I like that a lot. AND I’d like to add that to me, saying it sucks also ASSUMES that part. Because to have numbers that aren’t well understood is part of the experience for me as well. But it doesn’t define the disease. And it doesn’t dictate what my experience with the disease will be. It’s the sucky part, the numbers that are enshrouded in mystery, but it’s only ONE part, and to wrap up all of my numbers in “well, it’s tuesday”, is not only pointless but debilitating. I’m willing to put in whatever energy is necessary, and whatever work is necessary, to determine patterns… because, for me, far more often than a number is truly mysterious is the likelihood that it DOES fit nicely into a pattern. in that same breath, I can say that the majority of my numbers ARE predictable, and the ones that aren’t ARE, TOO… I just haven’t learned the pattern they’re following. And some days that sucks. 
We said the same thing 
You just said it in easier-to-understand words… and fewer of them. 
@daisymae, I ,TOO, have frequented a “support” community that lives by that prayer… I, too, am not much one for prayer, but this particular one has been planted and, consequently, called upon on numerous occasions. It can be a head-clearer.
As far as self-pity, for the most part I agree. We only have but so much time here, and time’s passing one way or another, so to fill it with something that doesn’t get you anywhere, doesn’t get you anywhere. 
With that being said, I’ve been put to the test in this life, as many, many are, and every now and then a little self-pity is almost nurturing. One has to allow it it in under watchful guard, but it’s, to me, the difference between fishing for compliments and just asking “am I doing okay?” Every now and then I think it’s all right to ask. And then, of course, to gather yourself back up and move along.
It’s my simple mind…simple minds often speak in simple terms. That, and I do have 7 kids, so I’m kind of an expert at keeping communication at a kids level - I wish that were a skill I could put on my resume. 
I really don’t understand the mystery-,I think it’s more of an attitude. I mean, you can either beat yourself up when your Bg goes beyond 200 after a meal, or you can say “well that didn’t work” and take some more insulin. It goes along with my philosophy of diabetes treatment–If your Bg is too high, take 
insulin. If your Bg is too low, eat something. Anything beyond that is clouding the subject. It really is that simple.
And “never waste a low!” That one will stay with me (and hopefully Liam), forever. 
Asssuming were still talking about the same thing, I politely disagree. This is where I think a small difference in disease might make for a big difference in experience. I can, on occasion, just hit a 200 with insulin, but more often than not, I need to take the time to understand what’s caused it. If I don’t take that time, I’m perpetuating the roller coaster… and my roller coasters do a number physically and mentally. That’s the exhausting part of the disease, the constant analyzing, but if I don’t put in the time on that end, I’m putting the time being physically sick. And, the flip side, the “if your BG is too low, eat something”, THAT side is LOADED with trouble. Maybe our brands of the disease are just different like that. ??
Is there a problem with portion control, portion estimates, correction estimates, or some other thing? Or a combination?
I have always operated by "taking some insulin when I’m high (or predictably going to be high) and eating something when I am or will be low.
This simple concept has lead me traditionally to a 5.5-6.0 A1c with a SD under 30. Of course I did have some difficulty determining the amount of insulin to take or of food to eat, and I have inexplicably (or maybe not so inexplicably) fallen off the wagon at times.
I’m sure we have the same disease, but as we know there are other extraneous factors at play. (ie I’m not a woman with hormone problems once a month).
You’ll get there. Take advantage of the help you can receive here. You can do it!
All the things… and some days, no problem at all. So I can be low and eat a very small banana—I’ll call it 20g of carbs— I could start at a 50 and be at a 220 within 45 minutes. Sometimes I will continue to rise, sometimes that’ll be where it peaks, and sometimes I’ll get to eat a SECOND banana 20 minutes later because I’m still at a 50.
The farther I get knocked from a flat line, the more room for error. The more error, the more I swing. It’s taken me a really long time to understand that this disease is a disease of numbers… not fate or chance or anything else. Doing lumpy treatments, whether it be through insulin or carbs, does not do me any favors. Precision and small adjustments seem to be where better control lies. I’m not trying to be uptight, if that’s how I’m coming across, and I’m CERTAINLY not trying to sound high and mighty, because I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know squat, but these are the rules I need to follow at this stage. I’d be at a 12 again in no time…
“Lumpy” was not a friendly, non-judgmental sounding description… I could’ve taken a moment to find a more accurate, less caddy sounding one. Maybe “block” treatments… or just estimated ones??? I didn’t mean it to sound nasty if it did. 
What I have found as good general rules are:
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Be very conservative with treatments for lows.
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Be more aggressive with treatments for highs.
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Treat the trend and the slope of change, not just the BG number.
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Treat based on circumstances. For example a low that is 30 minutes after a meal is not the same as a low when you have not eaten for hours. (Same as when your basal has been monkeyed with.)
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Basal is the foundation of the house. Have a good strong foundation of basal at all times. Build your house on the solid rock, not on shifting sand (apologies for the paraphrase
).
The rules above have no numbers in them, but I still think they can apply for you. It is not just a numbers game.
I don’t think it’s coincidental that the people who tend to expouse experimentation and mistakes being “no big deal, just correct and move on” tend to be men while those who struggle more with just finding a baseline of control and see mistakes as big deal because it can mean being off-track for literally days are women. I’ve said this before, but I think hormones play a huge role and unless you experience them, it’s difficult to understand. So here is a metaphor I came up with, which happens to correspond with the same day I’ve increased my basal rates by four units with no change whatsoever in food, schedule, or anything else except (inferred, since I can’t see or measure them) hormones:
It’s much easier to learn to walk and then run, skip, hop, jump, somersault on a surface that’s relatively flat and stable compared to learning to walk on one that’s constantly tilting and shifting like sand under one’s feet. Someone learning to run on a flat surface may go, “If you lose your balance no big deal, just get up and you can keep walking, no problem!” And they may learn to run, skip, hop with relative ease and find it, in a way, almost fun at times. But for someone on the shifting, unpredictably tilting surface, a fall may mean that they struggle for a long time just to get to their feet again and regain relative balance, and once they are feeling off-balance they may fall again two steps later, and they are struggling just to keep their balance enough to take one step after the other without falling over, never mind learning crazy things like running, skipping, hopping. And that’s not to say that the person on the sand-like shifting, randomly tilting surface can’t learn to walk well and eventually run, skip, hop, and even do somersaults…but it will take them a lot longer, and they will have to learn strategies that the other person can’t even comprehend, and even when they have mastered everything, they may still fall quite a bit just because it’s so hard to stay balanced. So while one person may prefer to do all sorts of running, skipping, and somersaults, the other person may prefer (for good reason) just to walk without falling.
This is funny given my metaphor post (I didn’t see this sine it was posted while I was typing).
I think a lot of us are dealing with having to build our house on shifting sand.
Where possible, check.
Check.
Done with calibration factor, check. ( still can’t do that with SG… that always leaves me chasing)
Also in heavy consideration alongside calibration factor… check.
Except for when my pump is trying to kill me, check.
I don’t want to argue with you, but your rules have no specific numbers because they’re general rules. However, applied to a specific situation, you don’t think numbers reveal themselves? Even “a lot” has a quantifiable value once a blood sugar, and all other factors, are considered, no? My BG is a 300, and I haven’t eaten in 4 hours… yes, I need a lot of insulin, but it’s not the same “a lot” as you’d need at a 300 2 hours after eating when heading out for a walk?
This is what I’ve found over the last year… when I sit down and really think it through, calculating what I can, I stay flatter… the more even I remain, the easier to remain even. When rough estimates rule my day, inevitably, I end up at a 380. It’s not a result of neglect, it’s a consequence of not paying closer attention. I don’t have to end up at a 380, but to avoid it means checking my BG often and staying on top of things. It’s a burden, and I’d like it to not be this way, but when I relax, so does my control.
No??
I’ve had diabetes for 15 years of my adult life. I have NEVER considered hormones to play a part in any of it. I’ve been reading things around here though, written by women who seem to have a very good handle on their disagree and a very good head on their shoulders, and I realize I really may have missed an important piece. Last week, I felt like I barely needed insulin. This week I’ve been struggling keeping my numbers down (and up). This is the first time I have considered that it might not be the 12 other things I’ve been taught to rule out, including skill, know how, etc etc. I’ve nevee changed basal rates or boluses any differently at any point in the month. I’m not sure it will make a difference, but I’ll be reading now and trying things out.
I appreciate your metaphor. It makes a lot of sense.
Yes, and I said as much directly: 
What is SG again? Is that a 670G term, or am I being dumb not thinking clearly?
Yes, probably much different in terms of how to treat it. But one of the keys is to fight like hell to never let it get to 300. A 300 sucks for everyone, no doubt.
What did you do when it was 150 and going up? That’s kind of my earlier point about being aggressive treating the highs and also treating the trend.
Those things happen to everyone, of course. But that trend arrow on the CGM is probably just as important as the number you see. Can you set alerts for trend arrows and for lower numbers? Can you set an alert for 150?
Of course not, there isn’t any argument. It’s an exchange of ideas. I don’t take it as an argument or a thing of right and wrong. Just sharing different insights in how we deal with things.
See, this is exactly why we need the new category for women’s health, and the subcategory for hormones. I’ve had diabetes for almost 27 years, but 10-12 years ago I was in exactly your position. No one, no doctor, no CDE, no book had ever told me (except in a passing sentence) how dramatically hormones impacted BG. In fact, to this day there is no research looking into this in any detail. I felt like I was crazy, doing something wrong, didn’t know enough, and on and on always blaming myself and my lack of skill for the reason I couldn’t keep good control. It wasn’t until I got a CGM that I really understood how dramatic (and inconsistent!!) the effects were. I’ve now started tracking my cycle with my Fitbit, and am hoping this will give me more insight. I’m not sure there’s an easy answer in the end, unfortunately. But just knowing that there’s a massive, underappreciated factor causing difficulty and NOT a lack of skill, smarts, or understanding on your (or my) part helps a lot in terms of coping.
You trying to fight?
I hear you on that. It’s a matter of determining the audience (not easy, ever) and a LOT of ‘your mileage may vary’. Some folks can’t deal with the datasets and are just trying to get through the initial shock and awe of diagnosis; some remain struggling years after. Others want info as soon as possible. I try to gauge if they are going bleary-eyed… wrap it up! Or focused on relevant info I can share… keep sharing.
I guess I always try to reinforce some positivity ‘you can do this, patience, experience, experimentation, question the status quo… but know there will be rough moments, days or longer that will test ones mettle.’ That I am always willing to listen to vents, successes, and ideas.