Aged: 59
First diagnosed: at 35 (1997, 24 years ago),
Initial diagnosis blood-sugar curve test result: 680 after 12-hour fasting.
On insulin (Lilly, Humulin + Humalog NPH): since 2000 (21 years).
Current general health condition: Quite good, no other ailments, no specific long-term complications from diabetes to date.
My diabetes management: Fair. My A1c hovers around 6.9, despite my anarchist eating regime - I usually eat quite freely whenever I feel like it, varying my humulin dosage accordingly and checking my blood sugar 5~10 times a day. Needless to say, this behavior of mine means I frequently experience interesting highs and lows…
Family history: Positively NO diabetics for 3 generations minimum.
My condition was probably caused / brought forth by a combination of:
(a) 18 years of very unfortunate dietary choices (fast food + coke)
(b) minimal physical activity, and
(c) a 5-year period of extremely high stress which culminated in a sort of metabolic “crash”: Having been quite fit until the age of 29 (~ 86 kg for a height of 188cm or ~6.2) I abruptly and unexplainably gained 16 kg within 3 months - without any alteration in diet / work / daily activity).
7 weeks ago I started using Freestyle Libre1 (14-day), which is the only CGM that I can obtain for free from the Greek National Healthcare System. I am scanning with my Android smartphone (Samsung S7) and I think I will not go back to test-strips.
But what I really want and need is alarms! In order to have them, I would have to buy them from abroad, out of my own pocket.
My web research told me I should choose the DexCom, but my not-so-fat wallet pointed me towards the Libre 2 (at almost half the monthly cost).
So I bought a couple of Libre 2 sensors from the U.K. And, surprise, it seems I have to do much more research to make their alarms work, because they just won’t work with the LibreLink app which is available for download to Greek Android users!
Alternatively, I will seek help to assess the possibility of a 14-day Libre / Miao miao combination…