What are your 7, 14, and 30 day meter averages? Keeping it real

Oh I am afraid to do that as well!!!! :)

Okay, but I don't look at these numbers much because after the 5 lows I had today, I don't see the point

7 day 117
14 day 123
30 day 125

Jen - Only you can make the judgment about balance. Reading your description, I wonder how you have time to take care of yourself. Some people seem to be able to juggle several different tasks at one time, while other not so much. Modern life, I fear, invites us to over-commit.

While you can't simply back out of previous commitments, perhaps you could identify just one thing that you'd like to change in your diabetes care and then make that a priority. When you stop and think about it, everything your do, every relationship, project, and goals all stem from one thing: your health! Lose your health and everything in your life suddenly stops, whether you like it or not.

I remember as a high school competitive swimmer, the coach would sometimes have us swim at 75% speed. I was always amazed that backing off on the sheer effort led to a more efficient style and much less cardio effort. With your six-month masters' project extension, maybe this is your chance to back off just a bit and take care of youself -- maybe even just some down-time. What do you think?

I just downloaded my pdm data to copilot, which i havent done in a while, and it gave an avg SD of 11.8, with a high SD of 16 post lunch, and a low of 8-9 during sleep and breakfast(which i usually fast thru anyways).
Also, my avg daily basal is 6.5 and bolus is 13.3 for a total of just over 19 units.

You're right, Karen. Averages have a way of hiding some of the truth. That's my problem with depending on the A1c too much.

Like I and others have mentioned, other numbers, like standard deviation combined with the average illuminates the quality of your control better.

I also look at the 25th percentile BG number over 14 days sorted by hour of the day, the so-called "modal day." If my 25th percentile number, for any hour, is at or below 70 mg/dL then I am having too many lows. Ideally I like my 10th percentile BG number to be no lower than 65 or 70.

I also prefer to keep the number of data points < 70 to 5% or less and for 2/3 of them to be in the 60s. Am I out of my mind?

By the way, your average numbers look great! What's causing the lows?

Movement with bolusing. I have been off work this week and today I bolused ate a small lunch and was helping my mother set up her new home, kept on having lows, was not a pretty sight, and my 85 year old mother tries to over help :)

Wow this is incredible?!? Kennedy is 12 year old t1 and she has gone from eag by dex from 165 to 150 this first month out of school!! And I thought she was doing great to hit that 150 !! You guys also have t1?? If so these are miraculous numbers??

7–160
14–167
30–169
I take great pride in these numbers, considering that three weeks ago, before I got my Dexcom, my 30-day average was 269! The cgm has really opened my eyes as part of my personal epiphany to change. After almost 20 years with T1, and many, many obstacles to my self-care, I have become recharged with a desire to take control of my diabetes and no longer let it control me! I am thrilled with a 160 and hope it will only get better from here!! Thanks for the opportunity to share.

Natalie - I wasn't diagnosed with T1D until I was 30. I've read a few medical studies that summarized the average A1c numbers of children and that group was higher. Controlling BGs when hormonal growth spurts occur has to be difficult.

Most of the responders here are T1s but I do know that Brian is a T2. As I said above, averages can hide hypos. I don't consider a low average with too many hypos as successful management. That's why considering the standard deviation is a good way to look at the data.

If I have an average of 100 and a standard deviation of 25, then 68% of my BG tests (given normal distribution) will fall between 75 and 125. However, given the same 100 average and a standard deviation of 50, then 68% of the data falls between 50 and 150. I don't consider the latter scenario as good control because there will be too many hypos.

Two of the commenters, I believe, have been diagnosed more recently and still have some residual insulin production. One of them uses a low carb diet. I don't consider their numbers as miraculous, but they are incredible. A little help from some healthy beta cells can do a lot of good. I don't expect that I, as a long term T1 without native insulin will ever be able to have an average BG in the 80s, short of a cure or a very good artificial pancreas system with ultra-rapid acting insulin and possibly glucagon, too.

I'm glad to read that you've been able to get Kennedy on the Dex. You're already making progress and you will make more. That should help you both a great deal. I fear you may compare the experiences you read here with the challenges you face controlling the BGs of an adolescent with T1D.

I think you are right - these opportunities all came at me in short succession, and of course it's hard to judge workload before starting (especially when "small" projects grow "big"). I was initially planning on starting a Ph.D. fairly soon after finishing my M.A., but I've scratched that goal for now. My goal after I'm done school (or now, starting sooner) is to concentrate on an exercise- or health-related goal, like losing weight, better diabetes control, or just doing something cool.

Not all of my problems have been due to being busy - I'm also having a lot of problems with pump sites and allergies lately - but I definitely think learning to back off a bit and that I don't have to jump on every single opportunity that comes along would be a good thing.

In good news, though, the job I have now is totally my niche and is MUCH less stressful than the job I had a year or a year and a half ago. It's less pay, but one lesson I have learned is job satisfaction is worth more than money ever will be! The same is probably true of success and health.

Shawn - These are incredible numbers. It's been so long since I had any native insulin production, I've forgotten what that was like. Good for you for your aggressive management. Let's hope your efforts can extend this honeymoon period for a long time. Good luck.

Sometimes I think we need to push the boundaries to learn where our "sweet spot" (no pun intended) lies. I'm glad to read you found your niche. Less stress is good!

I went through a lot of pump site problems about a year ago and they can be a real pain. When insulin does not absorb well, it totally undermines pump therapy. I finally changed infusion sets and use a loofah sponge when I shower to encourage my sites to recover more quickly.

Good for you! If I had D when I was a teenager, it would have been a major rebellion issue. I totally get how that could happen. Why I lost in the genetic lottery and ended up with D, at least it waited until I was 30.

It's kind of weird, really. Counterintuitive, even. When a T1D fully accepts and even embraces his/her diabetes, takes on full ownership, that's when it starts to get easier.

Shelby - You should take great pride in these numbers. You dropped a 100 points off of a 30 day average! I love the CGM -- as the technology gets more accurate, it will help us even more.

Some people don't like to monitor the D-data. I've become addicted to it - in a healthy way ;-) When I watch an average, a standard deviation, % lows -- I instinctively try to influence them in a positive direction. It's as if the mere observance influences my behavior. It has a game-like appeal. If you haven't already, upload your Dex to the Studio software. It's helped me a lot.

It's why I like using the CGM, it gives me a visual that I want to influence.

Happy to read about your personal epiphany. Good luck with your new journey!

It's amazing how something like housework can cause a low.

Parents never stop being parents!

Terry - thanks, i do try very hard to be consistent. I think when you try to control your blood sugar tightly (Ac1c below 6%) you need to do this to manage hypos. In that way, it is a little like quality. If you can't measure it, you can't control it. And you can't test in good quality, you have to build it in.

7-114
14-110
30-110
60-108
90-111

Terry do you have a link to that report regarding non-diabetic numbers, I have been looking for that kind of information but so far have come up empty.

Right now my main One Touch Ultra2 meter says:

7 days--133
14 days--123
30 days--120

Last weekend on a trip, I had poison ivy and was taking Prednisone. Using my One Touch Mini then, I was averaging 250! My A1C has been 5.8 for the last year, but don't know what the Pred did to it.

Good for you, Shelby! So glad you feel more in control of your D! I'm always impressed when someone can turn things around like that! Keep up the good work.