Last Saturday I had the privilege of going to my local JDRF TypeOneNation Research Summit. I learned valuable information and got some reminders I really needed (like bolus 15 minutes before eating, duh). Aside from wanting to share everything I had learned and ask everyone I knew to donate to JDRF, I walked away with an important action item for myself. Get set up with Tidepool. And that I did.
Quick background- I have a Minimed 530G with Enlite system. I also have the Minimed Connect which you can learn about here. I upload to Carelink via the Connect and I pretty much just glance at my screen, look over the past few hours, and try to make decisions on my diabetes. Sounds like a great plan, right? Uh, no.
Everything affects Type 1 Diabetes- food, stress, sleep, activity, hormones, etc. I’m fortunate enough to have Rheumatoid Arthritis to complicate things even further. My pain increases my blood sugar so much that I have a higher basal rate in the evening, for when my pain is at its highest.
Wouldn’t it be great to view my Continuous Glucose Monitor data and make little virtual notes on it, throughout the day to reference my pain, what I ate, when I exercised, when I felt stressed, etc.?
So cool, right? It’s Tidepool’s software (with the best name ever) Blip and it’s corresponding app, Blip Notes. Setting up Tidepool is a breeze- they are one of those wonderful sites where your username and password work for everything- no need to create 5 different combos for one site. You download the uploader (haha) and off you go! Don’t worry if you don’t have Minimed products like me, it works for most of those other companies too.
Even without the Blip notes, the data is impressive and informative. It shows things like how many fingersticks you’ve done (I need to work on that too…), boluses entered, basal tweaking you’ve done, etc.
For me, Blip notes is the icing on the cake. Free and easy to use. You create a new note, select one of your frequently used hashtags (at the top) or create a new one, add your note and done! Super easy, very quick..time and date are automatically added (you can change if needed).
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Tidepool- have you tried it? If so, what’s your favorite thing about it?