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T2 Obsessing About the Numbers

eddie1968 said:
I knew there would be nit pickers but I do agree with the statement you made, of course if you are not achieving proper control then keep testing. I think most on the forum got the gist of what I meant. :)
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You missed a point @AndBreathe made, which describes me perfectly. I have been testing a lot over 2 years. I have already achieved great control. I continue to test several times every day because it keeps me on the wagon. For me, may be not for anyone else, knowing I am going to test stops me overdoing the carbs and keeps my motivation very strong. That is one excellent reason to keep testing.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
You missed a point @AndBreathe made, which describes me perfectly. I have been testing a lot over 2 years. I have already achieved great control. I continue to test several times every day because it keeps me on the wagon. For me, may be not for anyone else, knowing I am going to test stops me overdoing the carbs and keeps my motivation very strong. That is one excellent reason to keep testing.
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I think the subject was about "obsessing" with testing and in my opinion some do. No one on the forum will change my mind or make me justify my thoughts. It's a debate and well dissenting voices have to be heard. Thanks for your personal situation info. Keep going if that's what keeps you going. :)
 
eddie1968 said:
I think the subject was about "obsessing" with testing and in my opinion some do. No one on the forum will change my mind or make me justify my thoughts. It's a debate and well dissenting voices have to be heard. Thanks for your personal situation info. Keep going if that's what keeps you going. :)
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The only reason I let my inner pedant out to play was in case of very newbies, who may have been told by their Nurses they will become obsessional if they test (as justification for not testing at all) reading the thread. I knew what you meant.
 
eddie1968 said:
I think the subject was about "obsessing" with testing and in my opinion some do. No one on the forum will change my mind or make me justify my thoughts. It's a debate and well dissenting voices have to be heard. Thanks for your personal situation info. Keep going if that's what keeps you going. :)
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I completely agree.

I don't think the issue is about frequency of testing. To me, it's an issue of people who view their tests as more than just information.

The word "Obsess" is concerning to me because it can cause people to possibly resort to extremes in order to achieve their goals.

Think about it this way: people can aggressively lose weight the healthy way, or they can OBSESS about losing weight. For those who obsess, at what point do they draw the line? That's how eating disorders can develop like anorexia and bulimia.

I'm not saying that that's the case in this situation, but the way I see it its walking down a dangerous path.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
You missed a point @AndBreathe made, which describes me perfectly. I have been testing a lot over 2 years. I have already achieved great control. I continue to test several times every day because it keeps me on the wagon. For me, may be not for anyone else, knowing I am going to test stops me overdoing the carbs and keeps my motivation very strong. That is one excellent reason to keep testing.
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I am / was the same way. Knowing I am going to test keeps me in line.

When I was T2 there were 2 periods I didn't test for months because I had control and was eating the same, so I thought. When I had my a1c's they came out 6.2 and 6.4. One of them was after I joined a gym and was going to classes 7 days a week. That's when I revisited exercise. I can't remember the 2nd one but I think it's when I realized what a profound effect protein had on me. Needless to say now I test all the time because I take insulin.

In all honestly I think I did have a few periods where I was obsessive trying to figure things out but now I just want to make sure nothing's changed.

I take the same amount of insulin at every meal and nothing has changed in months. I have toyed with just taking fasting and bedtime but haven't brought myself to do that and probably never will. My dose is 1/2 unit so how much can it hurt me? But then again what if the pen gave a little more or less than it should. Insulin still scares me so I test
 
AndBreathe said:
The only reason I let my inner pedant out to play was in case of very newbies, who may have been told by their Nurses they will become obsessional if they test (as justification for not testing at all) reading the thread. I knew what you meant.
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Agree. Newbies are fed a load of disinfo from parts of the NHS, I actually bought my own meter and strips as I had no clue how bad my sugars were and the effects of carbs/exercise etc. People recently diagnosed were not in my thoughts in my original post.
 
eddie1968 said:
I think the subject was about "obsessing" with testing and in my opinion some do. No one on the forum will change my mind or make me justify my thoughts. It's a debate and well dissenting voices have to be heard. Thanks for your personal situation info. Keep going if that's what keeps you going. :)
Click to expand...

I don't test if I know it's going to be a good number, and never really have.
I only tested, and still do, if I think it's going to be bad.
As such I don't record the numbers, or do the averages, or plotted trends, I just didn't eat the bad stuff again.
 
I think you can read a few threads, and it's reasonably obvious what is the bad, what is reasonable, and what is good.

(Then again, my own personal good, has probably been more relaxed than others, but so long as I've tested it as 'bad', and been fine, I won't test every time I eat, on the off chance it's changed this once)
I also tend to be happy if my readings are 'normal' , and don't try to chase ultra low numbers, or try to maintain an artificially tight minute to minute reading.
If it works for the rest of the world, it's going to good enough in my opinion.

I did test this morning, but I had a chinese last night, and overate, and over drank.
 
You do what you feel is best for you as we all must. But unless you test how do you know what is best for you without testing it's all assumption and guess work.
 
I test, I maintain a normal Hba1c, I eat to suit.

But as I said, I'm on top of it, so diabetes is in the background, behind everything else.
If something changes, and pushes it back to the front, I'm sure I'll re-think it.

To me, it was important when I was diagnosed, but it was also important to me that I didn't let something else, like a strict diet, or strict routine of testing, make as much negative impact as diabetes could do.
My life still goes on.
 
Eddie, please don't get worried about not being popular. This is a community of fellow travellers, each unique, but bonded by I would hope by an understanding and acceptance that many paths verge and converge on this road of ours. Please feel free to continue to express your views with confidence and grace as you already do.
 
That is so well said Kevin we are having a discussion and every ones opinion is worthy of merit and not to be discounted. And some of us me for one have nothing better to do but spend most of their time on here or surfing around looking for interesting stuff, maybe getting involved in debates. It's best not to take things personally I try not to but must admit do fret about it some times my self.
 
Interesting replies I think everyone is different and must do what they feel is best for them.
Myself I have got to a place where I feel in control if you will and also that I am sensitive to my bs levels.
As I said I test periodically but in my case do benefit from working primarily from home so not constantly commuting or in an office environment which perhaps has helped! When I am out working or socially very aware and do keep an eye on my bs sounds barmy but had a couple of occasions when got caught up in things and forgotten I was diabetic!!
 
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