Back on Dexcom and sick

Diabetes Technology Glucose Monitoring
1

I have been off my Dexcom for about a year (maybe not quite that long). My insurance doesnt cover the sensors so I have just been doing bg checks. I feel better when I am on it because I can at least be watching the trend arrows if nothing else and have a better idea of what is going on.

However I have been sick for the last two weeks with a cold and my bg has been crazy. My next A1c is going to be horrible! Even with the Dex it has been impossible.

I’ve been back on the Dex for about a week and just downloaded my info. Its been so long since I used Dex I cant even remember how to read the reports. I remember when I first got it I had to make some changes in my over night basal rates. But I cant remember how I came across the data that I used.

Now i am seeing something new. I usually have very good numbers over night. I dont have a dawn phenomenon and I usually wake up at around 100 - 110. Up until this past week. I’ve had numbers like 285 and 290. I really dont like that. I seem to be very insulin sensative during the night so I dont want to make any drastic changes.

Does anyone know what to look at? Which report and what info to change? I wish there was a manual to go along with Dexter!

I know some of this is just the effects of the cold but bg’s of almost 300 arent exactly making me feel great.

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

2

A little scary to have the changes with dawn effect showing a 200 point gain.

  1. Have you called Dexcom tech support? I believe the manual you are looking for is on their website.
  2. My CDE when pressed for exact formulas shared D management is a scientific guess at best.
  3. Work with you endo to tweak your sick day basal rates.

Best wishes.

3

Don’t forget about Tylenol. Or ANY MEDICATIONS with Acetominophin (sp?). Many cold medications have it in it. Tylenol causes the Dex to either read very high or not at all. Just a thought because I ran into that one when I first got the Dex.

I also run high with any sickness. I am also on a pump so I can just up my basal (say 10%) during my “bad time” which is when I first get up in the morning bacause I DO have dawn phenomenon. So when I’m sick, I just change my overnight basals but just a little at a time. I can time it pretty good if I use the Moday Day report but only show one day on it. That way I get the readings of Average BG, Std Dev, etc for each hour of the day. I can go back to a “regular” day for comparison. Then I will make any adjustments.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Stacey