Any Minimed and Dexcom G4 users?

My experiences are this:

When I got my new Medtronic Pump which is a Paradigm 723, I was asked if I would like to get their sensors as well. I said "yes" and both were sent out. I soon learned that was a bad mistake.

I started getting bad pus pustules every time I inserted a sensor. The site location did not seem to matter. I made some calls to Medtronic and was told that yes this did happen, and they, meaning the technical support folks indicated that on most occasions this was caused to an allergy to the type of metals used in the material that the sensor wires were made from.

I decided to stop using the medtronic sensor, and asked that the not send them any longer. As I was bound by the terms of warantee conditions that my Health Insurance and Medtronic decided upon, I found that I could get a new sensor after 6 months.

I have been a Dexcom users for 13 months and am delighted with it. I have had no infection problems, I get good service from them, and when a sensor fails, I get a free replacement.

I believe that they make a better product than Medtronic, with a sefer use of materials, which in my case, does not cause me additional problems which I do not need. I learned that their technology will fairly shortly be able to communicate with most brands of Insulin Pumps other that Medtronic.

Go figure.

Arny

Hi Elizabeth. I'm Kim, and I just found your April entry. Shoot. I have been on Dexcom CGM 4 since March of last year and have had the Medtronic pump for maybe 10 years. I'm wondering how you have been doing on the Dexcom CGM (if you actually changed). I too had a really bad experience with the initial Medtronic CGM. I wonder how the upgraded version is but I have been so happy w Dexcom CGM that I don't have a lot of interest in changing. I am thinking about trying the t-slim.
My a1c is around 7, could be better, but I have hypoglycemic unawareness. Have you done okay w the new?

Hi, I'm only one year in to my T1 journey but started out with MDI, then onto Dex G4, and then added in T:slim. If I had to choose it would be G4 hands down.

I have learned so much about how I personally respond to the foods I eat and how I respond to the amount and timing of the insulin I take. The accuracy is great once you get a sensor on line - can take a day or two after insertion. And the life expectancy of sensor is well beyond the 7 days listed with the FDA approval. You just need to restart, recalibrate your sensor each week until it dies. For me personally with a back of arm insertion I get accurate readings for at least three weeks with the same sensor before it dies. This may vary for you, but for me I find that the better my control, with the fewer wild swings, the longer my sensor lasts.

I can not compare to other CGMs for insertion pain or accuracy but with the G4 I have similar accuracy with back of arm sites compared to abdominal sites even if it is not OFFICIALLY listed as a usable site. I tried using my thighs as many have success with that location but found that while it was as accurate as my abs, I had issues with keeping it on due to pulling/knocking with the skinny jeans/leggings I like to wear.

The t:slim does not currently display the dex info but they are now in a partnerships so it will be available in future pumps. I'm not sure I would want a single device to display both sets of info at this point. For now I like being able to pull out the CGM display to see my BG trend with out needing to reveal/input into the pump. Especially in situations where I known that my carb count/ bolus dose may be off, I like to be to monitor trends before I need to make adjustments.