Dexcom Download Data Analysis Help

Hello,


As a new owner of "Dexter", as I like to call him, I would like your opinion's on what you find the most useful graph from the download to make changes by.

Thanks
Michelle

Michelle:
The first one to examine for me was obviously Glucose Trend. It depicts exactly what has happened before, during and after meals and bolus injections, and will show you if you experience the Dawn Syndrome. More difficult to interpret, but perhaps even more valuable is the Modal Day chart – easiest to interpret if you limit the number of days to display to, f.ex. one week. I also like to check the Glucose Distribution chart to learn if I need to change my diet or bolus or even basal dosages. The Success Report deals with averages over three months at a time, and if you have reasonably good control you will find that it shows a fairly flat line at or slightly above 100 mg/dl, which is what the curve would look like for a non-diabetic. Nice to have to show to your endo for bragging purposes, but I am not sure how useful it is in day-to-day management.
Let us know how you fare with Dexter!

The most useful report for me is the hourly trend. It can look at a bunch of days and tell me really where my glucose is tending to trend at different times. I just downloaded it all again yesterday and realized that around 4PM my glucose nearly always increases by about 30 points, I need more basal there! I found a similar trend around 10AM. I like the success report to because it gives you an idea of how you’re doing compared to other recent data and it prepares you for your A1C results. The modal day can work to show patterns to but you have to keep the number of days reasonable to get much out of it (5 is the absolute max I can do before my brain overloads!). Finally my doctor really likes the glucose distribution because the pie charts are easier for her to get a feel of when I’m in target and when we need to focus on fixing my glucose. Good luck with it all!

Hi Michelle,

I think that the Data Manager software for the Dex is a potent tool for making gains in BG control. I find that if I pay attention to the numbers then the numbers usually get better.

I like the Success Report. I look at the the weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports. When you compare these reports to each other you can pick up important trends. For example, if the weekly numbers are better than the monthly and quarterly numbers then you are headed in a good direction and your monthly and quarterly numbers will follow. Alternately, if your weekly numbers are worse than your monthly and quarterly numbers then you need to take some corrective action.

The Success Report shows the averages for each hour of the day. This helps identify where you can focus to make corrections. This helps inform me as to where I can adjust basal rates on my pump, for example.

I also like the Daily Statistics. The pie chart immediately shows how well I’m hitting my targets each day. The other statistic on this chart that I pay attention to is the standard deviation number. The standard deviation is a good indicator as to the variability of your glucose swings. The lower the number the better. My goal is a standard deviation of 30.

Good luck with your “Dexter.” Continuous glucose monitors are one of the biggest advancements in BG control tools. It’s had a major effect on my A1c.

Hello all

Thanks for your tips they will come in very handy:)

Michelle