Thanks, guys! I always read the digests I get sent, but try and minimize my time online. Now I’m relaxed, on break and in a beautiful garden in Guatemala so good to see you all!
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Firstly, I love this post–it’s motivating and informative.
I’d say the thing that was most significant was selecting my healthcare team–finding the right doctors for me.
Things I know help me, but I’m still struggling to be consistent with: low carb eating. I have not found a way to escape the misery of binge/restrict, nor have I found a counsellor or doctor who has been any help with that.
A thing I have mixed feelings about: CGM–I’m certainly grateful for it, but it also makes it less scary for me to binge eat, because I’m not as worried about catching a low too late. It helps motivate when I see the strait line, but it also makes me constantly aware of my blood sugars which can be mentally draining. At the end of the day there are more pros than cons and the real issue is me not the device.
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INFORMATION!
The VA Dr.s are clueless, and actually caused more harm than helped.
When I found this site, and the other one. It changed the way I saw what I was dealing with.
Changing my diet was something I did on my own and made a massive difference. But I still didn’t know what I was doing until I found these sites!
After that, I have to say it was a tie between the CGM and the Tandem X2 pump with Control-IQ.
I think the CGM is more important, and the X2 with C-IQ is a major improvement in quality of life. But I can now eat more/different things, and still keep my A1c in the mid 5 range. And I think about it a LOT less. Which, I have to admit, has made a large mental impact for me.
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For me at least, frequent small meals has resulted in less insulin requirements overall and more stable BGs.
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This is a great thread - lots of interesting suggestions and mindsets.
The question assumes that BG control was ‘turned around’ for people. As we know, the disease in its particularities is different for everyone and requires a bespoke solution building on the basic elements of exercise, diet, and medication.
Once diagnosed (about 10 years ago - I was 50 y.o.) and introduced to the treatments, I haven’t had many problems with control - there was a “honeymoon” period where my body was still producing some insulin so I had a buffer.
Maybe the most important insight for me was understanding what “control” meant. It didn’t mean trying to keep your BG in a low range - because for me the dangers of going low occasionally are much greater than those of going high occasionally. So I am happy with blood sugars up to 180 or 190 (certainly bring them down but nbd), and I try to not worry about it too much.
My one change would be learning to be relaxed about control!
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