An unwritten purpose of Tandem’s Control-IQ is the adjustment of our Personal Profiles so as to minimize the extent that Control-IQ makes adjustments. My question is where can we find a week or two’s history of these Control-IQ adjustments, summarized so we could make the desired changes in our Personal Profiles? I know the pump shows each adjustment on a minute by minute basis, but these data can not easily be used for adjustment purposes.
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I can’t use the software myself, since they don’t support Linux users, but there’s a lot of information available if you connect to their t:connect application and upload your pump data.
Personally, I disagree with your presumption that we should strive to minimize Control-IQ intervention. I intentionally set my delivery high and let it work it’s magic to turn my insulin delivery off when I don’t need it. I don’t require independence from technology, but rather appreciate how it can improve/simplify my life when applied correctly.
I used to aggressively tweak my profiles based on CGM data. My original profile (established with basal-iq) had over 20 time segments each with at least one factor varying from the previous. I’m currently testing a profile with just 2 different segments, basically night and day, and still enjoying improved control while eating whatever I want, with an estimated A1c just under 6. I’m loving using Control-IQ to this advantage!
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Robyn, so you don’t count carbs anymore before basaling? You said you are eating whatever you want and your A1c is under 6?
I don’t have Control iq yet, but my control is very tight. I’m in range 97-98% of the time. It’s been a real challenge getting there on this new X2!
I don’t EXACTLY count carbs, but I stillb guess. I cook everything from scratch, and a lot of it is home grown on our homestead, so it’s pretty hard to be exact anyway when nothing comes with a nutritional label. I mostly judge meals as low carb, moderate carb, or high carb… And I have a whole different pump profile with really high basal for exceptional “grazing” like might occur on a holiday or something.
I pretty much always take 3,5, or 7 units for breakfast, and round up on my guesstimate because I know Control-IQ will mitigate a REASONABLE low. (If you over-bolus excessively, you’re still going to be in trouble). Even with a low carb breakfast of veggies, eggs, and coffee, I’m going to need three units to cover the coffee, any protein/fat glucose spikes, and the “feet on the floor” spikes. This morning I had two slices of homemade bread topped with sausage gravy, which I considered moderate carb, so took the five units. I did have a small spike up to 150 mg/dl because I forgot to pre-bolus, but my 8-hour average is still coming in at 114 and I haven’t dropped below 83.
I haven’t had an actual A1c test since I’ve started Control-IQ, because I haven’t been back to the doctor, so I can only speculate based on CGM data, but I feel like it’s accurate.
I agree on having Control-IQ do the heavy lifting and make it correct as needed.
Trying to get a profile that doesn’t need adjustment is too difficult, and often impossible, as we change, our diets change, etc.
Before Basal-IQ my A1c was 5.6 to 5.8.
Basal-IQ and higher basals over night dropped me to 5.2
Having ran Control-IQ for 2 months, and eating a LOT more carbs to truly test the system and refine my settings and tweaks, my A1c dropped to 5.1 (I seriously thought it would jump back up around 5.8 with how much I am eating.)
Btw, my carbs vary a ton. Any day could be anywhere from 60 to 250 carbs.
I do use a bit more insulin now (Fiasp), but how much easier my life is, I will take it anyday!
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Let me start by saying that many of you guys (that is a gender-neutral term …) simply blow me away with your impressive TIR and A1C numbers … whether you are using Control-IQ or not! Bravo tutti!!!
I’ve only been using Control-IQ for 2 weeks, but with no tinkering, my TIR has jumped from 65-70% to 85%, my average CGM reading has dropped from 150-155 mg/dL to 135 mg/dL, and my standard deviation has also dropped significantly. Wow!!! I’m probably the village idiot for whom Control-IQ was developed …
However, to comment on the underlying topic at hand: I use both Dexcom Clarity and Tidepool to upload and examine the data from my t.Slim. Hopefully, between the two you can find the data for which you are looking @Larry_B_Church.
@Robyn_H, although I have not used Linux since I retired 4 years ago, I understand that the Tidepool uploader has been extended by a third-party to run under Linux. I believe that the appropriate link is:
You know, I installed tidepool, and didn’t understand the hype. I definitely think I was missing something. It just looked like a Twitter feed displaying my CGM graph, which it got from my Xdrip collector, and had to be passed through my nightscout website to even get there. I couldn’t see any benefit to using it. Note, I don’t use any of the Dexcom applications because I do restarts and don’t want them tracking/intervening in any way.
Can you connect the X2 to tidepool? That’s news to me.
Does Basal IQ increase the number of time segments you’re allowed? My son’s pump (in Australia, where basal IQ still hasn’t been rolled out) only allows 14 time segments in a profile…
You know, you may be right, I don’t know anymore. I took a wild guess when I said that, because I’ve had my pump changed out a few times and no longer have that profile set up. I didn’t transfer it all when I was hoping to simplify things. I just remembered that I ran out of segments (which I thought was 20) and had to use the temp rate feature to make further adjustments during the day. I used to look at my cgm data, and make basal changes to eliminate any and every spike. I’ve got better control now without all that fuss.
You should look at the Tidepool reports in your browser, hopefully something like a desktop or laptop with a reasonably sized screen. The Tidepool app is not where you want to look at this info.
I don’t use Tidepool. I’m a Linux user and have difficultly connecting the pump to a computer. I keep hoping that the Xdrip hackers will exploit the new Bluetooth connection option that came in the last update to facilitate more transferred data. The reality is, that I don’t care much about the old settings, hence why I didn’t transfer them. They’re ancient history to me, now that I’ve got a better system working for me. I do have a simplified version of it now, only has four changes instead of the maxed out number, but it’s only because I have to reduce my otherwise heavy basal profile during sensor warmup since Control-IQ can’t suspend insulin then.
@Robyn_H Have you tried using a VM or Wine to use the t:connect uploader program?
After you upload, everything else is just browser based.
Tandem’s browser based site that shows your numbers is pretty nice actually.
I use a VM to connect only when I want to do an update. My husband is a bit of a hacker himself and has organized the computers in such a way that only he can control a lot of stuff. It’s really frustrating, so I do most of my work from the phone. LOL Ubuntu was easy, but they’re all on Arch now instead, just because it was a point of pride to even get it installed. Apparently they make it intentionally difficult as a rite of passage. He spends 45 minutes in the Terminal coding before I can run the virtual machine with USB port access. Running Windows inside Linux is still easy for me. For some reason, connecting to the USB ports is not. Some things just aren’t worth the trouble. 