I love my CGMS. I know I’ve said it before, but it’s now been almost two months and I can’t imagine life without it.
That said, sometimes it really makes me angry. One of the reasons I got it (and paid the $1200+ out-of-pocket for it) was to help me catch impending lows (I HATE being low). Unfortunately, this is not where the Minimed CGMS excels. When I’m in the “normal” range, the results are fairly spot-on, but it completely missed the low I had yesterday afternoon.
Usually, I’m very hypoglycemic aware; if I’m in the 70s, I feel it. Not so yesterday. I had some errands to run during lunch, and when I left my office at 11:28am, my BG was 234. According to my pump, I still had active insulin on board (I did a combo bolus with breakfast, which is the same breakfast I have nearly every day), so I didn’t bolus for this high. I ran my errands and was driving back to the office when I felt that feeling. You know the one – it’s more of warning in your head to eat something soon. Since I was only about 5 minutes from the office, I ignored it. Lunch was waiting at my desk (a nice sandwich on whole wheat bread). As time went on (it was 1:06 pm) , the warning grew louder. Finally, while stopped at a traffic light, I grabbed my new One Touch Ultra Link meter (thanks Minimed!) and, with shaking hands, tested my blood.
51 mg/dl
Panic set in. Not only was I stuck at a traffic light; the only glucose I had are the chalky tabs of which I have to chew three. As I searched for them in my purse, the light turned green. I gunned the engine hoping to make it to my office parking lot (it’s only two lights away). Unfortunately, I started to feel dizzy, and I had that "you’re-going-to-pass-out" feeling. I pulled into a random parking lot, put my car in Park, chewed the nasty glucose tabs, and waited. I was totally drenched in sweat, so I hit the A/C and did some deep breathing.
Finally, after about 15 minutes, I felt well enough to drive the one block to my office. I was still shaking, still sweating, but I didn't feel like I was going to pass out anymore. I got back to my desk, grabbed a juice box from my stash and sucked it down like there was no tomorrow.
Naturally, my BG jumped to 220, but I didn't even care. I’ll take a high over a low any day. I worked through the rest of my day in a haze. When I finally got home, I changed my clothes and crawled into bed. Sleep. Blissful sleep.
According to my CGMS, I never dropped below 80 mg/dl (which is where I had the "low alarm" set). So, I have two questions: Why did I drop almost 200 points in 1.5 hours, and WHY didn't my CGM catch it? Was this just one of those wacky diabetes moments, or was this something else? Granted, my numbers have been pretty crazy for the past two weeks (I had strep throat and a stomach bug at the same time), but this was after two days of steady readings.
I guess this just proves that we can't really rely on our CGMs to catch any highs or lows; we've still got to do it the old fashioned way. Maybe someday we'll get there . . .
That said, sometimes it really makes me angry. One of the reasons I got it (and paid the $1200+ out-of-pocket for it) was to help me catch impending lows (I HATE being low). Unfortunately, this is not where the Minimed CGMS excels. When I’m in the “normal” range, the results are fairly spot-on, but it completely missed the low I had yesterday afternoon.
Usually, I’m very hypoglycemic aware; if I’m in the 70s, I feel it. Not so yesterday. I had some errands to run during lunch, and when I left my office at 11:28am, my BG was 234. According to my pump, I still had active insulin on board (I did a combo bolus with breakfast, which is the same breakfast I have nearly every day), so I didn’t bolus for this high. I ran my errands and was driving back to the office when I felt that feeling. You know the one – it’s more of warning in your head to eat something soon. Since I was only about 5 minutes from the office, I ignored it. Lunch was waiting at my desk (a nice sandwich on whole wheat bread). As time went on (it was 1:06 pm) , the warning grew louder. Finally, while stopped at a traffic light, I grabbed my new One Touch Ultra Link meter (thanks Minimed!) and, with shaking hands, tested my blood.
51 mg/dl
Panic set in. Not only was I stuck at a traffic light; the only glucose I had are the chalky tabs of which I have to chew three. As I searched for them in my purse, the light turned green. I gunned the engine hoping to make it to my office parking lot (it’s only two lights away). Unfortunately, I started to feel dizzy, and I had that "you’re-going-to-pass-out" feeling. I pulled into a random parking lot, put my car in Park, chewed the nasty glucose tabs, and waited. I was totally drenched in sweat, so I hit the A/C and did some deep breathing.
Finally, after about 15 minutes, I felt well enough to drive the one block to my office. I was still shaking, still sweating, but I didn't feel like I was going to pass out anymore. I got back to my desk, grabbed a juice box from my stash and sucked it down like there was no tomorrow.
Naturally, my BG jumped to 220, but I didn't even care. I’ll take a high over a low any day. I worked through the rest of my day in a haze. When I finally got home, I changed my clothes and crawled into bed. Sleep. Blissful sleep.
According to my CGMS, I never dropped below 80 mg/dl (which is where I had the "low alarm" set). So, I have two questions: Why did I drop almost 200 points in 1.5 hours, and WHY didn't my CGM catch it? Was this just one of those wacky diabetes moments, or was this something else? Granted, my numbers have been pretty crazy for the past two weeks (I had strep throat and a stomach bug at the same time), but this was after two days of steady readings.
I guess this just proves that we can't really rely on our CGMs to catch any highs or lows; we've still got to do it the old fashioned way. Maybe someday we'll get there . . .
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