The "E" Word

Dear Endocrine Office:

I've been re-evaluating my diabetes control-- or lack there of, and I've come to some conclusions that I think could have been reached a lot sooner....

One night, I began thinking about the specific carb counting.  How everything you eat you have to look up on the package, get a calculator, and add it all up.  I starting thinking that there were other ways diabetics maintained control.  There's got to be more the one way to skin a cat. . .

I remembered back in the day when I was diagnosed, when everything was based on exchanges.  That's right, I said the "E" word.  I began refreshing myself about how the exchange system worked and how foods were grouped into different categories, but they pretty much had the same amount of carbs-- give or take a little bit.

I was also thinking of my lifestyle and how time consuming it is to look up specific carbs and hope you've counted correctly for intensive therapy.  I thought about how it simply wasn't working for me.   I reviewed my sensor overlay and the average high was 396 and the average low was 196.  It just wasn't working.  And I began thinking about how easy it would be to say.... look at a normal slice of bread and think "1" exchange.  Half a banana.... another exchange.  And how easy it would be to just go into the Revel and click the button 2 times, and tada!

I think looked into my pump, the Revel, and noticed that they had an option for exchanges as well!  And thus I started the great experiment.

I went on youtube and found a few good exchange videos explaining the deal and I got a small pocket diabetic exchange book from the ADA.

I have noticed major differences already.

1.  Last night was the first night that my blood sugar didn't go through the roof while I was sleeping.
2.  Last nights dinner I had 2/3 cup pasta, salad, and 2 one ounce pieces of garlic bread.  Under regular carb counting, my two hour blood sugar would be at least 250 if not higher.  Well, when I did the exchange method, I was 119 after my two hour reading.

So, I've decided each week I'm going to use my sensor daily overlay to compare the week based on my current experiment.  The picture below is the week where I didn't start the exchange system until the last day.

If this works, then I'll continue to use this system.  Just because one treatment works good for some people, doesn't mean it will work better for everyone....

So here's to the "E" word!

Sensory Daily Overlay:  The Week Before I changed to the exchange system.

Yours Truly,
Beta Cell Bandit.