I know what amount of Novorapid to take for each serving of carbs I wish to eat. I know how much Novo to take to reduce my glucose when it's out of range. I do not know how long it will take under intensive, 3 hourly glucose (daytime) testing to lower my hbA to a normal range. At the moment it's 7.5%, three weeks ago it was 8%. If I continue in this vein will it drop to 7% in the next three weeks. How does this work, could I try forever and still be sitting at 7% ? Are there people out there who cannot lower their hbA no matter what they do ?
I don't think that it quite works like putting more money into a parking meter. I think that it might be beneficial to step back from the numbers and use a more "imperfect" goal like "improvement" and keep working to improve, regardless of what the number is? I totally cheat in that I have a CGM that is always testing my BG. I still remember the period when I was "running wild" doing MDI but guessing a lot and ran my BG up into the 7s, as I was trying to lose weight. Not diabulimia or anything like that but greatly increasing the amount of exercise and decreasing food and insulin with very little guidance.
Losing weight worked but I had no clue what I was going and BG got all over the place, until 2008, when I got a pump and went "oh, so you can *count* the carbs...". Things fell into place for me but sometimes, during the "early" period, I'd test and then test again 15 minutes later to see which way it was going. Coincidentally, that was when I first started hanging around on message boards, first looking for pump info and then because it was fun. I don't see the suggestion to test every 15 minutes in a lot of books, except where treating hypos is concerned but I found it to be useful to test more frequently and it could illuminate what was going on? I find it more important to be engaged with "winning" every BG test either by saying "*&!% yeah, I won" or by saying "hmmm, it's off so I'll fix it and test to confirm that my "fix" worked. Maybe trying unplugging from A1C and plugging into "winning" tactically can help? It sounds like you're making great progress on your own and maybe rethinking your thinking can help.
Your A1c should converge to reflect your average blood sugar over the last 3 months. It actually more heavily weighs more recent blood sugars, but it still is proportional to your average blood sugars. There are certainly people who have trouble lowering their A1c below certain levels. If you use insulin, you need to manage the risk of lows against tightened control. And if you are are T2 on just meds, there may be nothing you can do to lower your blood sugar. Before insulin, my fasting blood sugars were 120-140 mg/dl at my best taking 3 kinds of medications and literally a zero carb diet. But with insulin, I am doing much better.
I think you need to be patient. I have faith with your attention to things, you are on track to have your A1c measure less than 7%.
Yeah you're right, I'm a bit fixated on the hbA at the moment. I need to step back a bit. For some reason I'm really reluctant to go on the pump, I don't know why. I would love a CGM though. I'll learn a bit more about both. Thanks for the feedback, oh and great new pic. Hey try running in Ireland, it's pourrrrrrrring rain and the wind is blowing us into next week. Keep up the good work you.
Yip Brian, a fully blown type 1 for 25yrs. You'd think I'd have the swing of things by now. I reckon if I keep with it, it'll improve. Just need to stay motivated.
Yes, I'm gonna relax a bit on the overall picture and take it in small steps. I've gone through phases in the past in which I haven't tested at all, so this is quite a jump for me. At least I am seeing results. I'll keep plugging. Thanks for the input.