CGMS Class

72

As recommended by Dr. B, I signed up for a CGMS class. I have been wearing the minimed sensor for about 5 months now, but she thought I could use a refresher. She had also referred to a study during my last appointment from The New England Journal of Medicine that concluded, “continuous glucose monitoring improves glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] levels and may enhance the management of Type 1 diabetes in adults who have the motivation to use this technology and the capability to incorporate it into their own daily diabetes management.” Thus, the better you know how to use CGMS, the better results you will have. As with many things in life, right? When I wanted to learn how to surf, it took me two months of paddling out, catching a wave and then crashing before I decided to take a lesson. As soon as I took a lesson, I could ride a wave. Anyways, I agreed, I could learn more about the CMGS. It turns out that the others registered for the class had canceled, so it was just me and the CDE. We downloaded my results from the last two weeks and looked at the reports. He applauded the relatively flat lines in the results which I accepted with a big, huge smile. I always like to be recognized for the hard work I put into living. We all need some validation, right? We continued on and I asked many questions and left with some good advice. I had learned:

1. I need to start my temp basal about 30 minutes before exercise instead at the start of exercise.
2. Temp basal should be closer to 50%, not 10%, (which I was doing) to avoid a high later.
3. Perhaps bolusing 10 minutes before I eat would flatten out that little rise I was seeing after meals.
4. I need to enter all carbs eaten into my pump for a better recording. When I am low, I typically don't enter the carbs I eat, because I am not bolusing, so why do it? Well, if I enter them, it's easier to figure things out when looking at the reports.

So, all in all, I was happy with my class and feel as if I have some new tools to manage things with.