Wednesday, July 27, 2011

We can drive a remote control car on Mars, but we can't get better blood sugar accuracy?

[So, it's been a while since I've participated in the DSMA Blog Carnival, I apologize. I've been a little preoccupied, with diabetes technology, actually! I recently started pumping (again) and using a CGM (for the first time), and it has been a roller coaster of a ride figuring it all out. As this month's DSMA Carinval was about technology, though, I thought that it was a fitting time to get back into the blogging game.]

Here's my take on diabetes technology, my hope for the future, my complaints about current D-tech, etc.

First, let me say that we have come quite a long way since I was first diagnosed. I was diagnosed in 1993, when you still had to wipe the blood off of your test strip before you stuck it in your meter, and then had to wait FIVE minutes to see what your blood sugar was. Insulin pumps were not the norm, and CGMs were a pipe dream. I remember when I got my first One Touch meter that ONLY took 45 seconds, and it was a dream come true! Oh, how I loved that One Touch. So, before I continue, please know that I am truly grateful for the technology I have today, because I know what things could be like.

That being said, I want to make one thing clear. Yes, 5 second glucose meters, home A1C test kits, insulin pumps, CGMs and and iPod apps galore are all great and fun and helpful to a certain extent. But, they do me a crap load of good if they're not accurate.

Did you know glucose meters are still FDA allowed to be +/- 20% off? We all know CGM technology is far from being perfectly accurate, and it's relatively new, so I'll give it a bit of a break. But, I get really frustrated when I hear all these reports from people who attend diabetes conferences where D-tech companies are touting their new and improved whatever-the-heck-product- they-are-selling, and their focus is not on accuracy but on making the design sleeker, or the interface more user friendly, or whatever. Sure, I'd love for my iPod to be able to test my blood sugar, count my carbs, bolus my insulin, e-mail my doctor, pay my pharmacy bill, and julienne my french fries all at the same time. But, if the blood test is still +/- 20% off, than it doesn't actually help me that much. And, if my insulin still might not start working until 15 -30 minutes after I inject, than it still isn't helping me gain the control I want and need.

We can drive a freaking remote control car on Mars, people, so someone PLEASE tell me why we can't have better accuracy than +/- 20%?

So, here is my dream and hope for the future. I want patients, doctors, the FDA, and the ADA and everyone else to not be satisfied with +/- 20% accuracy. I want the D-tech world to listen up and realize that while fancy apps and sleeker designs are nice, what I really want is better accuracy in measurement and insulin that acts faster. Maybe someone should call up the NASA scientists who are all getting laid off soon, and hire them to figure this +/- 20% thing out.



This post is my July entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/july-dsma-blog-carnival/

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Cautious Optimism?

So I don't want to jinx myself here, and it actually might just be a function of how crazy hot it has been (like, so hot I'm surprised the media hasn't nicknamed it Hot-pocalypse, or Hot-mageddon or something) , but I think I finally NAILED my basal rates and my carb ratios.

I made a little tweak to my carb ratios a few days ago, and every since then my blood sugars have been amazing. Like, better than every before in my life amazing.

I'm skeptical. I'm just waiting for the floor to drop out from beneath me.

Waiting . . .

Waiting . . .

(Eeeek!-Super suppressed squeal of excitement!)

Monday, July 18, 2011

Lies! Lies! Lies!

Dear doctors & pharmaceutical companies:

You guys totally lie about how great all these new insulin analogs are. You have these fancy little pamphlets that come in every insulin bottle, detailing these "scientific" clinical trials that show how "great" Humalog and Novalog and Apidra are supposed to be. You tell us that we can take our insulin right before we eat, or even after we've already started eating, because it works so fast now! You tell us that we can easily get 1 hour post prandials under 140 without going low later on because these insulins don't stick around in your system that long. Oh, and they definitely only have 1 peak!

Yeah, freaking, RIGHT!

LIES, I tell you! It's all LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES!

I don't know who you did your clinical trials on or where (don't EVEN get me started on how crappy clinical trials are . . . ) but they must have had alien bodies, because insulin so does NOT respond how you say it does.

If only I'd had a CGM years ago, I might have figured out that you all couldn't be trusted to give me good information. If only I'd had a CGM years ago, I might've trusted my instincts about my own body and ignored your stupid advice about insulin action time.

And you all dare to call us non-compliant when you give us crap to work with, and then tell us lies about how it works?

Pfffffft!

All right, that's it! Dishonor!Dishonor on your whole family! Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow . . . (name that movie!)

(can you tell I'm a little peeved right now?)