Just in time for Valentine’s Day I have a new love in my life. It’s small, electronic and taped to my arm right now. This week I am trying out a Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor and I am in love. I love electronic gadgets anyway, but this one is just plain cool. It has a sensor that takes a blood glucose reading every five minutes. I thought it would hurt when the nurse put it on, and I was scared. Fortunately it didn't hurt at all. It doesn't hurt now, either. I notice the pull of the tape sometimes, but nothing else.
My endo recommended I try out a CGM because I have wild blood sugars overnight. Sometimes I go to bed with a normal reading but wake up with my blood glucose reading 197. Sometimes I wake up drenched in sweat, because I went low in my sleep and didn't wake up. Every night is an adventure and I’m not sleeping well.
I’ve looked for a pattern and I haven’t found one. Maybe this monitor will help me find a pattern. It already alerted me to five low blood sugars I wouldn’t have noticed without it. It also confirmed my suspicion: I can go low in the middle of a meal.
It happened at lunch today. I tested my blood sugar and shot up insulin after my food was in front of me. I started eating and felt shaky. Dexcom went off. BUZZZ! LOW! That’s what I thought was happening. Why am I going low while eating? I figured out the answer: too much insulin upfront. Now the easy solution to this problem would be to give myself part of my insulin before I eat and part of the dose after I eat. But that would be seven shots a day and I’m brave, but not that brave. I can see the future and it involves a pump.
Still, I think I’m in love with my little friend here. It beeps and buzzes to warn me. I think I’m naming it R2D2.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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