Dreaming with the Dexcom

I've had plenty of diabetes dreams, and I've had lucid dreams (something I never knew other people experienced too, until I took psych). Never had a diabetic lucid dream although this one kind of came close. I always thought my dreams lasted for about a millisecond and the seemingly endless high or low were just exaggerations. But my textbook, informed me that dreams unfold in real-time. I didn't think it was possible to have a low lasting over 30 minutes without A. waking up or B. going into seizure. Dexcom has proved me wrong.(apparently, I do have a glucose producing liver at moments when it actually counts)

I think it would be kind of neat to be dreaming about a low or high(which translate into feeling hungry and thirsty, in the dream) and see how low or high I actually am, and for how long. (corresponding time chunk) Not that difficult, because if I wake up suddenly, most of the time I remember my dreams. Lucid dreaming is pretty hard/rare though, you can't just decide to do it. (dumb luck)I may know that I have diabetes in my dream, but not that eating or drinking will not cure my symptoms.So I'm merrily eating mountains of pancakes or drinking gallons of water and it isn't doing any good at all.(till I wake up) I don't know if wild bg variations make for more nightmares, probably not, I've always dreamed alot. The problem with using the Dexcom to track this is the Dex has a tendency to shriek/vibrate its head off anytime you're outside of the range so you really don't get a chance to wake up naturally from the dream. And there are certain safety features(under 55, over 400?) that even if you have the alarms off those safety alarms will still boot in.

Sometimes I turn the fan on high and put the dexcom under the bed so it won't wake me up but it will still read. For the most part, I have good internal cues to wake up when low but its not always right away. The dexcom will wake anyone up,(usually I put it under my pillow) but deciding whether to treat that (usually) high is another story altogether. It's best to be very, very conservative at an hour where you're so exhausted that a low is the last thing you need. Bottom line, I'm grateful for the chance to correct the situation before it gets out of hand..even if it does wake me up all night long some nights.

Genuinely Sussified

I have been Dexcomless for the past two weeks, and the bgs have reflected that. Mostly highs(flirting with lows scares me, so I preferred to ruin my next a1c,its better then not waking up the next morning). Managed to lose(throw away???) my transmitter. The transmitter is that $250 piece that snaps into the sensor. Dexcom generously agreed to send me a new sensor out with my sensor shipment. Wellllllll, that didn't happen(shipment #1) so it took a couple of weeks to finally get one.(but at least they didn't charge me:)

As expected, it spat out a nice reading somewhere in the mid 300's. I bolus, eat
lunch.












One of these:














unfortunately doesn't help.(so much for limiting sugar binges,at 18 carbs/pack of 2 it really is a tasty little snack)15 minutes later and I'm in need of a juice box.Welcome back to good control.

Finally got my Dexcom computer program installed, so I will be able to see the trends,
etc.I've never really done anything like this before(even with a meter),I'm not
that hard core of a diabetic. I've got to make the technology work for me, it does no good if I have it/don't use it.












And...one lucky person will get THIS:
(as I squeak by the deadline by a measly 2 days)
I'm also eagerly anticipating my OWN sussy arrival!

All Quiet on the Eastern Front

This is officially the last week of my singlehood. I don't know how I feel about that yet..other then things seem to be traveling at warp speed + I'm getting absolutely nothing accomplished. I'd planned to write all these blog posts pre-jetting-off-into-honeymoon-bliss, but its not going to happen. And I'd planned to anylize all my thoughts about the Dexcom, but thats probably not going to happen either. Here are a couple thoughts, though.

#1 I keep getting all these ???'s. Sometimes it means I'm dropping like heck, other time there is no reason.

#2 My sensor itches. It hasn't quite turned cherry tomato red/raised bump yet, but it is definatly not comfortable. I am not going to pull it out though, it is too expensive to ditch after only 3 days. I'm going to have to experiment with Tegaderm underneath, which should be interesting(as I have only inserted one sensor, I don't even know what I'm doing yet)

#3 Lows..still happen. The differance is, you can see it when you come back up + don't have to continue stuffing your face based soley on your symptoms. And thats useful,because you don't have to end up in the 200-300's later. I am still figuring this out, + how to treat a low with a sensor vs. a meter. Yeah I know I should doublecheck on the meter,but I just don't feel like it.(it hasn't dropped THAT low, not like 40's or anything)

#4 Got my cobra paperwork, and I'm going to have to take care of that tomarrow. Expensive, yeah, but getting in sync with his insurance will be a whole new ball game. At least I know I will be covered for anything for the next month. (Shark attacks, insulin reactions, hurricanes)

Adios till next time.

Dateline Dex(11/02/07)

Dateline, 10 pm. Somewhere at large on the frozen Virginia Tundra....

A Dexcom 7 spits out another unremarkable, utterly smack dab normal blood sugar.


First day on the Dex:
79-158 mg/dl.3/4 of those numbers were in the 110-120 range. Man, this is GOOD.(it took awhile to calibrate it right with the Ultra,but now its like within 15 points)

Of course, I don't believe that I am 100, I can't believe it. Its all relative, and I was probably 20 points higher. The hour I spent in the 80's, though, sure felt like it was pushin' a hypo.(ice cream plus 2 hours temp rate eventually brought it up to the 100's again)

What I did today:
-pack
-pack
-discover 6 still usable vials of test strips
-discover 2 vials that expired last month(grrr)
-discover 2 vials of insulin that are still in date but need to be used up
-rescue my antique sliderule + one-day-antique insulin vials from the trashcan
(my mom is great to help, honestly, if you discovered insulin vials that expired in 2001 you'd probably chuck them too but it nearly gave me a coronary)
- eat
-bolus, and watch my blood sugars not change one iota
- watch my Dex some more...
-pack
-throw away 6 trashbags of junk
-give away 5 boxes of stuff I'll never use

Moving Day Tomarrow!!!!!!
(for the vast majority of my stuff)It's somewhat differant this time, joining two houses into one isn't like a single person accumalating more junk for life on their own.(its more purging, this time around)I have entirely too much stuff.

Joining the Ranks

I. am. officially. beyond. esctatic.
(and they're nuts if they think I will wait to get trained on this thing, I'm a pumper and it can't be much more difficult then that). I think I can figure this out
on my own.(and should I get stuck-with the help of others, who've posted about their own experiences)