I find the CGM data to be very self-instructional. Even if my numbers are off by 10, that is not important for me. That level of detail is not worth my hair-splitting over, because my days now are 100% in the green, in-target range when averaged across an entire week span of time. I am also not on insulin. So a CGM being off my 10 is not going to mean that I’m missing information that’s about to cause me a giant issue like diabetic ketoacidosis or a severe hypoglycemia episode.
However, the value is enormous to me because it shows me my trends and the goal for long term maintenance is to keep my blood sugar numbers low and with fewer spikes and lows. The swings up and down aren’t healthy for anyone.
I’m a creature of habit with a really strong routine. I tend to eat similar things most days and adopt certain routines that become mindlessly simple and brainless to adhere to. So the CGM shows me the results of my different choices and I can use that information to set up positive routines that are proven to be good for me.
For instance, I can learn whether or not a particular breakfast meal makes my blood sugar spike, or barely makes a ripple in my number. I can learn and select to go with the most favorable breakfast. I can do the same for lunch and dinner and any smaller snacks.
Non Diabetes patients may be looking at calorie content alone. But I can’t do that. I can see whether the fake sweetener in a protein drink works ok on my blood sugar numbers when I eat it, or if my body dislikes it and reacts with a spike anyway (some sugar-free sweeteners do this to the body even though they are not sugar). If I want to eat simple carbs, I can find out by experimenting and eating some and seeing what the result is. I used to think I could not eat potatoes. In recent weeks, I have experimented with potatoes and found that as long as they are part of a balanced meal that contains protein, fiber and fat and the potatoes are small portion size, I’m ok. Not ideal, but ok.
Since I know that some potatoes are ok but that this meal lifts my blood sugar by say, 40 points, then I may choose to not eat that meal if today my baseline blood sugar number is already looking to be elevated, because I can guess from past experiences that I will observe a bump of 40 points from that meal. I can decide that 40 points is fine to add to my baseline number of 100, but not fine with me if my baseline number is starting off at 140.
Why would I have a baseline number on Tuesday of 140 instead of 100 like usual? Maybe my Dawn Phenomenon number is creeping up because I’m stressed out and not sleeping well. Sometimes blood sugar numbers are high for non-dietary reasons. That is another instructive lesson I learn from my CGM. I can notice that trend and choose to do something to increase my sleep quality or quantity. I can go for a walk in the morning to gently drive the sugar and insulin into my cells to bring down my baseline number before my day gets going. I can reflect on whether I should do something to reduce my stress that would help lower my baseline number.
I’m using my CGM as a signal that says “This is a good idea, and that other choice is a bad idea.” Whether or not the numbers are 100% accurate doesn’t matter to me as much as the overall trend.
My trend shows me that if I workout moderately, I drive my number down by 20-30 points. That reinforces my decision to take a walk after a dinner that had something spiky in it.
It’s kind of like when kids go bowling and the bowling alley puts up those bumpers on the sides, so that kids are incapable of throwing a gutter ball. Watching a live feed on my general blood sugar number shows me that if I do a particular activity, it’s liable to throw me out of the green, in-target Goal zone. It operates for me like the bowling alley bumpers, so I don’t make choices equal to throwing a gutter ball.
I obtain positive and negative reinforcement and the biggest challenge for me is just making sure that I pay just the right amount of attention to the data. Finding a balance is a giant part of keeping the Big Diabetes away. Balance of right diet, exercise, stress reduction, and giving myself a chance to have a sense of reward when I see results are necessary for me to stay positive and motivated. I find it to be a great tool, combined with more information that gives me insight as to what works – not according to someone else’s diet philosophy or ideas, but to me uniquely.