I’m sorry, Lucy

I should have paid more attention.

Click to see bigger.

That water you see on the screen is actually on the inside.  If you need to take a break and cry, I’ll wait.

I was very excited to finally go to a pool on the 4th of July with all my gear.  I packed my all-plastic clip for Lucy so I could wear her underwater.  I had to leave Charlie at the table, but it would only be for 1/2 hour or so.  I swam, I played, I had fun.  I got out of the pool and Lucy was VERY unhappy.

There was water all inside the screen, she said there was blockage detected, she was beeping like there was no tomorrow.  I thought I had done everything right.  What I didn’t see before I jumped in the pool was that little tiny crack above the o in Cozmo.

I disconnected and called Smiths Medical.  They’re shipping me a new pump, but since it was Friday (and a holiday), the soonest I would get my replacement is Monday.  *sigh*

Luckily, I still have Charlie to keep an eye on my blood sugar.  The data I get from her is almost more valuable than the freedom I get from the pump.  I know given the choice, some people will choose their CGMS over the pump.

I didn’t have any Lantus on me since I was out and about.  But I did have a syringe and a vial of Humalog.  GiR and I quickly ran to Walgreens before the pharmacy closed and grabbed another box of syringes (because reusing syringes hurts).  I managed doing “basal” injections every 2 hours until I got home.  Doing 1.5 units in a syringe is HARD, let me tell you.  But, with Charlie, my numbers looked great all evening.

I took my first shot of Lantus in over a year last night.  I went with a straight conversion of what I usually take as basal in Humalog.  As in, my Humalog basal comes to about 15 units, so that’s what I took of Lantus.  It might not be enough, but better to run a touch high than low.

I’ve still got some Humalog pens, so I’m using that for meals and corrections.  So far, it’s been manageable, but I miss the granularity (.35 units? not with a pen or a syringe!) and the IOB.  But, it’s only for a few days.  Then on Monday, I will get to meet Lucy 3.0.

Roll your own Day-Quil

As you might know, if you’re using a Dexcom, you can’t take Tylenol (acetaminophen).  For some reason, it produces false highs and will result in inaccurate data.  I prefer ibuprofen for my pain relief, so that was no problem.

However, what do you do about drug cocktails, such as Day-Quil, that have multiple drugs in one pill?  Most often, these include acetaminophen.  Well, here’s what I did when I was sick this weekend:

• 2 ibuprofen
• 1 phenylephrine
• 1 dextromethorphan

This is approximately equivalent to 2 Day-Quil.  Works just the same, without the off-limits Tylenol.

So, does anyone know of a good equivalent for Midol that doesn’t have acetaminophen?

Fed up

So, I’ve been having a problem with my dinner numbers for a loooong time now.  I brought it up at my last diabetes appointment (not with my endo, but with a diabetes educator) and she had absolutely zero clue as to what to do.  So, time to ask the blogosphere!  Here’s the deal:

• for most of the day my basal rate is at .55 units/hour
• 6:30 pm Blood sugar’s fine (90-110), bolus (1:10 I:C ratio) and eat dinner (varies).
• 7:00 pm LOW LOW LOW, usually around 65-70.  I try VERY hard not to overtreat; usually just have 1 or 2 Starburst and that’s it.
• 7:30 pm basal rate gets kicked up to .75 units/hour
• 8:30 pm Typical 2-hour after dinner test yields a moderate blood sugar (140ish) with just about the right amount of insulin on board.
• 9:30 - 10:00 pm  HIGH HIGH HIGH, easily at 170+ with practically no insulin on board.  Correct heavily and go to sleep, hoping I don’t overtreat and go low overnight.
• 10:00 basal rate goes down to .60 units/hour for overnight

So, fellow PWDs, what’s going on?  At first I thought it was a combo problem with eating a high-fat meal (i.e. need less insulin up front and more extended insulin to combat fat), but I find this pattern no matter what food I eat.

I’ve thought of decreasing my I:C ratio to maybe 1:11 or 1:12, but I still worry about going high later.  Also, I wouldn’t think that a I:C ratio problem would show up as quickly as 1/2 hour after eating.

I’ve also wondered if the resulting high is a reaction of my body because of the low.  I do try very hard not to overtreat, but maybe my body is still freaking out anyway.

I suppose I could do a combo-style bolus at dinner, but that probably means there’s an underlying basal problem.  However, my last dinner basal test with similar rates (not quite exactly the ones I’m using now, but very very close) yielded steady numbers.  I can probably try a dinner basal test again, which will be much easier with Charlie, but other than that, I’m out of ideas.  Thoughts?

???

I fired up my new Dexcom last night, and it seems that’s all I get: ???

The sensor insertion went fine, with only a small trouble figuring out how to get the plunger thing off.  Waiting the 2 hour startup time went fine.  Then came calibration.

Maybe it’s just because I didn’t know what I was doing, but it took 2 1/2 hours to fully calibrate the darn thing.  I know I entered at least 10 calibration values before it started showing me any data points.

I finally got a couple values, so I went to sleep.  When I woke up, I checked on the graph to see how I was doing.  Well, I have no idea really.  I got maybe 2 or 3 values an hour, with HUGE gaps in between.  What is the purpose of this thing if I doesn’t actually capture any data?

Thinking it might be that I slept on that side funny, I let it go.  I managed to get about 5 values in a row while eating breakfast, getting dressed, etc.   Then, more ???.   A couple more values while walking to work, then more ???.

Is this normal for the first day?  I was really looking forward to having a nice curve to look at, but it’s not much of a curve with only a handful of readings per hour.  I really don’t want to replace the sensor so soon, so I’m just going to wait it out for now.  Any tips or reassurance you have would be greatly appreciated.

Freestyle disappointment

I’m sure many of you remember the Freestyle survey a while back where you could get 50 free test strips for the first survey, and 50 free strips for a second survey.  I filled out the first survey and got my 50 free strips, no problem.  Then, a month later or so, I got an email telling me to fill out my second survey.  Well, lo and behold, the program is closed and I can’t get my second 50 strips.  I called up Abbott and they told me that they ran out and there’s basically nothing they can do.  I still don’t understand how this happened though.

Say you have 100 vials of test strips available to give away.  You decide to put together a two-part survey.  As such, you give 50 vials away for the first survey, and reserve 50 vials for the second survey.  This makes sense, right?  That way, 50 people each get their promised 2 vials.

However!  This does not appear to be what Abbott did.  Instead, they sent 100 people 1 vial for the first survey.  Now, I can see how this would get their test strips into the hands of more people , thereby increasing future sales.  But, it gives the impression of false advertising, which could potentially lose you more customers.

Overall, I’m not going to complain about 50 free strips, but I just wish they would have made it clear ahead of time that your second 50 strips are not guaranteed.

Even more waiting

Well, I have good news and bad news. Even though I previously said that my Dexcom should be here by now, my rep called and said that they’re doing things a little differently. The in-network company they’re working with does pre-authorizations, which means it’ll be run through the insurance first to see if I have coverage. That way, I know ahead of time how much I will have to pay.

Bad news: This means they haven’t shipped anything yet, so I might not get my Dexcom before my scheduled appointment next Friday. I absolutely HATE having to reschedule things. I’m sure my Team Lead at work just loooves me changing my vacation around…

Good news: If my insurance company decides to cover it (which my rep said seems very likely), they will cover 90%. 90%!!! OMG, this could be so awesome. That thought alone almost makes it worth waiting. Almost.

That’s odd…

I received the summer issue of Diabetic Living in the mail yesterday and was thumbing through it before dinner. I came across this advertisement and something doesn’t feel right…

(click to enlarge)

What you see on the left is a Liberty Medical branded “free meter”. What you see on the right is my new Agamatrix Wavesense Keynote meter. See any similarities? Yeah, I do too.

It’s probable that the internal workings and software are different, but it seems like too much of a coincidence that they just “happen” to use the same external hardware.

Am I the only one who is confused and concerned?

UPDATE: Thanks to the Dorkabetic who pointed me towards this page explaining the different brand names. I am less confused now.

F*** you, blood sugar. F*** you.

Sunday night, before dinner.  212 for no reason.  And I have been fighting highs ever since.  I have had a 140-160% temp rate going for the past 3 1/2 days with only moderate results.  150% percent for THREE DAYS.  And I haven’t had any lows, so clearly my body needs this extra insulin.  But WHY?!?!  I’m not on my period, I’m not sick, I’ve done site changes, insulin changes, everything.  My 7 day average is whopping 133.  WTF people?  Why can’t I get my blood sugar down?  So much for that 5.6% A1c I had a few weeks ago.  I can kiss that number goodbye.

Not fair

I am getting soooo frustrated.  I’ve been exercising nearly every day for the last month and I have lost a grand total of…. 1-2 pounds.  I’ve seriously cut down my food intake.  I’ve cut down my insulin intake (both because of less food and better basals).  And what do I have to show for it?  Absolutely nothing.

GiR, on the other hand, eats whatever the heck he wants, barely exercises (well, he exercises with me, but I know it’s not as intense as he is used to) and he stays very trim.

I feel like it’s such a waste.  If I’m working my ass off and have nothing to show for it, then what’s the point?  It’s just not fair.

Control. Maybe a little too much…

Well, I’ve gotten my 30 day average down to 120.  Hurray!  Other averages I check (21, 14, 7, and 3) all look great too!  I am fully looking forward to around a 5.6 or 5.7 at my next endo appt on April 15th.

Side note: Yes, I’m seeing a real endo.  I finally made an appointment with the best Type 1 endo in the area.  I just hope he’s good.

However, this lower average comes with a cost.  More frequent lows.  About one every other day.  Lame.

GiR threw a fit during my last low and said that I should do more basal testing.  Well, yeah, perhaps.  I’m just trying to get better control, and with better control comes more lows.  I’m also exercising more (more about that in a separate post), which is bringing my insulin requirements down.  I’m still figuring everything out.  For now, I’ve set my target blood sugar back to 95.  Hopefully that will help slightly.

I do miss the times when I wasn’t scarfing down Starburst every 15 minutes.  However, I certainly don’t miss those 200s.  They can kiss my ass.