I spent 26 hours cgm-less last week when the transmitter component “popped its clogs” and I couldn’t for the life of me get my new transmitter to come to life. Thankfully the problem was something small and didn’t involve the transmitter being faulty.
Here’s what happened in those 26 hours where I was fumbling around in the glucose dark again.
The battery in my transmitter died just before lunch when I was visiting my sister who lives over an hour away from me.
When I got home from my visit, I immediately put in the new transmitter and a new sensor but my phone couldn’t seem to find the bluetooth signal for my new transmitter. We thought we had the problem solved by 10pm, but I didn’t want to start the 2 hour calibration on a new sensor, have to wake up at midnight to finger stick and then have the wonky first day sensor readings during the night. I could deal with one night without my CGM, right?
The Series of Anxiety Calamities around being CGM-less
Overnight
I recently had a cortisone injection so my glucose levels have been difficult to keep within single digits, so using my CGM information from previous night I increased my basal insulin by 25% for six hours in the hope that I would wake up to single digits without any lows.
When I checked my sugar levels the next morning, getting a 7.8 mmols, it felt like winning €10 on a glucose scratch card lottery. I actually said “Oh!” in surprise out loud! Devoted husband replied it really was a surprise because I didn’t have a clue what number I might be and with my CGM that doesn’t really happen anymore. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO FRICKIN WAY I WANT TO LIVE LIKE THAT AGAIN!!! Just sayin’
However, I have no idea what my numbers were like between 11pm and 8am - it is possible they could have been well above my target and then come back down towards morning.
Walking
I had decided to wait until after my 40 minute walk and two hours after breakfast before I started my two hour warm up calibration of my sensor so my glucose levels might be fairly stable and the sensor reading would be more accurate for the rest of the day. But with all this going on, I forgot to put on my reduced temporary basal before my walk and so about 30 minutes after getting back from my walk I felt a bit shaky. As I gobbled jellybeans I twigged that the low was from this oversight.
Once I had recovered from my, thankfully, mild hypo I went about starting my sensor warm up period only to find out the signal from the transmitter was missing again. I troubleshooted for about 90 minutes before making the call to tech support who then had to call me back in a couple of hours.
Driving
I had errands to get done in town which involved driving. I can tell you I’ve never been more anxious about driving before. I just didn’t feel good but I had eaten just before driving so I knew I wasn’t low, I was high before lunch so I was more likely to be still high. I was less than an hour in town so I probably hadn’t come down much but I felt off. I check my levels again and I was high so that’s why my brain was a bit sluggish.
The Fix
At this point, I had put in a call to the company’s tech support and I was trying a couple of things they suggested and they promised to call me back in an hour. They did!!! And by the time they called devoted husband had figured out the problem. Turns out it was nothing to do with my transmitter and everything to do with the bluetooth busy signal from my DIY Diabetes App. This is something I really need to remember before my next transmitter change in three months. Fingers crossed.
You know that old saying that you never really appreciate what you have until it’s gone. Well, I can tell you I value this CGM device with my life and I never, ever want to rely on finger sticks alone to manage my diabetes.