Category: Insulin Pump Life
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Dentist Appointment Time, please no low blood glucose…
“I have a juicebox,” I told my dental hygienist, as my pump alarm beeped to warn me about an upcoming low blood glucose, as we were in the middle of a teeth cleaning. My pancreas doesn’t work right, so it’s a full time job to manage my insulin and blood glucose levels. My insulin pump…
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What CGM tape can I use if my skin is itchy I’m having allergic reactions?
Some people experience itchiness from the CGM tape for their Medtronic Guardian CGM, Dexcom CGM, or Freestyle Libre. It can be super frustrating to not be able to use the tape because it irritates your skin. If you have sensitive skin or allergic to common adhesives, you may want to consider Hypafix tape. Hypafix tape…
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Eating Fruit for a Soft Landing
The insulin in my pump can only change my blood glucose in one direction. Insulin lowers it. The tricky thing with treating diabetes with insulin is that too much insulin requires a correction. This correction is done by eating (or drinking) something with sugar in it. Grapes are a fun choice, and being able to…
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CGM Sensor Glucose Reading: It’s a Moment in Time
One thing that I’ve struggled with is making an (incorrect) decision on a single sensor glucose reading. I certainly have overreacted when seeing the down arrows. It’s easy to do. It can be scary to see the down arrows. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Likewise, I’ve overreacted when seeing up arrows.⬆️⬆️⬆️ But, it’s just one moment in time, and…
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Bike Riding Success! Managing Diabetes and Exercise
Today, I biked for an entire hour and my blood glucose stayed in range! I am feeling good about the increased exercise and about the success at managing my diabetes while cycling. Bike riding is something I’ve been wanting to do again, but it was difficult to do because my blood glucose would drop quickly…
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Flying and Pressure Changes Effect Insulin Pump
When thinking about taking a vacation and flying on a plane, as someone who uses an insulin pump, there are a lot of things on my mind, but the most concerning one is that insulin pumps may unintentionally deliver too much insulin during take off. There was a scientific study about this and the resulting…
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Medtronic 670G Insulin Pump: Auto Mode BG Alert
On my Medtronic 670G Insulin Pump, under auto mode settings, there is a setting to enable or disable “Auto Mode BG Alert.” I believe this setting is enabled by default, as it was enabled when I got the pump (or, perhaps, my diabetes trainer enabled it during the auto mode training session). This setting controls…
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Why am I needing more insulin?
I use the Medtronic MiniMed 670G Insulin Pump and mostly use its automated feature. It connects to the Guardian CGM and automatically adjusts my basal insulin to keep my blood glucose at a good level. My insulin needs change based on lots of factors, and there are some days where my blood glucose trends higher…
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Talk about insulin
This year, I had a first. I mentioned insulin without realizing that everyone in the meeting didn’t already know that I had diabetes. It was the first time I said insulin casually and revealed something very important about myself, by accident. Just like you might mention your favorite food. I mentioned insulin. Insulin, insulin, insulin.…
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Countdown to Eating – Insulin Timing
I have better blood glucose levels if I deliver insulin bolus before I eat. Of course, this is not easy. I am hungry and I eat. Dinner is ready. Food has arrived at my table. All these are reasons to eat and not wait. Also there’s the opposite problem — waiting to eat and then forgetting to…