# Night light for late BG work
**URL:** https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062
**Category:** Gear
**Created:** [September 19, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062 "2017-09-19T05:26:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TravelingOn](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TravelingOn)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/1 "2017-09-19T05:26:04Z")
> [@How to calibrate a Dexcom G4/G5 CGM](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/how-to-calibrate-a-dexcom-g4-g5-cgm/2049/7):
>
> holding a flashlight between my teeth
I’m sure this is something that you’ve considered, but have you thought of a headlamp with a red light? The human eye deals with red light at night better than white. And it’s handsfree, which is a bonus.
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>
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/2 "2017-09-19T05:32:53Z")
> [@How to calibrate a Dexcom G4/G5 CGM](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/how-to-calibrate-a-dexcom-g4-g5-cgm/2049/8):
>
> I’m sure this is something that you’ve considered, but have you thought of a headlamp with a red light?
The headlamp is a great idea!
> [@How to calibrate a Dexcom G4/G5 CGM](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/how-to-calibrate-a-dexcom-g4-g5-cgm/2049/8):
>
> The human eye deals with red light at night better than white.
That’s a myth, though 🙂 it’s the amount of light that matters, have a look at this article: [Doug Kniffen's Green Astrolights](http://www.astromax.org/activities/members/kniffen.htm).
But it’s one myth I like because I spent many years at sea using red lights, so it carries some wonderful memories! I still have some of my sailing and navy night lights in the basement somewhere 🙂
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### Author:  [@TravelingOn](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TravelingOn)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/3 "2017-09-19T05:41:20Z")
I was just going to order you one and have it sent to your house, but I thought that might be creepy.
And as a person who has worked in a photographic darkroom for years, I will moderately argue without the backing of science that red light does something different than white light – or at least, all of my photographic paper would indicate that there is a difference. 🙂
As far as green light goes, I obviously need to do more reading. Maybe I associate light color with available headlamps and photographic darkroom lights? I do know that if the light is red, my eyes hurt way less than if I happened to look at a white light. I do agree that there might be a requirement for much more red light then white light, and I’m going to go get our headlamp and test it out in the dark once my eyes adjust again. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2017, 9:08am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/4 "2017-09-19T09:08:55Z")
> [@Diabetes night watchman strikes at midnight](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/diabetes-night-watchman-strikes-at-midnight/784):
>
> I thought you’d like to see how my wife caught me in the act… Midnight, flashlight in the mouth, sealed milk cup with a straw in the hand, ready to pump 3 oz of fat-free milk into the boy due to a slight low. Reason for the flashlight in the mouth: it leaves one hand open to manhandle the boy’s face into an appropriate direction to suck the milk through the straw while asleep. He typically does not wake up while suckling.
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### Author:  [@Thomas](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Thomas)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2017, 9:34am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/5 "2017-09-19T09:34:09Z")
> [@How to calibrate a Dexcom G4/G5 CGM](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/how-to-calibrate-a-dexcom-g4-g5-cgm/2049/7):
>
> holding a flashlight between my teeth
That is pretty funny. Exactly my technique.
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### Author:  [@Aaron](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Aaron)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/6 "2017-09-20T00:01:30Z")
> [@Michel](#):
>
> holding a flashlight between my teeth
Yes - my exact technique too. We have a small Maglight so the metal hurts a bit if you bite too hard.
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/7 "2017-09-20T00:09:21Z")
> [@Aaron](#):
>
> We have a small Maglight so the metal hurts a bit if you bite too hard.
The small details that make it ring true 🙂
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### Author:  [@TravelingOn](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TravelingOn)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/8 "2017-09-20T06:32:44Z")
> [@Aaron](#):
>
> metal hurts a bit if you bite too hard
GAH! My teeth hurt just thinking about this. All of a sudden my teeth have started chipping more, and the thought of holding anything between my front teeth is painful. (Hello, Adulthood! Or old age, or maybe an inadvertent fluoride deficiency…I’m hoping @docslotnick will chime in with an amazing tooth solution…?)
Please, headlamps, my helpful friends! I’m going to start sending them out or something. Maybe I can order a whole pile on Alibaba or something.
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### Author:  [@Sam](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Sam)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/9 "2017-09-20T07:02:52Z")
It’s not just a myth or a fond memory. Articles be damned. Walk onto my bridge ar night with anything but a red light and I guarantee you’d never do it again…
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/10 "2017-09-20T13:54:26Z")
> [@Sam](#):
>
> Walk onto my bridge ar night with anything but a red light and I guarantee you’d never do it again…
In fact, many people now use faint green or blue-green lights, including the army 🙂 The primary issue is the amount of light. The research is clear!
To be clear, though: a low red light still works well! But a low green light, or a low blue-green light, could work as well. I still use red – but only for sentimental reasons!
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### Author:  [@Thomas](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Thomas)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/11 "2017-09-20T14:24:15Z")
> [@TravelingOn](#):
>
> My teeth hurt just thinking about this.
I don’t know about the other guys but I actually hold the flashlight between my lips not actually my teeth. If my teeth hit the metal than it is somewhat less then comfortable. Benefit is the light goes exactly where you want it. Almost as good as a third hand. Works good for fingersticks and pump adjustments. For carbs, I have to wake my T1 up and the small light is no good for sleepy eyes so I kill the light before that. Quick wake up, drink, back to sleep, no memory. Like it didn’t happen.
Overnight basals have been getting fine tuned better. We are having less of overnight juice. It is really a good thing. @Eric was really helpful in suggesting to lower our nighttime target as our control was increasing. So far it has really been working out good.
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/12 "2017-09-20T14:57:57Z")
> [@Thomas](#):
>
> Quick wake up, drink, back to sleep, no memory. Like it didn’t happen.
Same here, isn’t that funny! You’d think we give them Scopolamine instead of milk or sugared water…
Light: we use this cheap, weak, plastic LED Rayovac light ($1.50 at Walmart, 2xAA, approximately 10 lumens or less), I have bought probably a dozen:
But – @TravelingOn is right – I am now looking for the right red headlamp 🙂
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### Author:  [@Thomas](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Thomas)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/13 "2017-09-20T15:06:58Z")
I tried the headlamp once. Practically, it takes too long to put it on and the light beam was too wide and actually too hard to specifically direct it.
Went back to the approach of flashlight in the mouth for me.
😊
I specifically save almost dead batteries for the flashlight. It cuts the intensity down quite a bit. I put new batteries in once and it was blinding. Even one dead battery and one new battery makes a huge difference. (Pair of AA - probably standard for all these size flashlights)
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/14 "2017-09-20T15:13:23Z")
> [@Thomas](#):
>
> I specifically save almost dead batteries for the flashlight.
Nice trick!
My trick: pick a flashlight that is not too small and that can be seen (when off) easily – when you need it you need to find it right away!
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### Author:  [@docslotnick](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/docslotnick)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/15 "2017-09-20T15:13:48Z")
> [@TravelingOn](#):
>
> (Hello, Adulthood! Or old age, or maybe an inadvertent fluoride deficiency
Teeth chipping in the absence of decay is usually the result of bite discrepancy and/or teeth clenching. Definitely not lack of fluoride, and I certainly don’t buy the old age thing.
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### Author:  [@ClaudnDaye](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/ClaudnDaye)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/16 "2017-09-20T16:01:50Z")
> [@docslotnick](#):
>
> Teeth chipping in the absence of decay is usually the result of bite discrepancy and/or teeth clenching.
Or, in my case, biting down on spoons…yep, chipped two as a result of “biting spoons”…as my mind/bite timing was not working correctly. 😃
I love it though…adds character. 😉
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### Author:  [@docslotnick](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/docslotnick)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/17 "2017-09-20T16:03:50Z")
@ClaudnDaye You obviously have impaired trigeminal nocioception. 😊
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### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/18 "2017-09-20T16:11:59Z")
> [@docslotnick](#):
>
> impaired trigeminal nocioception. 😊
You HAD TO make me look this up 🙂
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### Author:  [@Aaron](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Aaron)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/19 "2017-09-20T17:46:23Z")
> [@Michel](#):
>
> You HAD TO make me look this up 🙂
And you didn’t share the link, so I had to look it up too.
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### Author:  [@TravelingOn](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TravelingOn)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/night-light-for-late-bg-work/2062/20 "2017-09-20T18:12:35Z")
Thanks @docslotnick! That’s exactly what I wanted to hear – because that’s what my dentist said this week. As he kindly filed off all the chipped and broken parts of my bottom teeth. Heck, I’m having nightmares about our insurance company and insulin pumps, I assume I’m grinding my teeth.
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