keeping track of diabetes

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Hi

I was just wanted to know how others keep track of their diabetes day by day, I am sure everyone has their own methods. Mainly would be interested to know the following:

  • any apps used and for what
  • if not using apps, any particular kind of physical log
  • the sort of info being recorded
  • how well this has worked for you
  • have you always kept track of your diabetes this way

I'd like to see if there is anything that I could be doing differently.

Thank you
 
I used to use an app which I logged BG, insulin, food (exactly what I ate but also carb content) and exercise on it. Since I got Freestyle Libre i have become lazy and I just use the Libre reader to log insulin injections, basic carb intake (and exercise when I remember)

I was just reading your other post about exercise and I think you would benefit enormously from the Libre system for keeping your levels right during and after exercise. Abbott are doing a free 2 week trial for those who meet the criteria, so it might be worth enquiring if you haven't used Libre. Then if it works well for you, enquire about getting it on prescription.
 
I use an App that I wrote myself. It tracks all the major health aspects (weight, BMI, temperature, pulse, oxy saturation, blood pressure, blood glucose) and also all food and meal data, everything eaten and drunk every day (each food and recipe, the weight, calories, carbohydrates, protein, fats, saturated fats, salt cholesterol, fruit portions, fish portions, nut portions). It also tracks exrcise, Appointments, Meds, Issues, and produces full reports on everything each month on demand including graphs. I have just updated it to include images of foods and recipes.

I have found it essential to be able to see how things are and for planning to be able to manage things effectively.

It is easy to use and easy to check on any aspect. I couldn't manage without it.

I started it because the NHS just dumped me with a diagnosis, meds, and to fend for myself after a week in hospital. Incidentally they got the diagnosis wrong.



Gwynns Graph Nov Dec Jan.jpg
 
I use nothing. I get a result, assess it, react if necessary and make a mental note if I think something needs sorting eg a basal change. I used to keep records but I realised it was for the sake of it rather than having any practical use. I also think it can cause unnecessary anxiety.
 
rebrascora said:
I used to use an app which I logged BG, insulin, food (exactly what I ate but also carb content) and exercise on it. Since I got Freestyle Libre i have become lazy and I just use the Libre reader to log insulin injections, basic carb intake (and exercise when I remember)

I was just reading your other post about exercise and I think you would benefit enormously from the Libre system for keeping your levels right during and after exercise. Abbott are doing a free 2 week trial for those who meet the criteria, so it might be worth enquiring if you haven't used Libre. Then if it works well for you, enquire about getting it on prescription.
Click to expand...
Yes I have the libre system. I have consistently used an app that links with my blood glucose meter to log my insulin ,food( in great detail) and exercise. I also have a physical diary given to me to record finger prick tests and insulin doses 4 times a day. For some time I was also recording the same info in the libre app despite knowing I was just repeating myself. It does get exhausting and I'm wanting to reduce how much I am concentrating on diabetes even though I still have much to work on I'm sure. I was considering just using the libre app solely as it would probably be easier to look at everything all in one app and graph. I just find myself on this site or another reading about diabetes nearly every spare minute of the day, I'm supposed to be working right now 🙄
 
Inka said:
I use nothing. I get a result, assess it, react if necessary and make a mental note if I think something needs sorting eg a basal change. I used to keep records but I realised it was for the sake of it rather than having any practical use. I also think it can cause unnecessary anxiety.
Click to expand...
you have just highlighted my main problem, causes unnecessary anxiety.
 
Gwynn said:
I use an App that I wrote myself. It tracks all the major health aspects (weight, BMI, temperature, pulse, oxy saturation, blood pressure, blood glucose) and also all food and meal data, everything eaten and drunk every day (each food and recipe, the weight, calories, carbohydrates, protein, fats, saturated fats, salt cholesterol, fruit portions, fish portions, nut portions). It also tracks exrcise, Appointments, Meds, Issues, and produces full reports on everything each month on demand including graphs. I have just updated it to include images of foods and recipes.

I have found it essential to be able to see how things are and for planning to be able to manage things effectively.

It is easy to use and easy to check on any aspect. I couldn't manage without it.

I started it because the NHS just dumped me with a diagnosis, meds, and to fend for myself after a week in hospital. Incidentally they got the diagnosis wrong.



View attachment 18522
Click to expand...
that's impressive. not sure if I am reading your notes correctly, so you got a wrong diagnosis?
 
I understand what you mean. I felt guilty about not completing the hard copy log and then not using the app, but the Libre reader logs pretty much all the info I need. If I had a compatible phone I believe you can log more on that but the beauty of it is that you can share that data electronically with your nurse or consultant so I really can't see the point in duplicating data elsewhere.
 
@Inka But then you have a pump which I imagine stores data for sharing with HCPs? Maybe I am wrong about that?

I agree though that I am able to make assessments in the moment or hold information that needs assessing over a few days (like basal changes) more easily in my head than logging it and referring back to those records..... which I very seldom do.
Sometimes I have to remember that the important thing is to do what makes managing my diabetes easiest and most effective for me. It is not a school test that I need to get marked by the teacher and be able to show all my workings for how I came to the answer. I suppose, if I was getting things wrong a lot of the time then that might be important, but do we need to keep records at all when we are managing things well?
 
I'd say I am far off managing without some sort of log. As much as I hate it, I'd probably still stress without it.
 
I don’t “keep track of my diabetes”. I test, do whatever action is needed, and move on. Get my A1c done every 6-12 months to see how things are doing overall
 
Like @Inka, I don't use anything specific to keep track of my diabetes.
My pump app knows how much insulin I have had and when but I rarely analyse it unless I "feel" things are slipping.
I am also very lucky to have Libre and will take a look at the statistics.
But I have nothing that records what I eat, what exercise I did, what the weather was like, when I was feeling under the weather, when I was stressed, which socks I was wearing and all the other things that may or may not affect my blood sugars.
This is partially due to limiting anxiety but mainly because I ... looks around to see if anyone is looking 🙄 ... because I can't be bothered and do pretty well without it.
 
jazzchicken said:
you have just highlighted my main problem, causes unnecessary anxiety.
Click to expand...

Then reduce the amount you do. For example, what’s the point of recording your insulin doses for meals? If you’re doing it for ‘problem’ meals, then fair enough, but that’s only for a short time. If you’re just recording it for the sake of it, then stop. 🙂

Yes, we need to watch out for issues, but we certainly don’t need to devote our lives to producing masses of pointless data. Diabetes takes up enough time without additional cr@p like that. Been there, got the stress badge.
 
But then you have a pump which I imagine stores data for sharing with HCPs? Maybe I am wrong about that?

I don’t share my pump data unless there’s an issue I need help with @rebrascora Thats fairly rare - probably every two or of years or less, at a guess. Even then, I just verbally tell them the issue and eg my basal rate for the hours concerned. Nobody downloads my pump data, not even me. What would it tell them? Nothing, basically.
 
Inka said:
But then you have a pump which I imagine stores data for sharing with HCPs? Maybe I am wrong about that?

I don’t share my pump data unless there’s an issue I need help with @rebrascora Thats fairly rare - probably every two or of years or less, at a guess. Even then, I just verbally tell them the issue and eg my basal rate for the hours concerned. Nobody downloads my pump data, not even me. What would it tell them? Nothing, basically.
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i think I am the same.
My diabetes team trust me to know what I am doing.
They review my Hb1ac once a year and discuss what i am doing. They may look at my pump data and notice that I use the suspend function more than most but if it keeps me in target (which it does although i don’t share my Libre graphs), they are happy.
If I need assistance, I ask, verbally. I haven’t asked for help for years and, when I have it is usually when I am about to do something different (new job with more travel, a flying trapeze course, …) rather than things not working for me.
 
I’ve had a pump for years @helli The older pumps didn’t hold much in the way of data, nor did they have Pump Wizards or anything. My pump - much as I like it - is just another insulin delivery system. We work together, but I’m the ‘brain’ - literally. I decide the basal, my meal ratios, whether to use a temp basal, whether to suspend, etc etc. I do that by what’s needed, not by trawling through weeks or months of pointless data. What would it tell me? It doesn’t hold anything but the most rudimentary data anyway.

Perhaps we could all have perfect control 24 hrs a day hooked up to IV insulin and glucose, with our own team of people recording every element of our life? Except then we wouldn’t actually have a life…

I know you feel a similar way. It’s freeing, isn’t it? Nobody actually looks at all this obsessively gathered data anyway. It’s a pretence of having ultimate control over what is, in fact, a condition where 100% perfection is impossible. We need a balance - good control and a good life too 🙂
 
Inka said:
I’ve had a pump for years @helli The older pumps didn’t hold much in the way of data, nor did they have Pump Wizards or anything. My pump - much as I like it - is just another insulin delivery system. We work together, but I’m the ‘brain’ - literally. I decide the basal, my meal ratios, whether to use a temp basal, whether to suspend, etc etc. I do that by what’s needed, not by trawling through weeks or months of pointless data. What would it tell me? It doesn’t hold anything but the most rudimentary data anyway.

Perhaps we could all have perfect control 24 hrs a day hooked up to IV insulin and glucose, with our own team of people recording every element of our life? Except then we wouldn’t actually have a life…

I know you feel a similar way. It’s freeing, isn’t it? Nobody actually looks at all this obsessively gathered data anyway. It’s a pretence of having ultimate control over what is, in fact, a condition where 100% perfection is impossible. We need a balance - good control and a good life too 🙂
Click to expand...
If I was as articulate as you, I would have written the same thing.
Are you my D-Twin?😎
 
jazzchicken said:
Hi

I was just wanted to know how others keep track of their diabetes day by day, I am sure everyone has their own methods. Mainly would be interested to know the following:

  • any apps used and for what
  • if not using apps, any particular kind of physical log
  • the sort of info being recorded
  • how well this has worked for you
  • have you always kept track of your diabetes this way

I'd like to see if there is anything that I could be doing differently.

Thank you
Click to expand...
I am way less technical than most people here. I am Type 2, check my bgl and make a note of it in my food diary, simply to see if there has been any dramtic changes with my food choices.I also use mysugr app, for an estimated Hba1c but I rarely do it. This is the extent of keeping track of D.
 
To respond to an earlier post...yes, I was diagnosed incorrectly as a type 1, given insulin pens and told to go home.

About a month later they changed their minds and decided that I was type 2.

Interesting response regarding anxiety. Some would be anxious having an App others anxious not having an App. I fit to the latter. I guess we are all different.
 
I was more than somewhat surprised with a Q from DSN at hospital yesterday asking me if my pump had been downloaded - I said no because they rarely have for the last ? years and if I wanted to do it I'd have to obtain a different cable from Roche at a cost of c. £100 - which the hosp have to pre authorize and pay the invoice for so the other DSN said we can forget that then - and what would it tell me (or them) anyway of use? The bolus wizard isn't even on the pump, it's on the meter! - so ???? Once I learned it's easy enough to download the meter to Diasend anyway (which both myself and the hospital have access to) same as the Libreview I download the Reader to) though obv. no records on Libreview of carbs and bolus/correction values, so presumably they appear on Diasend? If not yes I can download the meter to the Pump software but if the hosp want it I can only email one page of the Roche records at a time. Not my fault they don't bother using it any more!
 
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