I’ve mentioned it before – I like to have logs to look at, to know how I am doing. I’ve always struggled to find a way that I enjoy logging however. I’ve tried doing it by hand – but then I don’t get nifty graphs and pie charts (and I LOVE graphs and pie charts; I’m a bit of a nerd). Anyway, I’m tired of logging by hand. From the age of 6, up until I moved away to college I or my dad wrote down EVERY BG check, EVERY insulin injection. I had dozens of logbooks from the Children’s Hospital of WI, and I was so happy to give them up when I moved out. (Shh, don’t tell my dad I stopped logging by hand when I moved out!)
My week’s BGs, in a nutshell.
I’ve tried Excel spreadsheets, but I was never able to get exactly what I wanted out of it, and I’m no Excel expert anyway. I’ve also tried a variety of Android and iPhone based apps. While I have liked many of them, there are others I don’t like so much. Incidentally, the one I loved (Log for Life) went under and no longer exists. (A few months back they sent everyone an email saying the site/app were going down and if you wanted your data you better back it up in the next 30 days or so.)
So I have been on the lookout for something new to try. Lately I’ve been trying out three different apps on my iPad Mini and I think my fave is Diabetes Pal by Telcare. I don’t use the Telcare BGM, so I have to manually log everything…..which I like.
Many people HATE manual logging – they’d rather plug something in and sync their readings and be done. But I find that by logging I am keeping myself accountable. And without doing it manually it means little to me. I feel much more responsible for my own management of D when I have to enter in my BG, what I ate, or what I bolused.
That may be why I never was a fan of Carelink, Diasend, etc. I am excited for the release of t:connect – but will I make it my primary way of keeping a D log? Probably not. Because plugging in and syncing isn’t for me.
At the same time I’m excited to try the OneTouch VerioSync. Just to say I tried it.
I’m strange about logging and D-tech and the mixture of the two sometimes.
What is your preference, if you log – an app, a spreadsheet, by hand? Or do you like to just sync your data and be done with it?
delightfully diabetic 
My pump knows everything. The carbs I ate, the insulin I took, the temporary basals I used, the CGM sensor readings, when I’ve overridden the recommended bolus, etc. I let my endo download two weeks of data from my pump and I’m happy. Occasionally, I do it myself, but the “non-professional” version of Carelink isn’t nearly as good.
While I myself am not D, my 4 year old daughter is. I’m a bit of a graph and pie chart nerd myself. I’ve recently started using the Diabetes+ android app and I love it. I get a pie chart, a graph, and a log as well. I can enter her foods, carbs, insulin, make notes. It also gives an “A1c” if you will. I also like that I can email it to her Endo or my husband or anyone I want for that matter.
I have not tried that one, I will have to look for it on my phone. I like getting an estimated A1c!
I hate logging. I always feel like I’m missing a bunch of crucial information, which makes me go way overboard, which burns me out, then I do nothing. It’s a vicious cycle.
I have to admit that I really liked the CareLink Pro stuff that Scott talks about above. I was only on that pump for a trial, but it might be my next purchase, just to get that automatic logging back.
But I can totally see how manually logging keeps things in focus for you – makes perfect sense. I just can’t keep up that level of work for long.
I’d MUCH rather sync and be done with it. But on the other hand, I like being able to look back and see what I’ve been doing and what the pie charts look like, and the graphs, and the standard deviations. So I’m hoping that the t:connect works with Mac!!
Natalie I do believe they will have a version for Windows and a version for Mac.
I started using the t_connect website and I like it as well as the T:slim. Your site and a few others convinced me to go with the t:slim and I really like it. Concerning the uploading I can upload my freestyle lite meter readings in 20 seconds and the same with the pump. I still remember the IR dongle with the Animas Ping being a bit tricky to upload.