#diabox

(Besides "just" enjoying being able to glance at a screen whenever I like, without a very minor blood sacrifice being required to satisfy my curiosity about glucose levels.)

From my first full day using it, starting from roughly when I got up as reflected by those teeny spikes at the beginning:

Hmm, that is really not looking right! That huge mountain started rising up before I even got anything in besides the usual cup of coffee--which really does not seem to affect my blood sugar otherwise. 🤔 And the pre-breakfast insulin should have at least been on the verge of kicking in when it started climbing? The extra correction dose barely seemed to touch it after it skyrocketed up to a concerning point?

Seriously, WTF body?! 😒

Okay, wait! I know I've heard about something like this before, from other diabetics.

But, I was up for at least an hour before my blood sugar started shooting up for no apparent reason? Idk, maybe that doesn't quite fit.

Still, it's worth cautiously trying a little insulin first thing tomorrow, just in case. If it drops too much, I have a good excuse to drink some of that fresh cider. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Erm, NOPE! Second verse...

INTERESTING to see that exactly the same thing happened again, if more than a little nerve wracking! Either one preemptive unit of insulin wasn't NEARLY enough, or that's not the right explanation or solution.

(Just barely avoided it dipping low after shooting an extra meal's worth of Novorapid then taking a short roll around the neighborhood, to try and bring that shit back down. Thanks again to keeping a close eye on the Diabox display, and grabbing a fast snack to keep ahead of it! 😃)

Anyway, at least the tentative little preemptive insulin dose didn't seem to make matters worse, or even bring my blood sugar down AT ALL like it normally would.

May well be worth trying to hit it much harder in advance next time, and see what happens? Again, worst case, I'll be guzzling something sugary or chomping down on candy for breakfast.

And there are still a few things to try if that still doesn't help.

And, success! After taking a usual breakfast-sized dose of Novorapid as soon as I got up.

By the time I was ready to try some breakfast, the levels had not budged in any direction--which I took as an encouraging sign. So, I said fuck it and dosed more insulin as usual before getting in something lower in carbs, trying to play it safe.

(Normally I would say to change only one variable at a time, but jfc. I really DID NOT want a repeat of yesterday's stress!)

Result: Just about the sort of "normal" meal response I would expect? Definitely nothing alarming today. 🎉🥳🎊

And I felt way less like hot exhausted garbage, trying to get some shit done around here before Night Owl Lunch. (Suppertime just recently, for the folks on more socially acceptable schedules.)

Even without the added stress of watching the runaway roller coaster in near realtime, that shit COULD NOT possibly be good for your system. And this is with keeping watch and correction dosing to try and bring it back down. Who knows how high it might have been regularly spiking without that? 😰

I had no reason to think that anything weird might even be going on there, and had slacked on the after meal testing tbqh. Didn't really want to poke myself more than like 4-5 times a day on the regular, unless there was something more obviously unusual happening. So, I fell into a bit of a routine, and had generally called checking before I ate good enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And I really doubt that's unusual.

TL;DR: It's looking remarkably like I've been dealing with some sneaky version of the fairly common "Foot-on-the-Floor" phenomenon with my blood sugar, for Glod only knows how long. And I might not have known about it for a long time if ever, had I not FINALLY gotten set up with CGM technology to help me keep a better eye on what my busted diabetic metabolism is doing.

I had been finger-stick testing for breakfast not long after I got up, and this particular wacky endocrine stunt has apparently been working on just enough of a time delay for me to miss it. Then, by a couple-few hours later when I'm thinking about eating and test again? It's been back to high-"normal" at worst, the vast majority of the time.

This is yet another illustration of why at least all T1 diabetics--or anyone relying on insulin to stay alive and even vaguely healthy--should have ready, affordable access to continuous glucose monitoring technology! Plus any other tools that might make keeping on top of the situation easier, safer, and actually doable.

(Not to mention other folks who might benefit from that, and other currently available medical aids/assistance.)

I forgot to post this the other day, but here's my early Christmas present to myself! 😁 My own shiny new Galaxy Watch 3, with CGM display set up and running pretty smoothly so far.

No particular reason to want the added heart rate display, but it was an option. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Still playing around with the watch face. It's pretty customizable through G-Watch, which is good.

I'm not so sure about the default color scheme, aesthetically speaking--but it is going for pretty standard "green is good to go, look out for red/orange" color coding. May just stick with that, anyway.

First shot is the main watch face display, second is one of the AOD screen options. Which is kinda handy to have always ready to glance at, but we'll have to see how much battery it eats.

This setup already seems a tad battery hungry anyway, but it's looking like I can likely get at least a full 24 hours out of it. Haven't really pushed that yet, especially since I'm still getting used to wearing any watch again! Never mind one that gigantic compared to pretty much any I've regularly worn before. And that's been years now, basically since I started constantly carrying smartphones around.

Been slapping it on the charger whenever I'm giving those sensory issues a break from the still extra stiff leather strap it came with. (I am considering getting a softer silicone band to try instead, though, thinking that may be comfier even once this one does have a chance to get broken in some.) May try and see just how long the battery will hold out with normal use before too long, though.

The latest development here, in Shiny New-To-Me Diabetes Tech Land: full continuous glucose monitoring functionality achieved! 😎

And without paying for any aftermarket stuff, as I was kinda anticipating needing to do if I wanted that with the equipment I was given.

Though the Libre 2 does include one big improvement over the OG model, in that it does offer realtime alarms to warn you if your blood sugar is going potentially dangerously high or low? For whatever reason, the sensors still need manually scanned with a reader (or app on an NFC-capable phone) to download the actual reading data. 🤔 At least every 8 hours, or the sensor storage will fill up and stop adding more records.

Not sure exactly how or why it does work that way, but yeah that's why it's still the go-to cheaper "continuous" monitoring option. They're apparently changing this and going for full CGM capacity with the Libre 3, which is still basically in beta testing in Germany only for the time being.

But, in the meantime? There are several aftermarket add-on transmitters to work around the Libre's limitations compared to other tech currently on the market. One of these is the Bubble, apparently developed here in Sweden by T1 diabetics.

Their Diabox app is also open source, as an added draw.

Unlike with the official LibreLink app, Diabox's reported levels can be calibrated by entering some finger stick readings, which apparently really is a pretty big accuracy improvement. (With all the aftermarket Libre app options I've seen discussed, for that matter.)

But, it turns out that Diabox can also work around Abbott's funky Bluetooth implementation there, and connect directly with the Libre 2 sensors! 😁 No actual Bubble add-on device required.

I only got that set up and running this afternoon, but so far so good!

Still going to need to run some manual scans with the official app, so that data can get shared with the endo's office through Diasend like they want. Which is a bit of a bummer. (For now, at least? Planning to do that whenever I would normally test, plus right before bed.)

But, that's not too big a hassle. At least it doesn't involve poking myself with a lancet at least once, every single time I get the readings. And the full realtime info through Diabox should come in very handy indeed, trying to keep myself alive by filling in for my own poor pancreas full time!