Lessons from the First Week of Logging.
This was my first week of logging my blood sugars, per my 12 Changes in 12 Months resolutions. And you know what I learned?
I suck at logging my blood sugars.
I always thought I was really routine at doing this. Breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon, dinner, bedtime and maybe one or two other checks in between. But I haven’t been. I test irregularly and erratically, and so I’m left unable to make heads or tales out of any of these numbers. Not only do I not test often enough, I don’t test at the right times. How did I get so lackadaisical about it?
When I was in college, I was terrible at testing my blood sugar. I had no problem with taking my insulin, because I wore an insulin pump on my jeans pocket (which is where it still resides) and my pump was easily accessible. Reaching down and bolusing was not a problem. My meter, on the other hand, was always stuffed in my backpack with notebooks, pens, my wallet, and bunch of other crap I carried around. I often ate lunch on the run, grabbing a Subway sandwich or pita sandwich while walking to my next class. Or sometimes I would just start eating before getting to a table in the Memorial Union, and of course, by the time I realized I hadn’t tested, I was halfway through eating. I would think to myself, “Well, my blood sugar is already going up from the food, so really, what’s the point in checking now? The reading is ruined!”
Wrong! God, it’s amazing the things I convinced myself were true back then.
In any event, I didn’t started really testing again until I started working with a diabetes educator. I had to send him my blood sugar log sheets every couple of weeks. And of course, for that to make any sense, I had to actually, you know, test.
Now, with this newfound commitment I have to logging my blood sugars, I’m also facing the fact that I just don’t test often enough, which is strange because unlike college, where I was bounding from class to study group to a quick lunch to my apartment and back to class again, I’m at home. All day. Everyday. Perks of working from home.
Not only do I not test enough — which really isn’t shocking because I hate testing — but I also don’t test at the right time. Breakfasts? Could be at 8:30 a.m. Or 10:00 a.m. Lunch? Could be 12:15 p.m. Or could be 2:20 p.m. Dinner? Anywhere from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. And bedtime? Let’s not even go there.
It’s difficult to find trends when you only have one or two data points to work with. So while I made a commitment to log my blood sugars during the month of January, I’m making a new commitment to actually testing often and testing at the right times, so that the numbers I’m getting will actually be helpful.
In college, when I found it really difficult to test because my schedule was so varied, I set alarms on my insulin pump to remind me to test. I had one when I woke up and then several times throughout the day. If I hadn’t tested within an hour from when the alarm went off, I would test. My A1c? Dropped to the lowest ever during my junior year. For some reason, even though my schedule is fairly easy, I still have difficulty. Most likely because I don’t have the same kind of benchmarks throughout my day that I used to have. Since I don’t have a commute, sometimes I’ll get up early, but other times I’ll sleep in as late as I can get away with. Lunch is taken whenever I get hungry. There isn’t the same kind of consistency, and so it’s tricky for me to see what’s working. I think I really just need to build my own schedule into my workday, even if it’s artificial.
If anyone has any tips for how to keep a schedule when you, for all intents and purposes, don’t actually have one?
Starting weight: 204.3 lbs
This week: 202.8
Weight change: -1.5
Total weight loss: 1.5 lbs.
Not a tip on keeping a schedule, but an old-fashioned log sheet trick that I feel still works (and you can do this on a spreadsheet too). Get one of those pends that has four colors in one pen == you know them, right? (If you don’t tell me and I’ll send you one) (if you have a computer log sheet just use the colors on the computer). And # that is higher than target range, write in blue (as in, it makes me blue). In target range write in green (as in healthy and growing!), Below target range write in red (as in emergency!) any notes, write in black. Once you do this for a week, you’ll look at the log sheet and the patterns will JUMP off the page at you. Seriously, it works.
I was going to use an computer program (SugarStats) to track my BGs, but I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll need to do it by hand for it to make any sense in my head. Otherwise there’s too much flipping back and forth and I don’t like tagging BGs for meals. Sometimes it’s before a meal, but othertimes, I just happened to test at that time, but not eat for another hour or so. I need something more customized for me, and I think paper might do that.
Hi Allison,
I wish I had a couple good tips for you but all I really turn pump alarms like you did in university. I test before meals (usually) and then the alarm will go off in 2 hours for me to check again, and I do a night-time check before bed. The hardest thing for me was when at work (nursing, shift work) a lot of times I would think I’m too busy too check so I will push a few buttons and ignore the 2 hr check alarm. Now I make sure I do it: 1. How can I look after patients if I don’t look after myself 2. Seems counter-productive to be so worried about the health of my patients but be so non-chalant with my own.
If I’m testing often, I see the difference in my a1c for sure. I’m so bad at logging blood glucose. I don’t know what it is about it, it almost seems like it is a psychological thing. I remember in university I would sometimes make up a few pages of blood glucose levels for my endo because I was “too busy” to write them down.
As a nurse, I look back now and can’t believe I did it. Doesn’t get more dangerous than an endo & CDE suggesting pump changes based on fake numbers
I have the exact same problems with checking, I just don’t like doing it. And, really, who the hell DOES? But my A1C is through the roof and I know I need to get a better handle on blood sugars, so I’m trying. That new meter that’s hooks to my iPhone would certainly help, so I’m really anxious on that being released soon.
I also use the alarms on my pump to remind me 2 hours after any kind of bolus (correction or for food). I used to even have one set for when I have a low to remind me to check in 15-20 minutes. I don’t really use these alarms anymore because using them for a few years has managed to set the routine for me! I don’t have a set schedule either, but I do try to eat at the same times each day, which helps. I would never be able to do a paper log, so I just have everything downloaded on the computer.
I think the hardest part of logging for me is that I want it to look neat and orderly. Which is next to impossible with a flexible schedule. The thing that has worked the best for me is a small spiral note book that sits in my meter case. I write the bg, the time of the test, bolus, what I ate and how I’m feeling. I start a new page for each day. The new page for each day helps keep it orderly and also helps me to do a quick scan to pick up on trends. It also allows for all the variables that diabetes and random testing can throw my way.
I’m currently not as diligent but when I was pregnant my endo actually laughed at my log book. He said it was like reading a diary because I’d make notes about what currently had me stressed out.
Try testing when you 1st wake up. I keep my kit on my nightstand and test before I get out of the covers. That way, regardless of when you wake up, you know that that BG is your fasting one.
I was going to suggest using an alarm but looks like you’ve done that already! I think it’s just getting into the habit. I read some where it takes 21 days of doing something for it become second nature. Just hang in there! You can do it!
I used to be a logging fiend but it got to be too much so now what I do set alarms/reminders on my phone to remind me when to test and then review the results on my meter weekly and do a download if I’m trying to isolate a problem area so I can play with graphs and times and stuff. The beauty of working from home for me is that I can be on phone or knee deep in a project and just test (sometimes absent mindedly) without having it really interrupt my flow. For some reason, I have no issue testing on the fly but the extra step of writing it down or recording it in an app was just one step too many, which made me not want to do any of it!
I have a pretty clear schedule now, but I tend to miss my afternoon reading when work is busy, so I set an alarm on my PDM (I used to set it on my phone what I was injecting).
Good luck with logging!
I can identify with the erratic schedule. I’m retired and my favorite sleep/wake cycle is closer to that of a traveling roadie than a disciplined adult. I slide into my routine of staying up all night, sleeping during the day and eating when I feel like it. Then on days when I have to make an appearance during normal hours, I set alarms, drag around like a zombie and tend to snack when I feel I need a “lift”. Thus, I am clueless when I’m asked, “What time of day do you usually have highs or lows?”
I also have 5 different meters. So when my endo says “Bring your meter every visit” I ROTFLOL. I keep them in all the places where I tend to spend time (bedroom, den, craft room, kitchen, sewing room….) so that not having one handy doesn’t deter me from testing. I do test a lot and am now trying to enter my results into my pump so my endo doesn’t stroke out. However I have a new pump and my endo can download data wirelessly. I was a bit shocked and shagrinned when my endo asked why I has so many periods of time where I suspended my pump. Uh, I put it back on after showering and forgot to resume, I flew out the door late for an appointment and left it at home, I had it in my purse so when I weighed in so I wasn’t weighing the pump……! I have gotten SO lax and my A1C shows it! So here’s to keeping better records, remembering to test and making sure I turn the pump on!!!