just want to ask all of you a question about your logging habits. the year after diagnosis, maybe a bit longer, i logged religiously: all my bgs. at the very beginning i logged everything: time, insulin, what i ate, carb count, bg. now, almost two years down the line, i dont log at all unless im seeing some weird highs that i cant explain. i havent logged anything since the start of may this year.
when i went to the doctor in june she asked me for my log book. i told her i forgot it. (i forgot it on purpose cuz i didnt have it done-not that im hiding any numbers, just the fact that i dont log. its just easier to say i forgot).
so my question is do you log when youre not having problems? or do you just log to try to spot some problem trend once in a while?
I use my pump. I recently tried a new endo and they are all set to d/l meters and pumps w/ CGM that provides quite a bit of data. My old doc was pretty much the same way, I'd upload the stuff to Medtronic's CareLink website and they'd put the raw data into their software to review. Even without the CGM my pump does *way* better at logging than I ever did. My only logging was when I wanted a pump and had to log a month. It was a *compelete* mess! Little scribbles all over the place, weird times, workouts, etc.
Despite it being almost 4 years, I still log religiously. That being said, my reasons may differ from some other people's. I cook almost everything from scratch. So without having the nutritional labels, having the old notebooks to refer to for carb & protein counts is a huge help. Plus, it is good for looking for trends, which happens more than I'd like..... My doctors don't feel the need to look through all that data, so I transfer the basic numbers to a chart. If I was on a pump, I'd skip that step.
I have a meter that uploads to my pump with every test, and also have a CGMS that logs 24/7. Can't see any need to keep paper logs with today's equipment. I have only done it when my doctor needed them to have some documentation on file for a pump or CGM letter...but in the US some documentation is needed for Insurance and Medicare coverage.
How many times do you need to wright down "I ate Pizza" before you figure out Pizza is probably not a good food choice. Or I ate a 20 oz steak and had to do corrections for 2 days before I could get my BG back in range..Hmmmm!
My mom and I share the same endo. We're both Type II. She's been a diabetic for over 30 years (taking shots), and I was diagnosed in August. Mom used to taken in her log faithfully, but now the doctor doesn't want to see it, he depends on her A1C labwork. He's never asked me to keep a log, but I do occasionally check my BGs with a cheap meter.
I also do a lot of cooking, roodgirl, though I do use recipes. I just mark my cookbooks with the amounts and carb counts so I have it next time I cook that thing. I just had to be careful recently when I borrowed a good cookbook from the library (I xeroxed the recipes I liked first).
I do refer to my logs though for non-recipe meals.
I'm old school. Though I know my pump keeps extensive histories and graphs I only check them occasionally. Mainly I keep a notebook. On one page I write down blood sugar readings and carb numbers for meals, morning and bed. On separate pages I write down what I ate. It really is pretty automatic for me, the only time I don't is when I'm eating out which isn't frequent for me. I outline in blue my lows and yellow my highs. A page holds 3 weeks and at the end of the time I can look and count the highs or lows to see if I should make a change. It's great to see patterns. Denial is an amazing thing and I find it easy to think "I was high a couple times in the morning" and then when I look at my log I can clearly see, "No, Zoe, you were high more often than not and need to adjust your basals". That's just what works for me, though occasionally I think it's silly when it's all there recorded in my pump.
I don't log, I just rely on my pump which my endo can download. However, I do think logging is helpful for spotting patterns, partly because my pump leaves something to be desired (can't record exercise, can't record things other than carbs, can't record sick days or hormonal cycles, etc.). I'm currently not keeping logs, but every time I do log my control improves.
I think I would log more consistently if I had the right software, which I'm not sure exists. I would LOVE to have software (accessi9ble, of course, which is a whole other logging issue) that takes data from my pump, meter, a smartphone app, and maybe even my Fitbit and Garmin watch and combine it all into one, and had a desktop app that also synced online (I don't like the whole web app trend, partly due to accessibility issues). I would love an app that would let me plug in a certain duration of exercise and bring up the before and after BG, or a certain type, or a certain duration AND type, or a certain food before and after, are my BGs higher on days I have allergies, days I don't sleep well, different points during my cycle, and so on. I don't think such software exists. I wish I knew enough programming to make one (I do know some programming, but not enough to make something like that, maybe one day!).
That got kind of off topic, but in summary no, I don't currently keep logs, but I think I should and wish better tools existed.
Well, just do it when the time has come. After the honeymoon it will get harder and then you should make the switch. Just prepare yourself that the day will come. If your A1c is rising above 6 and some weird patterns need your attention then please start to log. As you might know I use our Glucosurfer for logging. This is not just about the data but also about convenience like the bolus wizard, alarms and identifying repetitive patterns. For me just seeing a negative trend for the current month in comparison to the previous months is motivating for me. I then try to increase my effords and this is much earlier than getting a bad A1c result months later:
yes, everyday since day 1 of Dx. It's become a habit. I just use a notebook, write down BG's and carbs (what i've eaten) and bolus/basal. This helps me just in case I forget last bolus/correction, can also look for patterns. I'll probably do it for the rest of my life, it's just a habit.
We classify blood glucose levels in four classes: 0-60 mg/dL = blue
61-140 mg/dL = green
141-200 mg/dL = red
higher 200 mg/dL = black
Now the diagram shows the proportion of these four classes for every month. The more green the better. As you can see my control deteriorated beginning with April (notice the reduction of green). This continued till May. I then managed to slowly revert the trend in June and July. In August I payed with too many lows (blue) for my improved control. By turning my basal down in September I lost some green to red but reduced my lows (blue). Our permanent struggle painted in color-blind friendly colors.
I logged obsessively with extreme detail when I was doing MDI. Since I went on the Omnipod, the PDM automatically logs just about everything I used to log, so I don't bother any more. Just download and save the records.
I log everything on my iphone now in the ibg star app- the meter goes into the phone and uploads all my readings there- I can put comments, insulin, carbs, special tags etc.
This is invaluable to me to remind me how much fast acting I have and to see what is going on pattern wise- it also gives a graph of bg and statistics/averages, standard deviation. When I go to my endo I print this out for the 90 days and give it to them.
I also use my phone to set alarms for basals, bolus to avoid spikes, when to eat etc. Can't live without it now really. And it saved my life in the hospital also allowing me to communicate with family and friends.
This has me thinking ,maybe I should go back to logging what I eat. My numbers are on my meter so no need t do that. I could bring this to my new endo who I see him. I will be getting a Dexcom CGM if I can see well enough to do it? Interesting discussion ,thank you . nancy
I started using this app called "Lose It!" to log my food. I've used it in the past and drifted away. It's similar to Myfitnesspal but I like the food interface, with little virtual wheels, like a slot machine, for the most part "whee, I'm going to eat *spin* 6 oz of chips!" I got back into food logging when I started doing T25 looking to drop the 10 lbs I gained between being injured and not working out and eating potato chips because I was bummed I wasn't working out, more for weight but it's handy for keeping track of D stuff, carb counting, etc. My fitness pal has better nutrient info, e.g. potassium, vitamins, etc. but, other than that, I like "Lose It" a bit more. I also noticed that the "deluxe" version includes a way to log blood sugar but I'm a sucker for free apps.
