I get a lot of questions about how I like my CGMS. And sometimes, I just don't know how to answer. I love the IDEA of my CGMS. I love that there is something out there that shows me a constant stream of blood sugar information. I love that it will alarm me before I get a crashing low or start soaring high.

But in the execution of it all, I really don't like it. Yes, I'm very grateful that I have access to this technology. Insurance pays for it, which makes it less burden and more blessing. But overall, it isn't as great as everyone thinks it is.

Let me just outline my most recent use of the CGMS so you can see and decide for yourself if it's worth the hassle:

Last Friday night: I used the Sen-serter to insert the sensor. I turned on the sensor through my pump and prepared to wait the two hours for calibration. After two hours, the pump chimed at me METER BG NOW, which I kindly obliged to. After testing my blood sugar, it automatically calibrated. About twenty minutes later, it chimed at me again CAL ERROR. A second check, a second CAL ERROR. Then BAD SENSOR.

When you get a BAD SENSOR reading, you have to "change" the sensor. So I faked the pump out by turning the sensor off, waiting a little while, and starting the process over again. It did the same thing. So finally I surrendered and waited till morning.

Saturday-Monday: I'd get an occasional CAL ERROR which was frustrating, but nothing too alarming. Usually, it was on track. Sometimes, it was so off it wasn't even funny. Like when it says I'm in the 80's when I'm really over 250.

For the next two days, I constantly fought with the CGMS trying to get it to understand that I was not high or low when it said I was. Or that I wasn't on track when it said I was. It didn't help me with any lows (because it's usually too slow to catch them). It didn't really stave off any highs either.

One night it constantly went up and down, saying that I was going from 80 to 200 within 30 minutes, then back down, then back up. Constantly changing the direction of the blood sugar. Yet my meter showed a constant 150 to 160. How can I trust this thing to alarm when I really do need that extra help?

Let me show you the logistics of it now (this is using the computer technology logging system that it comes with):

Out of the nine lows (below 75) that my meter gathered, the CGMS reported six below 80. My meter average was 149, while the CGMS was 158. So the basics of it are fairly accurate.

When it comes to showing me trends, it can't be trusted. It doesn't show an accurate line on any day. Sure, I can guess on the line a little bit (and probably will use it to some extent), but overall I can't trust that the pattern is accurate enough to call for basal changes.

I'm not saying that a CGMS isn't a valuable tool, but it isn't as wonderful as everyone makes it seem. Now maybe another brand would be more beneficial, but obviously I can't go switching brands at the moment. Even with consistent use, I don't see that a CGMS would give me that much of a handle on my blood sugars.

However, I will continue to use it (and fight with it) until I change pumps/brands. In another three weeks, I will try the whole thing all over again and hope that it helps with some sort of issue in this blood sugar battle. If not, I'll curse it all over again.