Pumping, exercise and BG apps

[RuthW]

I am getting very frustrated, not with my pump, not with my exercise routine, but with BG recording apps. I have downloaded several and tried them out. Not all apps are available where I live (no MySugr for example), and so far I cannot find a single app that allows me to record my basal rate hour by hour, and show daily variations in it. DiaConnect, for example, allows me to set more than one pattern, it allows me to record exercise, but you can't graph exercise or basal rate against blood sugars. And setting a new pattern is laborious, has to be for the whole 24 hour-period (i.e. You can't show a TBR) and any variation is not reflected in the graphs and stats. It is almost too tedious to explain because it's so difficult.

Many apps just simply ignore the kind of basal rate variation you have on a pump. I am annoyed that I have paid again today for an add-on that turned out to be worthless. I don't feel like paying again and again for apps and their pro versions, only to find that the app writers are living in 1980 in terms of treatment of T1s.

This is making it really difficult for me to keep any kind of meaningful records that allow me to graph exercise against bolus and basal variations and show BG results. So far I am sticking to aerobic exercise because that's complex enough. But, God, this is tooth-gnashingly frustrating.

Does anybody know of an app that is suitable for T1 s who exercise and use a pump?

 

[tim2000s]

Hi @RuthW , I think you may need Glooku. It's the only thing I've seen that gives you what you want. But you need to buy a dongle. https://www.glooko.com/patients/

 

[RuthW]

Oh yes! I think I do! Thanks, Tim. Very helpful indeed.

 

[ElyDave]

just use an old fashioned spreadsheet.

I log total basal, total bolus and a notes section that allows me to record TBR for exercise and any exercise related BG readings

 

[iHs]

ManageBGL can be downloaded and records basal, bolus. Diasend is another that records everything from my Vibe pump if I connect the pump to the usb device to upload everything including bg levels, food, bolus, basal rate etc

 

[RuthW]

I'm a bit spreadsheet-averse. One of those things I have "learned" twice in the distant past and then promptly forgotten because I had no use for it. Maybe third times the charm.
And I think my pump has a download facility but I wasn't given the cable and that still leaves out the exercise log. I'm going to speak to my endo shortly and decide together, I hope. You never know, he's a young guy, he might be a whiz with spreadsheets!

 

[tim2000s]

What pump do you have?

 

[RuthW]

Blush! My pump is so old, apparently it's practically museum-worthy according to a comment from another forum-user. It's the Medtronic Paradigm 715. It seems to be about three generations "back" compared with what you get in the UK. You know the multinationals always "shift" all their surplus stock in developing countries, and I'm in Turkey, so that's all I could get. (I mean, I love my little pumpy, but I know he's not as beautiful as yours!)

 

[tim2000s]

Mines not that exciting... It's a Spirit Combo, which, while not being the latest and greatest has the benefit of Luer lock so I can use loads of different sets, a big reservoir which is reusable, and the multi wave bolus that I use all the time and seems to keep me flat as a pancake! It makes it cheaper to run and very effective and I admit to loving it!

 

[Notorious]

This whole area is a disgrace. I've used Diasend, which talks to Runkeeper and other apps, but only in the most basic way. It's really disappointing.
I've considered writing my own (I'm a software developer) but could really do with some sort of continuous glucose monitoring too.

 

[tim2000s]

I think the main issue here is that each individual pump and meter maker uses their own protocols and data formats. That way they can bind people in.

Having a single industry wide protocol (similar to FIX in the financial world) would make this problem much easier to solve for.