Did You Know....?

Have you ever had one of those WOW moments when you heard or read something about diet, food, or D that you didn’t know but when you heard or read it you went WOW I should have known that?

I was watching dLife today and a dietician was talking about eating out and she said that a packet of ketchup has 3g carbs in it. I knew that ketchup had carbs but I usually don’t count them. I was shocked when I heard this. I thought about all the times I have used 2 or 3 packets without ever thinking.

So what have you heard or read that made you go WOW, I should have known that?

Yes, I use ketchup made with sweeter for that reason. I remember how surprised I was when I found out the amount of carbs in ketchup!!

For me, my WOW happened on TuD when I learned that you should bolus early (and wait 10-20 minutes) before eating, even with fast-acting insulin. Wow, it made a BIG difference in my blood sugars!

Switching brand name meters caused my bs readings to improve substantially. However, I didn’t go “WOW, I should have known that” meter readings can vary substantially from one machine to another, even within same name brand machines. Instead, I went: What the f**k!?!?

Further, I contacted the manufacturer of each meter. In a nutshell, both manufacturers claimed, after walking me through meter and test stript tests, that their meter was functioning correctly. So I learned over one year post diagnosis that not only do readings vary substantially from meter to meter, but also from container of test strips to container of test strips, AND I’ve lost confidence in bs testing. That is, my bs seems to either improve or get worse each time I open a new container of strips, likely because the “Normal Control Solution Range” varies from container to container: 108-150 mg/dL; 100-139 mg/dL; 106-147 mg/dL, etc.

Nevertheless, I’m still an OC bs tester, but I think I understand why my endo doesn’t think it’s necessary to test so often. She seems to base her treatment on my most recent A1C result.

I didn’t know to wipe away the first drop of blood before testing. A nurse saw me testing & told me the correct way. Yea, I felt dumb & was glad someone set me straight.

Lucile, I also lost confidence in testing when I learned how many variables add to the inaccuracy, but am still OCD about testing. Angers me no end how inaccurate meters are. I never even bother using the test solution.

What do you mean wipe away the first drop of blood before testing? I have never heard of this. HELP!

I will admit, to the diabetes confession patrol, that I NEVER use the test solution either,

God Bless,
Brunetta

Thanks for your reply Gerri. I’ve only used “No coding required!” meters, Abbott FreeStyle Freedom and currently Bayer Contour. (I’m switching back to FreeStyle when I run out of Contour strips.) For everyone’s info, I goofed in my reply above regarding the “Normal Control Solution Range.” But it’s now all as clear as mud…: That range is for a calibrated control sample, made in a manufacurer’s lab, and not squeezed out of one’s finger. The “20% error number” some people are familiar with comes from testing meters against the results obtained from various blood drawn by the manufacturer. If we assume this is correct then we get +/- 1.3 mmol (23 mg/dl) for normal blood glucose ranges with good sampling technique. Accuracy is about whether one’s 6.3 is really a 6.3. In reality 6.3 means a blood sugar that could be as little as 5.0 to as high as 7.6.

So it’s all as clear as mud to me now. Best regards, Lucy

It seems I learn new things each day! :slight_smile:

WOW moments include (but are not limited to):

-Bolusing early with fast-acting insulin (which Kristin taught me and it changed my LIFE (and my A1c))

-My morning coffee raises my sugar by nearly 30 mg/dL (thank you, CGM and my CDE)

-When I’m 57, 3 little glucose tabs will bring me to 125, so the huge 100g fudge sundaes and god-only-knows large pizza I once ate to treat lows…probably overkill?!!

-T1D is an autoimmune disorder (learned this after 18 years with D, always thought I’d injured my pancreas in a fall)

-You’re supposed to feel high above 140 mg/dL (which I do now, after 15+ years of considering anything under 300 as good enough)

-The number to look at when your A1c is too high is your post-meal numbers at 1 and 2 hours after - avoid a spike, bring your A1c down.

-Standard deviation (how wide your blood sugar range is and how often/far you vary from the median) is far more informational than A1c at figuring out your control. Ideally, standard deviation should be below 50.

I heard that one recently, but after this many years of diabetes, I can’t bring myself to do it. I know it’s silly, but I think it’s a pyschological thing for me. When I consider that I’m asking myself to bleed twice as much for this disease as I already do in a day, it just ticks me off. I am a 10+ a day tester even on my CGM, so I try to just make sure my hands are clean. But…if you’ve got it in you, do the second drop. I can’t argue with so many folks on TuD who swear by it.

Regarding the standard deviation - I’ve read that your SD should be less than 1/3rd of your mean. So, if your mean BG is 120, your SD should not be more than 40 making your BG levels range from 80 to 160 mg/dL.

Glad it wasn’t just me who didn’t know about not using the first drop of blood:) The nurse said the first drop contains skin tissue from puncturing & this changes the results. How much this effects the reading I have no idea.

Think test solution is way to get to use even more strips!

That sounds like a viable formula. My knowledge of SD comes from having read doctors say they commonly see T1s with SDs of 50 and above and would like to see them lower. Mine was closer to 60, my endo mentioned I should bring it down, and it’s now closer to 30. I credit my control in part to the observation of it.

I talked to my CDE nurse, and she said she had never heard of this.

Also, only one nurse out of the five or six I have been treated by when in the hospital, did this. Couldn’t stuff from what you are wiping with interfere anyway? Just wash your hands on a regular basis, then you’ll get more accurate testing.

I learned this while i was in school to be a patient care tech, however I never bother to do it for some reason

Wiping the blood away with a tissue, or whatever, doesn’t interfer with the reading any more than drying your hands after washing them.