After 27 years of diabetes, I don’t have to stick or prick my fingers any more!!! At the beginning of June, I upgraded my current glucose CGM sensor to the latest version which now means that, after 27 years of finger pricking, I don’t have to stick or prick my fingers At All!!! The other day I was thinking about my finger sticking journey from those first days and how it evolved to come full circle.
Finger stick glucose meters have only been around since the mid 1980’s, so really not that long. I was diagnosed in 1993 so I was lucky enough to have access to this tool from the beginning of my diabetes story. I got my first glucose meter in the hospital which my mother had to pay for. Allegedly, she could have recouped the cost back from the health service but no information was provided on how she could do that so she just let it be.
The other day I was thinking about my finger sticking journey from those first days and how it evolved to come full circle.
My Finger Stick History
In the Beginning Twice Daily
At diagnosis, I was told to check my glucose twice a day. Imagine, that's all we knew about diabetes management then! It seems so incredible now. And if I didn’t have CGM now I just can’t imagine trying to manage my diabetes at all with any degree of success on two finger sticks a day.
I did those two checks every day, eventually rotating the times of the day I did them because at that time the routine that worked for me was to check my levels at the same times every day. Also in those days I didn’t know what to do with the number on the screen and I was on fixed doses on insulin twice a day.
Four times
In 1999, I moved to a basal/bolus insulin regimen which meant that I now had to do 4-6 injections per day and check my sugar levels at least four times per day also.
I remember when it was suggested that 4 injections a day would make life better for me thinking, “Are You Nuts?” This new regime wasn’t explained to me very well but thankfully, I had the internet then so I went online to find out more and agreed that this new increased shots and testing regime would actually make my life better. However, I was still on fixed insulin doses and STILL hadn’t a clue what to do with the number on the meter. If my number was high it eventually went down, if my number was low I treated it ….. Usually resulting in another high. It was definitely a blood sugar trampoline ;-)
Seven Times or more
In 2003, myself and hubby had been married for two years and had moved to the United States, when we decided to start our family. As soon as I had told my endocrinologist he marched me off to a dietitian to learn about carb counting. I did not object, for one minute, when I was asked to increase my blood sugar testing to at least seven times every day because it was explained that I wouldn’t know if I had taken the correct insulin unless I checked about two hours after eating and this made total sense. This education made a huge difference in my diabetes management. For the first time in my diabetes life, I felt like I actually had some power and “control” over what my diabetes did to me.
I didn’t have an insulin pump and there weren’t any Apps in those days to help me remember to check but I did use an alarm on my Nokia 5210. This became a habit that helped me hugely with my diabetes, even when I started on my insulin pump in 2010. Blood sugar testing was the one tool that was reliable and dependable for helping me manage my diabetes. Then came my first CGM continuous glucose monitor in November 2015. :-O
Back to Four
In 2015, I got my first CGM, however, it wasn’t approved to be used when calculating my insulin doses and it also wasn’t approved as a valid number when driving, so I still had to do a finger stick at these times.
** The driving guidelines were only updated in August 2019 to include CGM numbers. See the Road Safety Authority RSA Medical Fitness to Drive Guidelines (See Group 1 and 2 Drivers) Chapter 4 Diabetes published 2019
It took me a while to build up my confidence in this piece of marvelous technology but I did eventually reduce the number of finger sticks I did down to four times per day.
Tough Habit to Break
2020, after 27 years of sticking my fingers I am now at a point in time where I do not have to do this at all - I never really believed that technology would allow for this. However, bg checking is a tough habit to break and I am still testing but only twice a day - back to where I started! Having said that last night I didn’t check a second time so maybe I’m really going to let go.
More Information about the benefits of Glucose Sensors
I’ve written many, many posts on how my CGM glucose sensor has made my life better: here’s one I wrote after My First Week using a CGM in 2015 and another on how much it has made my life with diabetes better - The Value of a CGM… Priceless.
** Note - If you would like to know more about how to qualify for a CGM which is covered by the HSE Long Term Illness Scheme here are a few useful links:
I got my CGM glucose sensor through our health service under the Long Term Illness Scheme - I wrote about it here. How I got my CGM through the HSE
Click here if you would like to know more about what glucose sensors or continuous glucose monitors CGM such as the Dexcom, Freestyle Libre or the Medtronic Guardian are.
Some people call them patches.
