updates from Chaul

Well, here in Finland it works in an awkward way. Abbott made an exclusive deal with public healthcare or something. This means that FreeStyle Libre is being provided public healthcare and there's basically no other way of getting it directly. I think you can still buy other different products from other manufacturers or import them but they are quite expensive. Libre stores an 8-hour history of readings that you have to periodically download off the sensor into the provided reader or cell phone and a single sensor lasts about 2 weeks. There are so many diabetics that could benefit from CGM here and Abbott sometimes has problems delivering enough sensors.

Dexcom is another popular manufacturer, and I think Medtronic was the third one. I remember reading about a sensor that would be injected or surgically inserted under the skin by a doctor, and that sensor would run for 90 days, but I forgot who manufactures that one. There are also solutions where they have connected an insulin pump to CGM.


I had back pains over a several years, then knee problems and a frozen shoulder. My back pains were bad enough to wake me up early morning. I spent a lot of time in physiotherapy. My knee was bad enough to hurt cycling, so I kinda stopped doing it altogether for a few years.

Once the shoulder could move again, I met this trainer and explained my situation to her. I knew that she had both paramedic training and physiotherapy background, and has been training for long. She's also curious to learn more from my experience as a T1 diabetic even if she has already trained a few type 2's too. I know I'm in good hands. I'm in it for the long term, so I'm only meeting her every 2 weeks where she checks where I'm going, teaches me some new moves, and lets me work on my own for another 2 weeks. I haven't even tried the elliptical trainer but I have tried a lot of other kinds of equipment, yes.

Current state and biggest benefit for me is that I can now sleep again! I do still occasionally get some back pains in the morning, but only after a very long while and possibly because of bad position. Most of the time I have no pain at all and I sleep like a log. I think the program has helped me gain muscle in my back, abdomen and shoulder. Apparently this is very important for a healthy back.

Another big change is that my body is now metabolizing better. I don't know any better but I feel that my insulin resistance problem is mostly gone now. I'm injecting less insulin but still eating more, especially on an active day, but on other days too. And like I mentioned, I've lost 4 kg of weight (almost all of that from the wait), and about 5% of body fat in total.

My knee has not been bothering me much anymore. Besides, it only hurt at the back my knee when I lift my ankle in a certain way and this hurting could be because of my cycling position. I'll fix it when I get better shoes for cycling. The shoulder is almost ok too now. It does not hurt but still has some small mobility issues.

Funny thing is that after I started something what you might call power training, I've been reading several articles and research papers on how power training can be beneficial to diabetics, metabolism, and how it can help other groups too. I think I'm experiencing a few of those benefits right now. I'm still trying work more on endurance. I don't see myself as some kind of bulky body builder but the benefits prove to me that I must be doing something right and the tips I got from my trainer are working the right way.

Post Edited (Chaul22) : 4/13/2018 3:11:19 PM (GMT-6)

Yes, I've noticed that after getting my fat percentage this much lower by gaining some muscle and losing a lot of fat, I have found it easier to control my blood glucose. It could be that it's simply the muscle mass. I'm reaching the age where you start losing muscle mass so I figured if I wanted to do this, it's now or never. I'm pretty sure I now have more muscle mass than I did in my 30's.

Before, I would have to keep increasing insulin dose because it would not have much effect. I would also have to avoid carbs in fear of any kind of extra carb messing up the balance.

Currently I'm pondering how to lower insulin dose so that I won't get hypoglycemia while keeping the carbs at the level they used to be. I'll try and go a little bit lower in carbs, but my muscles now need carbs. If I went for a really low-carb diet, I'd feel weak while exercising so I'm trying to listen to my body what it can take in. At least on an exercise day, I need much more carbs. Moderation in all though. I must remember to measure often during exercise..

My fat percentage was measured at around 16-17 few months ago. Not bad at all, I think, for someone who didn't use to exercise at all, and had mostly been eating microwave dishes or at restaurants, one year earlier. I learned how to cook while also starting regular exercise 2-3 times a week at the gym. I had to start slowly so that my muscles didn't grow faster than my weakish joints could handle and having a PT was critical in controlling that development. I'm happy now and my personal trainer is proud of me. Still, I'm much more inclined to work on my endurance than body building but I could still also use a little bit of body shaping around my abdomen by losing the fat, eh..