LOL! IMO, you are being generous. Lower than low would be my honest critique of Enlite. I am still bummed at all the time spent with MM tech support over all the issues I had within about 1 year of usage. More than 22 replacements. I lost count…
I had trouble with the Enlite sensors…the first 24 hours were tough and then if I made it past 24 then they were very accurate for me. I’m now on the Guardian sensors and they are MUCH MORE reliable and accurate, etc. They are the ones used by the 670g (hybrid closed loop system) and I LOVE them!! The entire system is amazing!!
nice to hear they are more accurate than Enlites. However,for me, they wouldn’t work out,as I’m on Medicare and Medicare only pays for Dexcom. Not that I’m complaining. My G5 is crazy-accurate.
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I’ve used the Enlites first with a Medtronic 523 and recently upgraded to the 630 (and will upgrade to the 670 in April). Once I started on the 630 the ‘Threshold Suspend’ feature lowered my a!c by a few point. I went from a 6.5 to a 6. It has been so helpful both at night and during the day. I’m excited about the new one with the automatic basal!
Enlite sensors have left a bad feeling with me about using Medtronic new 670G pump with the Guardian 3 CGM sensors. For me I think the best way to go is with Dexcom CGM with Medtronic 670G pump since I have Priority Access (free swap from 630G) from Medtronic and let Medicare pay for the Dexcom CGM. The cost of the Medtronic’s CGM sensors and transmitter is not worth the extra cost to me since they are not cover by Medicare.
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I have used the Dexcom with both Ominopd and Medtronics. I have been on the Medtronics 670g for 6 months and have just told my endo today that I want to change off the Medtronics sensors and go back to the Dexcom. I have had way too many issues with the sensors from Medtronics. More than often, The sensor stops working on about day 4-5, then I have to call Medtronics, they send a replacement and I have to send the old sensor back. I also am finding the sensor to not be very accurate. My BG is fine when I have my blood taken and there has been a significance difference between the reading on the CGM and what the reading from the blood test shows. The medtronics also requires 3-5 finger stickes a day. The new Dexcom doesn’t require any calibration once it is inserted and lasts for 10 days I believe. They also changed the inserter, the one for the previous dexcom could be painful at times. I miss the mobile app that comes with the dexcom, as Medtronics does not have one at all 
I hope this helps. I would change back to the Ominpod as well when I have the chance.
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I started a new topic, but here is what I wrote:
Good Morning,
I wanted to share my thoughts on the 670G. I started with the T-slim about 1 1/2 years ago. Right after I started on the T-Slim (Taking 180 units per day) I figured out how much I absolutely hated having the tube and switched over to Omnipod with the Dexcom 4G. I then was able to upgrade the Dexcom to the 5G. I absolutely loved the freedom Omnipod gave me and the Dexcom was perfect. When the Medtronics 670G came out, I was fortunate enough to switch at the beginning of this year when the sensors came off back order. I changed over because I actually had the stomach sleeve and knew my insulin needs would be changing drastically. I did not want to worry about my BG dropping out at 3am (which it had been dropping to 40 at 3am). I am sad to say, after I tried for 6 months, I am changing back to the Dexcom 6G. I have had nothing but issues with the 670G. I have had to have the pumps replaced, the transmitter replaced, and at least 75% of the sensors did not work and had to be exchanged. When everything worked, which was not very often, it was great to let the pump do all the work- delivering micro boluses ever 5 minutes based on your CGM reading. However, the sensors in auto mode proved not to be very accurate, if they even worked. I also had issues where the pump would prompt me at all hours for a BG reading, which defeated the purpose of changing to that pump to do away with the 3am dropping of BG and waking up to an alarm. It would prompt for a BG if you were stable for 2 hours, if you were low, if you reached your max bolus for that segement, and a known issue of prompting after the pump ran diagnostics at 1am. I also must mention that the Medtronics has a hard coded limit of a target BG of 120. I like to keep my target at 100. I also found that the transmitter did not work in the pool. I even had the transmitter right on top of the pump and right at the surface if the water. The pump then complained that it could not find the signal and took about 20 min after getting out of the pool to sync back up. The dexcom worked when I went swimming. I would change back to my Omnipod, but because I was fortunate to have good insurance, I gave it to another type 1 that their insurance refused to cover one for them after trying to get it approved for over 1 year. I was paying it forward and no…I do not regret that decision at all.
I also want to mention 2 additional things. I am not sure who designed the inserter, but the taping of the sensor is ridiculous. I have never seen anything so poorly designed. You have to use one piece of tape to anchor the sensor and then do this complex taping. I found that if you just use tegaderm (like they use for Iv’s in the hospital) it does a much better job and will last longer. You also have to charge the transmitter (about 30min) between each use. AND, Medtronics currently does not have a phone app. So no family circle alerts and you will need the tiny CGM graph on the pump display…not sure how the older patients will feel about that.
One last note, Medtronics has done some very underhanded things with the billing. They ran my insurance before sending me the pump and said everything was covered, then the insurance denied the transmitter (because it was too soon to get one-a mistake I could have cleared up with insurance if medtronics would have let me know) and they then billed the $800 to me! So now I am in a battle with them, even though their own sales rep agrees I should have never been sent the transmitter if it was not covered and did not give my approval to bill me. They placed my account on hold and will not send any supplies, forcefully trying to get me to pay for the transmitter. I will be changing back to my TSlim. when my on hand supplies are exhausted. AND…My A1C actually went up while on the Medtronics system.
In case you are curious, I am doing excellent after the stomach sleeve. I went from 180 units per day to currently being on 17 units per day. I have lost almost 60 pounds in 6 months. I am a type 1.5, so I will always be on the insulin pump, but being that I am in the medical field and have heard cardiologist give the “DM? High cholesterol? Over weight?” speech to 30 patients a day for years, I knew I needed to get my insulin needs to as minimal as possible. Of course, you would need to talk to your doctor to see if that would be a good option, and it took 12 months of being under the surgeon’s care just to get the procedure approved, but for me…it added many years to my life (hopefully).
Thank you for reading this! I will be comparing the Medtronic sensor readings to the Dexcom 6 in the next few days just out of curiosity. Yes, I am that geeky! Come back if you are interested in seeing my findings. Good day!!!
I am changing off the medtronics after 6 months of nothing but frustration. But to answer your questions-
#1: 75% of my sensors did not last past 5 days
#2: correct, it takes 30 min to recharge the transmitter. If you have any issues with the sensors, the support line will have you remove the transmitter and “leak test” the transmitter and recharge. I have had to do this many, MANY times!
#3: The pad on the back of the transmitter never irritated my skin, but it is a very small amount and the Medtronics sensor relies on you taping down the transmitter with 2 complex pieces of tape. This is a very frustrating system. And, I worked for years doing IV’s on patients, so I am use to taping down IV’s.
#4: The Medtornics sensors are approved to be work on the upper arm and upper thigh. The educator told me if placed on the stomach, they are not very accurate.
I hope this helped answer some of your questions. Have a great one.
I love the Medtronic 670G. the pump works like a charm as do the sensors. I like mine on my arm and that rocks but ti does require a second person to apply. I do work hard with the sensor and system (calculate carb counts off of an app. (very important) and I watch my blood sugar religiously. With that said, I am able to keep my blood sugar between 70 and 170 over 90% of the time and have for over a year. If we narrows the range to 80 to 160 I would still be in the low 80% range.
Note: I am a Medtronic ambassador. My opinions are my own. They did not pay me to say nice things about Medtronic devices or the company. OK, they sent me a shirt and a cup but even I am more expensive than that.
I wish I had the same luck as you with this system. The 670G has a hard coded limit of 120 BG target. I actually like to target mine at 100. I found the sensors to be very inaccurate. The pump would say I was at 136 and when I did the finger stick I was actually at 165! Manually with the Dexcom, I am keeping mine at 80-100. So, for me, the 670G was actually causing a lot of problems and my A1C actually went up I think the pump is great and the problem is in the sensors. But, from what everyone said at Medtronics, they received the approval from the FDA way ahead of schedule. So, the development in the sensors might not have been as far along as they would have liked. Glad it is working out for you.
I recently switched back to wearing a dexcom sensor over the medtron’s enlite sensors. I wore the dexcom sensors previously. The cons of the enlite are that it takes 30 minutes to charge. On the sixth day of the sensor it becomes inacurrate,and it took 15 minutes to see any number after calibrating. I find cost as a reasonable excuse for changing. The box of 6 sensors cost 325$ as opposed to the dexcoms which are $340. I get at least 11 days out of 1 sensor. I also like the arrows that indicate that you’re rising slowly or going down slowly.
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So glad to hear you are back on Dexcom! I can’t imagine what kind of body chemistry would cause a person to prefer Enlites to any model of Dexcom sensors. Perhaps the newer Medtronic sensor is better than their Enlites, but there are so many other negatives to using that system, updated sensors, or not.
Thanks! Money seems to be the biggest issue right now for us. My husband doesn’t mind providing me with what I need in order to manage my condition, but it makes me feel bad as he is the main income provider. I could buy groceries on my income, but that’s all. I like the idea of metron’s to be able to charge it but their sensors need help. Everything from Medtronic seems expensive. Even their infusionsets.
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Medtronics Sure-T’s are about the cheapest (and, IMO, the best) sets that I’ve come across. Not that the cost is an issue for me, since I get them for free, but I haven’t had a better experience with any set since 1996, than the Sure-t’s.
I like tandem’s autosoft 90s. They have the same connection to the inset, but a different connection to the cartridge. I only need to buy 1 box of mios every other month since I reuse the tubing on the mios. One box of mios are 215 as opposed to autosoft 90s which are 195.00. I get a grant from the government for 2400$ per year. Money isn’t an issue when it comes to pump supplies.