Very anxious Newbie struggling with mental health, just a vent post and telling my story

[everydayupsanddowns]

Huh so you type in a finger reading and it adjusts itself? How does lag factor into it cos when I have a good sensor it's still about 15-30 mins behind my finger readings?

With Dex, they are ‘factory calibrated’ like Libre, but you do have the option of calibration if you need it (very rare in my experience). Dexcom suggest you avoid calibration unless it’s really needed, and only calibrate if your BG levels are relatively steady (so that any lag differences are less of an issue).

Sorry you’ve been having such a difficult time recently. Health anxiety is really challenging to live with. Glad you’ve found it encouraging to have others walking the same path share their experiences with you.

 

[Loobyloo]

I didn't get on with Libre 2 or 2+ which gave wildly innaccurate readings for me. I find Dexcom much more accurate and i am able to calibrate with my finger prick readings to begin with until it settles down to pretty accurate. I always use the same arm because of the way i lie in bed and no problems.

Huh so you type in a finger reading and it adjusts itself? How does lag factor into it cos when I have a good sensor it's still about 15-30 mins behind my finger readings?

its taken into account and lag is said to be only about 4-6 mins on my Dexcom One+ (according to advisor) so not much difference and best done when levels are stable.

 

[rebrascora]

Have you been told about the rule of 15 around treating a hypo?

That is confirm with a finger prick before treating unless you feel obviously hypo, (Libre can get it wrong or over exaggerate when your levels are dropping especially when you have already eaten carbs) If you are below 4mmols, have 15g of fast acting carbs which is near enough 3jelly babies (My Hypo Heros) or 4-5 glucose tablets or most of a small carton of orange juice. Wait 15 mins and test again with a finger prick. Libre will almost always show your levels continuing to fall further into the red at that time which can really panic people, but a finger prick will usually show you are recovering. If the FP shows that you are still below 4 then you have another 15g of fast acting carbs, wait 15 more minutes and test again with a finger prick. Once above 4 you can consider having 10g of slower acting carbs like a digestive biscuit although for me 2 jelly babies is normally enough to fix a hypo without any further carbs and more will send me too high.
It is useful to have your JBs divided up into 3 or in my case 2JB portions in little plastic bags, so that you don't lose track of how many you have eaten when hypo hunger hits, because it is very easy to eat the whole bag full sometimes which will push you up into the 20s. and then you will need insulin to bring you down and that puts you on the BG roller coaster, because you then risk going hypo again or staying far too high for many hours.
It is also important to keep them in various parts of the house, most importantly by the bed and I keep some in the bathroom because a hot shower after exercise can drop me and close at hand in pockets and desk drawers and hand bags etc, so that there are always some within reach.

Anyway, just really wanted to make sure you had been told about the Rule of 15 because I wasn't and learned it from the good people here. I naively assumed I would just eat one glucose tablet if I had a hypo not several and I didn't think about having my test kit and JBs by the bed in case I needed them or in the bathroom. Being prepared is really important and it is good that you do that in your head occasionally, particularly if you haven't had one.

I really found that sharing thoughts and feelings and ideas with people here and learning tips and tricks has been incredibly helpful to me both in understanding my diabetes and developing confidence but also in feeling that I am part of a community who really understand it as unless you are diabetic it is hard to comprehend how much thought and sometimes fear it generates, and that can be quite isolating, so being here to chat and confess and rant and sometimes celebrate little successes makes a big difference mentally and feeling less isolated makes you feel less vulnerable which should dissipate the anxiety a bit. I hope you find it helps you too.

 

[Sara Grice]

Have you been told about the rule of 15 around treating a hypo?

That is confirm with a finger prick before treating unless you feel obviously hypo, (Libre can get it wrong or over exaggerate when your levels are dropping especially when you have already eaten carbs) If you are below 4mmols, have 15g of fast acting carbs which is near enough 3jelly babies (My Hypo Heros) or 4-5 glucose tablets or most of a small carton of orange juice. Wait 15 mins and test again with a finger prick. Libre will almost always show your levels continuing to fall further into the red at that time which can really panic people, but a finger prick will usually show you are recovering. If the FP shows that you are still below 4 then you have another 15g of fast acting carbs, wait 15 more minutes and test again with a finger prick. Once above 4 you can consider having 10g of slower acting carbs like a digestive biscuit although for me 2 jelly babies is normally enough to fix a hypo without any further carbs and more will send me too high.
It is useful to have your JBs divided up into 3 or in my case 2JB portions in little plastic bags, so that you don't lose track of how many you have eaten when hypo hunger hits, because it is very easy to eat the whole bag full sometimes which will push you up into the 20s. and then you will need insulin to bring you down and that puts you on the BG roller coaster, because you then risk going hypo again or staying far too high for many hours.
It is also important to keep them in various parts of the house, most importantly by the bed and I keep some in the bathroom because a hot shower after exercise can drop me and close at hand in pockets and desk drawers and hand bags etc, so that there are always some within reach.

Anyway, just really wanted to make sure you had been told about the Rule of 15 because I wasn't and learned it from the good people here. I naively assumed I would just eat one glucose tablet if I had a hypo not several and I didn't think about having my test kit and JBs by the bed in case I needed them or in the bathroom. Being prepared is really important and it is good that you do that in your head occasionally, particularly if you haven't had one.

I really found that sharing thoughts and feelings and ideas with people here and learning tips and tricks has been incredibly helpful to me both in understanding my diabetes and developing confidence but also in feeling that I am part of a community who really understand it as unless you are diabetic it is hard to comprehend how much thought and sometimes fear it generates, and that can be quite isolating, so being here to chat and confess and rant and sometimes celebrate little successes makes a big difference mentally and feeling less isolated makes you feel less vulnerable which should dissipate the anxiety a bit. I hope you find it helps you too.

Yeah, that is the ine thing the doctor did make sure to go over with me in detail, I remarked even then that i bet that 15 minutes prob feels like 10 hours when your feeling crummy with a low and waiting to test, but yes I am aware.

And always keep my jellybabies in a bag by bedroom door, I know there there and it's easy to take out if go out for a walk yet close to my bed if needed during the night. Have a worse habbit of misplacing my blood glucose meter reader, especially on days like my recent ones with bad sensors where I need it more it's harder to remember where I put it last. Genraly they are In my bedside cabinet (I have 2, a spare if I ever lose one)

Have you tried the dextrose drink yet? I got them because a few people told me fluids are better and act quicker, says on the packet 18 grams of fast acting glucose so prob have more of a kick then 3 jellybabies

Edit: because I realised that I actuly have some small little plastic food containes that I could use to portion out my jellybabies, I could even pretend the 3's are all parents with stay at home children (hey! we gotta make our own fun somehow lol)