Watch me lose weight!

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

What's Normal?

For the past 2 days, these have been my numbers:

June 7th:
  • 5:29 AM-183
  • 8:38 AM-153
  • 11:00 AM-137
  • 1:08 PM-179
  • 3:08 PM-123
  • 5:42 PM-120
  • 8:09 PM-97
  • 9:06 PM-99
  • 10:00 PM-92
June 8th:
  • 5:25 AM-146
  • 8:53 AM-146
  • 11:20 AM-131
  • 1:25 PM-151
  • 3:56 PM-137
  • 5:22 PM-134
  • 7:13 PM-119
  • 9:14 PM-45
  • 9:37 PM-85
June 9th (so far):
  • 5:33 AM-146
  • 8:45 AM-138
Notice something?  Other than the paralyzing low from last night from post-softbal practice which left me drinking juice and scooping some Nutella (yum!), I'v haven't had a large deviation in my numbers.   Disregarding the low last night, my standard deviation from these numbers is 25 mg/dL.  Rising or falling 25 points can easily be done within an hour, 30 minutes, or even 15 minutes.  But I've been on a steady stroll around a mean of 135 mg/dL for the past 2 days.  If my numbers were a bike trail, they would be the "Beginner" path with very few hills and valleys.

But 135 as the mean?  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Sure, it's fairly normal and I wouldn't blink much if I saw that as an individual reading.  However, I haven't been bouncing all over the place.  This average means I'm not that high, and I'm certianly not low.  I would much rather have a smooth trend of 135 than bouncing from 225 to 45 (whose average is 135, also).

Sometimes, I think we get so caught up in the A1c singular number that we don't think about what that number means.  Am I bouncing all over the place from 300 to 50 and I luckily end up around 6.5% for my average?  Aiming for the elusive 100 mg/dL all the time is exhausting, especially since I am trying to simulate an organ that doesn't work anymore with an already compromised immune system.  Considering all the maintenance and effort this disease requires, strolling along at 135 mg/dL is pretty awesome!

As an atmospheric climate person, I look at a lot of datasets, some of them are 30+ years long.  Whenever I see wacky numbers that shoot from really high to really low over a week, I begin to question the validity of that dataset.  A steady line with some hills and valleys centering around an appropriately natural number is more pleasing.

I guess I'm trying to say that even though 135 mg/dL is not an average many medical professionals would consider "normal", I would argue that bouncing from 300 to 50 with a happen-chance average of 100 is less "normal".

4 comments:

  1. Agreed. Plus, normal is overrated. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha, so true. Who wants to be normal, anyway? Pssht!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Uh, this looks awesome to me. Jealous (except for that 45).

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wouldn't call this normal. I would call is diabetes perfection. Awesome job!

    ReplyDelete

Due to increase in spam comments, I am requiring all commenters be registered users and every comment be approved. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Recent Posts

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor, nurse, certified diabetes educator (CDE) or any medical professional of any kind. (But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express!) Therefore, please do not use any of my postings as medical fact. I am simply a blogger expressing my highs and lows (pun intended) with diabetes. For changes in your medication, exercise regiment, or diet please consult a qualified physician.

Recent Comments

About Me

My photo
My name is Holly and I live in north Alabama with my hubby, two cats, and a dog.