Fasting BG 2018

[auntiekris]

60 this morning.

Hope it's nothing serious Grammabear.

Cool pic Wally! 

I constantly struggle with the temperature thing.  I have always run so hot and then add some menopause in and it's brutal.  I'll take the cold any day.  Although I did spend one New Year's with family in Edmonton where we stood outside in -22F to watch fireworks.  Now that was too cold.

[bigskygal]

97 this morning, 107 at bedtime last night.

Cool pix Wally!

When I checked the tracking for my strips, it was the USPS that messed up the shipment, not DHL. They sent them to Wolf Point MT, which is as far away from me as you can get. I am in SW MT and Wolf Point is far NE MT! I looked at Amazon for my strips and they were $35+ per a vial of 50. But shipping time would still leave me short. So I figured I'd buy a vial locally. Went to the Drug store and a vial of 50 there was $96!!! Yikes!! No way! (With my rx service, I pay $2 for 400 strips.) The pharmacists was really nice and gave me one of their generic meters. A vial of 30 strips for it was only $7.15 so I am going that route.

[skb]

I've had UPS misdirect one of my shipments recently. I had asked a friend (visiting the US) to get me some supplements, but thanks to UPS they are still in the US, in Texas with a relative.

Wally, looks like a nice, quiet, gated community. I see a lot of timber used in the constructions.

[Tamagno]

188 this morning.

Thanks for the photo, Wally!

Everything here seems okay so far today and I hope it stays that way...

[Grammabear]

87 this morning. 

Diabetes is never boring and always seems to be full of 'tricks' like Mother Nature.  There is nothing like arising from a nice warm bed in the wee hours of the morning to change the cartridge/reservoir on your insulin pump.  It is mostly my fault however as I delayed changing the cartridge until today, but my pump had other ideas when my cartridge level got down to 2 units.  Then the pump tells me "I am going to shut off soon if you don't change the cartridge."  Pump won that argument at 4:15 a.m. 

I see the Advance Practice Nurse later this morning for an evaluation on the rash on my legs plus I get the High dose flu shot whatever high dose means.

[walkerwally1]

94 this morning.  Still getting up in the low 80s each day but overnight lows in the low 40s.  Bright and sunny but it is supposed to be windy today.
SKB, it is a relatively quiet neighborhood.  Not gated but in town.  Wood construction is used in the majority of homes in California.
Barbara, it is a mystery to me that the retail price for test strips are so incredibly high.  My test strips for the Contour Next meter has a retail price of $289.98 for 200 strips.  Medicare and my supplemental insurance pay a total of $33.28 and they are happy with that.  I can buy them from Amazon for $45.00 for 200 strips so where does the ridiculous retail price come from ? 

[auntiekris]

77 this gorgeous day. 

Glad to hear all is well Tamagno.  Grammabear, I met someone through petanque who is Type 1 - and when I told her I'm Type 2 but understand they are worlds apart she appreciated that I knew the difference.  The constant vigilance!

The cost of test strips are puzzling.  They have them locked up at the pharmacy!

Happy Friday all!

[bigskygal]

107 this beautiful Fall morning, 94 at bedtime last night.

I don't know Wally, the only thing I can think of is greed! If they can sell the strips to our ins companies for pennies apiece, I guess they have to make it up from the uninsured. Seems awful to me. Tamagno, that might be  good question for your big pharma friend...

I kind of like my little cheap meter! It will be retired once I get my strips. It is good to have a spare again.

[skb]

I use AccuChek on a regular basis and my testing has reduced to twice a day, which also I skip sometimes when the number is very predictable.
My last purchase cost me in US terms $ 17 for 100 strips. Insurance doesn't pay for consumables in India.

[Tamagno]

185 this morning.

Near as I can tell, prescription prices for strips (and pretty much everything) depend on a lot of variables, including greed. Big Pharma employs arrays of statisticians and tax attorneys to come up with prices. Among other things, Medicare sets their own fee structures that are much too low to cover costs, so the rest of us make up the difference - same thing with hospitals and doctors. Frankly, the whole thing is a huge mess on all fronts.

Currently, it looks like the only thing out there with at least a possibility of getting around everything is the entry of "Big Tech" into the arena with Apple, Amazon and Google, etc. developing health care products including prescription fulfillment. Remains to be seen how that'll all wash out, but it's happening pretty quickly.

Grammabear, I really hate those middle-of the night pump and CGM changes, but somehow it seems to come up frequently. Nothing for it but to do it...

[Grammabear]

110 this morning.

Tamagno - Yes, I agree it is not ideal to change infusion sets or the cgm in the middle of the night.  I had read on FB Tandem groups that the Tslim had way more insulin left in the cartridge after the pump screen said zero.  Yesterday after the change, I took a hammer and opened the used cartridge just so I could see how much 2 units which remained in the cartridge looked like.  It was pretty much empty.  I could see moisture in the little bag in the cartridge but certainly not enough to do a bolus or to maintain the basal rates.  My lesson learned was to be more diligent in checking the level of insulin in the pump long before I go to bed.

My Doctor visit was kind of boring but informative.  The rash on my legs is not cellulitis nor contagious.  Doctor called it plain ole' eczema.  Plus I have a fungus infection in one spot.  I do not know why, it is just there.  Doctor prescribed a medicine for it.  She also recommended to be diligent in moisturizing my skin more often.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Skb - That is unfortunate that consumables are not included in your insurance.  I have found that buying test strips either on Amazon or eBay is lot cheaper than buying from the chemist or the pharmacy.

[walkerwally1]

99 this morning.  A bit warmer yesterday and this morning.  Not bad at 82° for a high and it should be the same today.
My RX insurance does not cover test strips at all but Medicare does and with my supplemental insurance I am 100% covered but Medicare decided that because my A1c was so low that I only needed to test no more than twice a day.  Never mind that I got my A1c down by testing more often I guess they think it just happened on it's own.  As a result I do buy additional strips and Amazon is the best I have found.  I'm sorry but I don't trust anyone selling them on Ebay. 
 

[auntiekris]

Woke up in the middle of the night to a 40.  Over corrected and morning number was 271.  Sigh.

I have been doing much better in sticking with LCHF and need to adjust the insulin down accordingly.

Beautiful weather here, actually almost too hot for me in the low 80's.  Going to see Tosca tonight in SF, I do love the opera.

Happy weekend, all!

[bigskygal]

98 this morning, 84 at bedtime last night.

I am very fortunate that I don't have to use Medicare's rx service. I have a private service and they place no restrictions on the number of strips or kind of rx. If a dr writes me a script, they fill it no questions. If he wrote one for 25 strips a day, they'd fill it. And each rx is $2 no matter what the drug or amount.The only drawback is that it is strictly mail order.

[Tamagno]

185 this morning.

Well, strictly speaking, I'm up in the middle of the night and decided to just go ahead and post; doubtless, I'll be going back to sleep in a while.

Yesterday was screwy in that I kept eating a bite or two of things I really shouldn't have eaten. Couldn't get myself woken up, and it just seemed I kept thinking a bit of this or that would help me feel better. It didn't. I bolused numerous times, but wound up well over 400 before I got myself sane again. An interesting experiment, though, as it points up just how very crucial care with diet really is.

My insurance used to fill my 'script for 12 strips a day without question, but no more as this year they've limited me on both strips and insulin. Usually, however, I've been only testing twice a day and just using my CGM to monitor.

Grammabear, I'm noticing my winter dry skin is kicking in early this year with an itchy, nasty rash spreading over my legs, arms and back. Moisturizers will help, but not heal it altogether as humidity drops. Usually stays through the winter.