I just started wearing the Dexcom 7 Plus and the accuracy and ease of use has been fantastic. However, I must say I am VERY disappointed by the sound of the alarm. It is SO LOW. How can anyone hear this thing? There is NO WAY anyone will wake from sleep with this alarm. This is primarily the reason I got it, for the late-night lows that I cannot awake from. I may be forced to return the device (still within the 30-day money back guarantee) if I cannot find an appropriate solution.
What ways have you dealt with this same problem? I’ve checked into it and am pretty sure there is no way to increase the volume, but is there something I am missing?
Thanks in advance!
Also, keep in mind this is the Dexcom 7 PLUS, not the Dexcom 7. I’ve read that the alarm volume has considerably decreased between these two devices.
It must have been reduced! As the primary reason I stopped using it (round 1) were the alarms going off in the middle of the night, waking me AND my wife! (we are both pretty heavy sleepers) so, needless to say, the alarms were MORE than loud enough! but, I can see where an alarm not loud enough would be a major drawback as well…I hope you can find a solution! good luck, and PEACE.
I have mine set to vibrate and keep it under my pillow when I sleep and this is more than enough to wake me up at night. Maybe I’m just a light sleeper.
I tend to sleep thru the alarms at night - I didn’t have that problem with the Navigator but I would never go back to the Navigator. I asked Dexcom and they suggested putting it up higher - I have a bookcase headboard so can actually do that. It does help, but I still sleep thru some - I had two very bad 911 lows last month at night that the Dex caught but I did not hear the alarms. A friend of mine bought a baby monitor for her daughter to use because she was sleeping thru the alarms also. I haven’t tried that yet but plan to. I guess if you set the Dex in front of the monitor, it will amplify the alarms. She said most of those are battery run but she found one at ToysRUs that you plug in. Some people also suggest putting the Dex in a bowl of coins - you would have to use glass or metal that would make a noise when the coins start to vibrate.
I have mine on my nightstand set to beep and vibrate, it does the trick for me (and my wife).
I am a very heavy sleeper.
Beep & Vibrate work for me, too. Having it under your pillow can muffle the sound sometimes. Try affixing it to your headboard somehow - like with one of those silicone pockets you use for “between the sinks” to hold a sponge. They sell them at Bed Bath & Beyond.
I have trouble with the alarm at night too. I’ve found the “low battery” alarm will always wake me but the others I think I’m just used to. I didn’t have this problem when I started with the Dex though. I’m going to try some of the suggestions below (higher on headboard, coin jar) as right now it’s just on the bed next to me.
I have found it is fine. But maybe mostly compared to when I was using the MM CGMS. That thing took a lot to wake me up…Dexcom’s vibration is many times enough to get my attention, whereas MM’s would vibrate, vibrate, beep a little, beep a little more, then blare, before I would notice. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can change the volume on either device, just, no alarm, vibrate, or vibrate and beep. It is probably pretty relative to each person and how light/heavy they sleep.
For ultra-heavy sleepers like me, you use the so-called ‘The radio Shack solution’. Although, if you’re sensitive to 60-cycle hum and general noise from cheap audio equipment, as I am, you will not want to use equipment from Radio Shack while you’re trying to sleep.
You need (1) a HIGHLY DIRECTIONAL microphone. so-called “Shotgun” is best; Cardioid is OK too, but omni-directional is an absolute no-no. You can buy a cardioid microphone for 5 bucks, but these are “unbalanced” microphones. They have only signal and ground wires – and the cords will pick up electrical noise. (Even if they have a 3-pin XLR connector, unbalanced “consumer” microphones use only two of the wires- the third is soldered to the ground wire.) If you’re sensitive to noise, you need a balanced microphone. Expect to pay at least $35. The cheapest, which I have found to be very satisfactory, is the Behrenger XM8500. Professional “balanced” dynamic microphones (Shure and etc.) start at around $60, used. Do not get a condenser microphone, because they have special power requirements (from the mixer), and they’re much more fragile.
(2) a microphone pre-amp, or a mixer. A bad mic mixer can be had for $20 from EBay; These will NOT support balanced microphones or condenser type (all of which are balanced); most of them take microphones with mere RCA plugs (not XLR). They’re being sold by people who bought cheap ones (children’s party toys) but found that the excessive noise and hum drives them NUTS. The perfect match for that Behrenger microphone is Behrenger’s own mixer model “Xenyx 502”. About $60, and because it supports only one microphone, it’s very small. BUT: it does not support Condenser microphones, and it must be powered from 120VAC and it’s own power supply. (Other, more expensive mixers often have the power supply built-in, andy many can even run from batteries.) If you forget the power supply on a trip, you’re screwed – it creates two different levels of DC voltage, and uses a special plug into the Xenyx. (If lost or broken, however, you can buy just the power supply).
(3) A 3-conductor balanced XLR microphone cord. They’re cheap, but make sure that it isn’t one of those soldered-together unbalanced cables.
(4) A boom box with “external input” jack, and a cord to take the RCA output from the Xenix into the boom box input. (That’s probably got a stereo mini-plug on the boombox end – buy the cord at Wall-Mart, or Target.) Or, you can use regular RCA connectors to go into your real stereo. But I use the boombox, because I can keep it close to my side of the bed (instead of filling the entire room with the beautiful sound of Dexcom’s “music”.)
OK. Under the pillow, the Dexcom sits with the speaker end right next to the microphone. (That’s the end with the white phone speaker hole, opposite from the end with buttons). The pillow helps to prevent feedback and breathing noises from getting amplified into the stereo. The microphone cable can be any length-- balanced XLR is professional equipment, the signal will still be clean even if the mixer is 30 feet away. (Think of famous rock and roll guitar players in football stadiums.) Into the Xenyx, and from the Xenyx, into the boombox. Or high-quality stereo (or both).
Just one other thing to remember: Never connect cords when power is on. plug in your microphone and stereo-input cords first; plug the power module into the Xenyx (NOT the wall). Then, plug the 120VAC cords from the power module and the boombox into a power strip. Then the power strip plug goes into the wall. At night, you simply turn the power strip on and everything turns on together (except for maybe your main stereo); when you get up, you turn it all off at the power strip.
Volume adjusts in several places, of course: On Xenyx, the microphone volume AND the master volume; and again with the boombox or stereo volume control.
I am also very disappointed with the volume of the alarm on the 7+. The volume never wakes me up in the middle of the night. I started putting the Dex underneath my pillow and now it wakes me up any time it vibrates.
Disappointed, too, in the fact that Dexcom’s alarms are not continuous, and there is wait time between repeat alarms if you do not respond. We use the Sony Baby Call monitor (the one that has rechargeable batteries). No static and this works out well with Dex. Radio Shack solution is a PITA but probably necessary if you have the Minimed cgms. With Dexcom, because you do not have to wear the Receiver, you can put the Sony Baby Call monitor directly next to it on your nightstand. With Minimed, you need the Radio Shack mike next to the pump in order to hear it, best accomplished by putting mike in pump pouch right next to the pump. No static noise with the Baby Call if you have it on the right channel.
After using the Dexcom for a couple of weeks I must say that I do wake up when the alarm vibrates at me. I think I am also sleeping a bit lighter because I know it is there. I started out placing it on my nightstand, then moved it under my pillow when I was having trouble staying in signal.
I don’t know why it was so hard to add a more functional alarm, though. Like you said, a continuous alarm (at least at the 55 mg/dl level) that won’t stop until I acknowledge the blood sugar level would have been logical. Or, what about the option to have it beep at first warning? It’s ridiculous that it won’t beep until 5 minutes after the vibrate warning. I guess people who had the first Dexcom were upset that it was beeping at every chance, interrupting meetings, waking people from sleep too much, and Dexcom responded by going wayyyy too extreme with the LACK OF usable alarms.
I’m sure it will be fixed in the next version - that is if Dexcom is actually listening to their customers. Something I believe they have done thus far.
I have only used Minimed and Dex Seven Plus but personally I like the way they have it set up now for alarms. It works well for me as there are times I can’t drop what I’m doing to acknowledge an alarm immediately. It’s nice to have a few minutes and it isn’t so obtrusive. The only thing I would probably ask to be changed would be that there was some sort of escalation for an unacknowledged alarm. I would also use a beep only option at times.
I can see why others don’t like it. Maybe that’s something we’ll be able to customize soon.
Diana
I have mine set on vibrate then alarm. My wife likes it more than I do. She is part of the reason for going this route. She now can sleep at nite. I too am now relying on it more than I used to. I’ve had a CGM since 7/09. I travel for business and if it vibrates I look at it quick and decide what I need to do.
Mine is set just to vibrate and that wakes me just fine. I set it on the bedside table and it rattles when it vibrates, I actually put it under my pillow to quiet it down. I’ve had no problem waking up.
I make sure my DexCom is clipped to my nightshirt and it’s set on vibrate and audio alarm, if I can’t hear it the vibration wakes me up. I did try keeping it on my nightstand but had the same issue, not hearing the alarm so keeping the device connected to me by clipping it to my pj’s, usually at the neckline wakes me up every time and does not bother my sleep. Good luck.
Funny, I think it’s QUITE loud! Sometimes I put it on vibrate at night to avoid a more jarring wake-up. I wouldn’t consider myself a particularly light sleeper, either.
When I first started using the Dex7+ I had the same problem with missing the night-time alarms. I used to place the receiver under the blankets, near my abdomen so that I would minimize dropped signal periods. But then I wasn’t waking up to the alarms because I couldn’t hear them.
I have a unique sleeping arrangement since I live on a sailboat. There’s an overhang over my berth that is about two feet above the bed covering the lower half of my body. What I did was modify Dex’s belt-clip pouch so that I can hang it above my bed. It hangs about 18 inches above my waist when I’m sleeping. I rarely lose a signal and I always hear the alarm, usually the first vibration only alarm.
What I like about this system is that when an alarm sounds I just reach up and push a button and see whether its a high, low, fast drop, or fast climb alarm. I don’t have to fumble around trying to locate the receiver.
Before I did that I tried just laying the receiver near my head but not covered by any blankets. It worked OK but had too many periods of dropped signals.
I’ll bet attaching/hanging the Dex to/from a standard headboard would also get good results.
Terry
When I first got the 7+ it always woke me up. I got used to this very quickly, now I sleep with it under my pillow and close to my head. That wakes me up every time.
One of the features I’d love to see in the next model is highly customizable alarms. I might want the alarm boundaries for highs and lows to be different over night, and I’d like to download my own sound and use it, with a customizable volume level. I’d really also like it NOT to alarm if I’ve looked at the value within the last five minutes. It really bugs me if I look at the Dexcom during a business meeting and 3 minutes later the alarm goes off even though I already know what’s going on.