Hey guys,
I just got a Dexcom a couple weeks ago. And I never really I guess realized how much my sugar fluctuates, or maybe never really gave it much thought. Is this normal to have this many ups and downs besides of course the normal meal bg raise? I know the projected a1c is 5.6 which is good. But ideally I would like it completely smooth haha
When my graph looks like that, I consider it a good day.
Maurie
Here is my graph for today:
It is up and down, today was more on the high side! I do get some flat days occasionally!
Hope this help 
You describe exactly how I felt when I first saw my bg curve on Dex couple of years ago. For someone with D, it is “normal” although not necessarily desirable to have many ups and downs. Standard deviation (sd) is a good way to quantify the variability. Even non-D people have ups and downs, but generally their variations are smaller in amplitude (sd < 15 perhaps). Average of 114 with sd=21.5, and with 95% of time in range is a pretty good day!
Dexcom made a mistake and did not send me a CGM. They sent me instead a Pocket Roller-Coaster Design Generator. Beginners, enjoy the easy pace of the Overnight Hump and Drift. And for the daring, fasten your seat belt for the death-defying soar and precipitous plunge of the Half-Cup of White Rice Ride of Fury.
To be honest, I’d be happy with your lines. Almost all within range, briefly and slightly over after breakfast (I presume), briefly and slightly low mid/late afternoon (not uncommon). The beauty is that you can now identify those patterns (if they’re patterns) and even them out to your liking (mostly) with changes to basals, carb and correction factors, and/or diet.
I agree with @still_young_at_heart and @Dragan1, that’s a good day. Any day you can spend 95% time in range is a good day. A standard deviation of 21.5 means your variability is also very good. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the input guys! Appreciate it! I have always tried the best I can to keep my sugar in control. But sometimes I think I’m not keeping good enough control and need to try harder. I am young still, so I guess I am worried about long term effects if I am not always perfect. I guess you can only do the best you can!
Lol! That is great! Love your humor!
Yea, you are correct, the spike is after breakfast. I eat a ton of fruit for breakfast! And you could say, well of course that is your problem then! But not necessarily so. I have tried other things for breakfast and have gotten the same result. I have always had a problem with dawn dawn phenomenon so my sugar likes to raise during morning hours, so I chalk it up to that! I am experimenting with taking insulin at different times to see if I can minimize that raise.
It does help to see patterns so you can try and correct those, but it sometimes seems as if they happen for no apparent reason and at different times.
Maxing out at 150 is hardly a spike. More of a molehill. Normals hit these sorts of numbers 60 mins after a high carb low GI meal.
I will assume you use insulin if not my response makes no sense so disregard it.
Insulin, even the fastest is much slower than food absorption. We think that taking fast acting insulin at least 15 minutes pre-meal gives insulin a chance to start working. But if one thinks of the fastest insulin it acts over a 2-5 hour period depending on how your body absorbs it.
Food, on the other hand, starts acting almost immediately. Food digestion can be delayed by fat consumption and other factors but at least some of it usually hits the blood stream. The fastest insulin just cannot keep up in most cases.
The solution we need faster insulins to better mimic the body.
I have been using Fiasp for the past three weeks. It is a lot more aggressive than any of the 1st generation rapid analogs. It certainly knocks down the spikes.
Well, I am a type 1 - so the answer would be: yes, I take insulin. Although I do know some Type 1’s that do not need insulin with a strict diet.
Anyways, while I agree with that. It doesn’t seem that way for me. If I remember to take insulin a little while before eating I can eliminate any spikes whatsoever. But the problem with me is that after meals is where there is usually a problem. Usually afternoons I have this problem. I eat usually at the same time every day (12pm-1pm), sugar is usually quite stable until around 3-4pm, which then shoots up to 180 or more (the graph shows it only raised to 150 that day). Which I don’t understand! Maybe I need to take more insulin like around 3 to compensate for the food that is still digesting? I just don’t want to take more insulin and go low. Diabetes can be so confusing lol
