Does your meter tell you how to feel?

[BriOnH]

I've been kayaking a lot lately, and don't always have ready access to test. This made me think about the older days where I had to hone in on how I "felt", rather then having emperical data in front of me. When I test and find "Oh I am not low, there is the proof" or "Oh I am not high", or "Oh that's what I tought" I get a sense of relief, but often I test and when I thought everything is peachy, I test, and it just makes me feel bad, then worry about it. Does this make any sense? :-/

[Tokyo Cate]

My meter doesn't tell me how to feel, but it does influence what I do. Often tests will confirm what I suspect, but occasionally routine tests (like my test before I start my commute home after work) will yield surprising results. I can generally read the symptoms of highs and my blood sugar guesses are quite accurate; however, I often don't recognize the signs of lows and rely on my meter to keep me from making poor decisions.

[spike]

My meter doesn't tell me how to feel, but it does influence what I do. Often tests will confirm what I suspect, but occasionally routine tests (like my test before I start my commute home after work) will yield surprising results. I can generally read the symptoms of highs and my blood sugar guesses are quite accurate; however, I often don't recognize the signs of lows and rely on my meter to keep me from making poor decisions.


Everything you wrote with the exception of guessing accurately. I rely exclusively on my meter for knowing my bg 's, unless I'm low enough to be clumsy, lightheaded, etc. Then I know I'm low enough to need an immediate hit of glucose.

[BriOnH]

I think my real question is, "should we be so dependent on our meters?". Shouldn't we ask our selves more (or at least in my case), "How do I feel?".

[sbuff28@charter]

yes and no

[spike]

I think my real question is, "should we be so dependent on our meters?". Shouldn't we ask our selves more (or at least in my case), "How do I feel?".


I'm not dependent on my meter by choice or whimsy, it's by necessity! I don't understand what you are getting at. could you elaborate? I'd LOVE to not NEED a meter; really I would, but that's not happening in this lifetime.

[grace girl]

My meter doesn't tell me how I feel...it either confirms what I already thought or throws me a suprise! I would love to be less dependent on it, and although I USUALLY know if I'm high or low, I've missed it just enough times not to be comfortable with idea of just trusting how I feel.

[Keezheekoni]

I play a guessing game when my meter is counting down. Usually I'm spot on with my guess, but when I get really high I'm not. The only real sign of being high for me is the sleepiness, but then again with 5 kids I'm always tired! LOL

I do rely on my meter to let me know what I can and can't eat or rather, how much of what I can really eat. It helps me to make food choices a little better, like if I wake up really low, then I know that I can have that bowl of sugary kids' cereal in moderation and be okay.

Rikki

[rzrbks]

Does your meter tell you how to feel?


By Cracky, nothing or nobody Tells me how to feel.

To quote Bill the Cat from Bloom County "Thbbbt!"

My meter is a tool to help me get/stay where I want to be regarding my B/G.


But then, according to my wife and friends, I'm a Control Freak so I wouldn't allow it to control me.

[BriOnH]

I'm not dependent on my meter by choice or whimsy, it's by necessity! I don't understand what you are getting at. could you elaborate? I'd LOVE to not NEED a meter; really I would, but that's not happening in this lifetime.

I just wish I didn't have to be so dependent on it, as well. Some bring up the good point of using it as a tool, but for me it's more like an arm, or a second little brain, der third lol.

[Goldrun]

From what I understand, some people don't "feel" a low coming on. So, a meter and routine checks is imperative. For me, I definitely still feel the low....but I don't always know when I'm high (well, okay....I usually know when I'm high if I think I counted wrong and I eat a say......order of french fries.....but I don't necessarily "feel" bad).

I agree with you though that the meter isn't always handy. Mine (an accucheck mini) seems to be sensitive to heat. So it's not all that great if I'm out for a long bike ride. So....I use everything I know about my bodies burn of energy and what building blocks I can put in to balance the sugar and give me enough energy to get through what I'm doing. So far I've been pretty good at it. Unfortunately, I suspect that I won't always be so lucky.....

I hate being tied to the meter. But I love being in control of my diabetes. And the meter seems to be the surest method of achieving that on a daily basis. Our minds are good.....but give me something with an LCD display!

[spike]

From what I understand, some people don't "feel" a low coming on. So, a meter and routine checks is imperative. For me, I definitely still feel the low....but I don't always know when I'm high (well, okay....I usually know when I'm high if I think I counted wrong and I eat a say......order of french fries.....but I don't necessarily "feel" bad).

I agree with you though that the meter isn't always handy. Mine (an accucheck mini) seems to be sensitive to heat. So it's not all that great if I'm out for a long bike ride. So....I use everything I know about my bodies burn of energy and what building blocks I can put in to balance the sugar and give me enough energy to get through what I'm doing. So far I've been pretty good at it. Unfortunately, I suspect that I won't always be so lucky.....

I hate being tied to the meter. But I love being in control of my diabetes. And the meter seems to be the surest method of achieving that on a daily basis. Our minds are good.....but give me something with an LCD display!


The accucheck compact plus is good to 104, according to the manual. I've had them on hot bike rides with no problems. the meter that I owned that had the most limited temp range was the FastTake. The Ultra that came out next had a much wider temp range, making it useable on cold nights when we turn off the heat while sleeping. The FastTake wouldn't work on the beach in moderate temps, even if kept under a towel, nor would it work at night after then heat is shut off for sleeping.

[am1977]

For me, I need to rely on my meter. This is b/c I am OFF too many times to count :frown:. I can't tell you how often I'll feel ok, go to test and find out that I am high or low :eek:. Yes, sometime it's downright obvious that something's wrong, but most of the time things are a little fuzzy...

Speaking of this, I think I read somewhere (maybe Diabetes Forecast) that there was a study regarding this. And what they found is that people should NOT soley rely on how they feel, b/c more times than not, their feelings don't correspond with their meters readings (hope that makes sense :hmmmm: ) .

I always feel better testing and knowing where I stand. I honestly feel very uncomfortable and uneasy being without my meter.

[BriOnH]

I honestly feel very uncomfortable and uneasy being without my meter.

Totally. And I hate it.

[JasonJayhawk]

Brion, that's been something I've thought about, too. Sometimes I'll feel yucky and test, and find out that I'm normal, and so I can relax... but other times, it'll explain how I feel. Sometimes I wonder if it's why I test 10+ times a day -- I want to avoid those "yucky feelings" as much as possible.

[BriOnH]

Brion, that's been something I've thought about, too. Sometimes I'll feel yucky and test, and find out that I'm normal, and so I can relax... but other times, it'll explain how I feel. Sometimes I wonder if it's why I test 10+ times a day -- I want to avoid those "yucky feelings" as much as possible.

I test that much too, but sometimes wonder if that contributes to me just getting those "yucky feelings".

Thanks for your responses, this has been on my mind a lot lately.

[dws]

I've spent many years adjusting my insulin dosage by the way I felt. I think I did pretty good at guessing . This started back in the late 1940's and on until
the meters came out, by that time I was about as 'hypo unaware' as you could get. Felt fine with a glucose in the 20's or 30's Until I passed out and woke to EMT's trying to find a vain. :)
After being on the pump since 2003, I'm back to the point where I can tell I'm hypo in the 60's and hyper in the 300's
don

[BriOnH]

I've spent many years adjusting my insulin dosage by the way I felt. I think I did pretty good at guessing . This started back in the late 1940's and on until
the meters came out, by that time I was about as 'hypo unaware' as you could get. Felt fine with a glucose in the 20's or 30's Until I passed out and woke to EMT's trying to find a vain. :)
After being on the pump since 2003, I'm back to the point where I can tell I'm hypo in the 60's and hyper in the 300's
don

Don, always a pleasure reading your wisdom. Considering your diabetic age I'd say you did **** well. Do you find any negative aspects about the way you felt to gauge food and insulin versus what your meter tells you?

[jen_slc]

I wouldn't say my meter tells me how to feel - I feel how I feel regardless of the number on the screen. I would say that the longer I've had diabetes, the less I can predict what level I am at. I am getting more and more of those phantom highs and lows. So when I feel high and I test normal, the meter helps me relax a bit, but I still feel high, if you know what I mean, that icky feeling doesn't go away. Same as if I feel low and test normal. It helps me feel more comfortable in that I don't have to treat or worry. But I will still feel loopy (low) or sluggish and thirsty (high) despite my meter reading.

[dws]

Sure, if I feel hypo and the meter tells me otherwise like maybe 130 or so I ignore the meter (more likely the meter reading hasn't caught up with my falling glucose) I really pay more attention to the way I feel than the meter,
now that I have more awareness of a hypo :)
When my glucose is hyper (270 - 300) I get a bad case of acid indigestion (kinda hard to ignore) :)
don