I have recently been diagnosed with T1D and I am giving myself injections at mealtime and long lasting every 24 hrs to stabilize my BG levels.The thing that is so attractive to me about the CGM is that it can tell me if I'm trending low before I start to feel too bad. I play division 1 college soccer and a CGM would really be a life saver to me; however, I do not plan on switching to a pump in the near future. I discussed this with my endo and she did not recommend using a CGM unless I was using a pump and she didn't really explain the drawbacks of a CGM + injections. Will the CGM still be worth it if I am using injections or will it be a waste of money? Would it be as affective in tandem with injections?
OMG yes it is beneficial!! I too am on MDI and have had a CGM FOR three years. I’m a mountain biker and it changed my life. Seriously. It is fantastic all by itself.
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Bailey, who do you play D1 for ? I coached the womens team and played at Univ of Mo St Louis. The Dexcom is they best tool available to keep your blood sugars in great control during athletic events. You don't need a pump to have all the benefits of the CGM. I find that some doctors are so set in their ways, and IMO, they are quite dumb about the disease, because of this stubbornness. I used the Dexcom for 3 years before, I finally switched to a pump, wished I would have switched a long time ago to the pump. I did the poor man's pump for 20 years, Lantus and Apidra/Humalog/Novolog.. Once I started wearing the Dex, I found that the Lantus did not last 24 hours in my body. It seemed to only last 21 hours. So I tried switching and taking half of my Lantus in the morning and the other half in the evening.. this worked good, except there were so many times I forgot to take both shots of Lantus.. either because I didn't have it with me when I was out and about, of just plain forgot about it.. so what I did then was take the Lantus at 10am, and then I knew the Lantus would wear off at 7am, so I had a 3 hour window to cover, so I gave myself some extra insulin for my breakfast to help cover this 3 hour window.. instead of taking 4 units for breakfast I would take 5, and this worked for me.. and the CGM showed all this LIVE.. the ups and downs of the CGM are usually always correct, and that helped me keep my blood sugars stable,.. the advantage of the pump, is you can turn it off.. where before I gave the Lantus, and basically had to "eat extra carbs or drink extra Gatorade, to prevent lows from all the soccer practicing.. that is why I now like the pump, I can turn my pump down to 50% 45min before a 2 hour long workout.. and then I am not going low during this event.. but WITH THE DEXCOM, YOU WILL SEE THESE PATTERNS AND THEN YOU CAN PLAN FOR THEM.. I cannot believe your endo doesn't see that advantage.. any questions, friend me and can help you out... just make sure you are wearing your black armband in respect of Team USA's great Copa Mundial
I play for the University of Cincinnati. I started experiencing symptoms during the spring season 2014 but wasn't diagnosed until last month. Having such high blood sugar affected my playing so much I almost didn't recognize myself as a soccer player and was really frustrated ending my spring season on such a low note. Getting the diagnosis was almost a relief in a sense because at least I found out what was wrong and there are treatments that can help me get my levels back to normal which will get me playing my best again. I am a little nervous going back to school because it will be my first time playing at a high intensity on insulin and I am VERY new at regulating this disease. I believe a CGM will help me A TON during preseason this year because I do plan on trying to play this fall. Do you have any advice for being newly diagnosed and trying to regulate T1D while playing college soccer?
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Are you still producing any insulin?? you can do a test to see this, I think this would be an important thing to know..however, with the CGM you can do some experimenting on your own during your "4-5 mile runs"...what is your timing of your Lantus ? What is the ballpark timing of your meals ? I would try to figure out if Lantus is working 24 hours inside your body.
What is your carb to insulin ratio ? What is your correction factor or how many points does 1 unit knock you down ?
These numbers will be good to know so you can make adjustments on the fly
I take Lantus every 24 hours and it seems to last that long although I have not tested if it actually is lasting that long, I would not know how to test that. My timing of my meals is probably 2-3 hours between meals and small snacks between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. My insulin to carb ration is 1:9. And I do the sliding scale 1 unit for every 50 pts above 150. I am really new at this so I don't have a lot of information right now.
Also, I don't know if i am still producing any insulin. I have not heard about that test from any of my doctors
I figured out that lantus did not last 24 hours for me when it became obvious that I consistently had my highest IC ratio at breakfast, with progressively lower I:C ratios as the day went on. This was with a single lantus dose at 10 pm. Most people are more insulin resistant in the morning, not in the evening. When I went to split dose lantus, with half at 6am, and half at 6 pm, my I:C ratios were flat through out the day.
I had the Dexcom G4 for a year and didn’t use it until the past three weeks. I swim, run and lift weights. The CGM IS GREAT to see the trend of where your BG is going and really recommend using it. It’s also great for seeing what is going on while you sleep-just I recommend putting it on carpet or fabric so the buzzing doesn’t wake up anyone else in the room. I’m surprised your Endo doesn’t want you on the pump. I made the switch and will never go back! No more needles and injections and lugging around used sharps. Just check, bolus and go. Very discreet and efficient. I’m on the t:slim. Good luck!
I inject long (2X) and short-acting (3X) insulin every day and wear a Dexcom CGM and tend to go to gym 5-6 times a week.
I can't understand why your endo would say that. The CGM is a godsend and only allows me greater freedom with dosing, exercise regimens, etc. I can't say enough about how helpful it is for me.
Totally worth it, especially if you exercise. Do be careful about reacting to every little fluctuation in BG. Mine goes all over the map.