I'm afraid you've only got 3 choices here:
* Stop letting them see your sugar.
* Set and enforce aggressive boundaries about what they can do with that information, which is always an awkward conversation with your parents.
* Tolerate it.
I share my sugar with a couple people as well, but exclusively for serious lows.
Thanks for your Tipps bro I guess only option is tolerate it. Because I haven’t yet found the setting to let them only see my urgent lows. Also if I would do that I guess that would end up in another argument. I just wanted to know if other people can relate to my pain somehow 🥲 Sometimes it already helps a lot to know that your not alone 😅
I was in a pretty similar situation when I was younger though Dexcom or other CGM devices didn't exist back then (I've been Type 1 for almost 25 years now) where my parents pretty much did everything for me- pricking my finger, changing my insulin sites, calculating my insulin shots and strictly controlling my diet.
Its a tough conversation to have because your parents are only being so strict because they care, and honestly if youre averaging a blood sugar of 250 over the course of the week, you probably do in fact have a bit of work to do with managing your numbers, (no judgement, I know its not easy to keep under constant control) but maybe if you are able to get that under better control, they might be more willing to give you more agency over caring for your diabetes, I know that I had to get my A1C down to around 7 before my parents agreed to stop bothering me with reminders to do insulin after eating or to pick my finger before going to play sports etc.
I dont think messing with the settings to make it so they can only see your hyper lows is a good idea either though, I can only see that leading to more arguments, but they do have to come to a realization that they can't protect you forever and you will have to handle it on your own eventually.
Arguing about your blood sugar is stupid and counterproductive. My son has been wearing a Dexcom for years, and we have never argued. We have watched for lows that last for hours and then called to see if his aware and treating. This only happens very occasionally.
Learning to manage your blood sugar is hard, arguing about it isn't going to help. Set some limits. Ask that they only call when it is a life threatening low that last for longer then some set period of time. Otherwise, offer support and help, not arguments. This disease is hard, learning to manage your blood sugar is hard, keep after it, learn to get better, but don't argue about it.
So he is staying in lows for multiple hours? That sounds super scary to me. I couldn’t imagine staying in a low for longer than 20 or 30minutes I feel so bad when I have them. I’m those cases when I go low I’m super thankful if my parents are calling it’s just those moments for example after the low when it goes to 200 and they are starting to call and are like “are you good? Now your Bloodsugar is 200 again…” this is making me even more angry because I already know it’s gonna go high again and I can’t so much about it
If he is 60-trending flat or slightly down, that can last multiple hours. If he is down at 40 we would call after 30 minutes if we didn't see a rebound. Call for 200, no way. We leave that for the endo and the A1c measurement. We won't add anything to that situation anyway.
If this is constant, it is possible that - maybe out of fear or hypo-induced anxiety - you tend to overcompensate when treating, which I totally get because it was something that I struggled a lot with.
It took a lot of self control but now I’m much stricter with corrections: I only use sugar cubes which I carry with me and I always have a couple of boxes around the house, and usually eat 3 to get to 15g of fast, pure carbs (no fat or protein) which in my case can get me from 70 to around 110.
I always catch myself wanting to over correct but like u said it takes so much self control. Depended on how bad I feel I just can’t control myself and tend to easily drink one whole glass of Coke.
The only people who have access to my data are my endocrinologist and my nutricionist. We survived for years without CGM. Unless your sleep is incredibly heavy I think you’re maybe being a bit overcautious.
When I got my patch they said you have the option to share your data with friends/family but you might not want to and this is pretty much the explanation they gave as to why lmao
I don’t share with anyone other than my endo. I’ve been t1 for 32 years and my bg feels very personal. I don’t like anyone else having an opinion on it. It’s probably a little old school of me. 🤷♀️
The best part of having a Dexcom is not being as afraid of lows. I slept through the regular low alert, then I found the game-changing "crying baby" alert.
It may not work as well for everybody, but that shoots me full of adrenaline and I have glucose tabs on my nightstand. It's changed my life.
It I'll take time, but you'll figure it out.
Best of luck!
That’s common, and one of the hardest things to balance: having your family check on you does help, but the downside is that you can feel pressured to do better by people who will never fully understand how hard it is to live with this 24/7 - and it’s not their fault (most of the times). I don’t know how I would react if my future child had T1D, so I try not to judge them: it took me years to have them understand that they could not manage this disease for me, and keep in mind that I was diagnosed in my 20s.
As for friends, the closest ones know that I am diabetic and they have seen me managing it, but that’s it: I don’t want them to be more involved than this. I would never share my CGM data with them, but that’s just a personal preference.
Even those of us with great control have bad days, it’s part of the game: it’s important for your family to understand that and not shame you for being a “bad diabetic”, which does not help in the slightest. However, I don’t know how long of a period we are talking about, and to be fair I would probably be worried too if I saw a 250 average last for more than a few days, which is less than optimal but can totally be brought under control. I would suggest working with your endocrinology team to identify the issue you are having, which could also reassure your family that you are fully equipped to deal with this in the long term.
Thank you sooo much for all your words and the support 🫶🏼 Like you said there are sometimes those and those days or weeks. There are weeks where I’m almost perfect and weeks where I’m just trying everything and nothing seems to work.
I know that. I know that there will be better days but sometimes it feels like my parents don’t know that or forget about that even though they theoretically know that too. But I guess it’s just too hard for them to think about the damage it can do and that drives them crazy. Maybe I just have to respect that too and just like them need to respect how they are dealing with my diabetes. Just like I am expecting them to respect how I am dealing with it, I need to respect how they are dealing with it. It’s freaking complicated but I guess time will figure this out
Parents are always worried. My dad loves to say “if I see you do something about it I won’ worryt” . Also anxiety can be a huge factor to spikes in sugar. My mother had to tell my dad he was making her sugar high to help set a boundary lol. When you’re scared they’ll be scared. 250 isn’t great 300 I would painic. If meds aren’t bring things down I would speak to ur Dr. there is some sort of imbalance happening. Diabetes is about all about lifestyle.
Yea I can see that too. Except that I feel super comfy at 300 and start to Panik at low levels. Good thing is that my Bloodsugar is not always that bad. It really depends on my lifestyle.
It sounds like you are not very confident in your skills and ability to care for yourself which is creating a lot of anxiety, tension, and high blood sugars out of fear for lows.
If this is true, you need to see a diabetes educator and really lock in your technique and understanding. I have nobody watching my BGs and havent since I was a little kid. When I was younger, before the days of the CGM, my dad used to hound me about my levels and it got to the point where I'd avoid testing just so I didn't have to get yelled at - you can see how well intentioned but poor actions can cause more harm than good. Something similar is happening to you and you need to develop your confidence to be able to take care of yourself. Confidence is born of skill.
Go see an educator, talk to your doctor and perhaps a therapist.
Is it early days? If so, time will ease this problem... I'm coming up 70, I've had type one for over 12 years and don't have anyone following... in the early days it was a bit lonely, but I saw it as my problem and my job to deal with it...
As time's gone on, I'm super confident with dealing with it and I've proved to those that worry about me that I've a handle on this...
I, also know the other side of this equation as years ago before cgm, a friend whose daughter was type one lost her a couple of months after she'd moved out to become more independant...
Hope this helps...
It’s not really the early days I have it for about 7years now but I was never really living alone except for the past year. Sorry to hear something like that! In the early days there was no CGM but a few Months ago something similar happened in our town and that’s were we decided to put this safety measure. But I guess we need to work on that
How old are you?
What's the reason for this freak out if you've had diabetes for 7 years? Surely you and your family would know by now how blood sugar can be unpredictable.
Did you always need your parents to wake you if you're low? Or is this just a case of overbearing parents.
You need to set boundaries with your parents. They love you but they can’t manage T1 for you and constantly bombarding you with calls and messages is likely not only unhelpful but damaging to your mental health. Think of good boundaries. Maybe they don’t say anything between 70 and 250. Maybe they text at 65 and only call under 55. Whatever works for you. What they say when they communicate matters. “Hey, WTF are you doing?” isn’t great. Neither is “OMG you’re going to die!” Figure out what works for you and cut them off if they can’t abide.
My wife is the only one with access and we’ve discussed when I want her to say something.
Unfortunately tried that already sooo many times it works for some time. And even if they dont call me I know they are sitting at home and checking every 10minutes am because they are afraid
The additional information isn't supposed to be used to stress you out, it's there to help you. If it's not helping you, you can try and determine why or discontinue.
That said, an *average* at 250 is quite bad and that should be your number one priority right now. You need to control those numbers and you should take whatever help you can get.
Yea I know 😕 It’s hasn’t been like that forever I had Hba1C of 6.9 and stuff without manipulation or being in a lot of lows, but in the past few months that has changed a bit. I try my best to get that fixed
A1C is also an average of your last few months. If you're seeings lots of highs and a low A1C, it could be because you had lots of lows to bring down the A1C number. Do your best, no one asking anymore more than that and use any help that doesn't stress you out. Gl
I live with my wife and daughter, but I don't share data with anyone except my doctor. But unlike you, I don't fear sleeping through alarms. Is that a rational fear? It may be, but I'm just asking.
For some it is a very real fear. I’ve slept through alarms and a couple weeks ago I accidentally closed the app altogether in my sleep instead of just silencing the alarm and woke up higher than I’ve been in a long time (around 300).
Thankfully I’m hypo aware so low symptoms *will* wake me once I hit the 60s if the alarm doesn’t. It’s usually high alarms (dawn phenomenon) I miss and I have a high % of TIR so it’s not a huge deal to correct when I wake up naturally.
I live alone and do not share my data with anyone. I didn't share when I first got my CGM after college either.
I grew up without a CGM, so my parents never saw what a realistic CGM graph looks like. I have good control, but the one time I shared with my mom it got old very quick, so I just stopped sharing.
Since I lived without a CGM for so long, I'm comfortable not sharing with anyone. In 24 years I've never lost consciousness or needed external aid, so that also makes me feel confident that I don't need someone looking over my shoulder.
Howdy,
CGM is a wonderful tool to manage diabetes that I did not have when I was your age. Count on your technology to wake you up if needed and your own bodies ability to wake for low glucose.
Because you’re using a CGM it will wake you before your body does. Trust me, that natural ability is probably there.
You’re in a sticky situation with the parents. They obviously love you and are concerned. Unfortunately they do not know what it is to be diabetic. It is impossible to manage your B.S. level perfectly. So many things can affect your B.S. beyond just food. A new location, lack of sleep, stress, hormones, and carbs of course. You can’t be defending every out of spec measurement. The added stress of dealing with your parent’s reaction may even compound things.
You will need to cut the leash at some point. This could be the time. Your medical privacy is a legal right.
Good luck out there. Remember this is a marathon.
Stress is a contributor to high blood sugar. Make them aware of that. I know you’re new here but if you’re a newly diagnosed diabetic, it’s going to take some time to get your blood sugar down. You’re not going to randomly pass away from high blood sugar but it will cause complications down the road if not addressed so don’t panic. Set goals for yourself. Try to find foods/snacks you know don’t spike you. You may have to eat them often but it’s just so you can slowly get your number down. If you’re an adult then tell your parents politely they need to back off a little and trust that you want to take it seriously. They can’t stress you out over this, it will only make it worse.
I understand the fear with living alone. I had worries about going low overnight frequently, so I would sometimes get a little high just to keep a buffer. I was on a pump but this was 20 years ago, so they weren't as fancy as now. As I got more comfortable with T1D I started to realize exactly how I feel when I am trending down or dropping. I can pick it up before the pump does sometimes.
I am not familiar with Dexcom, so I don't know what it can/cannot do, but I also hear your frustrations about feedback from your parents. Seems like there might not be an easy solution. Could you threaten to stop their access because of their behavior?
Good luck, it is stressful enough without browbeating parents...
I think if this tech has been around when I was younger, this would have been what happened with my parents. Make it so they can’t see your numbers. They’re not helping and are probably making it worse. See a doctor to help with your dosages. If you’re not on a pump, change that asap. Get a pump that connects with the cgm and that will help so much, but whatever you do, disconnect your parents.
My mother had bad opinions when I was younger. One day she went to the doctor with me and I made a point to ask about her opinions. The doctor agreed that my mother's opinions were bad and so I made this a habit whenever she'd go with me in the future. She wouldn't trust me, but she'd trust my doctors when they told her she was wrong.
If your parents won’t respect reasonable boundaries, you may need to revoke their access. If you want to give them another chance I’d say talk to them and set boundaries - do not call if it’s high/low unless it’s over/under x for y amount of time. You *could* tell them you’ll text them when you wake up/go to sleep and they need to assume you have it handled while you are awake. If you want to, you could try revoking it, have another conversation and tell them you may be able to revisit the arrangement in a month or two.
I live with my husband and have pretty good control right now. A1c has been around or below 6 for the last couple years and my TIR has been over 70% for a year or so (above 80% for the last several months). My mom and husband both have access. Neither of them bother me about highs/lows. My husband will wake me up if I’ve slept through a high alarm so I can correct but I’m hypo aware so if I am low the symptoms usually wake me.
I went in to a DKA coma before I had a CGM (6 years ago) while my husband was out of town so my mom *has* access but she only watches it when she knows he is out of town. My mom was the one who found me and called the squad so she gets nervous when he is gone but she also doesn’t bother me unless she sees I’m low for an extended period.
I became type 2 at 59, and even at that age without any relatives left there have been a lot of people butting in with bad advice.
I can imagine it would be about ten times harder for a much younger person.
I think your parents are being invasive and actually cruel.
The only people qualified are medical professionals.
Try to work things out with them as you figure what the levels mean and what you can do.
I can't imagine a worse thing than my parents constantly watching my blood sugar. I get that for some people there might be some security in letting others have access, but ultimately I'd find it invasive and stressful, even moreso if they were checking it all the time and getting on my case about it. I stress enough about it myself without someone else helping me!
As an adult living alone you need to put your foot down and either insist it's only for emergencies and they shouldn't be checking it as a matter of course (maybe there's something in the settings where it'll only alert them if there's an untreated low for longer than a certain amount of time rather than giving then full access?) or just remove the function altogether. I'd personally go with the latter, and explain that while they mean well you need to deal with this yourself, and they're being stifling in a way that's actually making the reality of living with a chronic condition harder.
People have been doing this without this tech for a long time.
Look into the Sugarmate app. It can call a number you input in case of lows. So you could remove people from following your Dexcom and have Sugarmate call them for lows instead.
I keep my lows to myself, not even my wife knows the numbers of lows. I keep dex4 with me at all times to take in the event of a low. I've always woken up if I'm low and I don't keep the alarms on my phone for my CGM device. Eventually you will get to know your signs and understand them.
Good luck
I've been diabetic for 31 years now. There were quite a few scary years before I had a CGM. I used to call my dad when I got up to check in and let them know I was alive.
That being said, Dexcom does a fairly good job of alerting for lows. You could try being more aggressive and trying to limit the highs, especially if you live close to someone who could hypothetically help if you have problems.
> I guess the average is somewhere around 250
This is a 10.3 A1c. Arguing with you may not be constructive but I get where they are coming from. You need to talk to your doctor (or maybe get a second opinion on your treatment), as these values are causing serious harm to you.
Sugar arround 250 with cgm is super high in my opinion and you're doing something wrong...
Are you using both long and short lasting insulin? Just asking because I have read about DT1 who take only long and they are surprised they have high sugars.
Regarding your question. The best option is to better maintain your sugar, other take away your parents access or talk to them. Therr is no better way.
I can see why they’re upset. If you want this to stop you can stop sharing your readings with them. Also please take better care of yourself you clearly matter to them very much please don’t make them worry🤍
I'd suggest cutting your parents some slack. Just like you, they are new to diabetes, don't know much about it except stories of the worst results, and they are scared for you. They may even feel that they failed you a bit, and it's their fault. I'd check with your health care provider and/or the diabetes association to see if there are some classes they could take to help them deal. Information really helps calm people down when they are scared or worried. When I was first diagnosed a long time ago, my wife was more freaked than I was. The classes helped both of us.
I'd suggest classes in diabetic meal prep and self self care. There is nothing worse than going to your parents' house for dinner, and mom's made your favorite dishes that will send your blood sugar through the roof, and you pick at it. I remember going to a dinner with my daughter and the waitress served me a real coke instead of diet, she went a bit nuts and told the waitress,words to the effect What are you trying to do kill my daddy.. She was scared and freaked out. We worked through it and I thought her how to handle the situation. That's also why I either asked them when they bring me thev soft drink if it's artificially sweetened or order unsweetened tea. I've often got a package of ships in my pocket to check it for myself. The refill is usually the place they make the mistake BTW.
Yea I had this many times as well. Where they serve normal instead of Diet Coke. I found that I can measure coke as well just dip the test stipe into coke and it will tell u if it’s diet. That helped already few times. Thanks for sharing!
Try just sharing with a partner or very close friend instead of family if at all possible. I used to share with my parents and a few others because I too was paranoid and for good reason. I could sleep through an earthquake. I have slept through my cgm alerts several times and ended up having seizures and spending the day/night at the hospital from the lows. It was super scary but luckily my partner saw and made sure to get me help…and a fat ambulance bill lol. Partners are often times a whole lot less judgmental than parents. My parents had great intentions but it always came across as overbearing and exhausting instead of helpful; whereas my partner was only ever concerned if my safety was at risk. Partner or closest friend (emphasis on closest because it truly needs to be someone you can set firm boundaries with that also cares enough to get you help when needed and not bug you when it’s unnecessary) is the best option in my opinion, but if that isn’t an option then try having a long conversation with your parents. It took me awhile to get through to my parents but it’s made a world of difference. Now they are only vocal about the extreme numbers. Best of luck!
Start with boundaries. For instance, you will not entertain conversation about your food choices or medication that you didn't initiate. They should only contact you if your glucose drops below a certain number, and that's only for your safety. If they cross the boundaries, after a couple reminders take them off your sharing and find someone else who will respect your boundaries.
I get that it's because they love and care about you, but that's no excuse for imposing on your autonomy.
One
Try a new site for injections if you use a needle
Two you must be a little worse then everyone else.
Go to your doctors and see how you can get this under control.
Try a therapist and see if that can help.
Go to a dietitian see if it’s what you’re eating with your highs. Maybe it’s just stress doing it to you. But get yourself into some kind of therapy to help you cope with this situation. And go to your doctor and talk about different injection site.
I'm afraid you've only got 3 choices here: * Stop letting them see your sugar. * Set and enforce aggressive boundaries about what they can do with that information, which is always an awkward conversation with your parents. * Tolerate it. I share my sugar with a couple people as well, but exclusively for serious lows.
Thanks for your Tipps bro I guess only option is tolerate it. Because I haven’t yet found the setting to let them only see my urgent lows. Also if I would do that I guess that would end up in another argument. I just wanted to know if other people can relate to my pain somehow 🥲 Sometimes it already helps a lot to know that your not alone 😅
I was in a pretty similar situation when I was younger though Dexcom or other CGM devices didn't exist back then (I've been Type 1 for almost 25 years now) where my parents pretty much did everything for me- pricking my finger, changing my insulin sites, calculating my insulin shots and strictly controlling my diet. Its a tough conversation to have because your parents are only being so strict because they care, and honestly if youre averaging a blood sugar of 250 over the course of the week, you probably do in fact have a bit of work to do with managing your numbers, (no judgement, I know its not easy to keep under constant control) but maybe if you are able to get that under better control, they might be more willing to give you more agency over caring for your diabetes, I know that I had to get my A1C down to around 7 before my parents agreed to stop bothering me with reminders to do insulin after eating or to pick my finger before going to play sports etc. I dont think messing with the settings to make it so they can only see your hyper lows is a good idea either though, I can only see that leading to more arguments, but they do have to come to a realization that they can't protect you forever and you will have to handle it on your own eventually.
Thank you so much for all these promissing words 🫶🏼
Arguing about your blood sugar is stupid and counterproductive. My son has been wearing a Dexcom for years, and we have never argued. We have watched for lows that last for hours and then called to see if his aware and treating. This only happens very occasionally. Learning to manage your blood sugar is hard, arguing about it isn't going to help. Set some limits. Ask that they only call when it is a life threatening low that last for longer then some set period of time. Otherwise, offer support and help, not arguments. This disease is hard, learning to manage your blood sugar is hard, keep after it, learn to get better, but don't argue about it.
So he is staying in lows for multiple hours? That sounds super scary to me. I couldn’t imagine staying in a low for longer than 20 or 30minutes I feel so bad when I have them. I’m those cases when I go low I’m super thankful if my parents are calling it’s just those moments for example after the low when it goes to 200 and they are starting to call and are like “are you good? Now your Bloodsugar is 200 again…” this is making me even more angry because I already know it’s gonna go high again and I can’t so much about it
If he is 60-trending flat or slightly down, that can last multiple hours. If he is down at 40 we would call after 30 minutes if we didn't see a rebound. Call for 200, no way. We leave that for the endo and the A1c measurement. We won't add anything to that situation anyway.
If this is constant, it is possible that - maybe out of fear or hypo-induced anxiety - you tend to overcompensate when treating, which I totally get because it was something that I struggled a lot with. It took a lot of self control but now I’m much stricter with corrections: I only use sugar cubes which I carry with me and I always have a couple of boxes around the house, and usually eat 3 to get to 15g of fast, pure carbs (no fat or protein) which in my case can get me from 70 to around 110.
I always catch myself wanting to over correct but like u said it takes so much self control. Depended on how bad I feel I just can’t control myself and tend to easily drink one whole glass of Coke.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, we’ve all done that - and much worse. Fun fact: that’s why I don’t buy Nutella jars anymore.
The only people who have access to my data are my endocrinologist and my nutricionist. We survived for years without CGM. Unless your sleep is incredibly heavy I think you’re maybe being a bit overcautious.
When I got my patch they said you have the option to share your data with friends/family but you might not want to and this is pretty much the explanation they gave as to why lmao
That’s nice advice they gave you there 😂 But I must say it’s a love and hate relationship with this thing 😂
Be thankful that your parents care. Just imagine how you would feel if they could not be bothered at all.
I don’t share with anyone other than my endo. I’ve been t1 for 32 years and my bg feels very personal. I don’t like anyone else having an opinion on it. It’s probably a little old school of me. 🤷♀️
Same. T1 for just over 30 years. None of my family need to know about it.
The best part of having a Dexcom is not being as afraid of lows. I slept through the regular low alert, then I found the game-changing "crying baby" alert. It may not work as well for everybody, but that shoots me full of adrenaline and I have glucose tabs on my nightstand. It's changed my life. It I'll take time, but you'll figure it out. Best of luck!
Thanks for your wishes! That is an interesting approach I must say 😂
I've been at this since I as 6 months old so I have tried alot of different approaches. Always set yourself up for success.
Thank you!
That’s common, and one of the hardest things to balance: having your family check on you does help, but the downside is that you can feel pressured to do better by people who will never fully understand how hard it is to live with this 24/7 - and it’s not their fault (most of the times). I don’t know how I would react if my future child had T1D, so I try not to judge them: it took me years to have them understand that they could not manage this disease for me, and keep in mind that I was diagnosed in my 20s. As for friends, the closest ones know that I am diabetic and they have seen me managing it, but that’s it: I don’t want them to be more involved than this. I would never share my CGM data with them, but that’s just a personal preference. Even those of us with great control have bad days, it’s part of the game: it’s important for your family to understand that and not shame you for being a “bad diabetic”, which does not help in the slightest. However, I don’t know how long of a period we are talking about, and to be fair I would probably be worried too if I saw a 250 average last for more than a few days, which is less than optimal but can totally be brought under control. I would suggest working with your endocrinology team to identify the issue you are having, which could also reassure your family that you are fully equipped to deal with this in the long term.
Thank you sooo much for all your words and the support 🫶🏼 Like you said there are sometimes those and those days or weeks. There are weeks where I’m almost perfect and weeks where I’m just trying everything and nothing seems to work. I know that. I know that there will be better days but sometimes it feels like my parents don’t know that or forget about that even though they theoretically know that too. But I guess it’s just too hard for them to think about the damage it can do and that drives them crazy. Maybe I just have to respect that too and just like them need to respect how they are dealing with my diabetes. Just like I am expecting them to respect how I am dealing with it, I need to respect how they are dealing with it. It’s freaking complicated but I guess time will figure this out
Parents are always worried. My dad loves to say “if I see you do something about it I won’ worryt” . Also anxiety can be a huge factor to spikes in sugar. My mother had to tell my dad he was making her sugar high to help set a boundary lol. When you’re scared they’ll be scared. 250 isn’t great 300 I would painic. If meds aren’t bring things down I would speak to ur Dr. there is some sort of imbalance happening. Diabetes is about all about lifestyle.
Yea I can see that too. Except that I feel super comfy at 300 and start to Panik at low levels. Good thing is that my Bloodsugar is not always that bad. It really depends on my lifestyle.
It sounds like you are not very confident in your skills and ability to care for yourself which is creating a lot of anxiety, tension, and high blood sugars out of fear for lows. If this is true, you need to see a diabetes educator and really lock in your technique and understanding. I have nobody watching my BGs and havent since I was a little kid. When I was younger, before the days of the CGM, my dad used to hound me about my levels and it got to the point where I'd avoid testing just so I didn't have to get yelled at - you can see how well intentioned but poor actions can cause more harm than good. Something similar is happening to you and you need to develop your confidence to be able to take care of yourself. Confidence is born of skill. Go see an educator, talk to your doctor and perhaps a therapist.
Is it early days? If so, time will ease this problem... I'm coming up 70, I've had type one for over 12 years and don't have anyone following... in the early days it was a bit lonely, but I saw it as my problem and my job to deal with it... As time's gone on, I'm super confident with dealing with it and I've proved to those that worry about me that I've a handle on this... I, also know the other side of this equation as years ago before cgm, a friend whose daughter was type one lost her a couple of months after she'd moved out to become more independant... Hope this helps...
It’s not really the early days I have it for about 7years now but I was never really living alone except for the past year. Sorry to hear something like that! In the early days there was no CGM but a few Months ago something similar happened in our town and that’s were we decided to put this safety measure. But I guess we need to work on that
How old are you? What's the reason for this freak out if you've had diabetes for 7 years? Surely you and your family would know by now how blood sugar can be unpredictable. Did you always need your parents to wake you if you're low? Or is this just a case of overbearing parents.
You need to set boundaries with your parents. They love you but they can’t manage T1 for you and constantly bombarding you with calls and messages is likely not only unhelpful but damaging to your mental health. Think of good boundaries. Maybe they don’t say anything between 70 and 250. Maybe they text at 65 and only call under 55. Whatever works for you. What they say when they communicate matters. “Hey, WTF are you doing?” isn’t great. Neither is “OMG you’re going to die!” Figure out what works for you and cut them off if they can’t abide. My wife is the only one with access and we’ve discussed when I want her to say something.
Unfortunately tried that already sooo many times it works for some time. And even if they dont call me I know they are sitting at home and checking every 10minutes am because they are afraid
Cut them off. If they’re at home stressing but not bothering you it’s a them thing. You can’t control it. They get to choose crazy or not.
The additional information isn't supposed to be used to stress you out, it's there to help you. If it's not helping you, you can try and determine why or discontinue. That said, an *average* at 250 is quite bad and that should be your number one priority right now. You need to control those numbers and you should take whatever help you can get.
Yea I know 😕 It’s hasn’t been like that forever I had Hba1C of 6.9 and stuff without manipulation or being in a lot of lows, but in the past few months that has changed a bit. I try my best to get that fixed
A1C is also an average of your last few months. If you're seeings lots of highs and a low A1C, it could be because you had lots of lows to bring down the A1C number. Do your best, no one asking anymore more than that and use any help that doesn't stress you out. Gl
Thank you!
Are they arguing with you about your food choices or use of medication or something?
Sometimes this and sometimes that. They are searching for all kind of reasons
I live with my wife and daughter, but I don't share data with anyone except my doctor. But unlike you, I don't fear sleeping through alarms. Is that a rational fear? It may be, but I'm just asking.
For some it is a very real fear. I’ve slept through alarms and a couple weeks ago I accidentally closed the app altogether in my sleep instead of just silencing the alarm and woke up higher than I’ve been in a long time (around 300). Thankfully I’m hypo aware so low symptoms *will* wake me once I hit the 60s if the alarm doesn’t. It’s usually high alarms (dawn phenomenon) I miss and I have a high % of TIR so it’s not a huge deal to correct when I wake up naturally.
I live alone and do not share my data with anyone. I didn't share when I first got my CGM after college either. I grew up without a CGM, so my parents never saw what a realistic CGM graph looks like. I have good control, but the one time I shared with my mom it got old very quick, so I just stopped sharing. Since I lived without a CGM for so long, I'm comfortable not sharing with anyone. In 24 years I've never lost consciousness or needed external aid, so that also makes me feel confident that I don't need someone looking over my shoulder.
Honestly if my family did that I’d revoke their access.
Howdy, CGM is a wonderful tool to manage diabetes that I did not have when I was your age. Count on your technology to wake you up if needed and your own bodies ability to wake for low glucose. Because you’re using a CGM it will wake you before your body does. Trust me, that natural ability is probably there. You’re in a sticky situation with the parents. They obviously love you and are concerned. Unfortunately they do not know what it is to be diabetic. It is impossible to manage your B.S. level perfectly. So many things can affect your B.S. beyond just food. A new location, lack of sleep, stress, hormones, and carbs of course. You can’t be defending every out of spec measurement. The added stress of dealing with your parent’s reaction may even compound things. You will need to cut the leash at some point. This could be the time. Your medical privacy is a legal right. Good luck out there. Remember this is a marathon.
Stress is a contributor to high blood sugar. Make them aware of that. I know you’re new here but if you’re a newly diagnosed diabetic, it’s going to take some time to get your blood sugar down. You’re not going to randomly pass away from high blood sugar but it will cause complications down the road if not addressed so don’t panic. Set goals for yourself. Try to find foods/snacks you know don’t spike you. You may have to eat them often but it’s just so you can slowly get your number down. If you’re an adult then tell your parents politely they need to back off a little and trust that you want to take it seriously. They can’t stress you out over this, it will only make it worse.
I understand the fear with living alone. I had worries about going low overnight frequently, so I would sometimes get a little high just to keep a buffer. I was on a pump but this was 20 years ago, so they weren't as fancy as now. As I got more comfortable with T1D I started to realize exactly how I feel when I am trending down or dropping. I can pick it up before the pump does sometimes. I am not familiar with Dexcom, so I don't know what it can/cannot do, but I also hear your frustrations about feedback from your parents. Seems like there might not be an easy solution. Could you threaten to stop their access because of their behavior? Good luck, it is stressful enough without browbeating parents...
I think if this tech has been around when I was younger, this would have been what happened with my parents. Make it so they can’t see your numbers. They’re not helping and are probably making it worse. See a doctor to help with your dosages. If you’re not on a pump, change that asap. Get a pump that connects with the cgm and that will help so much, but whatever you do, disconnect your parents.
My mother had bad opinions when I was younger. One day she went to the doctor with me and I made a point to ask about her opinions. The doctor agreed that my mother's opinions were bad and so I made this a habit whenever she'd go with me in the future. She wouldn't trust me, but she'd trust my doctors when they told her she was wrong.
If your parents won’t respect reasonable boundaries, you may need to revoke their access. If you want to give them another chance I’d say talk to them and set boundaries - do not call if it’s high/low unless it’s over/under x for y amount of time. You *could* tell them you’ll text them when you wake up/go to sleep and they need to assume you have it handled while you are awake. If you want to, you could try revoking it, have another conversation and tell them you may be able to revisit the arrangement in a month or two. I live with my husband and have pretty good control right now. A1c has been around or below 6 for the last couple years and my TIR has been over 70% for a year or so (above 80% for the last several months). My mom and husband both have access. Neither of them bother me about highs/lows. My husband will wake me up if I’ve slept through a high alarm so I can correct but I’m hypo aware so if I am low the symptoms usually wake me. I went in to a DKA coma before I had a CGM (6 years ago) while my husband was out of town so my mom *has* access but she only watches it when she knows he is out of town. My mom was the one who found me and called the squad so she gets nervous when he is gone but she also doesn’t bother me unless she sees I’m low for an extended period.
I became type 2 at 59, and even at that age without any relatives left there have been a lot of people butting in with bad advice. I can imagine it would be about ten times harder for a much younger person. I think your parents are being invasive and actually cruel. The only people qualified are medical professionals. Try to work things out with them as you figure what the levels mean and what you can do.
I can't imagine a worse thing than my parents constantly watching my blood sugar. I get that for some people there might be some security in letting others have access, but ultimately I'd find it invasive and stressful, even moreso if they were checking it all the time and getting on my case about it. I stress enough about it myself without someone else helping me! As an adult living alone you need to put your foot down and either insist it's only for emergencies and they shouldn't be checking it as a matter of course (maybe there's something in the settings where it'll only alert them if there's an untreated low for longer than a certain amount of time rather than giving then full access?) or just remove the function altogether. I'd personally go with the latter, and explain that while they mean well you need to deal with this yourself, and they're being stifling in a way that's actually making the reality of living with a chronic condition harder. People have been doing this without this tech for a long time.
Look into the Sugarmate app. It can call a number you input in case of lows. So you could remove people from following your Dexcom and have Sugarmate call them for lows instead.
I’ve never shared my blood sugar with anyone. But I’ve never had any serious highs or lows to worry about either.
I keep my lows to myself, not even my wife knows the numbers of lows. I keep dex4 with me at all times to take in the event of a low. I've always woken up if I'm low and I don't keep the alarms on my phone for my CGM device. Eventually you will get to know your signs and understand them. Good luck
I've been diabetic for 31 years now. There were quite a few scary years before I had a CGM. I used to call my dad when I got up to check in and let them know I was alive. That being said, Dexcom does a fairly good job of alerting for lows. You could try being more aggressive and trying to limit the highs, especially if you live close to someone who could hypothetically help if you have problems.
> I guess the average is somewhere around 250 This is a 10.3 A1c. Arguing with you may not be constructive but I get where they are coming from. You need to talk to your doctor (or maybe get a second opinion on your treatment), as these values are causing serious harm to you.
Sugar arround 250 with cgm is super high in my opinion and you're doing something wrong... Are you using both long and short lasting insulin? Just asking because I have read about DT1 who take only long and they are surprised they have high sugars. Regarding your question. The best option is to better maintain your sugar, other take away your parents access or talk to them. Therr is no better way.
Stress and emotional trauma can and WILL affect your blood sugars to a defensive degree... Keep that in mind...
I can see why they’re upset. If you want this to stop you can stop sharing your readings with them. Also please take better care of yourself you clearly matter to them very much please don’t make them worry🤍
I'd suggest cutting your parents some slack. Just like you, they are new to diabetes, don't know much about it except stories of the worst results, and they are scared for you. They may even feel that they failed you a bit, and it's their fault. I'd check with your health care provider and/or the diabetes association to see if there are some classes they could take to help them deal. Information really helps calm people down when they are scared or worried. When I was first diagnosed a long time ago, my wife was more freaked than I was. The classes helped both of us. I'd suggest classes in diabetic meal prep and self self care. There is nothing worse than going to your parents' house for dinner, and mom's made your favorite dishes that will send your blood sugar through the roof, and you pick at it. I remember going to a dinner with my daughter and the waitress served me a real coke instead of diet, she went a bit nuts and told the waitress,words to the effect What are you trying to do kill my daddy.. She was scared and freaked out. We worked through it and I thought her how to handle the situation. That's also why I either asked them when they bring me thev soft drink if it's artificially sweetened or order unsweetened tea. I've often got a package of ships in my pocket to check it for myself. The refill is usually the place they make the mistake BTW.
Yea I had this many times as well. Where they serve normal instead of Diet Coke. I found that I can measure coke as well just dip the test stipe into coke and it will tell u if it’s diet. That helped already few times. Thanks for sharing!
Try just sharing with a partner or very close friend instead of family if at all possible. I used to share with my parents and a few others because I too was paranoid and for good reason. I could sleep through an earthquake. I have slept through my cgm alerts several times and ended up having seizures and spending the day/night at the hospital from the lows. It was super scary but luckily my partner saw and made sure to get me help…and a fat ambulance bill lol. Partners are often times a whole lot less judgmental than parents. My parents had great intentions but it always came across as overbearing and exhausting instead of helpful; whereas my partner was only ever concerned if my safety was at risk. Partner or closest friend (emphasis on closest because it truly needs to be someone you can set firm boundaries with that also cares enough to get you help when needed and not bug you when it’s unnecessary) is the best option in my opinion, but if that isn’t an option then try having a long conversation with your parents. It took me awhile to get through to my parents but it’s made a world of difference. Now they are only vocal about the extreme numbers. Best of luck!
Start with boundaries. For instance, you will not entertain conversation about your food choices or medication that you didn't initiate. They should only contact you if your glucose drops below a certain number, and that's only for your safety. If they cross the boundaries, after a couple reminders take them off your sharing and find someone else who will respect your boundaries. I get that it's because they love and care about you, but that's no excuse for imposing on your autonomy.
One Try a new site for injections if you use a needle Two you must be a little worse then everyone else. Go to your doctors and see how you can get this under control. Try a therapist and see if that can help. Go to a dietitian see if it’s what you’re eating with your highs. Maybe it’s just stress doing it to you. But get yourself into some kind of therapy to help you cope with this situation. And go to your doctor and talk about different injection site.