CGMS Trending Results

Today went down to SGH to see Dr Soh. He will be explaining to me the readings on the CGMS meter.....great! I will know how well I have fared and what I need to do in the future.....
Somehow, Day 1 of the test is a little bit unstable but rest of the days seems to be fine. However, there are some days which the readings on the meter is different from the finger pricking readings.....need to guess what happened that day....
Takeaway from this session:
1) Testing is important before and after exercise because there will be changes to the sugar level
2) When I know that my sugar level will be low a few hours after excercise, then I should lower my Glargine for the day so that I will not run into Hypo. Most prob my Dr did mention abt it but I probably forgotten about it....
3) Pre-exercise snack is important so that I will not run into Hypo while running.

My next extreme sports will be the OCBC 40km Cycle event next year.......Not sure how I can take it but guess I need to train and monitor my results at the same time.

After My 5km run

Before my 5km run yesterday, I got the CGMS device removed. Gosh! So much relieved that this is removed. Else, I will be uncomfortable with my run.
Below will be my testing results before and after the run.

Pre-breakfast@ 5.58am 6.8 mmol. Gave myself 18 units of Glargine and 6 units of Humalog. Took 3 cream cracker biscuits and a bowl of Quaker oats.
After the run @ 9.45am 5.9 mmol. Went for snack with friends. Took 2 pieces of steamed yam cake and coffee "neat" (meaning, no milk and no sugar)
Pre-lunch @ 12.59 pm 7.4 mmol. Since I know that the run will make my sugar go low, I gave myself 8 units of Humalog eventhough the plate of fishball noodles looks like 3 CHO portions.
Pre-dinner @ 7.03 pm 4.2 mmol. Before this, I actually felt hypo @ around 5.45pm and took canned apple juice from vending machine. Gave myself 10 units of Humalog before dinner.
2.5 hrs later @ 9.32pm 3.3 mmol. Hypo again! Did not take sweet drinks this time round but I took around 4 pieces of raisin biscuits and a glass of milk.

After the run, I experienced hypo twice. If I run in the morning, the hypos will come late in the afternoon or evening. Since most the time I run in the evenings, then my hypo will come around 3-5 am in the morning. Maybe next time what I will need to do is to inject less Humalog for my dinner.

Fibre May Keep Diabetes At Bay?

Saw a report the other day on Yahoo website. There is this article that says that fibre MAY keep diabetes at bay. Wonder will is also help to reduce the glucose level in our body?

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20091029/tts-health-australia-fibre-79adaf4.html

Day 3 of Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Finally it's Day 3! This morning, I realised that there's water in the dressing!! How did water get in there? Is it my perspiration from my jog or it went in after shower? Oh no, will it spoil the device? Need to change dressing?
Actually, I am very hesitant to touch anything or change dressing coz I am scared that I will screw it up and add pain to myself. I am even willing to endure the itch than to change the dressing. But the water inside is a little too much. If the device is spoilt and did not record the readings, then the previous 2 days of endurance is down the drain! No choice, I pluck up the courage to tear out the dressing. Ouch! A bit tight to remove and I pressed the device too hard to my stomach!!!
Think I pressed on the device a bit too hard to my stomach and I can feel the slight pain even after I have replaced with a new dressing. Whole day is so uncomfortable. Cannot wait to have it removed tomorrow!!!!
Wonder how is she going to remove it for me.......Pain again?

Day 2 of Continuous Monitoring

While I was in my dream land, my CGMS device "beeped"! I woke up sleepishly to see what happened....the screen showed "Memory Low". Again, not sure why it beeped, I just follow the steps to "turn" of the beeping.
I have to find a skirt with big pockets for me to put the huge device. Other than that, the day has been quite smooth with this device just a little uncomfortable and not able to stand straight because I am afraid it will be too obvious. The transparent dressing is not making me comfortable either. In fact, my skin starts to get sensitive to the dressing and it starts to itch at the area around the dressing. Just tell myself, ensure 1 more day and I will get this removed!
Went jogging with this device today. Other than the comfort level, everything is fine.
Went home for dinner after my jog. Took my pre-dinner testing with my meter and it reads 4.9 mmol.....at the low side. Inject myself with 10 units of Humalog and took my Hokkien noodles. Yummy......
So, while I am waiting to do my 6th calibration, I am blogging now. The device "beeped" again. This time round, it says "BG Meter Now". Not sure why this device just like to beep out of no reason. Anyway, time to go for bed and I need to do pre-bedtime calibration.

Day 1 of Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Today is the day that I am supposed to wear the CGMS device. Reached the medical center in the morning. At that time, I was still clueless about this thing and how they are going to use this to monitor my glucose level. The thing that kept ringing in my mind: Is it going to be painful? Is the needle going to stay in my stomach for 3 days? How to bathe since it is not really waterproof? Is it going to bring lots of inconveniences to me in terms of my daily work?

Very worried and scared when I went into the room. Guess the assistant is able to sense my fear from the questions I asked and my worried look. She told me that she is going to insert a needle to the stomach which will be taken out soon. So meaning to say, the thick long needle will not stay in my stomach. Instead it will be another so called "tube" that will be there. She explained to me what will be attached to my body will be a little device which you see in the picture which I took.

It's indeed small but still will be obvious if you wear tight clothes. So for the time being, I will avoid wearing these clothes. Then there will be another device which looks like a pager (in fact, I think it's bigger than a pager) which I need to carry it along with me all the time because it will be sensing the blood level from the small device. The distance between this small and big device cannot be too far apart. Even when I shower or sleep, I need to have this close to me. Sigh! Then I need to have this thing strapped to me coz I tend to move around all the time and might forgot to bring this along.

Finally, the time came when she is going to poke the needle to my stomach. Gosh! The pen is so huge and I kind of worried. Before she click on the pen, she told me not to look at her. So I took a deep breathe and within seconds, it's done. Ok, not that painful afterall. Just like my usual injection. To answer my question on how to shower with this thing? Well, she pasted a plastic over it to ensure that the device is well protected. After some instructions and explanation on the use of this device, I will be on my own.

Actually, I am kind of worried about using this device again. Why? Because they teach me basics only. What if there is any "out of the blue" condition that happens, what should I do? Guess I am more worried about spoiling the machine if I play around with it to get my problem fixed.

The first problem came for my first calibration. The device was not set to be in mmol. Gosh! How to input my readings? No choice, got to call the medical center in charge to help me. He has been very helpful and nice. Patient too coz I am a bit clumpsy with the buttons and he gave me step by step instructions. Phew.....done.

Second problem came for my third calibration. The device suddenly "beeped". Shit, what happened again. So, I got to call the medical rep again @ 9pm to ask him what happened? As usual, he is really patient and friendly. Explained to me not to worry about the CAL ERROR which I see on the device and how to fix this error.

Shower time! Hesitant to go shower coz not sure whether will it wet the device on my body. Ok, think i worry too much. Things went on fine. But I guess, I am sensitive to the plastic that is pasted on my stomach coz somehow I feel itchy.

Ok, me going to bed with this device and the "pager" is going to be near me under my pillow.

Tomorrow I will be back in the office and my jog. Might encounter something different again....

5km training @ East Coast 4 days before my Great Eastern Run...Glucose Level Crisis

Decided to go East Coast for my 5km training with my colleagues again. Before I left the office, I tested my glucose level. 15.3mmol. Hmm...should be ok thinking into consideration that I took a slice of bread 1 hour earlier. I remembered Dr Tan told me that my glucose level will go down after exercising.
I started running from Fort Road all the way to the Sea Food Center non stop. It's around 5km and I took around 30 minutes this time to complete this run. After which, we strolled back and decided to settle dinner at Sushi Teh near to Big Splash.
Without my meter with me, I do not know how much is my glucose level. Anyway, I just ordered my usual, Karakaige Udon and Diet Coke. Without my pen with me, I am not able to inject insulin as well.
After dinner, we walk back to our cars and I took the opportunity to inject myself 10 units of Humalog taking into consideration that the low glucose level will still be effective for 24 hours. I do not want to run into Hypos in the middle of the night. One and half hour later, pricked myself again. My meter gave me 15.4 mmol. Hmmm.....that is high considering it's 1.5hr after my injection and my run. But there is still possibility of me running into hypo later in the evening. So, I guess I will not inject anymore insulin to bring it down. I just cross my fingers that the readings will be normal when I test next morning......
CGMS tomorrow. Hope everything goes well.