Exercise

My biggest problem as I get older is getting enough exercise. I know that when I am able to get, just a little exercise, it helps stabilize by BG throughout the day. I have had several problems/excuses lately though. 

1) Weather: I hate going to and paying for a gym. I find that walking the dog is usually more than enough for me. She is a puppy and we don't walk slow. The problem is that this winter has been so cold and/or wet I haven't been able to get out for many morning walks.

2) Pain: I have developed a serious pain in the arch of my right foot. Everyone keeps telling me it's plantar fasciitis but the symptoms don't match and the insole I was given by a podiatrist made it worse. It starts to hurt about a half to a quarter mile into walking and doesn't let up until I stop.

3) Low BG. Finally, I still haven't gotten the hang of eating and/or insulin dosing for exercise. I'd love to lose some weight but it seems like every time I do go out and get some work in I end up going low and needing to eat. How do you use up those calories and work them off, if you just end up needing to put them back in?

I guess I'll have to just keep trying. hobbling along on my dog walks as soon as the rain stops. Unless there are other ideas.

Medtronic 670G

I haven't posted here in a while but I thought I'd give you some thoughts on my new pump. Recently I was forced to switch back to Medtronic as a pump supplier because of United Healthcare's exclusive deal with Medtronic. Any other pump would have been considered out of network and the costs would have been prohibitive. I chose to go ahead back to Medtronic. As a disclaimer, I stopped using Medtronic pumps years ago because of being discouraged by their customer service and billing practices. I had really enjoyed and gotten used to the Dexcom sensor and the Tslim pump so this was  a major disappointment to change and it took a lot of getting used to. 

When my Tslim went out of Warranty I switched to the Medtronic 670G. It is their newest pump/CGM combo and has the Automatic mode that allows the pump to make decisions on basal rates of insulin based on history, glucose readings and trends. I had a hard time trusting this pump. On first beginning to use the CGM it didn't seem to (and still doesn't) stay as close to actual BG readings as the Dexcom did. It is also very particular and can fall into a pattern of asking for glucose readings and calibrations over and over again if it falls to far off the actual. I have, several times, just given up and turned the sensor off for an hour or so before turning it back on and resetting the whole thing. The automode makes it even more sensitive to readings being off and again can fall into this seeming loop of asking for blood glucose to stay in auto mode. When I had my Dexcom if it ever became too separated from actual BG readings I would calibrate it would come back into line and move on. This pump/sensor does not seem to be able to do this. It can become maddening at times getting buzzed and beeped over and over again with warnings and asking for BG results. Very frustrating. 

Changing of a reservoir and infusion site is much faster and simpler with the Medtronic pump than the Tslim. It also seems to use the insulin up better. I always felt like I was wasting insulin on the Tslim. 

Changing the CGM sensor with the Medtronic is ridiculously more difficult than the Dexcom. What I could do in a couple of minutes with one hand now takes over a half an hour, (you have to wait to charge and clean the transmitter) and I usually need help from someone else. 

All that being said, my A1c has been much better with the Medtronic. I joked with my family that it is probably for two reasons. 

1. Automode really does help stabilize BG especially overnight. 
2. The CGM built into the pump is so finicky I find myself being really careful not to send my BG to far out of whack so I don't have to deal with the CGM freaking out. 

Just some random quick thoughts on Medtronics latest pump. Let me know if you have any questions.