I've heard of CGMs but never looked into them much, thought you needed a prescription and that the readings were delayed since they measure glucose IM, not directly in the blood.
Just checked and saw they're around $130/month without a prescription, so I might try it for a month or two. My diet is pretty repetitive, so it could be interesting to see how specific foods affect me and how my blood sugar correlates with how I feel.
How have you been using your CGM? Any surprising insights or changes you've made that actually improved your daily routine or blood glucose management?
Sure, I wasn't sure how I'd use it (or if I'd stick with it), but continuously find new insights. I'm going to feel handicapped when I take a break. A few quick examples:
I use GH and do fasting cardio in the morning. Previously, I did this blind. Inject, wait an hour for GH enhanced lipolysis to kick in (fatty acids liberated and dumped into blood).
1. I discovered the very small amount of milk in my pre workout coffee was causing a glucose rise, meaning insulin release, which blunts the lipolysis I'm trying to maintain. I switched to coconut milk, this stopped happening, preventing insulin release and maintaining lipolysis.
The idea here is to burn off those liberated fatty acids so they don't get redeposited.
Now I can optimize cardio based on the glucose pattern. My fasting glucose will start at 85. Once free fatty acids are completely consumed as the energy source, liver kicks in to produce glucose, which can be seen as a rapid rise to 105, then a slow drop starts. This is the point at which there's no more fat burning benefit, and catabolism can start chewing away at muscle.
This could happen any time from 35 minutes to an hour. Without the CGM, I'd be guessing instead of nailing it.
2. I meet my trainer in the evening. I've learned I want to see 100-110 at the start of the workout, At about 30 minutes, I'm looking for a modest rise of 10-20 indicating carbs are mobilized. If I see a drop, I know I've underfueled or the type of carbs aren't working for me, and make adjustments next time. (I log everything with "Levels" software so it's easy to analyze the effect of adjustments.).
I make sure 2 hours post workout meal glucose is below 140, or I've overdone it on carbs.
3. A bunch of minor unexpected observations Levels brought to my attention. Getting rid of LED alarm clock lowered my average overnight glucose by 8 points. Apparently even the most minor sources of light can cause this.
I made the mistake of eating some airport french fries, shooting my glucose to 180 in an instant, damn near diabetic levels, and crashing it to 58, setting off the hypoglycemia alarm! TLDR, I have a genetic trait that means my saliva has an enzyme that's extremely efficient at converting starch to glucose. Someone suggested metamucil prior to eating them again to slow digestion enough to prevent this. The good news is this demonstrated my insulin reponse is potent with no sign of impairment.
Anyway, there's more but you get the idea. I'm paying about $45 per 15 day sensor in a 6 pack, via tastermonial (when they have a 20% off sale). I'd suggest at least going 30 days before taking a break, to collect enough data to identify patterns and see the results from making adjustments.
