I’m sort of new to the Dexcome G4 (about 6 weeks), and I am totally loving it so far. Better control, more peace of mind and security and absolutely phenomenal when I’m exercising.
HOWEVER, recently I’ve noticed that the alerts don’t seem to make any noise. They vibrate just fine, but even though I have the profile set to “Normal” there is absolutely no beeping sound. I can go to the screen where you test the alarm and the beeping happens then, but in practice, when I am high or low and it is alerting me it simply vibrates with no sound. Has anyone else had this issue?? Do I need to contact Dexcom for a replacement receiver? That just seems like it will be a pain and I’d rather not do it, but the alerts for low are a big reason I like the CGM, and my girlfriend loves it for when we’re alseep and I might not wake up til I’m 30 or something. The vibrate is strong, but without the beeping the alarm usually doesn’t wake me up.
I hope I’m not the only one who’s experienced this and maybe there’s an easy fix?
The first time it alerts, it just vibrates. If you don't confirm with a button push, then it will alert again (in 5 minutes I think) and will vibrate and then beep. I really hate this "feature". I wish it could be set to always beep at the first alarm. Do you think you are noticing the vibration on the first alarm? Maybe let it sit without pushing a button and see if it beeps on the second alarm.
This is all programmable on the "profiles" screen. It can be set to "vibrate only". "soft", "Normal", "Attentive" or "Hyporepeat".
I have mine set on hyporepeat .... where it vibrates first and if you don't respond by acknowledging the alert, it starts beeping too. This is good for waking you up at night.
Yes, but even if you set it to vibrate + beep, it will always just vibrate first and then vibrate and beep if not acknowledged. It's horrible because my daughter never notices the vibration, so it's an automatic 5 minute delay on top of the inherent delay in the system compared to actual BG fluctuations.
I should clarify - in all the modes, (except vibrate only) it vibrates first and IF you don't acknowledge within 5 minutes, it starts beeping audibly with the selected sounds. It will then beep every 5 minutes until you do acknowledge it or the alert condition goes away. This is explained in the manual.
Are you saying it *never* beeps , even after a 5 minute delay w/o acknowledgement ?
Ahhh thank you guys so much for the responses! Haha I had no idea this is how it worked. Guess I should have read the manual more closely :P
I'll check it out next time there's an alarm and just let it go without clearing it. Then we'll see if the beep is actually broken. But I almost always clear it after the initial alarm (at least if I'm awake).
I agree with T3mom -- I hate the fact that it first vibrates then 5 minutes later sounds off. At night, I keep my G4 on the bedside table, in its protective Tallygear case, and NEVER hear (nor feel) the vibrations. I hope someone from Dexcom reads this discussion, and comes to the conclusion that the vibration "feature" ought to be an option rather than mandatory.
Yeah. I agree that it should be an option. I know there are times when "vibrate first" is definitely my preference, but, as I miss the vibrate frequently, I don't want it to ONLY vibrate the second time, if not acknowledged. On the other hand, if my BG is falling quickly, as it does at times, the 5-minute delay is far too long for a second alert.
Exactly, Thas. My 7 yr old daughter doesn't usually notice the vibration even when she's awake - in fact I've missed it when it was in my back pocket before. By the time it beeps and she gets to the school health office, she can be very low if she is dropping rapidly. I don't mind that it always vibrates, but I think that if you select the beep option, it should beep the first time. If I ran the world ... ;)
I had this same issue a few monthe ago with my G4, I had no audible alarms at all. Even in the "try it" menu option, It would only vibrate. after a few reboots, I called Dexcom support and they shipped me a new receiver next day. It may be unrelated, but when the new one arrived I scrolled thru the "device info" menu, and noticed a change in the software (SW) rev #. Attached is a picture of the two receivers at the time side by side running off the same transmitter.
