I wholly agree with
@Wendal about taking notice of the trends rather than the precise numbers.
Firstly Paul, always in your mind ignore the figure after the decimal point and just treat the display as a whole number, rounded up or down. Neither the fp test meters nor the sensors can actually be that accurate and its just marketing that encourages manufacturers to embellish an answer with that extra digit.
Secondly both fps and sensor readings can just be variable because actual blood glucose can be variable. Osmotic pressure facilitates BG change and its unrealistic to imagine that one's BG is constantly the same all over our bodies at any one moment in time.
Thirdly that snapshot from each fp or every 5 minute sensor reading is just a momentary snapshot. However the trend (change up, down, or staying level) is generally consistent and reliable; and even if a first CGM reading suggests a direction change that has been inaccurately "interpreted" by the complex mathematics using computer managed "algorithms", that inaccuracy gets corrected by another algorithm 5 mins later. So waiting at least 5 mins for a confirmatory sensor reading of a trend is invariably good practice.
The outcome is that good practice = don't panic, don't rush. With a first alert at 5.6 of a falling BG, there is plenty of time to consider what response would be best. My unusual state of having absolutely no pancreas and so none of the inbuilt warnings from the different pancreatic hormones does make my D quite a lot more brittle than most people; but I still have time to think before reacting because I've been alerted in a timely manner.
Paul, I don't know if you saw this response from
@everydayupsanddowns very recently about hypos. Note this is when the hypo is upon you, not after the timely alert that your BG is falling. But in case you didn't see this - I think it's definitely another bit of "learning" that both you and Angela should know and be comfortable with knowing:
I'm so so stressed, my hba1c is 129, it looks like I'm going to have to go on insulin, will I still be able to drive and work, I have really bad oral thrush at the moment and my mouth is burning so badly, I'm scared I'm going to get organ failure and did, I'm sat in my car crying my eyes out...
forum.diabetes.org.uk
Also, there is (rightly) a big emphasis on don't let yourself go hypo . Without wanting to undermine that advice, the early stages of going hypo are unpleasant. But they are also manageable and we don't immediately die from those modest early hypo symptoms (that of course depends on someone routinely having hypo warning symptoms, a few people don't). Knowledge dispels fear and knowing hypos are not pleasant makes us want to avoid them but also allows us to tell ourselves still don't panic. I'm not sure what medical advice you were given about hypos; I do know that when I did my formal DAFNE course 3 yrs after my diagnosis the DSN instructor opened the hypo training segment with words akin to "Hypos are inevitable and can be frequent .... ". I was uncomfortable with even that opening statement; I had CGM (Libre 2 then) for at least a year and since having Libre 2 my hypos were truly rare. I used the highest low alarm setting of 5.6 and those alerts kept me safe and away from going hypo. At most I only briefly nudged 4.0. Whereas before having Libre; I was regularly getting onto that hypo / hyper roller-coaster, with some very deep and frightening hypos.
I need to pause for now. But
@Wendal your comments are most kind and most undeserved. I regularly write too much and if I had a lot more time I would readily rewrite most of my long rambles much more succinctly and consequently shorter and better.
Paul, how did you get on yesterday and today after that momentary wobble about the 17+ reading yesterday evening?
