At 5 PM BG 110, I ate a dinner of mixed fat, protein and 50g of carbs with a bolus of 2.6u. 6:58 began riding with BG at 120 which rose to 124 in 5 minutes. Then a steady drop with the lowest at 30 minutes, 54. I knew this was false because I had plenty of power, but I took 6g of glucose and continued riding. At the end, 54 minutes Dexcom was reading 67 while a finger stick read 95. Then it steadily rose to 130 90 minutes from the start. I did a finger stick, 152 took a correction of .8u.
C-IQ dropped the basal to 0.0 during the period when Dexcom was reporting I was low. This might account for the sharp rise in BG after I was finished riding.
2 hours from the beginning of the ride Dexcom is 8mg/dl lower than Contour.
I have come to the conclusion that I will not be able to get the kind of blood glucose management that a normal person has. I just do my best while dealing with the inconsistencies of the tools we have. I think that CGMs lag time is more affected by exercise than is admitted. Insulin delivery whether by injection or pump based on CGM data can lead to a bit too much or too little.
Donāt get me wrong, I love having the Dexcom but I love my Contour Next One as well. A few weeks ago I had a hypo while riding. Dexcom and the Contour were within 1mg/dl of each other. And I felt it, No power, shakes and well you know the feeling of a hypo.
You keep swimming and Iāll keep riding. It makes us feel good. And those talented runners who can do finger sticks without breaking stride, well some of us are just not that talented.
@CarlosLuis,
We can build something custom for you if you would like. You can use the handlebars to mount things. I have stuff for the meter and the strips already. That part is already built. Itās just a matter of coming up with an easy lancing system. The advantage you have with a bike is that there are a lot of places to mount things.
Iām afraid you have too high an understanding of my skill on a bicycle. I cannot ride hand free, no matter how I try. I am OK getting a drink and not dropping my bidon. I would like to thank you for the offer.
I worked out how to mount a True Metrix GO on a Garmin mount and maybe a Contour Next meter. I think I remember the strip caddy you came up with - thatās good. Lancing is more of an issue.
Since I am luckily not hypo unaware and also recognize a loss of power can come before getting the usual symptoms, it is not a problem stopping and testing. I will keep Think about this.
I do have not have a lot of handlebar real estate available because I have 3 devices, light, Garmin computer and phone mounted, but I do have a Garmin mount that is unused at present that is on the stem.
Anyway thanks, I am dealing with this OK. What I wish there was a good way for swimmers like our Daisymae. I mean even if the sensor doesnāt fall off in the water, I donāt think Bluetooth can transmit through water, and where to keep a meter and strips secure and dry.
I did a search for lancet devices for use by people with, say one hand. Not much available. I found this design by another Eric. It is actually meant to be a meter and lancet in one package. Donāt know if it ever saw development and production.
Kind of like closing the barn door after the horse has run off, but one thing you could try is to use a double wrap of āTender tape.ā That only works if you put the sensor on your arm. Not much use on the abdomen.
First off, i lose my Dexcom signal in the pool bc i leave my receiver in my locker upstairs, not by the pool area so i have no idea if it will work in the water. And i DO wear the Dexcom on my arm. Ive been using the G6 model but yesterday i was approved for the G7, which they shipped out to me yesterday. Hooray! I am so excited. No transmitter required, either. Just pop it in your arm, warm up time, and go! Bam.
Thatās good news. You might want to try the āTender Tapeā It is relatively inexpensive, stretchy and non-adhesive. I have some currently on my knee to secure Tagaderm. Tagaderm is suppose to last for several days, but the constant flexing of the knee is tough, but the Tender Tape does a good job.
Thanks @CarlosLuis, that BG meter would be cool. I wonder what happened to it.
If you have not seen this already, check this out. This is my one-handed lancing system. I still use this. I really like it a lot!
The video at the bottom shows me putting it together first, which I do before the run, not while running. Once it is on, I can lance any finger very easily.
Eric is Magyverās twin brother. He made me up a one of a kind wristband for running with the slots for test strips, holder for my meter on the opposite side and slide for my lancet. And he customized it by making it all on a NY Yankees sweatband! It is awesome. (obviously not for the pool, but great for running, walking around, etc.)
4 DAYS IN A ROW AND NO SPIKE POST SWIM; EXPERIMENT #1:
As usual, Eric is always right. after 4 days of swimming, i no longer spiked after my swim. In fact, the second day in a row i stopped spiking. Our bodies are truly amazing, huh?
Just to say that i am tired and ravenously hungry, despite drinking my refuel shakes eating some raw nuts and some hard intense gruyere cheese.
I want to put a plug in for my Refuel Shakes: They are made by Nestle, and they are specifically made for Diabetics. They are called āGlucose Control Boost Shakesā (I like the chocolate flavorā¦but then again, i like all things chocolate ) I find them very tasty, filling, and i dont spike after i drink them. I even drink them when i havent been swimming. I generally drink 2 at a time. They only have 16gms carbs, but also 16gms protein per bottle.
I had a great swim. No one in the pool today. Very peaceful and satisfying. Nice to know iāll b going into the weekend with some healthy exercise under my belt.
next week i see the Pain Management Doctor. I am out of ideas. I dont know what else they can do to reduce my pain
stats:
6am BG 60 woke up
6:20 BG 81 FOTF
7:10 BG 100 bolus for Goats Milk Yogurt 12gms
10am BG 93 / 11:10 turn off basal
11:45 BG100 jump into pool
12:15 BG 81 finished swim, bolus .3 u/h and bolus to cover my Refuel Shakes
2:20 BG currently BG 91
hoping i dont crash later. I turned down my basal to 90% TB.
signing out,
DM
PS: I get my shakes off of AMAZON and they come in 3 flavors, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.
Every time i finish swimming, i bolus .3u/h to account for time on Zero Basal, even if i havent done any pre-swim Zero Basal. This has been proving that this system of mine is flawed. I say this bc 2 hours after i bolus, i start crashing. Next time i get out of the pool, iām going to try bolusing less, perhaps only .2 u/h (if i dont bolus anything, i spike after my swim, even if i only swim for 1/2 hour.)
Does anyone else have this issue?
But i did enjoy a wonderful swim today. NO ONE ELSE IN THE POOL!! Definitely Tuesdays and Fridays are the best swim days. EMPTY and relaxing
Stats:
7am BG 61 woke up and waited for FOTF to do its thing without doing any corrections. Also did a bit of basal testing by skipping Bfast. at 10:15am my BG was 75. I took 4gms of glucose and hung out till 11:am when my sugars had come up to 120, then i dashed to the pool without any zero basal. When i got to the pool, my sugars had come down to 110. I took 7 gms Gtabs and jumped into the pool. After my swim my BG was 91. I bolused .3 u/h. i bolused for my Boost Shakes at 12:20pm but at 1:50pm I crashed to 41. I drank a cup of Grapefruit Juice (17 gms). My hands are shaking now, so i just got to wait till my sugars come back up. Could i have drank my shakes too slowly? Sometimes i get distracted when i am eating or drinking. I can b very slow with eating and sometimes i crash WHILE im eating a meal. Maybe that .3 u/h bolus was too heavy handed. ???.
Anyway, if the Grapefruit juice doesnt work out, i have a Key Lime Pie waiting for me in the fridge
There are 16gms in each shake, but i drink 2 shakes at a time (total 32gms).
I did some basal testing and i had too much basal IOB. I lowered my basals but went low, still, during early afternoons. I made corrections in my pump delivery, and today went much better so far. And then I went for Grilled Cheese sandwiches without a glitch.
Tomorrow after my swim, i am hoping that i wont go low in the afternoon.
Just received my new dexcom g7. Its much smaller than the g6, much easier to insert, the over-patches are great, and the receiver that comes with it is significantly smaller than the g4, g5, g6 , and the warm-up period is only 1/2 hour!!! Wow.
Dont know whether it will be more accurate. Its calibration system is a little different, and there is a lag time of about 10 minutes between the accuracy from finger-stick to dexcom readings. Also, it will not let you put in multiple calibrations without waiting one hour between any other as the G6 did.Also, i dont know if the accuracy is going to be funky for the first 24 hours as were my other, past dexcoms were. Its not cooperating with the calibration i last put in. it wasnt reading crazy off, but it was about 20 points higher than what my finger-stick read.
I think this will be better for my swimming though, bc the sensor is so small that there wont be any drag on it as i pump my arms through the water (which is something that was quite annoying with the G6)
Anyone else starting on the G7? Are you experiencing anything you dont like or is funky and inaccurate?
I really hope it works out, bc it would really have a great impact on my swimming life!
And basically, thatās only for the first one. After the first sensor, just put the next sensor in but keep using the old sensor. A half hour after insertion, start the new sensor and itās already warmed up, because it started doing that as soon as itās inserted. Thatās what I hear, havenāt tried it yet myself.
Hi @daisymae hereās my review of the G7. I really liked it, for the reasons you give among others. Looking forward to reading about how it works out for you.
Hereās the latest scoop. None of the procedures have worked so far for the pain. In fact, i am having a few new neuropathic problems. Although i have been slowly weening off of the pain meds, yesterday when i saw my pain management specialist, he increased my pain meds. He wants me to get another MRI to see if anything new is going on that he cannot see with a regular Xray, and then he would like to do a PRP Epidural with Peptides BPC 157 and TB 400. Has anyone ever had one of these or knows about them? He explained to me that the Epidural PRP is when they take your blood, separate out the red blood cells with some kind of machine, and inject only the white blood cells into your body where the pain is. This way, there are no steroids and nothing that is foreign to your body. Its expected to kick in in about 2-3 weeks and last for 4-6 months. Most people require 2-3 rounds of injections. Iām both frightened and skeptical about these two procedures bc none of the others worked at all. But iām really, as usual, ready to do anything non-medicinal to be as pain free as possible without the opiates.
Anyway, on another note, and this is good news: I had a wonderful swim today. Started off at 101 and finished at 89. No zero bolus at all bc when i left the house my BG was 110.
My new Dexcom G7 is still a bit wonky. The alarm woke me up about 3-4 times last night, and it read way off. i just put it under my pillow to muffle the sound and went back to bed. (But it does have a much nicer alarm than the G6.)
also, as far as swimming goes, i did an experiment with my post-swim bolus: instead of giving myself .3 u/h i only gave myself .2u/h. I want to see if this prevents the later day lows iāve been having . I pray it does.
Hoping everyone enjoys their holiday weekend. If the pool is empty, you know where iāll be!
This is becoming a more common treatment. It can help. But it still requires your body to heal itself. So it is not something that will give you instant relief.
You know how when you get hurt, the area gets inflamed? That is the bodyās way of repairing something. Inflammation is just the body swarming to the area that is under attack, and trying to repair it.
The overly-simplified explanation is that they are basically removing some of the āhealing partsā of your bodyās own blood, and injecting it into the area that is injured. Just like what the body does when you have inflammation.
They take a vial of your blood, put it in a centrifuge, and get the platelets from it. And then inject that into the injured area.
It is definitely worth trying. But it probably wonāt be anything that is an instant fix. It will still take some time.
I have passed the point of believing in any sort of āinstant fix.ā All i want is some relief, whether its tomorrow or down the road. Thaniks for your clarifying explanation though. it helped.
Once it is on, I can lance any finger very easily.
) I find them very tasty, filling, and i dont spike after i drink them. I even drink them when i havent been swimming. I generally drink 2 at a time. They only have 16gms carbs, but also 16gms protein per bottle.
