Especially with site rotations, for us…having 6 locations + 6 site rotations (equaling 12 sites), for us…we can just manage rotations better with accurate logs. Liam being so young, if we don’t rotate correctly, he’ll have saturation/occlusion issues before he’s even a teenager. We don’t want to set him up for failure.
The ability to look back on specific situations (i.e…when did we receive our last POD failure/error?) Without logs, we wouldn’t know this information.
To teach Liam the importance of proper D management. I’ve always been overly organized and I believe organization makes every job easier. I try to teach my kids this rule because, with school work and other things, if you’re organized, you’ll have an easier time and make better grades. (i.e., If you use your organizer in class to annotate upcoming assignments, important notes, etc., and IF you refer to that organizer regularly, you’ll never turn in assignments late which will equate to better grades.)
Because he’s so young, I think it’s important to give him some “historical” information about the processes we use, how they’ve changed over the years, what works and doesn’t work, etc., If we have a log, it’s something he can pick up later when he’s old enough to understand and manage himself and perhaps it will help him.
Nostalgia. It’s a LOT of work managing our own or our child’s diabetes…the log is my way of reflecting for myself the hard work, the sleepless nights, the problems overcome, the endless requirements for changes in processes, etc.,
I also keep a journal that I write in as I have a particular emotion/feeling or am going through a particularly good or bad time as Diabetes is concerned. These things I plan to give to Liam when he gets old enough so that he can understand what his mother and I have done to ensure he’s as healthy as he can be. These things in addition to proper education and care we hope pushes him to become a responsible young adult/adult and care for himself equally as much as we have cared for him when the responsibility rested on our shoulders.
Sure it would be easy to just hook up the phone and upload the information, but these uploads don’t show any of the actual “work” involved in D management.
@ClaudnDaye I do still have most of my logs from my late teens and afterwards (once BG meters became a bigger part of my life). I have looked back on them to see what my BGs were like at that time. It’s very interesting.
I am very anal when it comes to logging. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have some booklet or spreadsheet. Now I am using MySugr which I find very helpful. I log everything in there (BGs, carbs, meal description, boluses, temp basals, exercise). I also have my Dexcom data feeding MySugr so that I can see the trend line against my insulin and meals. I often look back on the data to see what happened ‘last time I ate that’ so that I can adjust if necessary.
I also use a rotation sheet for my pump sites. It helps me to make sure that I don’t go back to the same site too soon.
I guess it makes sense that I was an IT Project Manager. My daughter, who also has T1D, thinks I am nuts, but everyone has to do what makes them feel comfortable
We don’t anymore. In the beginning we logged obsessively, and after a year, we found that we weren’t making very many changes based on the data, and we had access to Clarity reports and Tandem reports to help make many of the changes without the need to log.
When things are tough, we will log for a bit until we get a handle on it, but that is it.
It will be nice when someone gets the full picture merged i.e. pump and shots and sensor without having to manually log.
I logged absolutely everything for probably the first 4-5 years then just kind of ran out of steam with it, but it was probably the single most important part of the learning process for me… and still whenever something starts not making sense to me, I return to the practice of writing it all down… something powerful occurs when people take their own notes by hand… I’m convinced different processes in the brain are involved than what we see if we just review clarity or meter data
This is no doubt true, however, for me writing things down allows me to remember it much easier. But if I am just digesting data and looking for patterns, I don’t find writing it any different than reviewing it via a website.
This can already be done via Diasend, although you have to upload it. The only thing that is missing is what I am eating which is key to me because one meal of 30g of carbs does not equal another meal of 30g. Does the value of the logging outweigh the time it takes to do it? I am not sure of this, but I do know that it is a habit that I can’t break. My family always jokes that by the time I’ve calculated my carbs, given my bolus, and logged the info, that they will be finished eating!
Haha! I’m the cook in our house, so everyone can just wait, please.
I log, probably much more than I need to, but I can see at a glance how I was trending yesterday without having to scroll through the record in my PDM. I can see at a glance how I did overnight the last time I went to bed at 5.1, without having to go to the computer and look it up in Clarity. I can see at a glance when my next pod change is coming up, and plan accordingly. I mark activity with a 1 through 5 in a little circle, and mark lows with an R in a circle (R for the old-fashioned “reaction”). These last ones I don’t really look back at; it’s just habit. I also write down everything I eat. Paper records are also easier for my partner to access, if I’m out of it and anyone needs to know, for instance, what recent BGs were.
Also, I didn’t keep logs for the first twenty or so years, so I figure being diligent now kind of makes up for it. You know, like if there’s a Diabetes God.
I log food, insulin and fingerstick BG on MyNetDiary (diabetes version). I should really also log exercise but I don’t remember often.
I like using an app because this way I don’t have to carry a pen and paper. I am sure I would lose it anyway. Also, this way my family can see what’s going on.
I would like it if I could see graphically all my diabetes data with the Clarity graph. But I can’t.
My dad is trying to get NightScout running with our apps, so that we can try and get a single picture for all the information.
I wish I didn’t have to log all the insulin and the BG, since my pump already has that.
Uh oh, I’m in trouble now. I never logged that much, and since using sugar surfing techniques, rarely log now. I check my dexcom, and decide to take action or not.
I was required to log during pump start up and several months later, all by hand. Have tried some other logs/Apps for BGs and food for short periods. But I never found them useful, but may have benefited DRs if they spent time reviewing them with me.
I remember when I first got a glucose meter in about 1980, it came with a nice bound log book that I used for about a week.
The only other venture into logging has come with the diabetes app I’m using because it has CGM track, carbs, insulin and notes all in one place with quick easy entry. I look back on it once in a while if I’m having a hard time staying ine track.
I’ve gone through periods of logging. My parents logged everything for years after I was diagnosed. I logged for several months in my mid-20s when I decided that I wanted to get my A1c out of the 8s. I logged for about a year after I started on Lantus. I logged again for about a month when I started on the pump. I kept a very detailed log of everything during a week when I did a CGM trial (blinded).
When I started on the Dexcom I didn’t log, but I experienced a significant improvement in my control. So ever since then, I haven’t logged too much, but I do review downloaded data on a regular basis (usually a couple times a week).
I find paper and pen logs very hard to use as far as spotting trends is concerned, probably largely because I have to use high magnification to view it so can only see one entry at a time. I also find pen and paper challenging to use since I began working, since I’m not necessarily sitting at a desk with access to magnification equipment all day.
My biggest gripe about downloads is that all the data isn’t in one place. My BG meter and CGM record all my BGs; my pump records all my basal rates, boluses, and carbs; my Fitbit records all my sleep, heart rate, exercise sessions, and (if I enter it, which I often do) food intake. WHY can’t I download all that information into one place to see an integrated overview of how it all interacts?!
Me: I log through AndroidAPS so everything is electronic. All records are in one place and it is easy to access. I use nightscout for data analysis of everything. At this point I find the statistics more useful than the numbers.
My 2 year old Son: Good old school paper logging of everything - Carbs, Humalog and levemir.
I find with multiple care givers the paper log is pretty awesome. My wife is the primary caregiver and usually logs pretty well although when it gets hetic sometimes the log book gets filled in at night when the kids are in bed with . Like last night for instance. When I take over care, I just look in the log book to see what was going on and figure out what is supposed to happen.
I do miss the statistics though that are hard with paper logs.
When I was a kid, my mom faithfully logged everything. I have to say I think I threw out all those old log books and my old BG meters. When I get pangs of nostalgia I have nothing to go back to but really do I need the clutter?
i am anal as well, and i log everything down except things things like a bad dream, etc. (but if i have had a particularly bad nights sleep, i do log that down along with everything else.)
i log down any pump change made, the hour it was made, what IOB i may have had at the time, etc.
it helps me to look back and to find patterns, to see what might have worked when i have had to bolus for unfamiliar foods, it has helped me to see temp basal rates and whether they are helping enough or too much. ETC ETC ETC…
i truly dont know where i’d be without them. i also want to add that i dont use a cgm, so i still do finger sticks (about 25 a day) and to be able to look at the log is my kind of way of having a sensor.
I log everything with Tidepool, where I download meters, pumps, etc. I give contextual notes that auto upload to Tidepool using Blip. I also choose to anonymously donate my data for research.
i didnt even know that this was something you could do. i donated my long hair when i cut it off to Locks of Love (for children with cancer who need wigs). i’ve done this several times; its such a nice feeling to have something of value to give)
I think it personally worthwhile. They released an initial study of the information on their blog which can be found here. I think the data is fascinating, even though it is a small subset of diabetics, and heavily skewed towards T1s.
. Like last night for instance. When I take over care, I just look in the log book to see what was going on and figure out what is supposed to happen.
but really do I need the clutter?