I have to wake up at least three to four times each night just to reposition Liam because he lays on his CGM. He has no ability to sense he’s doing this yet. Same with Samson?
have you considered getting a new endo?
my endo downloads my pump and my meter. he also has the patience to look at my endless and OCD meticulous log of everything i put in my mouth and when, etc. he takes everything into account and with the utmost respect. (i am not on a sensor)
Yes, I suppose my discontent with my endo is apparent in my post.
I only recently switched endos so that I could get an Afrezza prescription. My first visit with him was okay, not spectacular, but I did get the prescription I wanted
My second visit left much to be desired. He seems to be very low-adverse. This Clarity Report had a very low percentage of lows. In general, I’m not particularly worried about “lows” in the 60s or 70s. They’re fine.
In addition, when I asked him about the discrepancy between my predicted and actual A1c, he launched into this weird explanation about how the Dexcom only measures bg every 5 minutes so it can’t truly capture the average. He would’ve been better off questioning how accurate the Dexcom is (which it works pretty well for me, though I know others have problems with this) than that bizarre average bg explanation. When I said that A1c is actually a measure of how much glucose has attached to red blood cells so it may vary a bit from person to person, he said that means it’s an even better measure of the average for that reason. He didn’t seem to have any explanation or attempt at a reasonable explanation for why my A1c differs so much from my predicted A1c.
His attitude toward Afrezza is also a problem. He’s willing to prescribe it, but he seems to have major reservations. He also is completely uninterested in how well it’s working, and I have a major problem with that.
Anyway, he’s better than my last doctor, and he’s not opposed to my A1c being low as long as I’m not having severe lows (which I don’t want anyway). I’m not sure that I’m willing to deal with getting a new endo.
Maybe in a couple more appointments. Getting a new endo can be stressful.
On some visits, the endo office downloads the meter data, or I bring in report. All they do is check for lows (60 and below) and give me the standard warnings (lecture). What they don’t know, is that I have multiple meters, and they only see some of my BGs.
Current endo, have been seeing only 2 years, after last one retired. Was completely different with prior Dr as I started using CGMS and doing many changes to improve A1C. Now things are steady, so not much input needed from Dr other than support for RX. And he does that very well, without needing to review or discuss my BGs.
i stayed with my idiot endo for about 30 years. (which i have written about here on FUD tirerlessly under “bad endos”) this is the first year that i decided “enough is enough with this moron” and made a change. yes, it wasnt easy to do and it didnt happen overnight, but i did it and we just clicked. i feel really happy about the change and that i was able to stick to my guns and rid myself of the former in place of someone who takes incredible interest in my life, my lifestyle, my diet, my activity level, how i use my pump, etc etc. it astounds me that i didnt do this
sooner.
either way, i made the change and i am very pleased. all i can say is that i encourage anyone who has a doctor who is not an appropriate match to find someone they feel comfortable working with; someone they feel meets their needs and is more than merely just satisfactory. and i say this regardless of if you are D or not.
i wish you all the best
My endo is very satisfied with my xDrip+ reports and is truly interested in how xDrip+ works. The rest of the appointment is about the latest research and articles. He says he loves when I come in because we always have informative discussions. Then he refills all of my prescriptions.
My endo looks at nothing. Meanwhile, my CDE and I sit down with the Diasend two-week day-by-day comparison report (which shows daily BGs, carbs, boluses and basals) and we zero in on any problems. I also bring along my Clarity AGP so she can ask if I really have diabetes.
I have always felt a bit ‘tread on’ when being required to hand over machinery for data downloads. I figure I am an adult, and if I truly need help with something diabetes-related I can have a conversation with the provider. However, I have yet to meet a provider willing to see their patients if they don’t have their BG monitor, CGM, pump, logbook, what have you.
Too soon to tell with my 8.
My endo doesn’t ask me for any data. He looks at the lab results, sees that they are still good, and stays out of my way. One time I gave him some Dexcom graphs, which he accepted and looked through to humor me, but he’s still in the mindframe of checking BG 2 hours after eating, rather than surfing continuously. He advised caution on Afrezza until a few years of experience shows whether there are problems, but was willing to prescribe it if I was sure I wanted to be the guinea pig. (I decided to wait.) He was quite accepting of my decision to start looping, and was interested to hear the result (similar good BG control with much less effort.) Mostly he just checks the labs and keeps my prescriptions up to date. If I were having trouble I believe he and the CDE would work to be helpful, but when things are going well they don’t feel comped to interfere.
My endo looks at the 14-day AGP report in Diasend. I’ve added him as a clinic to my account so I download the data at home the night before or morning of the appointment and he just logs in and downloads the report.
This graph shows the mean, 25/75, 10/90, and high/low readings. So I think it provides a good picture of my current level of control. I do wish that this screen listed standard deviation and time in range, but that data is available in another summary report.
I will say that the estimated a1c from the nightwatch app was 100% correct when compared to a recent lab test.
Mine is always quite a ways off. My average tends to hover between 120 & 130 mg/dl which should put my A1c between 5.8%-6.2%. My A1c on Wednesday came back as 5.5%, and my last one was 5.4%.
I doubt it’s due to a Dexcom discrepancy though because my Dexcom tends to track my bg pretty well.
Glad yours is matching up well though! Do you think nightscout is more accurate?
And my average is around 108 but my A1Cs now are around 5.7… it has taken me a long time to stop being bothered by the discrepancy.
I do not think this is a nightscout vs. Dexcom thing. It is more of a what meter do you use to calibrate and how does your body work. I have a longer red blood cell life which usually results in the higher a1cs.
Funny (to me) story - I got a free Accucheck meter to get the free lancing device for my son. So naturally I used the new meter to see how it compared with my Countour meter. In the mornings I was getting readings around 3.5 (68) when the Contour and my dexcom was reading 5.0 (90). This was fairly consistent - every morning for about a week. I was defintely not feeling low - i was feeling 90.
Moral of the story - If I was relying on the accucheck and making treatment decisions based on it my A1Cs would be much higher than they are.
This was the kind of conversation I was hoping to have with my doctor. Why do some people have red blood cells that live longer or shorter? If the amount of glucose that attaches to red blood cells is a primary predictor of developing complications, then perhaps addressing this could help!
Also, why does this happen?
Stop brooding over A1c, it is a very poor indicator of you control, and suffers too many variables. Start using GVI and PGS, both available in Nightscout so you can get a real meaningful profile of you diabetes control.
Do you know of any studies that back those measurements up as better predictors of developing complications?
No studies as of yet, but it’s discussed in this thread:
And here’s a good article on it. The measures are used in many studies and is poised to overtake A1c as the definitive measurement within the next several years.
https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/a-new-view-of-glycemic-variability-how-long-is-your-line
Edit: this link is not working anymore
I’m not opposed to looking into them, but research has shown the A1c to be a good predictor of complications. While part of the reason I aim for good control is so that I feel good day-to-day, I’m most interested in remaining healthy throughout my life with minimal complications. I think it’s worth spending time on a measurement that we know, through research, is a good predictor of complications.
Once these other measurements are proved to be similarly helpful, then I’ll brood over those instead
Geez. Always late to the party.
@Katers87 - both my endos looks at only the Clarity report. They look at not only the 90 day overview, patterns, and AGP, but they look at the Daily as well.
@Katers87 and @TiaG - on the phone app, go to Menu->Alerts and you can set each alert type to repeat down to 5 minute increments (or Never). The only one you can’t change is Urgent Low, which is fixed at 30 minute repeat. I think it is kind of stupid you can’t set this one to shorter, if you want.
Also, make sure “Always Sound” is turned on. If you are running a more recent iOS, alerts won’t sound if the Silent switch is on, or if Do No Disturb is on (except urgent lows - which always sound.)
BTW - my iPhone X gets a full 24 hours out of the battery, after 9 months. That includes alerts from Dexcom, notifications, and several phone calls a day. The 8 is supposed to be close, but not quite as good - though I have heard others say the 8 is better on life. Still - much better than my iPhone 5s, 6, or 7.
And @Katers87 - my A1C always runs a bit higher than the Dexcom average (not much), but I’m using one of those lousy OneTouch meters to calibrate it