Tightening up a Bit.

When I first started using Dexter, I set the low alarm to go off at 4.0 mmol/l (72 mg/dl).

I also set the high alarm to go off at 13 mmol/l (234 mg/dl). The simplistic thinking behind that decision was that 13 is high and I wanted to know when I was high.

After a while, I decided that I needed to tighten things up a bit. Thirteen is high and I wanted to prevent highs. I don't want to wait until I'm 13 to find out that I'm high. I want to catch the high before it hits the high notes. If you know what I mean.

So I set the high alarm to go off at 11.0 mmol/l (198 mg/dl).

Two things happened:
- I caught highs and corrected them before they got too bad.
- I became even more diligent about bolusing and then waiting 15 minutes before eating in order to avoid setting off the alarms.

My bg became a little less roller-coaster looking. Not all the time mind you. But on those days when things go relatively well, I'm seeing straighter lines that hold pretty steady even after meals. And I'm learning that it's not just about avoiding highs and lows. It's also about minimizing the ups and downs. I can ping-pong between 4.1 and 10.9 all day and not set off any alarms. But I'm learning that having a flatline for hours on end feels much better.

So what did I do yesterday?

I tightened up the high alarm a little more and it's now set to alarm at 10.0 mmol/l (180 mg/dl).

This should be interesting. When Dexter was set to alarm at 11.0 there were many days when I never reached 11.0. I would, however, hover around 10 for a few hours. Not high enough to alarm but still high.

I really don't like being in the teens. I don't like being 11-12 either but it feels a little less bad somehow. Maybe because I can hang out at those numbers and not feel too awful. In fact sometimes I don't feel anything when I'm 11-12. Without the alarm to wake me up at night, I'd sleep right through.

But I know that numbers like 11 or 12 are still too high.

So I'm tightening up a bit tighter.

I'm sure that will mean a few more alarms in the middle the night and a few more alarms after big meals. I am also pretty sure it will help me make a few more changes in my blood sugar management to avoid the highs without getting the lows.

There isn't that much room between 4-10 when you really think about it.

Let's see if there is enough.