Let me tell you, reading CGM data is hard sometimes.
I don’t usually wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), but I’m wearing one for the next few weeks as part of a clinical trial I’m participating in. Every day, I’m fascinated by the data that I’m getting about how my blood glucose handles the food I eat, the workouts at the gym and work around the house, hot days and cool days.
And I hate to admit it, but occasionally it’s sort of affecting how I feel about things as I watch that CGM graph line go up or down.
Saturday, I was so frustrated because it seemed like no matter what I did, I was still sinking under 70 over and over again. That was after a false high reading I was getting early on (second day of the sensor… probably not fully calibrated yet). On Sunday, it was the opposite: I was low continuously for a couple of hours until I had a late lunch a little before 1:00, but high after that for the rest of the day. Despite how I had carefully checked where my BG was, how much insulin was on board, and how much insulin I needed to get back within range.
I’m not talking monster stress here; I mean, hey, diabetes throws us curve balls all the time… these things happen. I’m merely saying that I get mad occasionally when I carefully analyze what I’m doing to manage everything, and I’m still out of range, and I still have to wait hours before I’m back in a good range again.
I know this: CGMs are a great source of information and a huge help in managing glucose levels overall. I also know this: A couple of times in the last week, I would have rather been blissfully unaware of how my BG was trending for a few hours.
I’m working on becoming more comfortable with knowing my BG trends 24/7. It’s a work in progress.
What about you? Are you a CGM user? If so, do you let what it’s showing you affect how you feel about your diabetes? Do you have any tips for dealing with that?
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CGMs don’t allow you to be unaware of the ‘betes, that’s for sure. It can feel like both a blessing and a curse somedays. But truly, I love it. It has more pros than cons in my opinion.
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I wear mine almost constantly and I usually really love and rely on knowing where my blood sugar is and where it is going. But yes, sometimes it does feel like a bit of information overload and sometimes it can be really stressful and aggravating to know my blood sugar isn’t where I’ve worked so hard for it to be. So sometimes when I do take a day or two break from it, it can be nice. But then I’m ready to be hooked back up and privy to all that blood sugar info!!
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If there is any stress that the CGM gives me it’s on the logistics of it (calibration is due during double-up arrows, the damn sensor insertion needle, inaccuracies, especially during the first few hours). The actual data – when correct – is nothing but helpful. Rather than ask “what the F happened?”, it lets me see the answer and ask “why the F did this happen?”. I prefer it that way. I couldn’t imagine going back to just using fingersticks.
As far as the sleepless nights the CGM (and its alarms) inflict — well, that’s another story.
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Overreacting to my CGM has caused me so much trouble. More times than not, if I just let the situation play out, things are fine. But when I go eating to “fend off” an impending low, or bolus to stop a double up arrow in it’s tracks, I’m causing myself more trouble. It’s awfully hard to sit and wait, though, isn’t it?
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It is hard to wait. And it’s taking a little time for me to stop obsessing over what the display is telling me (but in a good way).
And thanks for leaving all of the great comments! So appreciated!
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