The number of tests?
"How many times do you test per day?" this was the question put to me this morning by the Accuchek Guide rep while I was trying to replace my meter. "About twenty," I replied adding that my blood sugar can tend to be volatile. The rep murmured a sympathetic sound. But I wondered what she really thought.
I know what my Endo thinks. He's mentioned to me on more than one occasion that I am obsessed with checking. Do I really need to wake up throughout the night to check? Ummm...YES! It's not like I set an alarm or anything, I seem to naturally wake up between 1-3 times per night anyway so why not check?
Overnight lows are the worst. In the days before I had the whole diet thing mastered I'd wake up and have to eat at 2 am. Nothing worse than sitting by myself in the kitchen watching the clock tick over while I wait for my blood sugar to rise.
And what about in the day? Do I really need to check every hour? I actually don't check every hour, it depends on whether I'm insulin resistant or have had some sort of injection blunder. Most mornings I can go from breakfast to lunch without even checking. I know my liver is doing its thing, dumping some extra glycogen into my system so it's rare for me to drop. It's usually between 12-5 pm that I like to be vigilant. I can never seem to get my lunchtime bolus right, and then there might be some extra exercise thrown in the mix around 4 pm.
Checking vigilantly when you live with Type 1 Diabetes is a make or break situation. Especially if you can't tell when your low. Its called hypo unawareness, it happens when you have too many lows and the body stops recognising the feeling of being low. Like my horrible hypo two weeks ago, before I knew it I'd dropped to 3.2 mmol. Scary!
It was also after that horrible hypo and sharing it here that some friends encouraged me to use a CGM (continuous glucose monitor). This is something I would love to have but sadly here in Australia there is no subsidy for someone like me. To be eligible for the Dexcom or Medtronic CGM you have to be hypo unaware and admitted to hospital more than once or under the age of 21.
The Freestyle libre flash glucose system is also on offer here, but this has no subsidy at all. I have written before on the blog about how much I love this product. Sleek, discreet and accurate using it has increased my peace of mind and saved my finger tips. I've attended product launches and #dx2Melbourne and can honestly share the company, its ethos and care are palpable. I've even lobbied the government to make access affordable for people like me and had a small feature in the Noosa News. In spite of my passion and efforts, I still can't justify spending $100 every fortnight.
But wait ho... my wonderful parents, after reading my blog, gave me the best early christmas gift ever! A 6 months supply of the freestyle libre. I am touched and grateful.
Here I am ready to launch. So excited to have some time off from the drudgery of test strips and the ability to see whats actually happening minute by minute with the food I am eating, the insulin I am taking and the sleep I'm sleeping. I'll probably put one in starting next week so stay tuned...
See you tomorrow #NDAM #DiabetesAwarenessMonth
with great respect...
