Dexcom Gone Crazy

I put a new sensor in last Friday.  Every time I checked my blood sugar both Friday and Saturday, my meter readings and Dexcom readings were within a few points of each other – what I would call the perfect sensor.  On Sunday, my readings started to stray here and there, but nothing to be worried about.

Monday was a different day.  My readings were straying way off all day.  Unfortunately, my Dex wasn’t the only thing I was not trusting.  I had opened a new box of test strips and I was even questioning if those were right.  My meter would show that I was in the 70s or 80s and I felt like I was lower than that.  I even broke out another box of test strips & stuck them in my backup meter.  Those were close to my regular meter but I was still thinking “garbage in, garbage out” as far as my Dexcom readings went.

The first thing I do every morning when I wake up is reach for my Dexcom to see what my blood sugar is and yesterday was no different.  The second thing I do is grab for my meter and check my blood sugar on my meter.  My BS was within a few points between my Dex and meter, so that was a very good sign!

Around 10, I was doing some stuff in the kitchen and felt very weird.  I took my Dexcom out of my Spibelt and looked – I was in the 120s with a straight across arrow.  I went into the living room to check with my meter and I was 46 on my meter.  I felt really bad and could barely see so I was thinking I have to be a lot lower than 46.  My eyes sometimes get a little blurry when I am low, but they were so blurry I could barely see the meter. I am sure I over treated!  To make matters worse, when I was checking my BS, my dog decided to pick that time that he needed to go outside.  He was doing his little “I need to go out” dance and was whining.  I knew what he wanted but I also knew I needed to treat my low first.

As soon as I downed some Smarties, I decided I better take the dog out – I could tell he really needed out.  I am sure if my neighbors saw me, they thought I was nuts.  I have a coat closet in the living room but I have it full of Christmas stuff so there is no place to hang my jacket downstairs.   I use my walker as a coat rack.  Since it has been so cold, I have been putting a coat on Alex and also keep his coat on there also.  His coat is usually wet from the snow so that also makes a good drying rack.   I wasn’t sure I could get my jacket on let alone the dogs so I went outside with both still hanging over the walker.  It was in the teens and snowing.

As soon as I came in, I sat down on the couch.  I could not tell what time it was because my eyes were too blurry to see the clock.  I usually like to try and watch the time so I can check again in 15 or 20 minutes.  By then, the Dex was also beeping at me – I ignored it because I knew I was low.  I also did not think I would be able to read the screen if I looked at it.

I started feeling a little better so when the Dex started making noises again, I decided to pull it out.  I think at first I had a little heart attack, but reminded myself it could not be right because I was feeling better.  Since I knew I had been touching something sweet that could throw my BS off, I first went and washed my hands before checking my BS.  My Dexcom is usually a little slow coming back up after a low (which I don’t mind because it is not normally slow catching the low) but it levels off and just stays where it bottomed out.  I decided this one was picture worthy!

I do want to put a little note here for you non-Dexcom users that this not typical Dexcom behavior.  However, it is a good reason why you should always double-check with your meter before making treatment decisions.