Can I get a "SENSOR END in 1:00" Alarm?

The Medtronic Pump/CGM has a whole bunch of alarms: High Predicted. Meter BG in 1 hour. Low Predicted, Low BG, Low Patience… They all require me to manually clear them or they keep on going. (I know I’m high! My meter just told me (and you) that I’m 248!!). But there’s one alarm/alert missing.

About 15 minutes before breakfast, I was alerted to re-calibrate my CGM via a fingerstick. Fine… I did that, and soon after, I took my bolus and began breakfast. Halfway through the meal I got a “SENSOR END”. Now I know, and use, the unauthorized extended-life trick for CGMs, but I couldn’t calibrate with a post-bolus, mid-meal BG, could I? So I waited a few hours to restart the sensor.

If I knew that was going to happen, I’d have just restarted (“Start New”) the sensor with a great fasting calibration value in the first place, but instead I gave it a new calibration value to give me accurate measurements for the next 30 minutes. And a no-so-wonderful calibration value for the next few days.

Please, Medtronic. This kind of stuff is so frustrating. This is why you should hire (someone like) me as a User-Interface designer. No one knows what the users of their equipment need more than someone who has been tethered to one 24/7 for years…

Just venting… we all need to vent every once in awhile!

Didn’t know that about the Medtronic Scott. The Dexcom gives a ‘change sensor soon’ warning, thank goodness! I doesn’t give a high or low predicted though. I think I can figure that piece out myself with the trend hours, but I’d be super frustrated to NOT know I had to ‘change sensor soon.’

Scott
People are always complaining about all the alarms on other sites along with the number of simple reminders "Are you disconnected?” / “Do you see drops at end of tubing?” . With the CGM you can check with three /four clicks to the sensor status and see how long you have left. I usually check that to see when I need to either change after 12 days or just restart the old one. As long as you have not gone over the seven days and need to unplug and recharge then restart you are fine. But You probably already know that. Medtronics has it’s problems like every other man made pump out there. I have had a Minimed/Medtronics pump for over 13 years and there are times I am tempted to throw it, but it is still better than 10 shots a day for me. Control is not perfect but better than it was. Not sure how all those folks here get below A1C of 6 but I am happy with 6.

Jenni, you are very right. It’s easy for me to have a daily routine: in the morning, I test, calibrate, take my synthroid, etc… I never use the “reminder” function on my pump to tell me when to test BG. But I do take advantage of the “low reservoir” alert, since it’s not consistent at the same time every day. For the same reason, I’d appreciate a “change sensor soon” alert like Jrtpup described on her Dexcom.

But I do live with the Medtronic pump/CGM, and I live quite well with it. I owe a lot to the folks who developed the technology. I just wish I could get a warning that my sensor is about to end… and go back-in-time to use a previous BG as a calibration value when my current situation is not good for a cal.

JRT - I’d trade the "predicted"s for a “change sensor soon” alert in a heartbeat. The predicted lows aren’t all that useful… by the time it alerts, I’m already low. Then, after I’ve treated the low, I still get “low predicted” alerts because the difference between now and an hour ago is a sharp decrease, even though the interstitial BG (?) is rising at the time.

On “do not try this at home” day 4 restart day, I generally eat a smaller breakfast than normal, like just eggs, that will have a minimal BG impact and just fire away with the restart.

I loose a LOT of sleep at night with these warnings for Mary, BUT..... I have to say, it does help me see the trends and try to "fix" the basals.
BTW Scott, CONGRADULATIONS!!!!!!!!!! He is absolutly beautiful! I am so happy for you and the Mrs.
Read to him every, day and tell him those wonderful stories from the Bible!
Zachary is my baby brother's name! I was 19 when he was born. He's now 22! You picked a great name!