I'm breaking up with my CGM. He's been a bad, bad boy. (His name is Sam). Sam woke me up not once, not twice, but SIX TIMES last night with reported lows. Problem is, Sam was wrong on 5 out of the 6. He'd say I was in the 60s, my bg meter said I was 89. After the 6th time, I was so exhausted and mad that I ate 4 glucose tabs just to make sure he shut up for the remainder of the late night/early morning. I actually fell asleep WHILE I was checking my bg on my meter, I got as far as getting the test strip in the meter, but never actually checked my blood. I woke up again when Sam alerted me to the 6th "low."
My BG probably jumped to the high 100s from eating 16 carbs I didn't need, but, guess what? I was too tired by that point to care.
I've noticed he's been crying wolf a lot lately at night, so I lowered my low alarm to 60 instead of 70. It's reduced the number of times he wakes me. And the thing is, is that at nighttime, when he alarms, even if you know or highly suspect he's wrong, you still feel like you have to check, because what if this one time he's actually telling the truth! It stays in your mind until you finally break out the bg meter and check.
And slightly different subject, now. I am SO sick of adhesives. Between my CGM and my Omnipod, I have temporary adhesive marks all over the place on my abdomen and lower back. Even when it's not in one spot anymore, you can still see the adhesive marks for weeks. It's ugly and I'm afraid of permanent scarring, since I can never get it entirely healed up before I have to put it on that spot again. What can I do? Is there some magical cream I don't know about that will help heal up those spots in a couple of days? I sure would like to know!
I don't have the adhesive marks but I have "site speckles" from the various holes I've poked in myself. They do heal over but it takes awhile.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Dexcom inaccuracy in the dead of night, I hear ya, I have the same problem and my stockpile of "colorful metaphors" to call mine has been exercised liberally at 2am many many mornings! I recently started using my arm as a sensor site and the overnight alarms have decreased dramatically. Now, given that performance varies by sensor anyway, I can't say conclusively it's the site, but that's what I'm going with right now.
I, too, have been guilty of eating just to shut my CGM up. (Or, completely shutting it down for the night.) They're so great to have when they're accurate - but quite a PITA when they're not!
ReplyDeleteYou have to do what works for you. There's nothing wrong with a CGM break when you need it. :)
Yep ladies you are right. I have been known to put Sam in another room for the night just because I need a Real night of sleep!!!!! Plus my skin needs a break from adhesives. Even if it's just a full day....
ReplyDeleteSometimes, shutting them off for the night is the only way to get peace and quiet. It's a darn shame we can't have the accuracy, even in predicting trends. Oh well. So it is, the early of the CGM generations... maybe some day.
ReplyDeleteSuper sensitive skin here, and while I'm not on a CGM yet and don't qualify for a pump (insulin dependent T2 here) I feel your pain from band aids! The reaction from band aids is usually worse than whatever I needed the band aid for in the first place. Try Tattoo Goo ointment. It's tea tree oil based, 100% natural and does not include any of the ingredients that most skin allergies react to. I love the stuff!
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