I have been using a Dexcom for about a month now and all I can say is, “Wow”. What an eyeopener! I wish I had gotten one earlier as I’m coming up on my 5th diaversary this summer. My question is: “How many of you microdose as you watch the arrows on the CGM?” I have read Ponder’s book on sugar surfing and have been doing some of this for quite awhile. I now can see the spikes even though at the two to three marker I am down. I know that if you give extra during the spike, you have to watch the tail end of insulin life that you don’t go down. I cannot do temp basals as I am usually running an extended bolus for protein and fat. I have several basal patterns plugged in for such things as inactivity, activity, sickness, super bolus, etc. That way I can do the extended bolus as well as change the basal. That’s kinda what the 670 does I think when it notices bg above 120 or 150 or am I wrong?
Some info on me: Not a low carber, but a moderate carb diet. 60-80 a day
MM 630 pump and now the Dexcom. Last A1C was 6.3 . Working on that to try to get below a 6. Type 1 also.
Thanks to all in advance for those who hopefully respond.
Me! Getting a g5 dropped my A1c from 6.1 (typical for several years), to 5.7. I too, wish I’d gotten a dexcom long ago–I had the misfortune of using the first two models of MM’s sensors.
I think you will learn as you experiment when you should give more insulin and when you shouldn’t. I often sort of know by how quickly the arrows appear and what type of arrows I get if I should dose more or not. For example, I can usually count on a slanted up arrow about 40 min to an hour after eating, but if I get a straight up arrow and 2 up arrows it means I didn’t bolus enough, there is a site/absorption problem if I am using my pump, or I am stressed and insulin is not absorbing. Yes there are times I overshoot, but I’d rather go low and have to deal with that, than wait till I’m in the teens (by which I mean several hundreds on the American system) and have to spend hours feeling like crap (which usually results in a low later anyway since extreme highs take so much insulin to bring down).
Thank you for that insight. I haven’t really thought about the timing of the arrows. I will pay more attention. That’s why I come to this site. People always have good info.
