Log/Books

[J'sMa]

Hi,
Am having a tough time "getting it back in gear"...would love to hear how "you" go about recording numbers. Both pump related and blood sugar. EG: do you write stuff as you go, carry a 'book' with you, record food?
Thing is I've done well in the past, but life is diff now, am married, have a hubby, toddler, house etc...I'm not at the center of my world anymore, and making decisions to do differently hasn't worked yet...
Sorry if it's a well covered issue, am new here and haven't found anything about this yet.
thanks

[Nancy in VA]

Well, I'm not diabetic myself but my diabetic is 2 so I do all the tracking.

We have a spreadsheet formatted like the paper ones the doctor likes. It calculated the dose when we were doing MDI. Now that we are pumping (but newly pumping), we use the caluclations as backup for the pump calculations right now, but eventually I'll just pitch the calculations and fill in the #s from the pump

But, because I can get history from the pump and the meter, we don't write it down when we're out. The pump obviously doesn't tell me the carbs or the reading that I plugged in, but I have the reading on the meter, so I can back into the carbs to get it into my spreadsheet. This is also how we send it to the CDE for feedback on the #s

[kel4han]

I use a simple spiral notebook and each line records time and BS, meals, carb counts all my notes right there. Then I just go back and highlight as needed if a particular food was a problem, site change, activity, mood, basal that might need adjusting etc. I do this always for Maddison, and let it go sometimes when we are having good spells of expected numbers. I do one for myself when anything is out of whack, or when I need to check ratios and basals. Simple. Easy to flip back and forth and highlight!;)

[lilkittykt]

I'm an awful log keeper! always have been, so my pump keeps track of everything, (blood sugars, carbs, basals and boluses) and I email the info directly to the doctor

[LantusFiend]

Sometimes I don't log and most days I put the stuff on the top of my calendar. I have the kind of calendar with a page per day.

[clb1968]

I carry a calendar in my bag with my supplies and write notes on it, carbs, test, appts, everything.

[Brensdad]

My endo and I are constantly fighting because I refuse to stop and write down every single meal and BG. Finally he agreed to read the nice, neat reports my pump generates.

[Isabelle's Mom]

DH and I used to keep logs religiously (I keep the log for dd), but have gotten lazy since the pump. BUT, I think it's really important to go back to it every once in a while, even if just for a few days, for fine-tuning. DH always complains when his endo makes him do this, but after it's done, he's glad he did it and sees the result in his A1c's.

We use an Excel spreadsheet, printed double-sided, one week on each side. Neither of us likes to carry a bulky notebook around. We just fold up the spreadsheet and keep it in the meter case. The spreadsheet is simple, only records BG, carbs, units Humalog, and basal rate. It has room for notes where we'll jot down anything unusual like special meals, illness, etc.

If you'd like the file, PM me and I'll be happy to send it to you.

[Isabelle's Mom]

Happy birthday, LantusFiend!

[munchkingirl]

I use a log book my Pump educators gave me when I was first trying to get on the pump. It's from The Diabetes Mall and it's called "My other check book" - It's checkbook sized and has a lot of space to write and record meals, blood sugars, exercise, insulin and everything. It's been my personal favorite for log books.

However, being prego now, I think I'm going to have to go to an actual notebook where I can write down more notes... I have never been this festideous about logging, funny the things that get us motivated!:D

[KeltonsMom]

I am new to me having diabetes and I have been a good girl when it comes to writing down my numbers on a sheet of paper, however, I lost my piece of paper and should probably look into getting a log book..Will I have to buy one?

[clb1968]

You should not have to buy a log book, most meters include one in the package and if you call customer service they will send them out to you.

I just use a appointment calendar,it gives me a little extra room to make notes.

[KeltonsMom]

You should not have to buy a log book, most meters include one in the package and if you call customer service they will send them out to you.

I just use a appointment calendar,it gives me a little extra room to make notes.

Oh, mine didn't come with a log book :( I feel cheated :D

[twodoor2]

I use an excel spreadsheet with has TONS of information.
This is what is along the Y-axis

Time BG taken
BG
Basal
Time Bolus given
Actual Bolus given
Food dose
Correction Factor
IOB
carbs (grams)
carb ratio
Meal/FoodDose/Corr
protein/fat/dairy
ketones/exercise
Notes

The date and times of day are along the x-axis. And I record stats for each day to the right of the 24 hour x-axis. They are Average BG, Total Bolus, Total Carbs, mininum BG, maximum BG, standard deviation (a bigger number indicates more spikes), %of TDD used for corrections (if this number is above 8% for three days in a row, that tells me that the basal or carb ratios need adjusting). There are formulas for the IOB based on a 3 hour DIA, and other various formulas in the Correction Factor and Food dose area. The ISF can be plugged in on a daily basis, and the carb ratios can be plugged in at every meal/snack. Since these values are variable, they can also be changed in past days to see how the doses would have changed if we used a different ISF or carb ratio. In other words, I can use this for forcasting based on past days.

I cannot tell you how helpful this is to me in getting my daughter's numbers under control only after 3 weeks of being on Lantus/Novolog regimen. Her daily averages are in the 100's and sometimes low 200's, but considering, it has helped immensely. She also only had one hypoglycemic event, and that was a 63, in the past three weeks. I don't think I would have been able to predict or make good judgements without my log.
I even keep track of the ages of my vials with this spreadsheet, it's a good reminder that lets me know when to throw them out. or if potency may be wearing off.

If you want a copy, please pm me.

I showed my Type 1 diabetic friend (he's in his 40's), and he said that it was something I should post so that everyone could utilize it. He said the software out there is good for recording numbers, but this can be used for forcasting as well, unlike the software.

I'm constantly improving and fine tuning it as well.