I saw my diabetes educator today. She just got the 670 about a month ago. She has been in auto mode now for about 1 week and she hasn’t had any lows. She showed me me on the graph of her pump where she went up but she went right back down without her doing anything. It seems to take the work and the worry out of diabetes. I have the 630 but I am using a dexcom sensor and I still have dexcom supplies but when those are done I might look into an upgrade. She supposedly restarted the sensor for another week. She says you have to trust it and let it do it’s thing. The transmitter is also smarter. They had to make sure it was accurate if it was going to be regulating people’s insulin levels. There’s no more adjusting in basal rates because there is none. I don’t have very many highs. My lows are more of a problem. She said it would be a blessing for me to get it. I try to be so perfect. As I have learned when it comes to our diabetes there is no perfect. It does different things no matter how much you try. I am really anxious to try it. I get coverage under the ADP which won’t let me get a new pump until 2021. I don’t want to wait that long!
In the US, Medtronic allowed me to upgrade for free from the 630 to the 670G. The Guardian CGM anticipates lows prior to actually going low and reduces/stops basal (micro blouses) infusion in anticipation of going low.
I’m in Canada. I was interested in the 670 upgrade until I reviewed the cost of these sensors. 608$. The sensors would have to go at least 2 weeks to make it worth it. I am trying to get my insurance to cover some of these costs.
A sensor? Just “trust it”? ah, no. I don’t always trust any brand of sensor. That’s not to say I don’t go a lot longer between finger sticks, but even my “trusty” G5 was just showing over 142 and my fingerstick reading was 68. I go by how I feel–don’t put blind faith in a CGM, especially a Medtronic one, to control your pump. OMG.
And everyone is different–it might work for the DE, but not work well for someone else, and that someone could be you. Don’t get lulled into “it just works great!”. It may, or it may not.
Yeah, I understand. It looks good, but. Once you upgrade you can’t return it. I would have to think long and hard about this one.
Agreed.
I like our Dexcom G6.
Doesn’t mean I don’t check it against a meter (Contour Next One).
I also read alot of reviews on the 670 from people who use it. They say if you are ready for alot of false alarms, 4 calibrations a day and a whole slew of other things then this system might not be worth the required work you need to put into to make it work. When it increases basal for a low, wouldn’t it take almost 2 hours to see a change in bloodsugar. As changes in basal insulin take about 2 hours to take affect? When I am ready for an upgrade, maybe I’ll just stick with my first idea. I was more or less interested in tandem’s tslim with the g6 integration. I am already getting a1cs in the 6’s and my target in about 72% in range.
I buy my Guardian sensors from Medtronic for a cash discount of $ 350 for a box of 5. I recharge the transmitter after 7 days and get a second 7 days on the sensor 90% of the time.
After 3 or 4months of trial and error (excessive alarms), everything is now relatively smooth sailing. Still hoping Medtronic and Medicare Advantage will work out a coverage plan.
I have a couple of years before the ADP will cover another insulin pump. I was thinking of doing the upgrade through medtronic’s pathway program. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just sit back and see what happens. Thanks.
It’s known here that I’m having a good run with the 670g and haven’t had as many issues as some have experienced. 4 required calibrations a day is simply not true. You can get by with 2… IF you time it right (12hrs between cals is the minimum). That said, 3 a day will keep me on track, though I generally do 4 anyway. It’s just the way I choose to handle my T1D.
My A1Cs ran in the 6.8 - 7 range prior to the 670g, in close to a year on the device now… my A1Cs are consistently 6.1
Regarding basal adjustments, my experience has been that the system aggressively fights lows. I’ve had 1 low at night (which I had a lot of problems with previously) in the past year, and that was likely my fault for not getting my carb count right. I regularly workout with heavy weights for 45mins to an hour and rarely have issues with lows. 9 times out of 10 when I do, its because I overdid a bolus at meal time.
A down side though to the aggressive low fighting is that it DOES take a while to correct high bs.
All in all, the 670g/Guardian 3 has been a good run. Does it take work, yes. I say… I’m worth the effort.
These guys are saying that Omnipod will release a closed loop system in July. I’m not holding my breath, but the timing might be such that you have some time to see the reviews…if your cool with a new pump type. It will use Dex.
Well, I tried to google to decipher what ADP means, but I’m not having any luck. I suspect it is a Canadian health care acronym. I remain curious about its actual decoding.
I don’t think so. I’m hoping one of our Canadian members, like @Jen, @Dee_Meloche, @Vancouversailor or @Scott_Eric might help.
It stands for assisted devices program. Diabetics on an insulin pump get a 2,400$ grant to cover pump supplies. They will pay for a new pump every 5 years. I am not due until 2021 of February so I have some time to wait until something else comes along.
Each province has their own pump programs (or not), which differ between provinces. ADP is specific to Ontario. BC, where I live, also has a pump program, but it’s not ADP.
Thanks for added details, Jen. Maybe someone from Ontario can actually decode what ADP stands for.
Edited to add: Using Ontario together with ADP in a google search revealed the ADP meaning.
While this is not the cure for diabetes, it did help to scratch my curiosity itch!
Thanks, Dee. I didn’t see your answer until I did the google search that exposed the meaning of ADP. We all operate in a sea of shorthand diabetes terms but this was one I was not aware of.
In US, ADP is well known payroll processing company, so I was confused at initial read.
I should have said the full words than the short form. I really like my dexcom, but I have to wear a separate reciever. I also carry around my cell phone which sends it up to the cloud to clarity. When I was on the enlite sensors I didn’t have much luck with them. They only went 6 days but on the fifth day accuracy diminished. You also couldn’t restart them either. With my g5 sensors I can get 3 weeks out of 1 sensor and accuracy gets better with age. Even with having to spend 285$ every three months for a transmitter it is still cheaper. Until something better comes along this is how I’ll manage my diabetes.
hehehe, we dont speak Canadian very proficiently.