See my first thread on this topic–my first week, in Manual, I was wearing both. Far as I could tell they were about the same, maybe a bit of an edge in favor of MDT. Accuracy aside, another big plus for Guardian 3: connection drops. Having way fewer of those than with my Dexcoms.
Good point. I’m still finding the thing much harder to attach than my G5 (complicated taping that my MDT trainer wants me to do scrupulously by-the-book) and have been sticking to my abdomen and “love handles” b/c it’s easier to see what I’m doing. Used to use my upper arm with my G5, but never tried my calf. Hmmm… Anyway, my problem on the last two sensors is that they’ve been registering ~20u low compared to meter, particularly overnight. With an ordinary pump that’s not nearly such a big deal, but with this one, those numbers are directly controlling what the algorithm is telling the pump to deliver, so it really matters. In my case it’s offsetting the effect of dialing down my AIT somewhat. But taking it from 3 down to 2 is definitely improving things for me as well.
Side of the outer calf has been the absolute best place for me. There is a video in the Medtronic 670G Users Facebook closed group that shows how to do it. Just make sure that you position your leg so that the side of the calf are you insert it in is somewhat flubby. For me it’s a completely out of the way place, even better than back of the arm! Insertion doesn’t hurt at all even though you would think it would!
I’ve not had any problems with taping - use provided Medtronic 670G Oval Tape. I do put Skin Tac on the area after insertion before putting the Oval Tape on which helps a lot. I’m kind of an exercise freak / work out a lot. Have had no problems with oval tape holding.
Oh - another thing on calf area - it’s a good idea to shave it before inserting the sensor.
My G3 sensors have all consistently been within 10 mg/dl of blood glucose lately…actually closer in many cases. Extremely accurate and very responsive to glucose-level changes. I’m ecstatic with it, life changer!!!
Thank you so much DrBB- I’m almost.at the end of my 2 months in Auto. I experienced nearly everything you’ve mentioned. I thought I was crazy or just incompetent. To get the 670G algorithm to bring me somewhere closer to running between 120 and 150, I had to change my Carb Ratio to be less carbs per unit and lower my insulin active time. Also, I have to be super accurate when carb counting. Each and every single carb has to be entered and I need to always prebolus.
They keep saying the pump needs to learn me but I’m sure it’s just me getting use to how this pump works and completely change how I do things. It is getting better but it’s been a rough learning curve.
The best thing about this pump is it has dramatically reduced my lows. That’s the one thing that keeps me on the 670.
Yeah, I completely understand. As listed in another thread in this conversation, I have multiple carb ratios with each meal. This has really helped. But now, “ding dong” (what I somewhat affectionately call my pump) is waking me up between 2:30-4:00 am with “high” reading and it’s been at max for 2 1/2 hours…sighhhhh. I have no ready explanation for this yet. My AIT is down to 2:30 and it has helped a lot. Hang in there (I’m talking to the choir too!). But my understanding is that it “shoots” to keep us at 150 and not 120 like we’d like. Good luck!
There does seem to be some ambiguity about that. What I understand is that the official “correction” doses (when it says “bolus recommended”) are calculated to 150, while the regular microbolusing is targeting 120. But that leaves a pretty big fuzzy area. Those “bolus recommended” doses are so much smaller than what it would normally take to get you down even to that higher target (I’m at 230 and you give me a 0.3u correction? WTF???) that I can only assume the algorithm figures it in as well somehow. I mean, it’s supposed to be anticipating highs as well as lows, so presumably it’s ramping up anyway, just not enough…?
The other thing I’m trying to get clear about is whether or to what extent the CR figures into the microbolus rate. My CDE said it didn’t, that it was just for meal bolusing, but he’s a newbie too and I hear otherwise from people in the user group, so I’m trying to get a clearer answer from my MDT trainer. Pretty sure it MUST have an effect because otherwise all you’ve got is AIT, and once you’ve hit the lower limit of 2hr there’s nothing else to tweak.
IMO, anything that “shoots” for keeping me at 150 instead of ~100 will raise my A1c from it’s usual 6.1. No thank you. Nor can i trust Enlite sensors to do their part in feeding accurate data to the pump. Not on my life!
Go to the sensitivity screen and reset your sensitivity. Mine is 1 unit will decrease me 100 points. I’m very sensitive to the insulin.(please verify this with your trainer/MD too). My numbers have become closer (Fingerstick vs sensor) when I moved the site to my lower, inner upper arm. I’ve had DM for 46 years and have lots of scar tissue/lipodystropy, so finding sites has been a trial.
To be accurate, and I think this is in the thread somewhere, the target is still 120; it just uses a different one when calculating a correction. But the baseline microbolusing is still aiming to bring you down to 120. And it uses Guardian 3 sensors, which are very different from Enlites and far more accurate. During my initial week I wore both a Dexcom G5 and a Guardian 3 in parallel. The Guardian was at least as accurate as the G5 and had far fewer dropouts.
I also am wondering about the no exercising. I had that discussion with my CDE about basal testing. One thing they always say is to not exercise when basal testing. But I said if I walk to and from work everyday at the same time, shouldn’t that be part of the basal testing? It would be silly to test without it if I do it at the same time every day. So my basal testing is done with those daily walks to and from because that is my normal day. Right?
So sorry for the confusion…I thought it took all those numbers/ratios into the equation to change the dosing with food/blood sugars. I’m all out of ideas…it’s such a frustrating part of my life now. I’ve only been pumping for 9 months now. On multiple daily injections for 40+ years. I used an earlier version of medtronic pump without sensor about 10 years ago; this got my A1c back down under 7.0% and I went back to injections. The pump/sensor is a great idea, but it’s a lot more work that the injections were.
Hopefully, it will get better soon for both of us. Good luck!
I was so excited for this closed loop system, then my doctor told me that the goal blood sugar is 120 and there is no way to change that. With my current pump and CGM my average blood sugar is 90. I would hate to lose all that valuable ground changing to the new system. For now I guess I will suffer through all the work and calculations of a normal pump until they can come out with a system accurate enough to venture into lower averages!
I think an average of 90 is great if you’re able do that without undue variability and time hypo. Are you happy with your time in range numbers? Sounds like you’ve found a good groove.
I hear you! As a musician, I find learning this system analogous to what you run into when you know one arrangement of a certain piece, and then you’re faced with an arrangement that’s almost the same as the one you know, but not quite, and you keep stumbling because you think you know how that next bit goes but, oops, no. So much easier to learn the thing cold, from total unfamiliarity, than to have to unlearn the version you know at the same time you’re learning the new one.
I’m curious: why did you go back on injections after your first pump experience? And have you considered just running the 670 in Manual mode? The Guardian sensors are quite good and the low-prevention features worked well for me before switching to auto.
My BS were back where I wanted them and I just didn’t like wearing the pump. (Still don’t really). I took the pump off to go on a vacation and never put it back on. In manual mode, I was running low frequently. I probably ate about 300 glucose tablets in 3 months. Fortunately, the pump/sensor caught these and alerted me, but it was rough for a while. How long have you been pumping?
I started pumping coming up on five years ago; before that, 10 yrs on Lantus-Novolog; and before that, 20 yrs on R/NPH. I had a pretty rocky time getting my first pump dialed in, what with CDE being uber-conservative about adjustments, lots of failure points in the system compared with injectors, a bad batch of reservoirs that got recalled, etc etc., plus my expectations were too optimistic about how easy it would be to make the switch. I wouldn’t go back now, but it wasn’t the ecstatic experience a lot of other people describe. A lot depends on what your previous experience was. I can see where a pump would feel like a big liberation for a lot of people who started out on basal-bolus MDI, but for me getting on to MDI after 20 yrs of R/NPH was the “Free at last!!!” moment, and the pump was just a more refined, flexible version of that.
It was good preparation for switching to this new system, though, in that this time my expectations were that I would be running high for a while and it would take a lot of work to get back to where I was on my previous regimen, albeit with (hopefully) much more stability and fewer surprises.
