FreeStyle Libre - My Life with the Machine

Peter_Sylvester said:

Thank you for you insights @Stroudie
This is a very helpful post, and I am coming round to the same conclusion as you regarding the Dawn Phenomenon- I have managed to reduce it, but not eradicate it. The benefit (for me) is that it makes the rest of my day more manageable

I really appreciate your comments

Good luck, and please do shout up if you see anything on here which resonates with you

Peter

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Is this not the body's natural way of getting you up and ready for the morning's work ?

Well given that someone on a Abbotts FB group I belong to pretty much told me that Libre is not allowed for mere T2 diabetics like me... be prepared for some more overzealous "I'm more diabetic that YOU" types to be up in arms that we who are apparently crippling the NHS all by ourselves would ever think to be proactive in our treatment!

Needless to say I am ignoring the blowhard in pretty much the same way as I ignored my GP with his "no you don't need to test, just take tablets and more tablets"... ;-)

Peter_Sylvester said:

Agreed @tubamanandy
However, the problem that I have is that it doesn't seem to want to stop "waking me up" with the result that, once I then add in the boost from my breakfast, I get a very high "spike", which then takes me all morning to recover from.

Now that I am aware, I have started to take action regarding the timings and my breakfast, which means that I can recover a lot more quickly. The result is that I have a more controlled day - all day..!

It's early days yet, but I had no idea about this issue whilst I was just taking my bloods the traditional way.

I hope that makes sense...
Peter

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Yes, the dawn phenomenon always will interfere with breakfasts. One solution is no breakfast as such, but something fatty with no carbs at all - cheese, or a boiled egg, or a coffee with double cream ASAP after getting out of bed (the latter is how I stopped it dead in its tracks). It is a good plan to have as few carbs as possible for breakfast, better still if it zero. Fat will keep you satiated till lunch time, hopefully. You could give it a try?

Hi Peter

Glad it helped. Over the last 25 years I have tried to get good BG control by not eating after 8.00 pm until as long as possible the following day typically between 10.00 am and 1.00 pm ( a round of golf first thing really helps!) thus having 15/16 hours without food messing up my readings. The appearance and understanding of Dawn Phenomenon has been one big problem in achieving this. Now dexcom has sorted it for me. The only problem is waking between 4 and 6 am. The aging of my bladder has helped in this respect!

While this long period without eating sounds bizarre to some people once you have done it for a week or two it becomes "normal" and the thought of breakfast is not appealing. Over 35 years I have managed HbA1cs of 6 to 6.5 using this method. I am now waiting for my next clinic to see if dexcom has led to any change. Amongst the benefits of dexcom is that I can see my results online day by day together with a forecast of my current HbA1c so at the end of this month I will find out how accurate this is.

Incidentally I notice that one of the current fad diets is to compress your eating into a 6 - 8 hour period which may help to explain by reasonable BMI.

Interesting to see how much Types 1 and 2 have in common.

Cheers,

Stroudie

Hi Peter

Just read Bluetits post above.

This is relatively simple for us type 1s. As you may have understood from my posts I have to inject 45 minutes before eating carbs.

Presumably you can arrive at a similar calculation with metformin by studying you Formula Libre results after a fasting period?

Or am I oversimplifying it?

Stroudie

Stroudie said:

Hi Peter

Just read Bluetits post above.

This is relatively simple for us type 1s. As you may have understood from my posts I have to inject 45 minutes before eating carbs.

Presumably you can arrive at a similar calculation with metformin by studying you Formula Libre results after a fasting period?

Or am I oversimplifying it?

Stroudie

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I'm not sure what you mean?

Peter_Sylvester said:

Hi @Stroudie and @Bluetit1802

From what I (now) understand, Metformin doesn't work in the same way as insulin - apparently it is not as fast acting, and stays in your system for longer (days as opposed to hours). But I may have got that wrong....

Is that that what we are talking about here..?

BTW @Stroudie - I love your posts - great information sharing.
It will also be interesting to continue the comparison between Dexcom & Libre

I really appreciate your contribution - thank you
Peter

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You are spot on. Metformin accumulates in your system and stays there a long time. It doesn't disappear. It does nothing to reduce blood sugar spikes after eating. It helps to an extent with reducing the amount of glucose the liver produces, but it doesn't reduce it very much and doesn't stop it.

Peter_Sylvester said:

@Bluetit1802

On your signature, you say "30g carbs" - surely thats not a DAY, is it..?

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Yes, a day.

Peter_Sylvester said:

@Bluetit1802

30g carbs A DAY..!

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I find it easy! There are several members on a lot less - the ones following a ketogenic diet. I have a few more than 30g some days, in particular Sundays when we have a roast dinner. How many are you eating?

Peter_Sylvester said:

@Bluetit1802

I think I am too embarrassed to say on here...!
When I had my Risotto the other night (packaging indicated low fat / low sugar), I spiked significantly, and only found out that I had demolished 63g of carbs at one sitting...!!!

Anyway, I can't be too embarrassed to say - 'cause I have not been monitoring it (until now)

So much to learn - so much to do...!
Peter

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Just use your Libre and your meter to guide you. Look for the reading immediately before you eat and the one 2 hours after first bite. If the difference is more than 2mmol/l there were too many carbs in that meal. Keeping a detailed food diary including portion sizes and recording the before and after rises alongside will help you work out which are your danger foods and in what quantities. You can play around with portion sizes, but be prepared to eliminate some of your food choices. When you are learning your actual levels aren't as important as the amount by which you rise and the length of time you stay up there.