Bravo!! Diabetes is not a sporting competition. Thinking of diabetes management in terms of “wins” and “failures” can really mess with you psychologically.
I take each day as it comes.
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That is a lot of insulin. ESP at night. Where o am at 1 unit per hour most of the night. 1.2 per hour days.
I wonder if some metformin would help you.
How many carbs do you eat in a day?
I am 6’3 and 195 lbs. I still take about the same insulin as I did 30 years ago. Maybe 5% more. When I was 165 lbs.
For me the one thing that brings my insulin requirements down is the exercise.
I walk to and from lunch during the week and I walk 2 miles every day after dinner, I walk to get a coffee and return home.
It’s been really good and keeping me level.
Avg. Daily Carbs: 166g. I’m 71 yrs old, 6’1" → 6’ (shrinkage), 230 lbs. Last A1C was 5.6. I (and my dog) exercise daily around 1.5 miles. According to lab tests, I am no longer producing any insulin. The pump maxes out at basal rate of 3.0u/hr and I’m guessing I need around 3.3 to 3.5u/hr at night.
Ok have you considered a shot of lantus before bed?
I mean this has to be insulin resistance so maybe the other drugs might take care of it.
I hope u figure it out.
I did do a streak, I just didn’t realize it as those are not the ranges I have set into my phone. But I decided to check and I have 8 days straight of 100%. Yesterdays 99% was when I restarted my sensor and it came on at 195 and I quickly calibrated it as I was 105. But from Aug 2nd-9th I hit 100%!
My exercise bike is my most valuable tool, if it ever breaks I’m up the creek lol. I’m also retired and I think that helps a lot. But like @CJ114 I actually used to try for 2 weeks straight of 100% and I got obsessive about it. So now I don’t care and hardly look at clarity anymore.
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That’s pretty awesome.
Congratulations!,
I’m at 36 hours right now.
It’s crazy how one little out of range can throw it off.
I’ll tell you though the last time when I was several days in, I got a little anxious.
I do this for fun, as a challenge and encouragement. I don’t take it too seriously and if it creates negative feelings, it becomes pointless.
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I understand it being a fun challenge! It’s fun to do things like this! 
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It wasn’t until I fully committed myself to aggressive glucose management that I discovered several tactics and tools that enabled me to produce good glucose statistics. Only when I adopted a lower carb way of eating, everyday exercise, and making glucose control a high priority did I start to witness some good reports.
Seeing my numbers improve provided more motivation to keep up the everyday effort. That motivation produced more sustained efforts and more success in a virtuous cycle.
I’ve had people criticize my glucose management habits as obsessive. I don’t see it that way at all. An obsession can be healthy and produce positive effects but it can also be something that hurts you. I think a positive obsession could also be described as a passion.
My attention to blood sugar details maximize the amount of time I feel energetic and clear-thinking. These are worthwhile goals for me.
In the process of watching my glucose statistics closely, I found myself trying to influence the numbers to make them better, a sort of game. I think viewing the difficult and lifelong challenge of managing glucose in manual mode for the rest of your life needs some levity to fuel the forever effort. If a game or friendly challenge makes that effort easier, how can that be bad?
Before the diabetes online community formed, we each were an island surrounded by gluco-normals. The online community enabled us to find answers to questions and yes, even as a way to entertain ourselves. I see comparing numbers in a challenge fashion as an amusement and possibly even an education, providing the competitive nature does not become too much.
If these kinds of things do not appeal to someone, I get it. You don’t need to participate. There are many other things we can talk about.
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Well, this contest made me actually look at my Dexcom Clarity reports. I don’t have anything higher than 97% because I have too many lows. I rarely have anything much over 160, but I drop low too often. Seeing this is going to make me try harder to stay above 65. I will even aim for 70.
What is considered a good score? I mean what is good enough?
So do you take notes when the Dexcom reading is different than the finger stick result since that can really throw off a report?
I am having fun with this. I can see how it could drive one crazy though.
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I have got a question, my Dexcom reading is 84 and my alert is set for 80. I felt lower than 84, so did a finger stick and that read 71. Even using gel, I can’t correct this before I am in the 60’s. How do you all handle this?
Would a pump have corrected this already. I know nothing about pumps.
I think that’s only something you can answer.
I review my Clarity reports every day. I accept that the sensors will produce some false lows and false highs. It can sometimes motivate me to add some calibrations to cinch-up the data stream to align better.
I don’t take any notes when the Dex sensor is different than a fingerstick reading. I’m not as much concerned with data precision as I am with understanding the broader trends that Clarity can reveal. Things like, “I’m going hypo many days around 3:30 pm; perhaps I should change my 1:30 pm basal rate or make the corresponding insulin sensitivity factor weaker.”
I use the 14-day AGP report for this function. It’s a great one to suggest insulin therapy changes.
We have few levers to pull. We control insulin timing and dose size. We also control when and what we eat as well as when and how intense we exercise.
In this case, I would ingest the glucose source, chase it with water if I want to speed the correction up, and just watch and wait. If this is part of a repeated pattern then you can take action with the levers I listed above.
A pump is just different way to deliver insulin. I will adjust my basal rate schedule or insulin sensitivity factor if I sense a recurring pattern.
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Yes, there are a couple pump options that make basal changes or bolus delivery to respond to trending high or lows.
I use Tandem with CIQ that does this. Not perfect, and best at overnight control, and for some, pump waits to long to make corrections.
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My pump adjusts basal rates on the fly as I go lower it lowers my basal rate. It really keeps me from going low often, but sometimes I still do. I use carb gel and it’s pretty fast.
If you are 80 and trending down you might drop down.
I purposely set my dex and sugarmate to 60-180 so that we could all be on an even playing field. In reality we all have different limits.
I’ve had my dexcom read 58 but I was really 66 , you can’t alter the data so that ruined my run.
As far as what’s good, the idea I had was to see how long we can be in range 60-180 without going high or low.
I am about to hit 48 hours, but so many things can throw it off.
A97% average is pretty stellar if that’s your usual
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97% was my best, but not my usual. My usual is fairly close, but not as good as that. I don’t know if I want to spend too much time trying to hit perfection when a faulty Dexcom reading, and they are frequent, can throw the percentage off.
I try to keep levels between 65 and 140, but a faulty pen needle made me reach 160 this evening. Too many different problems can affect the readings.
I am glad though that I have a tool to try to raise my lower numbers a bit.
Thanks Timothy for suggesting this exercise.
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Thanks MM1. I think a pump might make this a bit easier, but I think I would find it too much of a hassle. I do think about it though.
Definitely during the learning curve. My first pump was much more basic, so not really that much different than MDI. (My only MDI was with NPH am, bedtime, and Reg for breakfast and dinner.) NPH covered my lunch, so had to be on time or I would go low. My meals had to be on time, and based on number of exchanges, to match injection given hours earlier.
So the move to pump for me was significant improvement for variable basal settings and convenient “bolus wizard” to calc each meal dose. Bolus for snacking, reduced basal/suspend for exercise were also options.
The pumps today that integrate cgm automate much of what I did manually, but now I get more sleep and CIQ gives me a slightly lower A1C with less work.
Oh yes, the good old days, when postponing a meal could mean passing out. I did a mixture of NPH and regular for years with only 1 shot daily. I had diabetes for 22 yrs before I started multiple shots. Then the changes made in insulin and what I used is sort of a blur.
I think I would have trouble wearing a pump, because being a side sleeper, I can’t have anything on my arms. My Dexcom doesn’t bother me only if I wear it right in the middle of my abdomen. Tags in clothing bother me too. I wish I wasn’t this way, but I am.
I’m rarely used food exchanges and just can’t believe some of the foods I ate and how much I ate. I have been very fortunate to have lived this long.
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I calibrate my Dexcom aggressively to be within 5 points of accuracy. That helps keep your numbers better.
For me I loosened the reins on control, I found myself aggravated that snorkeling led to higher numbers than my high range set at 140. Why get aggravated at something I enjoy and is good for me.? So I realized for me not paying such close attention was better. I still maintain extremely good control just without watching my graphs so much. I just printed my latest numbers in the blog I started Vegan Type 1 and My Numbers.
To me it was about letting loose some and being a lot more casual about it. That does not mean I let my numbers go all over the place. I am already in range "good enough"for me. My numbers fall into normal Bg levels and non diabetic, except well I can’t be…
Sorry, I did not mean to start something. Watching your numbers can be a good thing. And challenges can be fun.
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