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For the past two weeks or so, my blood sugars have been running high. I had lowered my basals when I came back to school because I was having too many lows with my new schedule. I'm guessing that the basals need to be raised again since I've slowly adjusted to the schedule and I'm hitting exam times so my stress is increased.

I decided to bite the bullet though and wear my CGM for the next week so that I can really fine tune the basals and make sure my carb factor is working the way it should. I haven't worn it since last January or so. It gets in the way. It leaves a bruise where the needle went in. And to be honest, I'm kind of scared of the needle (it's about 1.5 inches long and fairly thick) which is very unlike me.

So I overcame my concerns and fear (after about 8 minutes of talking myself into it) and put the sensor in and did all the necessary pump changes/calibrations. It actually was quite painless and didn't bleed (unlike last time I put it in). I'm hoping there won't be a bruise once I pull it out at the end of next week.

I went ahead and increased two of basals last night just to bring down the numbers to some extent (I'm easily hitting 200 lately). This morning, I saw the basals at work when I woke up at 88. But throughout the afternoon, I've hit 200. I'm finally coming down after three correction boluses (yes, my correction factor is correct) and going without food for awhile.

I've also ordered a different kind of infusion site, the Silhouettes (I currently use the Quick-set). They insert at a completely different angle and also have a longer catheter. A friend of mine uses them and has had great success with them. The reason why they interested me is because I'm hoping they can give me a few more options of placement.

Because they are put in at a different angle, they can lie along the top of the skin instead of going directly into the skin at a 90 degree angle. I'm hoping that will allow me to use them on my thighs and my sides, which are the two places I want to use now but can't bring myself to try because I don't like the idea of the current catheter at that angle there.

I'm also using the CGM to decide whether I think Symlin is a good choice for me. I had toyed with the idea over the summer, but felt I was getting fairly good post-prandial levels so I let it go. But now, I feel like some of the foods I'm eating (especially at breakfast time) are causing me to spike and get stuck above 180. Maybe it's just my imagination though.

Basically, I'm just trying to make a few minor, but critical, improvements so that I can get the optimal blood sugars without stressing every day whether I'm going to hit 300 or drop to 40. The pump is supposed to give me more options and flexible control, so I'm trying to focus on those options and the flexibility.