Thinking about Continuous Glucose Monitoring

Deciding to postpone yesterday’s run to this morning, following my hypoglycemic episode was the right thing to do. I woke up at 5:00am this morning and checked my BS – it was 223. High, very high, but I knew this was a result of too little insulin at dinner (4 units) – an overreaction to  last night’s hypoglycemia —  and taking a smaller dose of Lantus at bed time (10 units) – because of my planned morning run. I know that one should not run with BS over 200, but one sometimes does things he shouldn’t.  I decided it would be okay

I got up, had some black coffee, got my things together and was out running by 5:45am. I had a great run. I ran a 10mile interval run (yasso 800’s) which included 9 half-mile sprints, with jogs in between, a warm up and a cool down. It felt great and I was home making sandwiches for the kids by 7:20am.  And my blood sugar was down to 135.

Most of the run I spent thinking about the run itself, counting the minutes and seconds and checking my Garmin to see my pace and lap distance. But I also had time to think a bit about other things while enjoying the relative quiet of the early morning hours. (I didn’t even have my ipod with me.)  I thought of how good it was that I hadn’t run yesterday, and how much I enjoy running early in the morning when the air is crisp and most people are still in bed or having breakfast. I thought about the song outdoors (“Back in the cool cool air, Where the sun is shining, Nothing’s gonna stop me…”) by Jason Mraz which I’ve seen a hundred times in the last few days with Adam on Sesame Street DVD’s and on YouTube. I also thought about continuous glucose monitoring. Was I too quick in dismissing it, shouldn’t I at least try it?

My feelings towards CGM’s have always been similar to my feelings towards insulin pumps. Although I’ve never really given it too much thought since I assumed my insurance would not pay for it (I never actually checked), and I viewed it as the next step after the pump, which I am still resisting.

But the truth is CGM’s are a little different. There’s no tubing and I can separate myself from the monitor if I want to.  The truth is, I’ve been thinking a lot about the pump and although I’m not quite there yet I feel that it may be the right thing to do. Maybe starting with a CGM will bring me there.

So I’ve decided to look into it and see if it’s actually a real option (financially speaking) and then make the decision. It’s not like I can’t change my mind. I’ll always have my glucometer.

Michael Aviad

Michael Aviad is co-founder of ASweetLife. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2002. Michael was born in Santa Barbara and grew up in Jerusalem. He studied law and after passing his bar exam went on to get an MBA with a major in finance. Michael worked for many years as an economist. He and his wife Jess, also a type 1 diabetic, have three sons. Michael loves to run and is always training for the next marathon.

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