We all have our favorite meter’s, pumps, syringes, glucose tabs, CGM’s, and whatever else you use to manage your diabetes. Here are my top 4 essentials to managing my diabetes.
Medtronic Minimed Paradigm 722
This is my insulin pump of choice at this time. It is the one that I was given when I first got the pump 5 years ago, well it was a Paradigm 712 at that time, but I upgraded to the 722 at the beginning of the year. I don’t have any issues with the pump, but there are some things that I do like with the other ones as well. This pump is my life right now. I would not be able to manage my diabetes as easily without it. I did MDI and it just didn’t work for me, I eat too frequently and eat at random times that just make it best for me to use a pump and bolus at any given time.
Freestyle Lite Meter
For a very long time I used all One Touch products. That stopped about a year ago when I received a Freestyle Lite meter, and I haven’t switched to another since then. I absolutely love this meter. I never have any problems, it’s small and the best part about it is the light it has. I test more frequently, especially at night because of this light. I would never test at 3 am because I didn’t want to turn the light on because then I can never go back to sleep. With this meter, I can just turn on the light on the meter, test, and go back to bed. I do use other meters in different situations. I use a True2Go meter when I am traveling or golfing because it carries easier. I look forward to trying out the Contour USB, who knows, that may become the new meter of choice, we shall see.
Minimed CGM
Even though I don’t use this as often as I should, when I do, it helps me out tremendously. My average BG levels are about 20-30 points lower when I use it. It comes down to dealing with the pain of inserting a new sensor. That is the number one reason that I hate to put it on because quite honestly, it hurts. The needle is extremely long, so that’s not a plus either. Once it’s on and calibrated I love it.
Skittles
You may be wondering why this is one of my essentials. Well, it’s because this is the most comfortable item that I like to use. When I eat a bag of Skittles(the small bag shown here), I know how much it will bring up my sugar, which means that I don’t overeat. When I am eating other things like glucose tabs or orange juice or whatever else, I don’t know how much it will raise my sugar, so then usually my sugar is way too high at that point then.