[trampypizza]

> it actually provides better information to base decisions on (fast acting) insulin dosage

Would you say that's because you can get a better idea of trends once you have enough data? My understanding has always been that the true value in a CGM is revealing those trends and patterns that are really unique to the person and that are hard to spot with regular glucose testing.

EDIT: I realise that this is basically what you've said. Apologies, brainfart.

> I suggest you do everything you can to get a continuous monitoring system.

I'm currently jumping through the hoops to get myself one now. I can get my hands on one via the NHS fairly easily, it's just the pumps which are hard to get. I've done a lot of work over the past few years to get my control to a place I am happy with (finishing uni and that awful realisation that you are in fact mortal). I also wanna say that I recognise that as someone who is able to control my diabetes using injections it would be wrong for me to demand a pump when there are others who for various reasons can't control their condition. In a perfect world it would be great, but hey, we work with what we've got, right.

[exDM69]

Yes, exactly. When you wake up in the morning, you can get a plot of the last night's glucose levels which you normally don't know about with discrete blood measurements. This allowed my SO to adjust evening eating and insulin dose and their timing so that the glucose levels stay within the "good zone" all night (the GCM reader unit has a helpful graph with the good levels highlighted).

If you can't get the NHS to give you one, it might be worth it to get it for at least some period (say 3-6 months) out of pocket. By that time it should have given you insights on your treatment and allow you to better assess if an insulin pump is the right thing for you.

[jimrandomh]

It helps with figuring out long-term trends, but it's also an improvement even for a single snapshot-in-time decision. If your blood glucose is 150mg/dL and you're trying to get it to 100mg/dL, the difference between "150mg/dL and rising 3mg/dL/min" and "150mg/dL and falling 3mg/dL/min" is the difference between wanting insulin and wanting carbohydrates.