@daisymae,
You have been here almost a year. Would you mind sharing a bit about what your A1C was like a year ago, and some of the things you have changed to make a difference?
Maybe a new thread with that subject would be interesting for people to read.
sure. i would love to start a thread about the changes that have happened in my life since i joined FUD. give me a day or two to compose my thoughts. its been a long journey. 
Eric, i did it; i started a thread about my journey . its under âsports and exercsie.â i just posted it.
check it out everyone!!! its a rather long read, but it might just help someone, even in the slightest. and isnt that what weâre here for? to help one another and share our experience, strength and hope and joy.
we are all unlimited
DM
I read it. That was a great testimony to what you have done. I am very glad you posted that!
FIRST DEXCOM SWIMMING EXPERIMENT #1 :
how exciting. today was my very first day of jumping into the pool wearing my dex sensor. i knew that my receiver would be out of range, no matter where i put it by the pool. its an olympic sized pool, so there was no way that i could be within 20 feet of it at any time. so, i just accepted that and knew to expect the out-of-range icon in the top right corner. no big deal; i didnt let it freak me out.
it felt a little weird feeling the sensor on my arm as i swam, and i was a little bit fearful that it might fall off and that i would be searching for it on the bottom of the pool somewhere; but, that never happened. and, i am pleased to report that not only did my sensor not fall off, but my receiver came back into range within 5 - 10 minutes after i got out of the pool.
this morning when i bolused before turning off my pump, i bolused my usual .5 units, however, i forgot to turn off my pump!!! OMG. i remembered about 1/2 hour later, but then i had that extra IOB when i would normally be jumping into the pool. oh well. no biggy. i could have put off my swim for 1/2 an hour, but decided not to, and if i needed to take some glucose tabs, they would be right there poolside.
todays stats:
1:25 BG 103 took 2 tabs and swam 1/2 hour of slow warm-up laps
2pm BG 157 (oops; oh my goodness; quite a spike from just 2 little tablets 
.)swam very hard and fast.
2:30 BG 115 (i guess thats what happens when you swim like a lunatic)
3pm BG 90 (a nice soft landing for 1.5 hours of laps 
)
what i have been finding interesting about the DEXCOM is that it is reading about 20 - 30 points lower than my finger sticks, consistantly. right now the dex is reading that my BG is 40, when in fact my finger stick is reading 74. this morning, the dex alarm went off after breakfast and it read 180 with an arrow going up. when i did a finger stick, my BG was 87. i callibrated and soon it came back close within target, but still wonky.
i have heard that the first 2 days, the dex is a little tempermental, and that it should settle in and become more accurate by the 3rd day. so i am trying to be patient with it. clearly, i would not bolus based on its read-outs. it is not to be trusted. now, i dont know if this is a flaw that is inherant in the G4 model. i know that if i find this to be even remotely helpful to my lifestyle, i will wait it out for the G6 model, which seems much more promising. also, Medicare is now covering it, so i will not have to worry about paying OOP.
so thats what today brought. a lot of helpful information. i hope that this dexcom thing works itself out. i could really get into it. but as of now, it is not trustworthy enough to bolus off of.
i read on one of the threads here on FUD that if you had to make a choice about giving up either your pump or your dexcom, you would give up your pump in a heart beat. well, personally speaking, i would never give up my pump, no matter how great the dexcom became. i just cant see that happening.
signing off for today,
DM
I wonder if you can get around that similar to how I do with my Libre - if I just start a sensor right away, itâs very off. I put it on 1-2 days before activating it, though, and itâs spot on.
we find that Dex consistently overestimates the depth of lows⌠often at night it shows my son just LOW⌠which would be super scary if he actually was that low. Usually heâs in the high 50s to 60s when heâs reading LOW, and about 65 to 70 mg/DL when heâs shown in the 50s.
His A1C, by the way, is consistently 0.5 to 1 point higher than Dexcomâs estimate suggests he should be⌠I think this is because of all the overestimated lows.
why do you bother using the dexcom if you have such discrepancies? how does it help you manage your sonâs D?
i am hearing all thee negative, problematic things about the dexcom. what exactly do you get out of using it?
i am very curious.
It wakes me or my wife up at night if I am low. Thatâs the main benefit I get from it.
Itâs mostly spot on-- itâs only that when it shows lows, it overestimates both how deep they are and how long they last. But if it says heâs 109, heâs usually w/in 5 to 10 points. So itâs overly conservative. It certainly makes us feel safer from hypoglycemic seizures though, for instance.
Iâm using the Libre still (which I love); insurance wonât cover a Dex. Like @Eric, if/when I get a Dex, the main benefit I see will be the alarms. Doesnât really help to see the lows Iâve had when I wake up the next morningâŚ
For what itâs worth, my lows on the Dexcom align quite well with my actual blood glucose levels. I donât see the overestimation of lows that others report.
I do think my Dexcom doesnât show the lowest value of a âvalleyâ or the highest value of a âpeak.â -verified through checking my blood sugar levels at those times.
i loved wearing the LIBRE, but it isnt waterproof and i spend half my life in the water 
LOW BG EXPERIMENT #1:
todays swim was awesome. iâve had better, but this was right up there. i have that nice endorphin rush going and my body feels tired; not sore at all, just tired.
well, when i left my house for the pool at 1pm, my BG was 110, but by the time i got to the pool it had shot up to 141. i think i might have tested on a dirty finger or something, 'cause that just seemed too weird. but, whatever. i took NO Gtabs and just jumped into the pool. i was a little early on my schedule and the pool was very crowded, so i waited a bit for other swimmers to get out and let me have a lane of my own so i could swim in peace.
i was very conscious of the dexcom sensor on my arm; i was concerned that another swimmer would bump into me and knock it off. but, happy to say, that didnt happen. (at this point, i dont know why i even cared; the darn thing isnt working anyways.)
i think that today marks an achievement in all of my swims. first off, my BGs were completely stable. 2nd off, i had no panic about going low; 3rd off, i really enjoyed myself and was relaxed throughout the full 1.5 hours. i need to repeat myself again: I had NO panic about going low! this is HUGE. what a gift. i had such confidence. no fear at all.
here are the stats:
1:15 BG 141 (maybe not, though)
2pm BG 107 took 1 Gtab
2:30 BG 101
3pm BG 93 bolused 2 units and walked home
3:30 BG 103 bolused for carb/protein shakes and some yogurt (10 minute pre-bolus)
4pm BG 82
4:30 BG 100 (after drinking shakes)
so far, so good. i have had to make some minor changes in my ICRs as well as lowering my basals, both overnight as well as during the day. i have become much more insulin sensitive and my body seems to not need as much insulin as when i wasnt swimming (while i was re-cooping from my surgery) it amazes me how our bodies react to simple changes.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!
signing off,
DM
A REALLY BAD EVENING AND A TERRIBLE NIGHT; EXPERIMENT #1 :
I was really considering bagging my swim today. i had several great excuses. last evening my BGs kept dropping into the low 40s. it seemed a perfect time for some yummy indulgence; i ate malt balls, i ate chocolate, i ate Oreo cookies with milk. mmm. it took several+ hours to bring my BG up to just a little over 100, and then i felt safe to go to sleep. but i felt really whipped from the lows; its very draining.
at about 5am i woke up and my BG was 240 (if i remember correctly). i hadnt even heard my Dexcom alarm go off. i slept right through it. well, i gave myself a correction and tried to go back to sleep. but, i was so uncomfortable and frustrated that i couldnt sleep. so i left my husband in our cozy bed and went into the living room to watch some TV and get ready to make Bfast in 2 hours. and i waited for my BG to come down.
at 6:50, my BG had come down to 188, and i pre-bolused for Bfast. but then, after i ate, my BGs started to drop very quickly. when i was 95, i still had 1.5 units IOB, so i thought i would curtail the crash and i took a Gtab. But my BG continued to go lower, i took another tab, and just as i was chewing on it, i knew i had made a mistake by over-doing it. i should have been more patient after eating the first one. (remember: âpatience is a virtueâ ??? Duh. )
i wanted my BG to be in a certain range for my swim. i kept thinking to myself, âawh, bad nights sleep, roller-coaster BGs, exhaustion, why dont i just stay under the covers today and skip the swim?â
have you ever had this? excuses to skip out on life b/c your diabetes seems to be getting in your way? not doing something you really enjoy b/c you feel short-changed, and then you end up just short-changing yourself even more?
well, if i want to continue to be UNLIMITED i wont follow what my brain is playing dirty with. if my sugars are âtoo highâ or âtoo lowâ they can always be corrected. take some insulin or have some carbs. LIVE LIFE. SCREW THE D!
so there i was, with my âimperfectâ numbers, deciding to F it and go do my thing. D was not going to rob me of one of my favorite things in life. not today!
here are the stats:
1pm BG 129, left for the pool
1:30 BG 142 started my swim
2pm BG 122 took 1/2 Gtab
2:30 BG 103
3pm BG 92 bolused 2 units and dashed home like a crazy woman
3:30 BG 106 bolused 1.6 units for 2 replacement carbs/protein shakes
and i congratulated myself for having the willpower to not chicken out. i did it. 1.5 hours of laps.
now, after a nice dinner, i can relax and watch some TV and then get a good nights sleep, so i can wake up tomorrow, refreshed (hopefully), and do it all again.
PS: can you believe that i am even slightly complaining about my BG numbers? just one year ago, this accomplishment was not even a dream; it seemed too fantastic to achieve.
signing off,
DM
Your numbers look very good. You can be proud of yourself for adjusting and coming up with such great numbers with challenging circumstances!
You wouldnât believe how many times I have taken a bite of a cookie or something and spit it out after a couple chews because my instinct was telling me it was too much. 
Seriously. It happens all the time! Instinct just kicks in and says, âToo much!â.
DM, remember this:
SWIMMING EXPERIMENT # 1: FASTEST SWIM EVER
2 new goals accomplished today; 1) swam hard, swam faster than ever, and 2) didnt take even 1 Gtab throughout my swim.
i think i am getting more and more confident about my ability to push myself without worrying about lowering my BGs too fast for me to enjoy a nice long swim. this is very exciting.
here are the stats:
1:30 BG 132
2pm BG 126
2:30 BG 100
3pm BG 68 bolused 2 units for basal replacement (also knowing that my BG would rise as soon as i got out of the pool. and i was rightâŚ
3:30 BG 99 bolused 1.6 units for re-fueling, and waited 20 min before drinking to try and avoid the spike i had yesterday. weâll see how that works out.
PS: rebooted my dexcom today using the same sensor. weâll see how that goes, as well. i hope it stays relatively close in range to my finger sticks. 
(this is all very new to me )
BE WELL ALL!
signing off,
DM
Very gutsy. Great job today!
Now listenâŚvery important! Donât let your endo talk you out of this.
When he sees you finishing at 68, donât let him worry you about it. You did great today.
Tell him that he can handle the diabetes for his other patients, but DM handles the diabetes for DMâŚ
dont worry about the endo. he is totally cool about my âlowâ ended numbers. he knows about the âbounce-backâ from the lack of basal and the need for replacement bolus post swim.
this is one of the reasons i like him so much. while my A1c was 4.9% he was thrilled. (not like that former idiot endo who wanted me to eat Snickers bars before my swims, start at 200BG and have my A1c closer to 7% . thank god i left that guy in the dust. what a screw ball he was )