Scared to put in sensor. Frustrated with type 1

hey there @Just_Me_Rachel

in my honest opinion ( from 44 years experience ) I would take the current sensor out and just try to get back to basics for a few weeks --- test in the morning and maybe do 2-3 more tests per day -- but try and work on your knowledge and instinct -- I had to do this for about 18 years before BG testing became available ( and I'm still here !! )

I think what I am really trying to say is don't let the D run you -- you have to run it and run your life together so try not to let it overtake you .

Hey @Just_Me_Rachel

Can't really add anything to @himtoo s excellent advice - don't put in another sensor. They aren't essential, if you don't feel like you are gaining anything positive from them it isn't worth it.

Be kind to yourself. Dealing with this is hard enough already, you don't need to make it harder by being tough on yourself. This is really, really rich coming from me, but try not to see the targets as absolute. If you test and get a good number, that's great, you can smile and say 'good'. But if you don't get such a good number, then don't beat yourself up over it - shrug, maybe think about what might have caused it, and move on.

Keep going - you are doing really well just getting through each day. You don't have to go low carb - I believe most T1s here aren't, and it doesn't really achieve much in terms of reducing injections etc for a T1,since you end up having to bolus for protein anyway.

Breathe. You've got this. Remember that if a healthy person wore a Libre, it wouldn't be a perfectly straight line all the time.

Sending you hugs x

Hi @Just_Me_Rachel agree totally with advice from @himtoo .
Unfortunately T1 is for life, everyday no getting away from that. Accept that and put things in perspective and on your terms. Why go to war everyday with your diabetes? So much easier to make it your friend, embrace it and use it to make you an extra strong, extra special winner.
You don't have to go low carb, you need to eat sensibly, take the right amount of insulin and if you fancy the occasional treat then have it along with the required insulin. Just like having a pancreas but in a pen and not in your body.
Forget constant blood readings, chill out and focus on good days and bad days.
If you have a good day, smile, think what's made it good and take the information forward with you.
We all have bad days, we can't change a bad bs reading we can only make a change to our next reading. Learn from bad days they offer so much and if you have a day when you learn something then that's gotta be good.
27 yrs and I've never micro managed my diabetes and I'm fitter and healthier then most my age and younger.
Good control is about insulin carb balance, regular testing, diet,exercise BUT in my opinion the most important part of good control is me not having diabetes but diabetes having me.
I call the shots and we live my life my way. 99% it works for both of us. As for the 1% well that's for tomorrow.
Chill out a bit and you'll get a grip of it.
Good luck.

I've been diabetic for 17 years and started using the Libre last year. At first I thought it was amazing (and I still do!) and then after a couple of weeks I had the same reaction as you. I was frustrated to the point of screaming that I couldn't seem to get it under control and sick of thinking about it all the time. So I did exactly what @himtoo suggested and took a little break from it. Still testing and carb counting, but just a week off from the tyranny of the line. After that I felt much better, and when I went back to it better able to focus on what I needed to do. Pick just one thing to focus on and once you have that down move onto the next. For me it was working out how far in advance of eating to inject, then working on my carb ratio. Good Luck! And remember even a tiny improvement is still an improvement!

thank you my fellow T1 warriors !!
@EllsKBells and @therower

you have both gone to the heart of the issue -- which is that we live with this for life
so keeping it in it's cage is important

@Just_Me_Rachel
I hope this advice can help guide you over the coming weeks / months ( and for the rest of your long life )

Also I consider a good carb to be one of life's great pleasures. I refuse to let diabetes rob me of sandwiches!

Hi @Just_Me_Rachel I really can sympathise with you, having been where you are now. My suggestion is to try and find some form of relaxation, stressing about your diabetes becomes consuming, get out for a walk, try meditation. Managing type 1 is about accepting imperfection, so not getting down about high numbers, simply acknowledging the reading, analysing it and taking action to move forward. Try and visualise your best friend with this, you would be kind to them and accept that their condition is part of them but you wouldn't be hard on them, in the same way you have to accept it but not be so hard on yourself.

Go back to basics in testing, try and focus on your basal testing, getting this right is fundamental to good control, read up and become an expert, but don't let your type 1 take over your life, you can live with this and we all have rough patches, but we do get through them

Hi @Just_Me_Rachel
when I was diagnosed , I was very fortunate to get comprehensive training in all things diabetic.
One of the training sessions was this -- https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief/

not 100% of all the D's on this forum completely agree with me on this -- but I have found it has been a valuable tool for me.

over the years we do keep having periods where things can overwhelm us , so learning to understand and getting back to a state of "acceptance" has been a great ally of mine over the years.

15 years ago I went for a controll at the diabetes centre and my doctor said when I was frustrated with my stuggle to get it down "just take more insulin." I completely had a crying meltdown there, I could not talk i cried so much. He paniced and sent me straight to his specialist nurse. She was amazing.And actually, she said, take a break for a few days, just do not measure at all. I was very surprised and many would say her advice was not safe.But for me it was good just to hear it, and she gave me her phone number to call if I needed to talk. Still now after all these years I struggle but it is fine. And I am fine. Yes, it is frustrating and a constant challenge. For me it is to do with perhaps being just a little holding back on my basal. There could be one tiny detail like that that keeps making it hard to get right. I hope I have it right soon. And I understand the carb issue. I love food. The compromise now is I eat everything, but try to stay under 40 g per meal to make it easier to give insulin for.Then sometimes I take a break, and live with higher bs for a few hours.The Libre is for me a blessing and it is that 100%.Because I have had this for 27 years, it helps me to understand sometimes I have had expectations of when the insulin starts to work that were incorrect. So it helps me to avoid rollercoasters of high/taking extra, then going low. Novorapid if taken with not perfect bs is slower than I thought. So use these trends to understand things-then leave it off and have a break some weeks, or just do not use it. Best of wishes!

Rachel, not sure if you were stressed about the mechanics of replacing your sensor. If so, I can relate to that, having sweated through sensor replacement many times. I became good friends with the techies at Dexcom--lol. As far as being reminded too much of your BS levels, I agree that can make you crazy. I have a love/hate relationship with my CGM. Obsession is exhausting. The times when I can't get a new sensor and have to go old school and back to a meter can be like taking a vacation. I enjoyed forgetting I am diabetic. Weirdly, the meter readings were always good! Take a deep breath, don't give up your carbs (just cut down), and good luck.

Just_Me_Rachel said:

I hate living with this!!!! I want to stop hating it and learn to deal with it. I can't seem to get a hang on it.

I need to change my sensor and I'm afraid!!!!! And, it's making me sad to see all my blood sugars all the bloody time. It makes me feel pressured that I got to keep it in control and I'm really struggling to keep it stable.

I don't want to go low carb. I just want this teething period to be over and will appreciate all support and advice.

Thanks.

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I feel your pain everyday also for 35yrs. I had a melt down a couple of days ago.Stay strong and loss the sensor.

Hi @Just_Me_Rachel
I completely understand what ur going through I started using the libre just after xmas I thought it was brilliant giving me so much information, however I quickly realised that prior to having it I had been living in ignorance of what my sugars were doing, I hadn't realised they went so high after I ate but we're normal by the time I did my next finger test. I then started becoming quite obsessed with my numbers and basically started taking too much insulin and was hypoing 6-7 times a day it was crazy.
I went and saw my nurse and told her my frustrations, we agreed that I would keep using libre but only inject at meal times and before bed, since then I have stopped scanning 30/40 times a day I just let my sugars be and corrected. I did that for about two weeks then realised I needed to tack back control so have gone back to Reducing my carbs (70-100g a day) my sugars are now in a much better place and me and my libre are much better friends as she is giving me the numbers I like to see.

Hope you get sorted em

Hi Rachel,
I agree with everything above. I started using the sensor last year and went mad with scanning, adjusting etc. After talking to my diabetic nurse I have become more relaxed with scanning and it has stopped the over adjustment side of things and therefore less hypos. Its a very useful bit of kit to show you what you have eaten and how it affects yr blood sugar but don't become too obsessive about the scanning.

Good luck

Ditch the sensor, test am, hs, before meals. That's what I've been doing since 1984. If the average BS on your meter is around 6.2 your A1C will be about 6.2. Which is fine, right?

I was going for a sensor, 40 years me, meters only, but after reading all this I think I will stay with my meter, you are all right just be you, why are we so ott with our BG, if only the nurses and doctors would stop with the tick box, and see us as people, not robots, just saying and thank you all for your comments all noted

Just_Me_Rachel said:

I hate living with this!!!! I want to stop hating it and learn to deal with it. I can't seem to get a hang on it.

I need to change my sensor and I'm afraid!!!!! And, it's making me sad to see all my blood sugars all the bloody time. It makes me feel pressured that I got to keep it in control and I'm really struggling to keep it stable.

I don't want to go low carb. I just want this teething period to be over and will appreciate all support and advice.

Thanks.

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Don't forget different foods absorb differently and therefore have a different effect on your blood. I couldn't understand why I spiked after some lunches but not others thanks to the libre I could see and it was my diabetic nurse who reminded me that white bread absorbed faster than granary and if I hadn't have been wearing the libre system I wouldn't have known any different had I just tested 2 hours later as normal.

I find some days I'm addicted to staying within my blue band and others I just don't get it. Either way my HBa1c is reducing and that's what's important right? Keep going. We all have good and bad days. We're human and here to support each other

TheBigNewt said:

Ditch the sensor, test am, hs, before meals. That's what I've been doing since 1984. If the average BS on your meter is around 6.2 your A1C will be about 6.2. Which is fine, right?

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Hi @TheBigNewt
Before I had my sense that's what I thought that as long as your readings were good when u tested you should be fine and my hba1c was relatively good. However since having the libre I realised that for the 4/6 hours between meals my readings were high for 80% of the time which I found alarming. Initially that is why I then went completely OTT with scanning but now I am able to monitor more closely what food works for me, I've also realised that my insulin wasn't working at the right time I now know I have to inject 20-30mins before I eat.