Hello, I am soon going to be trialing a CGM as I no longer have any hypo awareness. My blood usually gets as low as 1.1 then I collapse but up until that point I am ok. This is due to having type 1 for over 40 years the warning signs of a hypo disappear. Due to this I am on the verge of losing my Driving Licence. The only way I may be able to prevent this is to have one of these monitors which alarms you when blood goes dangerously high or low. Already being on a pump I am not looking forward to having another machine to deal with (canulars, spares to change, clothing difficulties etc) I was wondering if anyone had a CGM and if it was helping them at all?
I have for 2 years. It can be very frustrating at times, but has for me caught the sneaky lows.
lots of info on CGMS here
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/categories/583967:Category:8715/listForCategory
we also have Groups for specific brands. Do you know which one you will be getting?
How do you trial a cgm? The manufacturers don’t seem to make any info about that available on their sites. It doesn’t seem tenable to me to own one full time, but if I could get a trial for even a couple days, it would really help me figure out what’s going on with my bgs during the night. I asked my doctor if she had a channel to go through to get a trial cgm and she said she’d look into it… months ago.
I don’t mean to bring up something as polarizing or controversial as diet, but have you tried a ketogenic diet? I’ve been on one for a while now and I no longer really have hypo symptoms. I can still ‘feel’ them coming and it gets a bit hard to concentrate during a low but that’s about it, I’ve had no trouble driving even as low as 28. I’d think that would be a huge boon for someone with poor/no hypo awareness.
Hi it will be a Medtronic.
Hi I have never heard of a ketogenic diet but will look it up on the web and give it a go. I am in the UK and a company called Medtronic are coming to the house to fit me up with one for a few days trial before I decide to buy one approx £1,000. I do know that a company based in USA called Abbott supply CGM’s but I don’t know if they would give you a free trial.
I have both cgm and pump for me I chose minimed the big reason for me was it was all in one so instead of carrying a pump and seperate CGM device like the dexcom 7 plus ( which I hear great things about with it ) My pump is my CGM monitor so one peice but two sticks one for infusion site and then one for the sensor. I have found my readings to be accurate and it has really helped me with the lows I don’t feel lows till I am in 20s sometimes lower but now with this I can say besides of some personal errors causing lows the CGM really helped me get my basal adjusted to where I am good to go. now I am not sure what pump you have but if mini md then look into if not like I said before people speak highly of the dexcom as well. ohh and I have no clothing problems since it is just one device it is all about hiding the pump when I want and nothing more. spares are easy with mini med while in warranty they over night another one if there is a issue I did trial both butmini med worked for me. give them both a try and see how they both work for you. everyone has thier own preference.
Thats really some great information thank you so much. At present I have an Accu-chek Combo pump ( I think things are slightly different in the UK) and will look into the possibility of having a combined CGM and pump. Thank you.
Im in the US, 25 year T1 diabetic. Ive been on Minimed pumps for 7+ years now. Last year I gave the CGM a go. I see trends as the only way to know whats going on with your sugars. This was my introduction to the Silhoutte set from minimed and it was not comfortable at all for me. Also, I wasnt real excited about having 2 sets at once. I feel like theres a lack of comfortable set sites to begin with.
In the end I used it about 1-2 times a month, 3 days at a time, for its year long battery life. I didnt shell out the 500US for a new one. I think the battery trick (no replaceable batt) is pretty lame. Have they updated that?
For you though, if it means loosing your license, I would go for it. Really it isnt that bad of a device and will allpw you to retain some freedom. Thats an easy trade off from my perspective.
I use the MM CGMS system along with my pump. Are you just getting the CGMS or the pump and CGMS? Ive found that when set up properly its very useful. It has let me know about some issues I dint even know I had. Pretty intensive coverage overall though. I will say that the needle is…well its huge. Its one of 2 that I dread. That one and the butterfly needles they use to do my A1C’s. Other than that mine have worked very well.
Also 1 trick to getting very good readings right off the bat (instead of having to wait for the sensor to “Wet” itself in the interstitial fluid) Insert the sensor the night before, wait 5-10 minutes after insertion, and connect the transmitter device. Then wait till the next morning to go in and “Start new sensor” This gives the sensor time to stabilize and my readings have been very close by doing that. Much better than doing it the way they say from Medtronic…Hope that helps some.
Solo I do the same for my cgm with inserting the night before and then adding the transmitter to it the next day. I do that the day before the change so I get to keep my other one on and then switch it out after a quick charge so it works for me as well. As for the needle well yeah it sucks but from what I hear they are working on the next generaton of sensors with smaller insertion needles it really sucks to ave a gusher when inserted I really thought I was going to bleed out last month it just would not stop bleeding after I pulled out the needle but it finally did but the bathroom floor looked like a bloody murder. this has only happened twice in the three yrs I have been on it so not to much to worry about it.
Did ou try different infusion sets? for me I tried them all and when they put out the Mio I went with and and no pain for me hek I don’t even feel the insertion or remember I have it in. as for the transmitter battery yeah that sucks as they have not changed that but I just use it till it dies and then run it through insurance after the warranty is up and it is covered 100 % if the warranty is still good they just over night me a new one. for them they make more money off the supplies instead of the pump its self or transmittr.
Abbott is having issues right now with back order on supplies so they are kida out of the question for now but I did hear from other users that the free style is a great one since you get more distance from the monitor like for me I get five feet distance so it works for me. when I take a shower I just place it on the top of the toliet so it is like 2 ft away but be sure and I mean really sure the toliet lid is closed lol trust me I learned that the hard way. every other time since minimed is all in one you wil always have the pump and transmitter close together for me my arm sites work best for the CGM and then use my stomach or thigh for the infusion sites. and place the pump in my pocket.
totally agree. Hmm I wasnt advised by them that there were different infusion sets for the CGM. Ill have to hit them up for some info. Thanks!
No problem some go in at different angls so give them a call and ask for samples of different ones to try and you might find one you like. for my belly and thigh the mio works great well in my arm too and you don’t need a seperate inserter for the Mio it is all in one too. works great you have less to carry around. the quicks is another a lot of people like I know for me before the mio came out I liked the sure T but it requies a little more taping down.
Yeah smaller (or no) needles would be nice. I mean I will still take it either way, as CGMS is so valuable. I dont know how I did it before honestly. Its like the first time you get a cell phone or something lol. That’s a bad analogy.
Is the mio (if not, can I use it with the paradigms?) from MM? Ive used the quick set and silhouette from them. Funny enough, Ive requested a multi test pack maybe 6-10 times. Never have received a single one!
Solo, you make me really want to get another CGM. How do you cope with the multi site living? where and how often do you change it?
You change it every three days but I can get anywhere from 6 to 9 days out of one sensor as for the multi site living after it is in you realy don’t notice it or at least I don’t it is like hey I have the sercurity of CGM but just all in one not two different things to clip to my bealt with the pump and cgm being all in one that so sealed the deal for me if I had any other pump I would have to have dexcom that has its own monitor for now until it is intragrated into the omni pod or the ping but till then this is what did it for me.
Mio is from mini med they do have samples of it now if you are having issues finding one that works for you or getting them to send out samples just get with your area mini med rep as they have samples of every thing I mean heck when my pump meter broke my rep pulled a bight new shiny one out for me I was like ohh you must be the diabetes fairy!! lol