In this week’s group meeting Dr. Tro and health coaches Amy Eiges and Brian Wiley finished the month of March by answering questions and understanding CGM data. The conversation also discussed the idea of data overload and how to sustain momentum long term.
- Dr. Tro began by discussing how his practice uses tools like scales, blood pressure cuffs, and CGMs to remotely track patients. He uses these devices to track trends and changes over time, but also to catch potential problems before they become worse.
- Brian talked about how he has noticed a disturbing trend on social media where health care professionals discourage people without diabetes from getting a CGM because they claim non-medical professionals can’t understand the data.
- It can be difficult to get a CGM if you’re not diabetic, and many doctors are unwilling to write a prescription for them or they want to send you to an endocrinologist to write one. It can be frustrating considering you can buy a finger-stick blood glucose monitor over the counter.
- With a CGM you can easily see what foods, sleep, stress and exercise do to your blood sugar. This information can help you improve these things if you’re getting negative results. It also shows you your average blood glucose, how much it varies, and even gives you an estimated A1c.
- Dr. Tro explained how most professionals are only trained in managing medicines and since the CGM has only been around for about 5 years they don’t know what they don’t know.
- The conversation shifted to discussing how some of these tools can effect us adversely with data overload becoming a paralyzing force. Daily scale fluctuations should not be seen as a moral compass — if they truly are trending in the wrong direction over the course of a few weeks, reevaluate what you are doing and go back to basics. It was also suggested to look at the 5-Levers as a reference to help narrow down what could be going wrong.
- There are so many things that can cause fluctuations: hormones, sleep, exercise, and stress. All of these should be taken into consideration when the scale is fluctuating. Be patient until these things balance themselves out, and don’t change too many things at one time. If you find yourself frustrated by every day weighing, its perfectly fine to weigh in weekly or even monthly.
