I’ve had T1 diabetes since I was seven years old for over four decades now. I’m in good health and live a full healthy life with diabetes. I’m passionate about my health and I use everything that can help me maintain a balanced blood glucose level and healthy lifestyle. My average A1C in the last 5 years is 5.5%.
I use Lantus, Humolog and a DEXCOM as CGM. I have tried and tested several diabetes apps and products but nothing comes even close to the help and accuracy of ManageBGL/PredictBGL.
I used the beta version of the full product and am now using the free version. I find it more beneficial and helpful to keep me balanced than DEXCOM.
To actually test how accurate and helpful it is I took the DEXCOM off for 10 days and only used the free version of Manage/PredictBGL. The result was impressive and it did allow me to achieve a more balanced, less fluctuating BGL, minimizing lows and highs (my reference range is 75-150).
The number of variables that the software takes into consideration to monitor and predict BGL and suggest insulin and carbs intake is so specific that it automatically increased my awareness about my insulin and nutrition. And I’m quite aware to begin with.
This isn’t a ‘feel good pretty product.’ This is a high tech-high caliber system developed by IT/software design people with diabetes for people with diabetes. I haven’t encountered anything that comes even close to what Manage/PredictBGL does.
When you use it you’ll see that the accuracy of the program depends on 2 things: the accuracy of your settings, and the accuracy of your inputs. If I’m not honest with myself with the amount and type of carbs I eat, or the amount of insulin I take, the program obviously becomes inaccurate. This has the tremendous advantage to make me aware of the impact of my actions on my health.
Also it’s important to set the correct carb and insulin ratios, which are the most important in tracking and predicting BGL. There are other factors, like dawn phenomena, stress levels and exercise, among others, but insulin and carb ratios have be biggest impact. The beauty is that having to set these settings automatically informs and educates me about my reality. This means that I now know how to manage my diabetes better than I did when I first started using the program. We all tend to get a bit lazy and a bit generic when it comes to insulin and food. I certainly have a tendency to do it. Using ManageBGL/PredictBGL has increased my self awareness and made me better at taking care of myself.
One of the beauties of it is that based on the settings and inputs it predicts where the BGL will be (only 1 hour in the free version, full forecast view in the pro version). This has a huge value in terms of preventing both highs and lows at any time of day or night.
You can work it via the app, PredictBGL, and/or through the web based program, ManageBGL (the free version more limited than the app), this way I’m always able to access it and get the information needed.
Another wonderful feature is how responsive tech support is. If you have any question they’ll get back to you and assist you quickly and accurately. Remember they have diabetes and they developed this product for themselves first, so they know how to help. It takes a bit of trial and error to find the correct settings for your reality (it took me a couple of weeks). But once you do it’s really a huge help. And when things change in my life I now know which settings to tweak to keep the accuracy of the program.
I couldn’t recommend this product/program more. Try the free version and see what I mean.
