[caryj]

I'm not a very goal orriented person, but when I went on the pump a few years ago I dropped from 7.8 to 6.9 and now I'm still around a 6.8 or so. In my opinion, as long as I remain below 7 I am quite content. I have a few reasons for this:

1) I greatly fear not being able to sense my lows (in my first few weeks of pumping I was testing nearly every half hour and I kept myself nearly perfect for quite some time--then my BG dropped for one reason or another and I didn't realize it until I was quite low).

2) An A1C value of 6 corelate to a BG of about 135 (7.5) -- this is above my daily target BG (of 115), but far too low to being any sort of exercise. I need to be at 170+ to begin any real exercise, otherwise I will crash.

3) It's hard. Going from an average of about 170 to 135 is really quite hard and in my opinion can sometimes be unsafe due to the number of lows I have seen others get while trying to beat their A1C. I have heard stories of diabetic twins who competed so dearly for the lowest A1C that they were actually constantly running low and not eating substantially.

You can easily trick your A1C by having a some highs and a ton of very low readings. My daily target is 115, but my monthly averages are around 170 (I have very few readings over 225-250 and very few below 70). My A1C has not been tricked...it's is legit. My 30/90 day BGs are all around 170 or so with very few lows (all around 60-70) few highs (mostly around 250).

Does anyone else feel content like I do? I feel stable, so much so that I eat whatever, whereever, whenver I want. I also am stable enough so that I can hop on my bike and ride 100 miles any day I feel like it. I know the whole A1C issue is highly political and really pulls at the whole system is rather subjective, but is there anyone else out there who is NOT trying to lower their A1C? And instead is more concerned about stabalizing out those few random highs and lows (that don't directly affect your A1C, more your day to day life)?

I've had doctors call me crazy (I went on the pump without a doctor's support [I didn't trust my doctor at the time and just did all the calculations myself till I could see a real pro]) and uncooperative (what little kid likes having their blood drawn?) since I was a little one. But more recently, my current doctors realized that what I do does kinda make sense.

If your A1C is above 8, you do need to get it down. The long term affects are terrible. But once you get it below 7, does working exponentially harder for such a smaller gain really affect you positively in the short or long run? I've seen long term studies that point in both directions. I'd love to hear some point/counter point from those who are generations ahead of myself.

[Cyborg]

When I went on the pump, I dropped to a 6.9, 6.2, then a 6.4 during about 8 months of pumping. Before the pump, I was in my 7's. The nice thing about the pump is that you have total control. If your numbers are too high, fudge a setting...

[poodlebone]

I had "great" A1cs before pumping, all in the 5 range, but that was because of many, many lows with some high highs to balance things out. My first year of pumping I stayed in the 5s too and would go through periods of daily lows. My CDE yelled at me several times and back in July my A1c was 6.4 (I think)( and she was thrilled to death. For some reason it made me feel like a failure even though I know many/most consider that a great number. I understand my CDE's concern over numbers like 5.2 (4.9 a couple of times too) but if I could stay in the upper 5 range or even 6.0-6.2 I'd be happy. I think my next one will be higher than 6.4 since I've been having a bunch of highs, had to change my basals and carb:insulin ratios to try to stop them.

[kgm0612]

My A1c has risen from 6.2 to 6.7 since going on the pump 10 months ago. My goal is to get it back down, but in order to do that, I need to stop eating **** I know I shouldn't be eating!

Karen