Ah, I see. So his numbers have come into range since his diagnosis with that little insulin? Wow! I missed the whole honeymoon phase due to being misdiagnosed; it's incredible how little insulin can bring people's blood sugar down in the beginning!
If you have an endo that says CGM is not a reliable tool, I would suggest you get a new endo.
CGMS is not for everyone, some try it, and stop, but there are MANY, including me, that have found it to be a great tool. I was able to reduce my A1C from 7's, to consistently 5-6.5 over the past 6 years, and significantly reduce lows and highs.
I expect a good endo to at least know that some people DO benefit from it, so her comment may mean she has not had any patients successfully use it, or she discourages everyone from using it so she doesn't have to deal with it.
With CGMS, I test LESS, because CGMS helps tell me WHEN I need to test. And my BG test results are more productive, and PREVENTATIVE, as I can make better decisions regarding food choices/quantity, exercise, insulin dosage, and adjusting basal rates, etc. I don't have to wait until I 'feel' low, I catch it before, and correct as necessary.
I will be talking to more Endo's. This is just the beginning. Thank you.
I really go for a ULTRA MINI for speed size and memory,a One Touch.
the strips are pricey though,and a small sample is required too.
Bayer Contour: is my curent meter and a fast meter it is, with average number,
good memory and a better case can be sent to you for free, known as a upgrade.
Some meters have voices,and can be gotten for little or at no cost at at OL Survey
channels I find. They call on your Cell phone, and use the devices to sell the strips.
I trust your strips are covered by somthing. and Total Diabetes Supply will send out
things at no cost, with monthly coupons,with a minimum order. and a number of meters
are available there as well.. go there.
Thanks,
It looks like the meters that I keep on hearing more often are the One Touch and Bayer Contour. Also Accu Check.
For me the one touch and the freestyle lite have been good choices.
I need to check the walmart unit and strips and see how good they perform.
Your insurance may have different brands that are covered at different rates/copays, or not covered at all, so best to first check for the 'formulary' if applicable.
If testing 15-20 times/day, you may want to go with the meters with the smallest amount of blood. It can vary within the brand, but most One Touch meters use 1.0, but I think the newest one is .5 or .6. I liked the Freestyle, with only .3, but had to switch when my insurance no longer covered it as a preferred brand. I currently use Bayer Contour Next, which is .6, but would switch back to Freestyle if my insurance covered it.
i just told my endo I wanted 400 per month, he wrote some type of preauth to my insurance and they were filled. usually an endo can over-ride with a need for necessity. i'm not sure a CGM would be all that beneficial right now. he's still honeymooning and I would imagine things are changing quickly, just my opinion. It might confuse you a bit, it is good for trends but still honeymooning and newly diagnosed, everything at this point is a trend on a daily basis, i would imagine. I tend to test a bit less with my CGM. However, like right now, it's buzzing and ringing saying I'm low 56 dropping and my blood sugars are 107 and stable...so, it often makes me test more..just my 2 cents. take care!
oh and most importantly, sorry to hear about your sons diagnosis..hope you and he are getting through it OK, it's tough..stay strong.
In an earlier note you said your son is taking three units of Lantus per day and no bolus insulin. I'm having a LOT of trouble imagining why you think someone taking three units of Lantus per day and no bolus insulin needs to test their BG more than ten times a day? It sounds to me like three times a day would be more than enough, at least until he starts taking reasonable basal and bolus insulin doses. Did you really mean to say that?
My 15 year old son was recently diagnosed Type 1. After diagnosis he was immediately put on short and long acting insulin. His needs have changed over the last few weeks. He is now in the Honeymoon stage and has required less insulin. It is not unusual for newly diagnosed Type 1's to get off insulin completely for a period of time. He may begin to swing all over the place with highs and lows. After the second and third week home he began to have lows so there was a lot more testing. He is also very sensitive to exercise, bringing him lows. So, as of now he is an ever changing Type 1. No pump. No stability. This will take a while.