We have found out that, with puberty, the best “flatlines” don’t look very flat any more So our realistic goals have changed in the past few months: multiple times a day we get random uncontrollable hormone peaks, that always take a while to get under control. Yesterday was a pretty good day, because either the peaks were small, or we were able to control them with coincidentally timed sports activities:
FYI, over the past 6 months of puberty, we have been able to roughly maintain our glucose average, but our SD has increased tremendously (15-20 to 30-40), and our percentage of time low has increased a lot too ( now 1% below 55, 6% below 70). We are working very hard at decreasing our low time.
This kind of day is basically impossible for Samson. There is never a day when he doesn’t go over 140. Heck, there’s never a day when *I don’t go over 140, at least based on my wearing of a Dexcom a few times. So you guys are doing pretty freaking well!!!
our floor and ceiling change. I think you maybe got me mixed up with @Chris though as I didn’t post an image? Our floor and ceiling are currently 80 and 150. Basically, whenever I get to 70% in range, I narrow the target range, and if I drop below 60% in range, I widen the target. It’s just a psychological crutch but it helps me stay motivated to improve things without getting too discouraged.
This was yesterday, including that weird, persistent Dexcom low that just would not resolve despite several finger stick calibrations.
We use 80-150 for the daytime and 80-175 for the night, unless we have had a few particularly bad days in a row, then we bump the night up to 200 to get more sleep. And occasionally we throw caution to the wind and turn off the high alarm completely at night if sleep must be prioritized.
@TiaG, this looks darn good to me, especially when half the day is with external caregivers. Give him another 3 years and you will be flatlining all day.
I am really cheering for you! This morning I was up at 4:00am taking care of a slight low, thinking – it would be so great not to have to deal with peaks and the outcome of their insulin corrections.
I think it is just the quiet before the next storm, but we are enjoying it while it lasts. My son is now 5’4" and 130lbs, no facial hair so we have a ways to go yet.
I thought boys can take until 18 or even longer to be fully grown? Does that mean we will have to deal with these hormonal peaks for literally 8 years??
I think so, additionally, my wife’s brother grew 6 inches in college, so we are thinking it won’t be really nice until after that. Hopefully, the pauses are frequent along the way.
My son started puberty early, a few months after he turned 12. Before that, his control was almost perfect, about 95% time in range. Now it’s been 6 months, and it is still getting worse. He is 135 lbs, 5’8" and has a faint dark smudge above the lip. My first son stopped growing around 16.5, so for us I think about 4-5 years of bad peaks total – but possibly it continues for longer?
It shows patients’ A1Cs getting much worse starting around age 10, which matches our experience. But if you look, the curve does not become really normal until after age 25 However, I suspect that it is more due to lack of discipline for young adults than it is due to peaks.
@drpepper68, when did you stop having significant hormone peaks?
So our realistic goals have changed in the past few months: multiple times a day we get random uncontrollable hormone peaks, that always take a while to get under control. Yesterday was a pretty good day, because either the peaks were small, or we were able to control them with coincidentally timed sports activities:
However, I suspect that it is more due to lack of discipline for young adults than it is due to peaks.