one out. I would much rather check into the new blood glucose smart tattoos on the horizon. They sound really promising and not a one of us diabetics would miss those pesky little strips! Speaking of glucose meters, during a glucose check last week using my USB meter, my sugar read 77. I was sure this couldn't be right as I felt fine and if anything, a little high. I dug out my old contour meter and the reading was 177! The USB may not be all it was cracked up to be. I haven't had another inaccurate reading from it since then but I'm on my guard now.

Comparison Readings of Bayer USB & One Touch Ultra Ping Glucose Meters

I recently got a new Bayer Contour USB meter. My insurance wouldn't pay for it so I reluctantly coughed up $70.00 because I really wanted this meter. I am giving my review on the Contour USB in a week or so. 

I decided when I got the meter home that I would do comparison tests side by side with my One Touch Ultra Ping meter and in a few cases, the regular Bayer Contour. I had hoped these comparison tests would let me know how they stack up and give me a sense of the accuracy of both. 

Below are the results and my conclusion of these results will follow:

USB     Bayer Contour        One Touch Ultra Ping

216          213                                    255

USB     Bayer Contour        One Touch Ultra Ping

158          139                                    177

USB      Bayer Contour       One Touch Ultra Ping

92            97                                      100

USB                                       One Touch Ultra Ping

68                                                        73

USB                                       One Touch Ultra Ping  

148                                                      171

USB                                       One Touch Ultra Ping

341 (yikes)                                       401 (I know, yikes!)

USB                                       One Touch Ultra Ping

228                                                    274

USB                                       One Touch Ultra Ping

167                                                     179

Very interesting that in every single test, the One Touch Ultra tested higher than both the USB and regular Contour meter.
It seems that the higher my glucose number, the greater the difference between the two. 
Correct me if I'm wrong in this but it seems that I should go with the meter that tests LOWER rather than the one that consistently gives HIGHER readings. My reasoning behind this is that I can take too much insulin if relying on the One Touch Ultra (which gives the higher readings) and then go into a low. When my numbers were more within range, the meters seemed to be more agreeable. I really like this new meter and am going to give it some more time before I post a review on it. Watch for it!

A Word About Lantus Insulin

I am still on Lantus insulin and am happy to report that my numbers are better than they were while on the pump. I believe the reasons are due to problems with scar tissue as well as the notorious bent cannula problem I endured for far too long. I did get Animas to send me 2 samples of the Comfort sets, they did better for me than the insets did. The comforts have no injector and you insert them under the skin manually. I was surprised at how painless it was. That needle is very long and when I first looked at it I just cringed! I am a thin person and maybe that is the reason I tend to have so many problems with bent cannulas. I have heard of the Sure-T sets but have yet to try them. It was a little like getting blood out of a turnip for Animas to send the 2 Comfort set samples to me and I got more than a little irritated at that. They wanted to know if I wanted to exchange the rest of my insets for the comfort sets and I told them that first I need to try out the comforts and then I would let them know. A reader here suggested that I might try the orbit90 or orbit micro sets and before I give up altogether on pumping, I intend on taking his advice and giving them a try. My Lantus dose is now 12 units in the morning. I found that I am one of those who can get the full 24 hours out of Lantus so that's a very good thing. Apidra is doing well for me but boy does it go to work FAST! I've found that I have to eat and wait around 15 minutes before I  inject the Apidra. Maybe my digestion is sluggish, not so sure but it seems that way at times. 

Dawn Phenomenon or Symogyi Effect?

This entire week my numbers have been really high, especially in the morning. I'm trying to come up with a solution but truly I'm just so tired.. Tired of testing, tired of seeing high numbers when I'm doing everything right. Tired of running out of test strips all the time. I am currently taking 12 units of Lantus at 9:00 in the morning as my basal. I take Apidra for my boluses. My last doctor appointment she mention that I could be suffering from the Symogyi effect. I don't know much about it but in the a.m my numbers are so high it's unbelievable. If I get it right, I go low at night and these high morning numbers I wake with are rebound from unknown lows during the night. OR is it because I'm not taking enough insulin at night and therefore my numbers are skyrocketing as a result? I so don't want to stay up all night and morning testing but this is what I am facing. This morning at midnight I woke and was at 299. I took 2 units of Apidra and went back to bed. At 2:00 I woke and I was at 289! It was as if I hadn't even taken insulin 2 hrs previous. I took 2 more units and woke again at 5:00 a.m and was at 250! So what am I to make of these crazy numbers folks :( And to add to this, if I snack lightly at night before bedtime, say taking in 15 grams of carbs, my numbers are up into the stratosphere as well. 

Bedtime Snacks

I have a really bad habit of snacking at bedtime. And as any diabetic will tell you, it is a tough habit to break until you get like me and finally decide that no matter how good that food is going to taste, it isn't worth the highs you will fight come morning. I love popcorn, and not just any kind of popcorn but that aged white cheddar popcorn which is full of carbs. I cannot bring myself to eat only a half a cup...I have to end up eating 3 servings :( I know, I'm bad. So lately I've been settling on an apple. I suppose you might call it a compromise. But it seems no matter how small the carb amount I take in before bedtime, I deal with skyrocketing numbers in the morning. I think I'm going to try going to bed without snacking ANY tonight and see what happens with my numbers. It's a struggle to be sure. One thing I've found that I like is the Adkins snack bars (my favorite is the peanut butter). Subtracting the fiber, they are only around 11 net carbs. They are pricey though. The cost is around $7.00 for a box of 5. Why do diabetes friendly foods have to cost so much?

Recovering from surgery

Well I had my ACDF this month and am recovering nicely. Only drawback is that while I was in hospital my sugars never went below 300..they said this was not unusual due to the pain I was in. Getting home and now getting a handle on my sugars. I will post in a few days about the details of the fusion.

Upcoming Spinal Surgery

For some years now I've had spinal stenosis and two herniated cervical disks. Back in the late 90's, the pain with these conditions was horrendous. I suffered with severe headaches and neck pain. Then in 2002, the pain improved to the point where I no longer needed to take pain medicine and when I would have the occasional flare-up, Tylenol or aspirin did the trick. Fast forward to September of 2008 because this was when out of nowhere I started a pain flare-up that lasted more than 2 or 3 days and did not stop. I was pushed to seek out a doctor to help me. Doctor ordered a new M.R.I and told me the bad news which I had suspected before I went to the first visit with him. Ruptured C-4 and C-5 and 6 cervical disks as well as Degenerative Disk disease and stenosis in a few places along my spine. This general practitioner sent me on to an Orthopaedic Surgeon who told me that surgery was an absolute last resort and that Physical Therapy and medication was the ticket for now. I had hoped that the pain would get better as it had before back in the 90's but it wasn't to be. The pain kept getting worse and I finally was referred last year to a Neurosurgeon who promptly ordered a new M.R.I as well as a cervical discogram. The M.R.I showed and discogram confirmed that I would need a fusion surgery on my C 4/5 and 5/6 disks. At least I now knew what all this horrid pain was about. I am very please with my neurosurgeon. He seems very knowledgeable and yes I did check into his background before agreeing for him to do the surgery. Am I scared? I was but when you are in pain every day and having to down pain pills throughout the day and even with that the pain is not totally gone, it seems like a lot of the fear is taken out of the equation. At least that's the way it is for me. I was told if I did not have this surgery that any accident, even a small one, could paralyze me so it's pretty much a done deal. Add that fear along with being so weary and worn down from the pain and honestly friends, I say bring it on! I had my meeting with the surgeon around a week ago and he went over what he is going to do. I only have to spend one night at the hospital so that's a plus. I don't like the fact that I won't be able to drive for some time but I have recently been buying up plenty of D.V.D's and books. I hear walking is great for recovery so I'll be doing plenty of that as well. My pre-op at the hospital is in a few days so I might post again after that. Everyone is informed about my diabetes and at the pre-op we will be discussing that in depth. More later

Off the Insulin Pump and back on M.D.I

It all started around 4 weeks ago. I had been noticing that my numbers were totally out of control. Sky high glucose readings and no apparent reason for it. There had been 2 or 3 times in the past couple weeks previous in which I went to change my infusion set out and noticed that I had a bent cannula. This would explain my high numbers. I put in another set. But 2 weeks ago one day it happened to me again and I finally decided after giving myself plenty of correction boluses that it must be another bent cannula and sure enough it was. Well I put in another set and called my endo. I let him know that I was not going to be using my pump until I get in touch with Animas and let them know that I may have been sent a bad batch of sets. So the endo prescribed Lantus for my basal insulin and I would go ahead and use my Apidra insulin for my boluses and corrections. I was totally amazed at how well I did on the Lantus from the first day! I started out on 12 units even though my Endo suggested 15 units per day. I was NOT wanting to go through nightime lows so I started at 12 and adjust upward if needed. Twelve units was just right and seems to keep my numbers around 110- 114  on a regular basis. I tried to get in touch with Animas's support line to have them send me some more infusion sets but after an entire day of being on hold for well over 15 minutes each and every time I called them I finally gave up and decided to try them at another time. Injections don't bother me much, especially since I've been on the pump for so long. It's a strange feeling not being hooked up to something all day long. When I change clothes I am still thinking I have to avoid the site so I don't pull it out. Yesterday I went shopping and forgot to take any insulin with me so I had to come home earlier than I had wanted to. With my pump I don't have that problem :)

Review of Wavesense Presto Meter

In previous posts I've complained about the fact that I check my blood sugar often and because of this I always seem to run out of test strips before my insurance will allow a refill. Recently I decided I would have to choose a back up meter that used very inexpensive test strips. I checked out the reviews of the latest Wavesense glucose meters and decided on the Presto. Cost of the meter was $25.97 and that came with 10 test strips. I found that the Presto is very close in accuracy to my One Touch Ultra meter. The lowest strips I found online? 100 @ $39.99 from Drugstore.com. I've heard very good things about the Jazz and Keynote meters which are also offered by AgaMatrix. The cost of Jazz test strips are higher than the Keynote and Presto strips and this is why I decided not to bother with the Jazz.

What I love about this meter besides accuracy:

• For me, a backlight is a must and this one does not disappoint. I love the dark blue backlight!
  
• Averages the past 14, 30, and 90 day glucose levels.
  
• The way it feels in my hand, it is very small. I don't care for the larger, bulky meters and this one is a pleasure to tote around because of its size. I also love the rubber grip strips on each side of the meter.
• No coding- LOVE IT!
• Small blood sample (0.5 ul)
• Alternate site testing capability
  

Any cons?

• It took me a while to understand how to get the backlight to work. I finally discovered that I had not yet enabled the backlight in settings. Wasn't a hassle, just took me around 15 minutes.
• Battery type. I am partial to my One Touch Ultra because it uses 2 AAA batteries. The presto uses 2- 3 volt CR-2032 lithium coin batteries which were included. This is just a preference thing with me.
  
• Lancing device seems cheap but don't most of them these days?

All in all I love this meter! The savings was the main factor in the beginning but if a meter is not accurate, saving money doesn't mean much. With the presto I have found both.