I was invited, along with several other diabetes patient online influencers, to Sanofi’s corporate office in Bridgewater, N.J. May 1. It was the eve of their launch of iBGStar. iBGStar is the first FDA-approved blood glucose meter that plugs into an iPhone and iPod touch and is to be used with the iBGStar Diabetes Manager App. I...

Although I’m no longer upset about my last A1c I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I’m a target oriented person. I need a target to keep me motivated. In my running I always have a next race, usually a marathon, in mind even if it’s a while away. Without this target I have a much harder time getting up...

I feel like a failure.  I got my latest blood test results yesterday and I was so disappointed with my hemoglobin A1C that I just can’t get over it. After holding steady at 6.4% for the two previous blood tests, my latest result is up to 7%. I know this is not a horrible result, and that many doctors consider a hemoglobin A1C of 7%...

I’ve been waking up with high blood sugar levels (130-180) most mornings for as long as I can remember (at least as long as I’ve had diabetes). Known as the Dawn Phenomenon, these early morning elevated blood sugar levels are the result of nighttime release of hormones, including growth hormones, cortisol, glucagon and epinephrine...

At something like 4:30 AM on this past Thursday morning, my CGMS woke me up with the “low” alarm.  Hypoglycemia. I always keep my receiver in bed with me so that I can check it in the middle of the night if needed.  This particular night, I was so completely exhausted that I subconsciously ignored the alarm twice before I gradually...

Hyperglycemia. Like every diabetic I know, I don’t like to think about complications. Heart disease, nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy. Foot ulcers. Ugh. Like most diabetics, I don’t know what to say when someone tells me about the frequency of amputation or blindness. My reasoning is simple: I am afraid. The threat is...

A two-juice-box night, in fact. This is what I saw on my nightstand as I was puttering around my room getting dressed this morning. While I do recall having low blood sugar (BG 72) and drinking one juice box and then, 10 minutes later (BG 56), the other one, it didn’t feel so remarkable to me until I saw the evidence several hours...

How’s that for a depressing subject line? It’s the topic of a mini-article I just had published in this weekend’s issue of Parade magazine. I’ll paste the text below, but the bottom line is that, in addition to putting you at increased risk of depression, diabetes (of both types) might just increase your risk of...

When the alarm went off at 4:45 yesterday morning I wasn’t sure what was happening. It took me a couple of minutes to get myself out of bed. I wake up early most mornings but it’s never easy, and  Wednesdays are always the hardest (being the third consecutive running day of the week – then a break). I got up, made myself...

With a recent A1C of 5.8, you might think I’d be willing to rest on my laurels. And I am, sort of. But now that I’ve got that number under control, I’ve decided to tackle another number — the one on the scale. As a regular exerciser and devotee of Byetta, I’d settle for losing five pounds this spring. To...